Women's Running Stories

Dani Moreno is a professional mountain runner with Adidas Terrex, and she is one of the best in the world. Her specialty has been sub ultra …

Molly Huddle is already a legend in the running world, and her story continues to develop. She's a two-time Olympian, multi-time national champion, …

Emma Grace Hurley is a young professional runner with the Atlanta Track Club. She is relatively new to racing longer distances on the road, having raced her first road races as a pro last year.

In this race report, Emma …

In this special collaboration with Hear Her Sports, we talk to Jae Gruenke, a Feldenkrais practitioner and running form expert, and founder of The …

Erika Kemp will be racing 26.2 miles for the first time ever at the 2023 Boston Marathon on April 17. As one of the top professional distance road racers in the United States today, Erika has had a lot of success. But …

Lauren Hagans (formerly Paquette), a professional distance runner and member of the HOKA NAZ Elite team, takes us inside the 2023 USATF Half Marathon …

Sara Mae Berman started running and paving the way for other women's distance runners in the 1960s and 1970s. She is best known these days for winning the Boston Marathon three times: 1969, 1970, 1971. In those years, …

Lindsey Cortes is a runner and dietician who specializes in helping women athletes overcome the challenges of disordered eating and negative body image through her business Rise Up Nutrition. She brings both …

We're excited to bring you a something a little different and let you know about another women-hosted podcast that features women runners. Please enjoy this episode from the podcast Starting Line 1928, which features …

Professional runner Maegan Krifchin wanted to make the 2022 NYC Marathon an epic day. A native of Long Island, the Atlanta Track Club runner visualized bettering her 2:30 PR (2021 Chicago Marathon) while also breaking …

Well into her 30s, Tiffany Gayle Chenault didn't have any interest in running, even when she said yes to a friend who asked her to run a 5-mile event …

If you aren't familiar with Hillary's racing career, it's likely because most of the racing she's done is in Europe where the style and the terrain of the racing suits her; it's what she really loves. Hillary is also …

In this episode, Alison tells her running journey and touches on many of the topics that are featured in her book. Let this serve, then, as an …

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 …

Cherie is a lifelong athlete whose first serious competitive love was racing bicycles on the road and track; in the early 90s she earned her way on to a professional domestic team. Her post cycling life has primarily …

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 half-marathons, specifically. She also discovered that …

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 …

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 …

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. …

We are honored that Camille Herron chose to tell her menstrual health story and the details of her Western States experience here first. We strongly support her adding her strong voice to the efforts to destigmatize …

Nicole Pinto has been a runner, from track racing to marathons, for years. We feature her backstory in our Road to Boston series. Nicole had been …

Keep up with the women from our listener stories via these outlets mentioned on the show:  

Jenna: When the People Decide podcast and Democracy Works podcast

Tiffany: RunISee50.com

Sophie: What Next Mum podcast and blog

In …

Gael Henville has run over 100 races, and counting, from 5ks to marathons, including four times at the Boston Marathon. She is a private coach as well as the long-time head coach for the Road to Wellness 5k. Recognized …

In this episode, we recommended the following books: 

How She Did It: Stories, Advice and Secrets to Success from 50 Legendary Distance Runners by …

About the featured guests: 

Marilyn Bevans is a pioneer in US women’s marathoning. In the 1970s, she became the first nationally competitive American-born Black woman marathon runner in the US, and she is the first …

This is a very special episode, honoring a momentous anniversary. April 18th, 2022, is the 50th anniversary of women finally, officially, being allowed to run the Boston Marathon. Many women's brave efforts contributed …

Sarah has done races as "short" as a road marathon, numerous 50ks, 50-milers, and 100-milers, all the way through to several self-supported …

In this episode, we mentioned RunYoung50, which shares stories of women's running history and stories about older women runners. You can find …

Cathy has won multiple national championships on the track and earned a podium placing at the World Masters Games. She has written for National …

Sonia Samuels discovered her love of running at an early age, and it led her to the biggest stages of sport. But after reaching the peak of …

We're excited to share stories from you, the listener. Each Strides Behind the Mic episode, we'll give you a prompt. Please record yourself telling a 1-3 minute story related to the prompt and email it to Strides …

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 125th Boston …

Camille Herron fell in love with South Africa’s 90-kilometer Comrades Marathon as a child in Oklahoma, and it became her number one goal to win this …

This episode is part of our Roads to Boston 2021 series, where we are following the journeys of 9 women from around the world to the 125th Boston …

This episode is part of our Roads to Boston 2021 series, where we are following the journeys of 9 women from around the world to the 125th Boston …

This episode is part of our Roads to Boston 2021 series, where we are following the journeys of 9 women from around the world to the 125th Boston …

This episode is part of our Roads to Boston 2021 series, where we are following the journeys of 9 women from around the world to the 125th Boston …

This episode is part of our Roads to Boston 2021 series, where we are following the journeys of 9 women from around the world to the 125th Boston …

This episode is part of our Roads to Boston 2021 series, where we are following the journeys of 9 women from around the world to the 125th Boston …

For this series, we're following the running stories of 9 women runners, from around the world, who are all preparing for the historic 125th Boston …

The last Boston Marathon took place April 2019. And finally, this legendary event is back, in person. For every participant who gets an entry to Boston, it's a victory all its own: you can't just sign up for Boston, you …

Megan started linking thinness with performance at a young age. Body commentary, prevalent ideals of what a winning distance runner should look, and …

Since this episode ran in early 2020, Dagmara was named to the Tokyo Olympic Team, so you can learn about her here and  then cheer for her at the Games. 

From Hear Her Sports: Sabre fencer Dagmara Wozniak is a two time …

Beatie Deutsch had always been athletic. But after getting married and having four children in quick succession during her 20s, she realized she’d left that athletic part of herself behind to care for her growing …

RED-s is the syndrome that used to be called the female athlete triad. It's very common among women long-distance runners, and it can be a tricky syndrome to diagnose: Ann's story gets into many of the reasons why. But …

Dawn Harper Nelson is an Olympic gold (2008) and silver (2012) medalist in the 100-meter hurdles. In this powerful and important interview, Dawn goes …

As Barbara Hannah Grufferman approached her 50th birthday, she was feeling, as she describes it, the “umpies”: lumpy, grumpy, and frumpy. Her health …

Sally Kipyego was born in Kenya and started running at a young age. She discovered early on that she had talent and a will be seek the ultimate …

Charlotte Gibbs shares her very personal journey about how her pursuit to become the best athlete she could be led her down the far too common and …

Sophie Speidel is a lifelong athlete: being a competitor is motivating, rewarding, and fun. But there's a simple fact that comes with aging: our …

Courtney Dauwalter is well known in the ultra running community, and news of her accomplishments has even extended into mainstream media. She started …

At Strides Forward, we're always interested to learn about how running is more than the act of putting one foot in front of the other. What do we take into our everyday lives that we learn from running? How does this …

This bonus episode features clips from ultramarathon runners Camille Herron, Renata Vosloo, Cathy Hopkins, Devon Yanko, Karen Williams, and Shirley …

Cheryl Winn has a decades-long and multifaceted relationship with the Comrades Marathon. In this episode, we touch on all of it. Cheryl was an elite …

Karen Williams came to running later in life and it took some encouragement. But she discovered that she actually enjoyed running, and even more, she …

We follow Shirley Mosiakgabo's story from the early days of discovering a joy for making running a regular part of her life through to her …

South African firefighter and now single mother of two Enie Manzini discovered her love and talent for running at a young age and began running seriously in 2007. Not long after, Enie had the first child. Committed to …

South African Renata Vosloo has loved running since she was young, and she had talent to run fast. For many years, half-marathons were her thing. But the pressure to run Comrades was so great, she decided, “Just once.” 

…

Ann Ashworth had a vision to make a difference and saw a lack of support for aspiring elite South African women long-distance runners. She made it her mission to create a team that brought more South African women into …

Every episode we highlight one entry from our long list of recommended resources, which are focused on women and running. And for this episode, the highlighted resource is Lessons In Badassery, a personal blog project …

Canadian Cathy Hopkins shares her journey of finding her joy in running by sharing it with others. While running can often appear to be completely …

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 …

Camille’s journey includes finding ultra racing after years of being an elite marathon runner. Back to Comrades, in addition to winning it being her …

When Anjali entered a half-marathon, with no training, in 2015, she had no idea about the running talents she’d discover. Shortly thereafter, she learned about the Comrades and decided she had to run; when she …

Devon Yanko discusses why Comrades, the largest and oldest ultra-distance running race in the world, is so close to her heart, and why she has …

Welcome to Women's Running Stories, the podcast that explores the intersection of running and life, through thoughtfully produced story-telling by …