Women's Running Stories

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 jubilantly embracing her place at the b...

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 last weekend, on December 13. Ther...

In recent times, Caryn—who lives in Texas and also spends a lot of time in Colorado—became the first person (as far as we can find) to qualify for and run the Boston Marathon after a knee replacement surgery, thanks to a procedure done by Dr Richard Berger. 

And, Caryn’s story is about that, but also so much more. Caryn has faced significant traumas in life, among them experiences with disordered eating, and she has been impacted by...

Elizabeth Sheridan has developed a great love of ParkRun, and it has inspired travel all around the US and to many other parts of the world; currently ParkRun happens in 22 countries, and Elizabeth has done a ParkRun in every one of those countries, except Australia.  

If you aren’t familiar with ParkRun, it’s a free, weekly, timed 5k. No registration, no bib numbers. It’s not even a race: some people run fast, some people jog, some...

Mikka Kei has been running since childhood, and the significance of running has shifted as she’s moved, grown, and evolved through life. For Mikka Kei, running has taken different forms, but it’s been a nonnegotiable part of her life, whether she’s had to negotiate with her parents to run as a teenager in Nepal, jumped at the chance to discover the Appalachian Trail with family friends,  or challenged herself in marathons and ultra...

Emma Bord had a dream to run the six major marathons, and she started on that path with the 2024 New York City Marathon, which she ran for her 40th birthday. How she managed to get into, travel to, and run all these major races within 12  months is what this story is all about.

 And of course, Emma's story is about so much more: it’s about facing fears, processing mom guilt, developing rock solid mental and emotional strength, and n...

Starre’s story is a little different from many of the stories you’ll typically hear on WRS. It isn’t only about running: Starre is a runner, but she’s also a swimmer, dancer, and weightlifter. And Starre doesn’t compete in running: she doesn’t have marathon dreams or go after PRs.
However, being a runner, being an athlete, has been fundamental to her understanding of just how capable and strong and resilient and tough women’s bodies...

Over the course of her life, Liz has overcome a lot, and running plays a central role in the peace she has today.

Liz’s story follows her larger health journey, up through her most recent big goal, to mark the end of her 40s, and welcome in her 50th birthday.  

How to Follow Liz Andersen

On Instagram: @pnw_introvertedrunner

Mentioned in this Episode

WRS episode, We Out Here Trail Festival: on ⁠Apple⁠, on ⁠Spotify⁠

Stefanie Flippin on Ins...

Stephanie self-describes as a wife, mom, and running coach, yoga teacher and  podcast host: she hosts The Runner’s Round Table Podcast. Stephanie also founded Correr Running Retreats. In addition to all that, she is a distance runner and run community advocate. 

Stephanie came to running in her adult years, and has run over 200 races of various distances, in various places all over the world. This includes one ultra marathon and ove...

This episode features elite runner Ari Hendrix and how she is refinding her joy in the sport.

This is Ari’s second time on the podcast; her first appearance was back on December 1, 2023. At that point in time, she was putting the finishing touches on her preparation for the 2024 Olympic Trials Marathon.

That earlier episode covered her running journey to that point: how Ari got into running and how she first broke three hours in the ...

This In Memory reair marks the deeply sad occasion of the tragic death of legendary racer and running community leader in South Africa, Cheryl Winn. Winn passed on October 5. 

This episode first aired on October 16, 2020.

Cheryl Winn is the 1982 Comrades Marathon champion and was the Chairperson of this historic event 2017 to 2021. This episode tells her Comrades story, from her early days of running through to her experiences and...

This is a special Part 2 episode featuring runner, role model, and groundbreaking racer Shawanna White. If you have not listened to part 1 of Shawanna’s story, which is just above this episode in your feed, I suggest you go back and start there. 

This episode picks up where that episode left off. Shawanna had finished that part of her story discussed being inducted into the National Black Distance Running Hall of Fame, which happ...

This episode features Shawanna White, a very prolific competitor who has been recognized for her many accomplishments and contributions to the running community. Among her accolades, White was featured in the running documentary Breaking Three Hours, Trailblazing African American Women Marathoners; in 2022, she was inducted into the National Black Distance Running Hall of Fame; and she helped create The List, which keeps an account...

This episode features Nadia Ruiz, who is a hugely prolific runner, with a special fondness for the marathon. This is a love that began when she was a teenager. Running has been a source of strength, empowerment, and self-confidence, as well as healing: running has seen Nadia through good times and also through some dark moments. Up to today, when Nadia is hitting new highs in the sport, in her 40s.  

In addition to her long history...

This episode features Marwa Ali, who is from Kabul, Afghanistan, and now lives in exile as a refugee in Paris, France. How and why she left her home country and the part running and sports played in that journey is what her story is about. Moreover, it's about the power of being an athlete.

Marwa Ali, who is now 24 years old, has been an athlete since childhood. She grew up in Afghanistan during a time when the rights and freedoms...

Verna Volker first started running as a way to improve her health. Over time, however, her relationship to the sport has grown and changed, to become a more personal and powerful part of her life. She started out pursuing road marathons and then moved to the trails, stretching her limits in ultra trail running. As her journey has evolved, so have her motivations.

This is a story about how Volker has shaped her running journey to be...

This episode features Mary Cass, one of New England's most competitive masters racers. At age 63, she is crushing it, and she's also one of the most generous racers you'll meet. Mary has that wonderful combination of being really open about sharing her knowledge and advice before and after races, and then from the time the gun goes off to the finish line, she's a fierce competitor.

Mary is undoubtedly an inspiration, and she has ...

It's been a summer of training and getting back to racing; surviving the heat, building back speed and strength, and looking ahead, with a new coach.

Plus, a shout out to the power of breathwork, especially for managing anxiety.

Mentioned in this Episode

The last update from me, Cherie: womensrunningstories.com/wrs-host-cherie-back-to-training-running-update-mid-mar-mid-may-2025

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Arielle Knutson has been an athlete since she was young, and this has shaped her life. She starting with gymnastics and then moved on to road running, triathlon, and trail running.

As she developed in her adult years and her career life, Arielle discovered strong connections between her work and athletic life. She went with it, and the two became strongly intertwined. And, in both realms of her life, Arielle goes all in.

In this ...