Our Collective Stories

You know the feeling after a good run. Maybe your thoughts seem a little quieter. Your shoulders drop. The problem you were replaying in your head doesn’t feel quite as big as it did before you left. You may not feel completely different, but you feel enough of a shift to remember why you run in the first place. So why can it be so hard to do it again tomorrow?

The best beginner running plan is one that matches your current fitness level, gives your body enough time to recover, and feels realistic enough to follow consistently. For most beginner runners, that means running about three days per week, using run walk intervals, building time and distance gradually, and adding simple strength training along the way.

For Brian and Amy Contreras, running is very much a family affair. They trained for the Sydney Marathon together. Brian was Amy’s running coach. Amy described herself as Brian’s “hype woman.” Their seven-year-old daughter has grown up around the sport so much that she assumes running marathons is simply a thing adults do. “Our kid thinks it’s so normal to run marathons,” Amy laughed. What she doesn’t know yet is that her parents’ paths to the marathon starting line have looke

For Stephanie Williams, running has never been only about finish lines, race times, or medals. It has been something she can come back to when life feels heavy—a steady companion alongside therapy and the other tools she uses to care for her mental health. This fall, Stephanie will line up for the Chicago Marathon with Team Still I Run. It will be her fourth time running Chicago, but this one carries a little more weight: Chicago will be Stephanie’s 10th marathon, and she kne

Sue Pujdak has been a runner since her early twenties, but the role running plays in her life today is very different from when she first laced up. A former competitive swimmer, Sue initially turned to running because she was ready for a change of scenery. “I got really tired of looking at the bottom of the pool,” she said. Running gave her the chance to get outside and spend time in nature. As the miles added up, she discovered something else she hadn’t necessarily been look

Lauren Breinlinger has a lot competing for her time. She’s a mom of two young children, a first responder wife, and a project manager in the government sector. Most days, she says it feels like she has three full-time jobs, even though technically she only has one. Still, Lauren finds time to run whenever she can. She runs during marathon training, of course, but she also keeps running when there isn’t a race on the calendar.