Women's Running Stories

Hillary Allen is a professional ultra distance trail runner, and she's among the best in the world. This is especially the case over steep technical mountainous terrain. Hillary's journey is remarkable not only for her running and racing success, but also because of her tremendous resilience. Her abilities to return to elite racing, or running at all, have been pushed to the edge again and again. ...

Alison Mariella Désir is a runner, mother, activist, community builder, and now author: her highly anticipated book Running While Black: Finding Freedom in a Sport that Wasn’t Built for Us is available today, October 18. Alison’s story is one of love and gratitude for running, and the power of this sport to create change. Hers is also a story of highlighting how the running world mirrors the racis...

Gina Lucrezi started to take note of the preferential treatment that the boys got in sports in high school. Her consciousness around this grew over time and combined with her love of running and her experiences in the running industry ultimately developed into her founding the women's trail running and hiking community Trail Sisters. In this episode, Gina tells the story completely in her own voic...

Cherie Louise Turner is the host and producer of Women's Running Stories (formerly known as Strides Forward), and this is a very special cross-collaboration with Hear Her Sports, hosted by Elizabeth Emery. In this episode, Cherie shares her experiences at the 56mi/89km 2022 Comrades Marathon: the oldest and largest ultra-distance road race in the world. Cherie is a lifelong athlete whose first ser...

This is the story of how Erica Stanley-Dottin went from thinking there was absolutely no way she could break 3 hours in the marathon, to understanding that she absolutely can. Key to her story are the people she is on this journey with. Erica Stanley-Dottin is a lifelong competitor and athlete, but it wasn't until she was in her 30s that she discovered her love of distance running: marathons and h...

Pat Freeman jokes that the first time her neighbor invited her to run, she thought jogging down her driveway might be enough. Now, over three decades later, she's training to run her 31st Comrades Marathon, the 90km or roughly 56-mile road race in South Africa. It's the oldest, largest, and most prestigious ultra-distance road race in the world. In this episode, Pat shares her enduring running jou...

Running legend Blanche Moila shares her story, which is a strong testament to the many ways running can be a vehicle for change. Blanche, who is now in her 60s, has been inspiring others through running since she started competing in the 1980s.  Blanche found her competitive running talents in her 20s and became one of South Africa’s best middle distance, cross-country, and marathon runners. Her a...

From a young age, Verity Breen taught herself how to race the clock: she set challenges for herself to get from one place to another as efficiently and fast as possible. She also learned how to finish what she started. Verity transformed these skills into a long career as an elite athlete, first in triathlon and then marathons. Now, at age 55, Verity has set her sights on a new discipline: ultra t...

Race photo credit: Vasily Samoylov Camille Herron, one of the best ultra runners in the world and a leading voice in the sport, speaks out about the importance of menstrual health for athletes. She tells the story of how her period played a pivotal role at this year's Western States 100 mile trail race, and also how attending to her hormone and overall health led to her navigating menstrual cramps...

Nicole Pinto was a featured runner in our Roads to Boston series and she surprised everyone by revealing at the 2021 Boston Marathon that she was 18 weeks pregnant! We had to get the whole story, so we did. This is the story of how Nicole approached training for a marathon while pregnant, and how that magical day of running her first Boston Marathon went for her.  This episode is Part 1 of a two-p...

Gael Henville discovered a pure love of running early in life, growing up in the Caribbean. After immigrating to the US, she experienced racism and bullying, and subsequent isolation. This is the story of how Gael's love of running eventually led her to discovering her own power and a driving desire to empower others through the sport, especially women of color. Gael is recognized as a leader in t...

This is a live recording featuring an intimate conversation with elite runners from then and now: Marilyn Bevans and Maegan Krifchin, to celebrate 50 years of women running the Boston Marathon. The event was co-hosted by podcast hosts Cherie Turner, of Strides Forward, and Julie Sapper and Lisa Levin, of Run Farther & Faster. This event took place April 16 at the PRX Podcast Garage in Boston.  Abo...

Roberta "Bobbi" Gibb is the first woman to ever run the Boston Marathon. That was in 1966, before it was officially allowed. It would be another six years before that ban was overturned. Gibb's brave efforts were foundational to opening up the world of competitive running to women. This episode covers Gibb's entire running journey through to how she continues to be honored today, as well as how he...

Sarah Lavender Smith was a late bloomer to becoming an athlete, but now at 52, she's been a competitive runner for half her life. We hear how Sarah got started on her running journey and how her passion for the sport was lit on day 1. It's a passion that driven her through many, many miles on road and trail, as a marathon and ultra runner. Discover what's kept Sarah committed to challenging hersel...

Cathy Utzschneider has a passion for masters racing, especially on the track, as a competitor, author, and coach. And this is certainly in large part due to the fact that she didn't start racing until she was a masters runner herself, at age 40. She has since won many championship events, coached many athletes to incredible achievements, and written extensively about masters running. Cathy also cr...

This is the running story of UK marathon Olympian Sonia Samuels. We follow her journey from its beginning, and go into detail about how she returned to running pain-free and with great enthusiasm after a long bout with injuries and burnout. A critical part of Sonia's recovery journey was the work she did with Jae Gruenke, a running form expert and Feldenkrais practitioner who founded The Balanced...

We did it! Join us to hear how the 125th Boston Marathon experience was for all eight of our runners who toed the line on October 11, 2021. Get inspired while you get an inside look at being a part of one of the most celebrated and historic sporting events in the world.  This episode is part of our Roads to Boston 2021 series, where we followed the journeys of 9 women from around the world to the...

We've been on a break and we have a few updates to share, including the fact that we'll be back with new episodes in January to close out our Boston 2021 series. And we've got great new stories coming in 2022. In the interim, please enjoy this episode from our very first series, which focuses on experiences at the world's oldest and largest ultradistance race, the Comrades Marathon. The title of t...

It's almost go time! We check in with the runners one final time before they run the 125th Boston Marathon, October 11, 2021. We'll dive into how final preparations is going, some lessons we've learned, and what we are all looking forward to. Join us for these final moments before we all toe the line to inspire your own running aspirations.  This episode is part of our Roads to Boston 2021 series,...

To fully appreciate what it means to participate in the Boston Marathon, it’s important to reflect on what it takes to get here, all of what it takes. Running Boston isn’t only about completing the distance of 26.2 miles, nor is it only about the training to get you ready for this epic race: it's also about the efforts made to even get an entry. Because Boston is not a race you can just sign up fo...

For this episode, we take a look at what training for a marathon looks like, when you are in the thick of it. Learn about what runners experience and do to prepare for running 26.2 miles. From magical long runs to nutrition experimentation, working through injury and finding the mental resolve to get through hard workouts alone, this episode gets into first-person accounts of putting in the work w...

Everyone's reason for running marathons and how they got there is different. In this episode, we learn about what inspired Nicole, Yao, and Cherie to want to go this distance. Every runner's journey to running long distances is unique, and these stories make that clear. Listen to inspire your own running goals.  This episode is part of our Roads to Boston 2021 series, where we are following the jo...

Everyone's reason for running marathons and how they got there is different. In this episode, we learn about what inspired Marija, Zarah, Rochelle, and Jonna to want to go this distance. Every runner's journey to running long distances is different, and these stories make that clear. Listen to inspire your own running goals.  This episode is part of our Roads to Boston 2021 series, where we are fo...

Everyone's reason for running marathons and how they got there is different. In this episode, we learn about what inspired Amanda Watters and Patty Hung to want to go this distance. And their marathon stories are inextricably linked to the Boston Marathon: Amanda has run 16 consecutive times, and this marathon has been a part of her life since childhood; and Patty has completed Boston an incredibl...

Every marathon journey begins with becoming a runner. Meet the 9 women of this series and learn about how they got started in this sport. These were their first strides toward what's led them to now being on their way to one of the greatest sporting events in the world: the Boston Marathon. We're all headed to one finish line on October 11, but we all started in very different ways. Please join us...