Patty Hung, a retired teacher who now works as a pediatric nurse, never set out to run more consecutive Boston Marathons than any other woman. But that's the position she finds herself today. On April 17, 2023, when Patty crosses the finish line at the marathon, she will have completed her 37th consecutive Boston Marathon, more than any other woman in the history of the event. She'll break the record previously set by Andrea Hatch, who last ran the Boston Marathon in 2013.

Patty, who was born and raised in Boston but moved to California many decades ago, turned to running marathons during a challenging time in her life: when she was getting through a divorce and figuring out how to raise her three young sons on her own. Training for and running the Boston Marathon became a way to keep her mentally and physically healthy, and to stay connected with family.

Here Patty shares her story: her love of running marathons and what's kept her coming back year after year.

Patty was part of our Roads to Boston series, which told the running stories of 9 women all the way through to the finish line of the 2021 Boston Marathon.

Listen to the Roads to Boston series here: https://womensrunningstories.com/podcast/roads-to-boston-9-runners-1-finish-line

Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories

Instagram: @womensrunningstories

Twitter: @WomenRunStories

Website: womensrunningstories.com

Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com

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In this race report, get the inside story on how the Cherry Blossom 10-mile USATF national championship played out from the perspective of elite amateur racer Amber Zimmerman.

Amber, who races for the Tracksmith amateur support program, has been in this sport for a long, long time. But as she herself has said on many occasions, she feels like up through her college career, she was performing at a subpar level. She moved into triathlon for a little while after graduation and has similar feelings about her performances in that sport, even though she was entering into the pro ranks.

In 2021, Amber had a difficult year, and then she decided to change things up: she recommitted to running, reassessed her work life balance and how she was training; and changed her mental and emotional approach to the sport. And that has really shifted things.

Amber saw her first big result come at the end of last year, with a big win at the Philly Marathon. She has her sights on being ready to throw down at the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials next February, and is gearing up by putting herself in the action at top races this year. Her strong, determined performance at this 10-miler is testament that Amber is on an excellent trajectory.

Mentioned in this episode

Fast Women article about Amber Zimmerman: women.org/2022/11/27/amber-zimmerman-slows-down-to-run-fast/">https://fast-women.org/2022/11/27/amber-zimmerman-slows-down-to-run-fast/

Amber on Twitter: https://twitter.com/atothezphd

Amber on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a.to_the.z/

Photo credit: Clay Shaw

Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories

Instagram: @womensrunningstories

Twitter: @WomenRunStories

Website: womensrunningstories.com

Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com

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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 distances, which our distances of a marathon or shorter. A traditional marathon is 26.2 miles or 42.2 kilometers. Among Dani's many outstanding accomplishments, last year she placed 3rd at the highly prestigious 50-kilometer/31-mile OCC; this is part of the UTMB series of events, which are widely considered the equivalent of world championship events given the level of competition.

In an exciting turn of focus, this year, for the very first time, Danny is racing a road marathon. She'll be lining up as part of the elite field at the Boston Marathon, April 17, 2023. Get ready to cheer her on by getting an in-depth look at her running story.

Dani has a long career in the sport of running, beginning in childhood. This episode covers Dani's entire running journey, with a special focus on how this sport has played a key role in her development as a person. Through the ups and downs of puberty, the pressure-cooker situation of collegiate NCAA D1 racing, through to almost giving up on the sport completely, and then on to finding just the right amount of support and patience she needed to begin to discover her potential as a professional runner.

Dani's story highlights many of the glorious parts of running and racing, as well as common pit-falls, especially experienced by girls and young women as they develop.

Join us in following Dani's journey to the 2023 Boston Marathon, and beyond, as she continues to set her sights on where this professional running life will take her.

Ways to Keep Up With Dani Moreno

Dani's website: moreno.com/">https://www.dani-moreno.com/

Dani on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dan_yell_a/

Dani on Twitter: https://twitter.com/danirunstrails

Mentioned in this episode

Trail Running Insider Ep.2 - Mont-Blanc Marathon video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpDRoq6hCrI

Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories

Instagram: @womensrunningstories

Twitter: @WomenRunStories

Website: womensrunningstories.com

Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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, and American record setter. In addition, she is a strong voice in the women's running space, as a writer and podcaster: she's published many articles, co-wrote the book How She Did It: Stories, Advice, and Secrets to Success from Fifty Legendary Distance Runners, and is the co-host of the women's sports podcast Keeping Track.

In this episode, Molly shares how it all went down at the New York City Marathon, her second elite-level race since having her daughter in April 2022. Molly was also a spokesperson for the event, with a focus on her as a new mom, as well as a 3-time back to back to back champion at this race, 2015-2017.

Molly has been very deliberate about sharing her pregnancy and post-partum journey as a professional runner as a way of moving the sport forward and advocating for more support of professional running moms and moms to be.

This episode covers not only Molly's racing life leading up to and in the race, but also her larger role in the event, sharing her experience navigating professional running and motherhood. As she's said, when you're a professional runner, "your body is your business," so planning to have a baby is something you give a lot of thought to. And it's a process without a lot of guidance or enough support, yet.

Ways to Keep Up with Molly Huddle

Instagram: @mollyhuddle

Keeping Track podcast website: track.com/">https://keeping-track.com/

Keeping Track podcast on Instagram: @keeptrackmedia

How She Did It book website: https://howshediditbook.com/

How She Did It on Instagram: @howshediditbook

Mentioned in this Episode

&mother website: https://andmother.org/

&mother Instagram: @andmother_org

Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories

Instagram: @womensrunningstories

Twitter: @WomenRunStories

Website: womensrunningstories.com

Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Grace gives us some background on her racing career, as well as the inside scoop on how things went down at the 2023 USATF 15k National Championships, which were held on March 6 at the Gate River Run in Jacksonville, Florida.

With Emily Sisson lining up, it was an all but foregone conclusion that she would run away with the win, which she did. The American record holder in the marathon and half-marathon, Emily Sisson is having a "moment," to put it mildly.

But how would the rest of the race unfold for this stellar field of competition? Emma Grace had her sights on making sure she had some say in the matter, which is exactly what she did. No doubt, we'll be hearing a lot from Emma Grace in the future.

Stay tuned to the end of the episode to hear top 10 results from this incredible field of top American runners.

Keep Up With Emma Grace Hurley

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmagracehurley/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/emmagracehurley

Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories

Instagram: @womensrunningstories

Twitter: @WomenRunStories

Website: womensrunningstories.com

Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

Both Cherie Turner (host of Women’s Running Stories, WRS) and Elizabeth Emery (host of Hear Her Sports) have experience working with Jae, especially in her online running form camp. But Feldenkrais and Jae’s approach to running form work is different and feels almost mysterious. Elizabeth and Cherie wanted to learn more, and get a greater understanding of what makes this work so powerful and also challenging, especially for runners and others who focus on working harder and putting in more effort to get results. 

Jae is also featured in the WRS episode "Olympian Sonia Samuels with Movement Expert Jae Gruenke: Recovering Skillful, Pain-Free Running": https://womensrunningstories.com/olympian-sonia-samuels-with-movement-expert-jae-gruenke-recovering-skillful-pain-free-running

About Jae Gruenke

Jae Gruenke is known as “the wise woman of running” and has helped runners from beginner to Olympian relieve pain and improve their performance; she specializes in helping runners whose problems have persisted despite medical treatment.

Jae’s interest in running technique was sparked when, as a professional dancer, she was asked to perform choreography that included sustained running in large, outdoor environments. Frustrated by how difficult and uncomfortable running felt, she began to study running technique and use the Feldenkrais Professional Training Program she was enrolled in as a laboratory to discover how to coordinate her movements so that running felt comfortable, easy, and enjoyable.

Eventually, realizing she’d come to prefer running to dancing, and also that the changes in movement that had made the difference to her running were not being taught, discussed, or researched elsewhere, she retired from dancing and launched The Balanced Runner.

Jae has been a member of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America since 1999 and the United Kingdom since 2011, and was an ACE-certified personal trainer from 1999-2012. 

She graduated from Williams College in 1992 where she majored in literary studies and cross-enrolled at Bennington College to study modern dance. Working as a professional dancer from 1992-2003, she performed with a number of New York City-based companies, and at the time of her retirement from dance in 2003 she was a senior company member of Sarah Skaggs Dance.

Ways to Keep Up With Jae Gruenke and The Balanced Runner

Website: https://balancedrunner.com

The Balanced Runner on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/balancedrunner/featured

Online Running Form Camp (mentioned in the episode): https://www.balancedrunner.com/online-training-camps

Ways to Keep Up With Hear Her Sports

Join Hear Her Sports on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hearhersports

Find all episodes: http://www.hearhersports.com/

Find Hear Her Sports on all social media @hearhersports

Ways to Keep Up With Keeping Track

Find all episodes: track.com/">https://keeping-track.com/

Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories

Instagram: @womensrunningstories

Twitter: @WomenRunStories

Website: womensrunningstories.com

Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 she's also gone through some significant challenges. Through it all she's gained wisdom, which she brings to her training, racing, and career choices.

Erika began racing in high school and found early success. But she wasn't completely sold on the sport until she reached her college years. Racing for North Carolina State University, Erika had great teammates, great coaches, great success, and probably most importantly, she had a great time and discovered a deep drive to explore her ultimate potential in the sport.

Erika turned pro right out of college, becoming a member of the Boston Athletic Association professional team in 2018. In her time as a pro, she has upped her racing distances and earned two national titles; she also won the 2021 USATF Running Circuit over title. But, she has also had her fair share of defeats and frustrations. Through it all, Erika has absorbed the wisdom of her experiences. And she'll be taking all of that to the start line of her first marathon on April 17, where she'll be representing her new team, Brooks Running.

Erika shares the story of her entire running journey, as she prepares for her next great challenge, the marathon. Along the way, we get to celebrate her wins, learn from her difficulties, and get excited to cheer her on at Boston.

Keep Up with Erika Kemp

Instagram: @imtinyrik

Twitter: @IMTINYRIK

Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories

Instagram: @womensrunningstories

Twitter: @WomenRunStories

Website: womensrunningstories.com

Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lauren Hagans (formerly Paquette), a professional distance runner and member of the HOKA NAZ Elite team, takes us inside the 2023 USATF Half Marathon National Championships. Her bold decision and gutsy racing earned Hagans a close second place, her first podium finish at a national championship.

Hagans has a long racing career and has been a top competitor at many distances. The half-marathon is the longest distance she's raced, yet.

In addition to letting us know what went down in the race, Hagans shares why she had to take most of 2022 off racing, where's she at now, and what she's looking forward to.

Keep Up With Lauren Hagans

Instagram: @haagendazs_86

Twitter: @HotPaquettes

HOKA NAZ Elite Team Profile: https://nazelite.com/athletes/lauren-paquette/

Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories

Instagram: @womensrunningstories

Twitter: @WomenRunStories

Website: womensrunningstories.com

Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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, women weren't officially allowed to run marathons in the United States.

However, there was that six year period between 1966 and 1971 when women ran Boston unofficially. It all started with Bobbi Gibb, when she popped out from behind the bushes to run the 1966 Boston Marathon. Bobbi went on to win again in '67 and '68, and then Sara picked up the torch and won the next three years. The rules changed for the following year and women were officially allowed to run marathons beginning in 1972.

In addition to work that supported other women runners and helped change the rules that limited women's participation in running, Sara Mae was one of the fastest marathon runners in the world on record during her peak. The strides she and other women of her generation made helped set the bar and lay the foundation for the future of women's distance running in the United States.

Mentioned in this episode

Starting Line 1928 podcast: an oral history project featuring interviews with pioneering women runners: https://www.startingline1928.com/

Bobbi Gibb: The First Woman of the Boston Marathon: https://womensrunningstories.com/bobbi-gibb-the-first-woman-of-the-boston-marathon

Evergreen Podcast Network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/

Women's Running Stories on the Evergreen Podcast Network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/womens-running-stories

Hear Her Sports podcast: http://www.hearhersports.com/

Keeping Track podcast: track.com/">https://keeping-track.com/

Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories

Instagram: @womensrunningstories

Twitter: @WomenRunStories

Website: womensrunningstories.com

Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 professional knowledge and her own personal experiences with body image and nutritional challenges to her business practice.

Here, Lindsey shares the personal details of how she's navigated her own unhealthy eating habits and body image challenges, to arrive at a place of peace and wellness on both fronts. Lindsey talks about how intuitive eating has led her to be able to nourish her body to perform its best–as an athlete, mom, and business owner. She also talks about body acceptance, moving toward appreciating the shape her body takes when it's healthiest and performs its best. Lindsey also recognizes that this journey is a process with ups and downs, and the tools we develop can be used for a lifetime.

Keep Up with Lindsey Cortes

Rise Up Nutrition website: www.riseupnutritionrun.com

Female Athlete Nutrition podcast: www.riseupnutritionrun.com/podcast

Instagram: instagram.com/female.athlete.nutrition

Mentioned in this episode

Hear Her Sports podcast: http://www.hearhersports.com/

Cherie Turner + Comrades Marathon: A Hear Her Sports Special Collaboration: https://womensrunningstories.com/cherie-turner-comrades-marathon-a-hear-her-sports-special-collaboration

Cathy Hopkins + Comrades Marathon: Discovering Community: https://womensrunningstories.com/0105-cathy-hopkins-comrades-marathon-discovering-community

Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories

Instagram: @womensrunningstories

Twitter: @WomenRunStories

Website: womensrunningstories.com

Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com

Women's Running Stories is a member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/

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