Women's Running Stories

Liv Paxton has been involved in the running world for as long as she can remember: her parents met through running and her father has been the head running coach at Winthrop University for over 30 years. Liv is also passionate about giving back, especially through fundraising, as well as speaking out. After competing in track and cross-country in high school and then college at the D1 level—the mo...

In this conversation we hear about the running experiences of each of the panelists and the work that's happening in the running community through their organizations. We then explored histories, current times, and possible futures through the perspectives and experiences of the three panelists. In particular we touch on the historic place running has in this area, and how many of the pathways we...

I have been wanting to highlight women running coaches through conversations for a while now, so here we go! This is the first of what will be a series of conversations I have every month or so, highlighting women who are guiding athletes in this sport. And to kick things off, what better place to start than my own coach, Molly Huddle.  Molly is well known as the legendary distance runner who’s se...

Here on WRS Hildee Weiss shares her truly inspiring story of becoming an athlete and runner later in life. It is indeed a journey that has forever changed Hildee. She also shares her story in greater detail in her book, Embracing My Inner Athlete .  Hildee's story demonstrates that it is never too late to take control of your health and to try things that are new and different and challenging, and...

In addition to being an ultra-runner, Erika is also the author of the wonderful and thoughtfully concise book Breaking the Cycle, How I Ran My Way To a New Beginning through Ultrarunning, Resilience, and Self-Belief , and she is an entrepreneur, the owner of Lela V, a skin care line designed for athletes and, as she says, “inspired by my incredible mother, my vibrant Peruvian roots, and my love fo...

Alisa Harvey has had an incredible running career. Additionally, as one of the very few African American women to compete at the elite level in both track and field, as well as in distance road racing, including the marathon, Alisa has been aware of her position as a role model and inspiration, especially for other Black women and girls.  Over her decades-long career, Alisa has raced throughout th...

Julie Sapper, Lisa Levin, and I share a deep love of all things running, and we've never interviewed each other, so it's about time (we have had each other on our respective podcasts in the past; see links for those below).  Both Julie and Lisa are competitive masters runners and they share a love of the Boston Marathon, having run it over 35 years combined. They are also outstanding coaches, havi...

Julie Sapper, Lisa Levin, and I share a deep love of all things running, and we've never interviewed each other, so it's about time (we have had each other on our respective podcasts in the past; see links for those below).  Both Julie and Lisa are competitive masters runners and they share a love of the Boston Marathon, having run it over 35 years combined. They are also outstanding coaches, havi...

In addition to being internationally competitive runners, Mary and Lisa also have careers outside of running, and they are moms: Mary is the founder of the Nala Track Club for girls in Kenya, and Lisa is a banking executive. We were excited to explore not only the expertise these athletes possess in running, but also their experiences and perspectives as role models, leaders, and moms.  Among the...

In this episode, I focus on getting back to racing indoor track, a highlight of my year. After a long build back from burnout through a lot of 2025, I was really looking forward to returning to racing strong. As with any season of racing, there were highs and a few lows. Regardless, a steady pulse of curiosity and purpose grounded my training and racing. I continued to learn and grow.  This athlet...

Lauren Nutter’s story has so many interesting threads and I’m excited for you to hear about all of it. First up, Lauren will be running Boston for the very first time, and that has been a goal that she has had in earnest since 2019. Between then and now, Lauren discovered the majors. At the time there were six major marathons, and Lauren decided she was going to run them all and earn her six stars...

Dipsea Generations follows the stories of five young San Francisco Bay area runners who take on the historic Dipsea trail race. The Dipsea is the oldest trail race in the United States, started in 1905, and it covers 7.4 miles of incredible terrain between Mill Valley–just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County–and Stinson Beach. One interesting twist about this race is it has a handicap...

In addition to testing her limits on the trails, Tania is a coach and she has a podcast called the Ultra Happy Podcast, which she cohosts with her husband, Andy, and it follows her running journey.  Tania is also a world citizen: while she is from Mexico and now lives in Dubai, she has also lived in Canada and the US, in addition to living for several years in Scotland, which is where her husband...

These days, Steph Cloutier lives in Eau Claire, WI, but she grew up in the Minneapolis, MN, area, which is only about 100 miles away from Eau Claire.  Steph coaches for North Coast Running (NRC), a coaching business out of the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul.  With the surge in ICE activity in Minneapolis, NRC founder and runner Tyler Morey decided he wanted to do something to support...

In this conversation, Atim shares how she got started in running, and what got her out on the trails, running ultras. She also gets into how the running group she founded, Ultra Black Running, came to be, and why she's so passionate about carving out space on the trails for other Black women and nonbinary runners. Atim goes deep, sharing empowering, joyful moments in running and on the trail. And...

Today, Naseemah Palmer is a licensed clinical social worker, running coach, and entrepreneur. She owns and operates the running, wellness, and apparel brand Vivid Belle. How Palmer's life changed, beginning on that May day, is what this story is all about.  Palmer's current running focus is coaching Girls on the Run, and one of the athletes she coaches is her daughter. She is training for the upco...

Daisy Martinez started running when a friend suggested she come to a night run in LA, hosted by Blacklist LA. At the time, Daisy was a young single mom working multiple jobs and going to school, and she was struggling with her physical and mental health. From that very first run, Daisy started a journey that would reshape her life; she credits finding the trails for saving her life. Today, Daisy h...

To be clear, Allison’s story is not about weight loss or chasing thinness, perse, but more so about being a regimented, disciplined athlete who wanted to see what she was capable of as a runner—and who wanted to leverage her nutrition to support that pursuit.   In addition, Allison was coming into running as a young adult in this time of thriving influencer culture, so this is also a story about n...

Dena Lewis has been a runner for over two decades and running is a core part of her life and well-being. But also, Dena has been attacked twice while running. She talks about these attacks in her story, and she talks about returning to running afterward—because running is such an important part of her life.  These are the difficult realities of running as a woman, and I’m really thankful Dena is w...

Maddie Barrett is a long-time runner, and these days she focuses primarily on the marathon. In this episode, she shares her whole running journey, including going through a time of disordered eating. Now Maddie sees food as a way of healing her body. Her story also includes her experiences of going through these recent two major surgeries and subsequent recoveries, and how that impacted her runnin...

New Hampshire-based Tammie Robie’s health issues appear to have started during her teenage years and continued, with increasing intensity, until just a few years ago. Over the years, Tammie saw doctors and specialists, had test after test after test, and followed a variety of prescription protocols.  But her symptoms persisted: high blood pressure, a spiking heartrate, migraines, water retention i...

I sat down with friend, colleague, community organizer, and racial equity advocate Verna NezBegay Volker, who lived for 16 years in Minneapolis, and recently moved just outside the city. The neighborhood where Verna and her husband raised their children is a focal point of ICE raids and crackdowns.  Central to this conversation: how running and politics are inextricably linked. Running requires fr...

Anjali Saraogi hasbeen an ultra runner. She started running in her early 40s and pretty quickly discovered a love and talent for running far, and running fast. She ran the Comrades Marathon in 2017, in a time of 8 hours, 38 minutes: a huge accomplishment and at the time, it was the fastest time run by an Indian woman at that race.  Anjali then went on to solidify her place as one of India’s best u...

Lisa Jackson has completed over 100 marathons; she's run the 90km or roughly 56-mile Comrades Marathon; and she's run many other races of various distances, too. She's a well known writer, covering health and running, in addition to being an author; she's also a hypnotherapist.  Many people also know Jackson as the "flamingo lady" for wearing her distinctive flamingo hat, and they know her for jub...

In this episode, I focus on a huge win in dealing with my anxiety around training and racing. It's opened a whole new chapter in my running journey. Healing anxiety has been a dedicated focus for the past few years, and it's resulted in some breakthrough moments over the past few months. This includes the terrific experiences I just had at my indoor track season opening races which just took place...