Women's Running Stories

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 voice.  Gina discovered an interest in running early on and her talent for the sport was recognized by the high school running coach. The coach was onto something: Gina set a school record in the mile and set numerous cross-country course records. She went on to be a champion DIII runner in college.  Post-college, Gina began working in the sports industry, eventually focusing on the outdoor run/hike space. She also discovered a love of trail running and racing, which ultimately led her to becoming a sponsored athlete. All along the way, Gina continued to take note of the preferential treatment male runners and racers received, in every facet of the trail running world. After numerous efforts to create change within the system, she decided to create to something herself.  Trail Sisters was born. What started as a passion project at Gina's kitchen table quickly grew to a large community of women who share experiences and support to get out on the trails. Over the past six years, Trail Sisters has developed into a leading voice in the trail running and hiking industry, helping establish a space that values and includes women.  Gina emphasizes that the power of the community is rooted in the collective efforts of all of the individuals who have been involved in Trail Sisters, in whatever capacity that is: "I feel like we're very powerful when we work together and we support each other," says Gina.  This episode is sponsored by The Feed, the largest online marketplace for your sports nutrition, offering the brands you know and love, from Skratch Labs, Clif Bar, to Maurten, plus their athlete customized supplements called Feed Formulas. In addition to supporting Strides Forward, this sponsorship supports Hear Her Sports and Keeping Track: together we are a collective of women-hosted podcasts focused on women in sports. As part of this sponsorship, you can get $80 in credit at The Feed: just go to TheFeed.com/forward to claim your $80 in credit at The Feed. Ways to Keep Up with Trail Sisters Online The Trail Sisters website: TrailSisters.net Trail Sisters on Instagram: trail_sisters Ways to Keep Up With Strides Forward Online  Website: StridesForwardPodcast.com Twitter: @stridesforward Instagram: @stridesforward

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 focused on running and she's raced distances from the 400m on the track to 50 miles on the trails, all the way to her recent completion of the historic 56-mile hilly road race, the Comrades Marathon in South Africa.  These days Cherie is excited to explore the potential and the benefits of being an older athlete and what it means to improve as an athlete as the years go by. When Cherie isn't running or telling stories about other women running on Women's Running Stories, she's probably traveling or looking at animals.  Ways to follow Hear Her Sports Hear Her Sports website: HearHerSports.com Hear Her Sports on Twitter: @hearhersports Hear Her Sports on Instagram: @hearhersports Ways to follow Women's Running Stories Women's Running Stories website: WomensRunningStories.com Women's Running Stories on Twitter: @womenrunstories Women's Running Stories on Instagram: @womensrunningstories Mentioned in this episode Women’s Running Stories podcast about Comrades Comrades Marathon Stacy Sims on Hear Her Sports Coach Tony Gentilecore Western States 100 The Balanced Runner, (Feldenkrais Method) Founder, Jae Gruenke  Tracksmith Boston Hares RxBars CETS (Cherie & Elizabeth Talk Sports)

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 she is fast at these distances. Today, she has big goals: Erica is going after a sub-3-hour marathon. This is the story of Erica's dedication and drive, and the people who helped her get to the next level.  Erica was a competitive track sprinter beginning in her teen years, all the way through college. She started out being coached by the legendary Fred Thompson, who founded the Colgate Women's Games: this is the longest running track series for women in the country; it's been happening for 47 years.  After college graduation, however, Erica decided to hang up her cleats, and running became about fitness and health. That is, until she started running with a friend who was training for the New York City Marathon. This eventually led Erica back to competitive running, but this time tackling long distances.  Her competitive spirit reignited by her distance running pursuit, Erica found her way to the competitive running team the Black Roses, a team with a particular focus on supporting women racers. Through working with her teammates and coach/team founder Knox Robinson, Erica's running progressed to the next level.  She has continued to hone her distance racing skills and reach ever faster PRs, on her quest to run the marathon in under 3 hours: at Boston 2022 she ran a 3:01. For Erica and several of her teammates, this milestone has significance for multiple reasons, including adding their names to The List. This is an account of all the American-born Black women who have run the marathon under 3 hours. To date, there are only 24 names on that list: two of them are Erica's teammates. And no doubt, she'll be there soon. Erica will be racing for this goal once again at the 2022 Berlin Marathon, September 25.  In addition to being a competitive marathon runner, Erica is the mom of two young boys; the New York City community manager for Tracksmith; and a social impact producer for the documentary Sisters on Track, which is streaming on Netflix. This episode features a bonus anecdote from Erica after the credits: it's all about world's colliding in delightfully fortunate ways and how running is about so much more than the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other. This episode is sponsored by The Feed, the largest online marketplace for your sports nutrition, offering the brands you know and love, from Skratch Labs, Clif Bar, to Maurten, plus their athlete customized supplements called Feed Formulas. In addition to supporting Strides Forward, this sponsorship supports Hear Her Sports and Keeping Track: together we are a collective of women-hosted podcasts focused on women in sports. As part of this sponsorship, you can get $80 in credit at The Feed: just go to TheFeed.com/forward to claim your $80 in credit at The Feed. Erica is on Instagram: @estanleydott Black Roses is on Instagram: @blackrosesnyc Sisters On Track documentary website: https://www.sistersontrack.com/ Tracksmith calendar of events Tracksmith newsletter sign up Ways to Keep Up With Strides Forward on Social Media Twitter: @stridesforward Instagram: @stridesforward

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 journey. This episode celebrates the return of Comrades, which has been on hiatus since 2019 due to COVID.  Growing up in South Africa, Pat Freeman had been a Comrades spectator since childhood, but it was something that only the men did. And that was true for a good part of her life: Comrades didn't open to women until 1974. But even after that, for Pat, running was a pursuit for men. Until one fateful day when a neighbor who was running by suggested they run together.  Pat discovered how running helped her through rough patches and gave her a sense of confidence and accomplishment.  And over time, her runs and races continued to get longer until, one day, she was lining up for Comrades. Running became a foundation of wellness that she could rely on, as well as a source for adventures and building strong relationships. While she never set out to run Comrades over multiple decades, every year when it was time to start training for this spectacular event, she had a reason to do it again.  When Pat finishes Comrades this year, she'll be one of three women who have run Comrades the most in its long history. She is also a member of the Comrades Board of Directors.  The Comrades Marathon started in 1921 and has run every year since, other than during war time and during COVID. This year marks the much awaited return of this beloved event.  We here at Strides Forward have a deep love of Comrades: it's spectacular history, traditions, and cultural significance. It is truly a magical event. To learn more about Comrades and hear more women's experiences there, please enjoy our whole series dedicated to the event: http://stridesforwardpodcast.com/podcast/women-comrades-marathon This episode is sponsored by The Feed, the largest online marketplace for your sports nutrition, offering the brands you know and love, from Skratch Labs, Clif Bar, to Maurten, plus their athlete customized supplements called Feed Formulas. In addition to supporting Strides Forward, this sponsorship supports Hear Her Sports and Keeping Track. Together we are the podcast network Keeping Her Forward, a collective of women-hosted podcasts focused on women in sports.  As part of this sponsorship, you can get $80 in credit at The Feed: just go to TheFeed.com/forward to claim your $80 in credit at The Feed.  Ways to Keep Up With Strides Forward on Social Media Twitter: @stridesforward Instagram: @stridesforward

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 accomplishments broke down racial barriers and, eventually, made her an inspiration throughout the country.   After her elite running career, Blanche began to regularly participate in the Comrades Marathon. As of 2019, she has completed the event 16 times, and in 2004, she was the face of Comrades.  Blanche, a psychiatric nurse, continues to be an inspiration to young girls and women and works to change negative beliefs about women and running. She does this by continuing to set an example with her own running, as well as public speaking, mentoring, and coaching. Also, Blanche runs Comrades for charity: in 2019, she ran for the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust.  You can learn more about the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust on their website.  I first learned about Blanche through Bob de la Motte’s book Runaway Comrade.  Additional audio for this episode comes the 2017 Comrades Marathon Promotional Video

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 trail racing. Self-coached and forensic in her approach to training and racing, Verity is fixed on finding out just how far she can go in ultra racing. And in hand, she's helping to rewrite the script of what it means to be a woman over 50. Verity Breen has raced over a hundred marathons as well as 5ks, 10ks, half marathons and ultras, and she has had a lot of wins and top finishes throughout. She's won numerous state titles in her home country of Australia, and she's been the Australian national champion in the marathon and the 50km (roughly 31 miles) road race. She's represented her home country at both the 50km road world championships and the mountain running world championships. In her earlier days, when she was competing in triathlon in the Olympic distance races, she was a member of the Australian world championship team for 20 to 25 year-olds.  This is all to say, Verity understands how to prepare for and execute peak performances at an elite level. In her story, Verity shares how she developed her self-coaching and training skills, and how she's taking all that experience to the trails. She's developing her technical abilities and overcoming fears. Verity also runs watch-free, choosing instead to rely on her well honed ability to pace herself and listen to her body. Simply put, she loves to run and her enthusiasm is infectious.  This episode is sponsored by The Feed, the largest online marketplace for your sports nutrition, offering the brands you know and love, from Skratch Labs, Clif Bar, to Maurten, plus their athlete customized supplements called Feed Formulas. In addition to supporting Strides Forward, this sponsorship supports Hear Her Sports and Keeping Track. Together we are the podcast network Keeping Her Forward, a collective of women-hosted podcasts focused on women in sports.  As part of this sponsorship, you can get $80 in credit at The Feed: just go to TheFeed.com/forward to claim your $80 in credit at The Feed.  Ways to Keep Up with Verity on Social Media  Verity is on Instagram: @verity_breen Verity is on Facebook Verity's website: VerityBreen.com More episodes about 50-plus women runners continuing to crush it Sarah Lavender-Smith: Competitive Running Longevity Cathy Utzschneider: A Champion After 40, A Passion for Masters Racing Sophie Speidel: A Menopause Journey as a Competitive Athlete Barbara Hannah Grufferman: How Menopause and a (Literal) Sign Ignited a Passion for Running and Aging Well   

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 discussions around periods and healthy eating.  In this story, in addition to unveiling what really happened at States, Camille talks about how she's understood as a young athlete that period health is a sign of overall wellness and is linked to proper nourishment. She has never, in her long career as a competitive long-distance runner, missed her period.  Camille also goes into detail about the role oral contraception has played in her health and wellness journey. Camille had used oral contraception for years, and it had worked well for her, until it didn't. Her decision to go off oral contraception improved her health and wellness, but ultimately led to getting her period at Western States. This all speaks to the complexities of our changing bodies and highlights the need to better understand and discuss strategies for working with those changes.  Loss of menstruation is all too common with women athletes, and that is especially true in the sport of running. It is, as Camille emphasizes, not normal and further is a sign of poor nourishment, which impacts performance, training, and it has short- and long-term health impacts.  Period loss is a key symptom of RED-s, a serious health condition caused by under-fueling. For more on that subject, please listen to our episodes that focus on experiences with RED-s:  Ann Ashworth: A RED-s Recovery to Running Healthy, Strong, and Fast Charlotte Gibbs: A RED-s Journey to Rediscovering the Joy of Running Megan Flanagan: A Young Runner's Journey through RED-s To hear about Camille's epic Comrades win, please listen here:  Camille Herron + Comrades Marathon: Dream Race Ways to Keep Up With Camille on Social Media  Camille is on Instagram: @runcamille Camille is on Twitter: @runcamille Mentioned in this episode: Inside Tracker The Flow App Ways to Keep Up With Strides Forward on Social Media Twitter: @stridesforward Instagram: @stridesforward

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 scheduled to run the Boston Marathon in 2020, but then . . . COVID. She also wanted to start a family. These two pursuits came together over the course of 2021: Nicole got her entry into the October 2021 Boston Marathon and she got pregnant. Her training and racing journey, then, took on a whole new approach.  This is the story of how it all went down: the research, the concerns, the precautions, the joys, the worries, and ultimately, the victory. Nicole talks about the support and the pushback; how being in the medical field helped her navigate the process; how her experience with and knowledge of the science of the body helped her make good choices and boost her confidence; and how advocating for yourself around health is really important. Nicole wanted to show through example how capable and strong women can be through pregnancy. We are honored to share this story. Keep Up with Nicole on Instagram @runner_nic Hear Nicole's whole running story in our Roads to Boston series  Want to hear additional stories about pregnancy and running. Check out these two episodes: Sally Kipyego: Becoming a Mother Runner, Navigating Pregnancy toward a Bid for the Olympics Beatie Deutsch: Pregnancy, Fast Marathons, Shattering Stereotypes  Ways to follow Strides Forward Online Learn more about Strides Forward on our websiteLearn about how you can submit a story for consideration on the next Strides Behind the Mic episodeFollow Strides Forward on Instagram and Twitter: @StridesForward

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 this episode, we recommended the following stories, in honor of Juneteenth:  Running While Black: Finding Freedom in a Sport that Wasn't Built for Us by Alison Mariella Désir, available for preorder Temple’s Tigerbelles by Dwight Lewis and Susan Thomas, illustrated by James Threalkill Tigerbelle: The Wyomia Tyus Story by Elizabeth Terzakis and Wyomia Tyus The Black Sportswoman website and newsletter by Bria Felicien  Olympic Pride, American Prejudice, the documentary (and book) by Deborah Riley Draper A Spectacular Leap by Jennifer Lansbury Also mentioned in this episode: Sister on Track documentaryLearn about ParkRun. For people in the US, here's the link to ParkRun USA.  Submit your story for consideration to be included on a future Strides Behind the Mic episode: we're excited to share stories from you, the listener. Each Strides Behind the Mic episode, we will share three listener stories. Please record yourself telling a 1-3 minute story related to the prompt "Share a memorable moment from a recent run" and email it to Strides Forward producer Cherie at [email protected].  You can also use the form on our websiteBe sure to include details about why this moment was so memorable. Please share where in the world you were running, and if you want to, please include your name.  Have questions about how to record yourself and email your recording, please feel free to email Cherie, [email protected].  Visit Strides Forward on our website Catch up with us on Instagram and Twitter: at both, we're @StridesForward

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 for her community leadership and coaching skills, as well as her own experiences as a running, Gael was chosen by the Boston Athletic Association to lead its first pre-marathon shakeout run in 2021, and then again in 2022. Gael is a driving force in building bridges among the diverse running communities of the Boston area.  Keep Up with Gael on Instagram @witnessthefitness617 Learn more about the Road to Wellness 5k here, which takes place on September 10, 2022. Thank you to the How Was Your Run Today podcast for allowing us to use audio from their August 26, 2021, episode: Episode 235: Road to Wellness 5kThe episode features great interviews with Thaddeus Miles and Gael. We encourage you to listen.  Thank you also to Suzanne Walmsley, Director of Youth and Community Engagement for the Boston Athletic Association, for being part of this episode. Ways to follow Strides Forward Online Ways to follow Strides Forward Online Learn more about Strides Forward on our websiteLearn about how you can submit a story for consideration on the next Strides Behind the Mic episodeFollow Strides Forward on Instagram and Twitter: @StridesForward