"They don’t expect a group to be there. And any runner deserves that incredible finish, no matter if it took two hours or if it’s taken 12. It’s not so much the time that needs to be celebrated in this case, it’s the passion and the drive and the motivation behind each runner’s story." In 2015, Stephanie Pennington had just completed her first New York City Marathon. After finishing, she went out to celebrate — but before heading back home, she wanted to swing back through Central Park to see if...
Oct 24, 2019•59 min•Season 1Ep. 183
"I think kindness can solve a lot of problems." Last year, Carly Gill made a goal to qualify for the Olympic Trials in the marathon. She ran CIM in December 2018 — and came up just two minutes short of her goal. So this year, Carly was ready to get stronger, faster, and fitter, and again chase down an OTQ time of 2:45 or faster. On this episode, Carly talks about her dream come true: running a 2:42 at the Berlin Marathon, and officially qualifying to run the Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta in...
Oct 16, 2019•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 182
“The way that I’m training is good for my soul right now.” Carrie Tollefson is a professional middle-distance runner and Olympian turned mom of three, broadcaster, race analyst, podcast host, running camp director, and so much more. Most recently, the former 1500-meter specialist added another impressive title to her list: 2:51 marathoner. Six years ago, Carrie was four months postpartum and ran her first marathon in an astonishing time of 3:02. She made a goal to someday run a sub-3:00 marathon...
Oct 14, 2019•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 181
"I’m not one to usually show too much emotion crossing a finish line, but that last 100 to 200 meters, I thought about my children, my family, and all the hard work I did to put into this race that I had a lot of people doubt or question. It was just this moment of, 'This is why I do what I do.'" Roberta Groner just returned from Qatar, where she was one of three women representing the United States at the marathon world championships. But Roberta isn't a full-time professional athlete: She's a ...
Oct 09, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 180
"That’s running — all of us are having major fails along the way! That’s what keeps bringing us back. We’re chasing that perfect race and that perfect day." This past weekend, Janae Baron — Hungry Runner Girl — ran a 2:49 at the St. George Marathon. It was a 9 minute 55 second personal best time at the distance. It took Janae nine years to go sub-3:00 in the marathon. Last year, she ran a 2:59 — and thought she was good, done, and satisfied. Her potential, she thought, had been reached. But then...
Oct 08, 2019•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 179
"Gabe was all about trying her best, whereas I was more about striving for perfection. And thankfully, I had Gabe in my life to show me what that really meant — trying your best — and why that was so much better than striving for perfection." Ladia Albertson-Junkans is a collegiate cross-country runner turned ultramarathoner. Most recently, Ladia ran the Western States 100, and followed that up by running the Fastest Known Time (FKT) on the Timberline Trail around Mount Hood. Ladia is also well ...
Oct 03, 2019•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 178
"You can race as many 5Ks, 10Ks, and half marathons as you'd like, but that suffering that's at the end of the marathon is a totally different experience." —Greg McMillan On the final episode in the You Can Run a Marathon series, experts Greg McMillan and Dr. Cathy Yeckel are on hand to answer dozens of listener questions about training, race day, nutrition, and more. Greg McMillan is the founder of McMillan Running , where he is also the head coach, exercise physiologist, and 2:31 marathoner. D...
Oct 01, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 177
"One run or two runs, or even a handful of runs, in the grand scheme of things isn’t really going to make that much of a difference. So I try not to get too stressed out about it." You may know Megan Harrington (formerly Kretz) as one of the OG running bloggers: She is the woman behind the popular "Runner's Kitchen" blog . In 2008, Megan had just graduated from Wesleyan University and moved to New York City to pursue her writing dreams. She joined the Central Park Track Club — and Twitter! — and...
Sep 25, 2019•57 min•Season 1Ep. 176
"The marathon is a metaphor for life. It’s about patience, and you get out of it what you put in it." This is a very special episode of the You Can Run a Marathon series, because it was recorded live in front of a fantastic audience at Finish Line Physical Therapy in New York City. Meb Keflezighi is the only person to ever win the New York City Marathon, Boston Marathon, and Olympic silver medal. Runner's World named him The Most Influential Person in Running, and he's the author of several book...
Sep 23, 2019•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 175
"If you are sitting on an idea, a dream, a plan, the longer you wait to execute on it, the sooner someone else will. So stop waiting, stop procrastinating. Do as I say, not as I’ve done!" It's solo episode time! On this episode, I'm talking all about what goes on behind the scenes of the Ali on the Run Show , answering listener questions about getting started, choosing guests, recording, editing, working with sponsors, pay days, and more. I also talk about the episodes I've recorded but never ai...
Sep 18, 2019•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 174
At about mile 9, I was in the porta-potty, wishing and praying that somebody would pick it up. I was like, ‘If I stay here long enough, somebody will pick up the porta-potty. I just want to disappear in here.’ That’s how terrible I felt."" At 41 years old, Dawn Grunnagle is proof that you can, in fact, keep getting faster with age. Dawn is a Nike-sponsored professional 1500-meter runner turned master's marathoner. (Before going pro, she spent 10 years teaching third and fourth graders. Aw!) She ...
Sep 16, 2019•46 min•Season 1Ep. 173
"We decided, 'OK, I’m gonna run in the Trials and then we’ll hopefully get pregnant right away, and then I’ll maybe even be able to run a fall marathon the next year!' And…it didn’t happen like that." You probably know Amanda Nurse by her Instagram moniker: Amanda Runs Boston . And she sure does. Amanda is a 20-time marathoner and two-time Olympic Trials qualifier in the marathon. She's a clinical social worker turned adidas-sponsored runner and coach who has taken her marathon time from 3:26 to...
Sep 11, 2019•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 172
"You deserve to be on that starting line. Believe in yourself and your training." Molly Bookmyer is a 2:44 marathoner who recently finished third in the U.S. 25K championships. But the road to an Olympic Trials qualifying time hasn't been easy. On this episode, Molly shares her inspiring story of resilience and positivity. In 2013, Molly's doctors found a brain tumor and needed to perform brain surgery to remove it. Then, she suffered a seizure while running on the treadmill, and had to have a s...
Sep 09, 2019•48 min•Season 1Ep. 171
“Pressure is a privilege.” —Nikki Hiltz Allie Ostrander and Nikki Hiltz are both having huge breakthrough years on the run. Allie, who recently signed with Brooks Running, and Nikki, who is in her second year as a pro athlete for adidas, joined me for a live show at New York Road Runners's second annual RunnerCon event the day before the New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile to talk racing, big dreams, goals, and activism. Neither Allie nor Nikki had ever run Fifth Avenue before, so it was fun talking t...
Sep 08, 2019•46 min•Season 1Ep. 170
"At this level, everyone works really hard. You can’t just say, 'Oh, she just works the hardest.' All the elite athletes on that starting line, everyone has their own challenges in their build up and had to overcome those. Everyone has their own story." Emily Sisson just might be having the best year of her life. The professional runner for New Balance kicked off her year by running a 1:07 at the Houston Half Marathon — coming just five seconds short of the American record. In April, Emily made ...
Sep 05, 2019•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 169
“When I started running, people laughed at me. But it was a challenge I needed to do for myself.” Dr. Shelby Harris is a clinical psychologist and clinical associate professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the neurology and psychiatry departments. She specializes in anxiety, depression, and treating sleep disorders, and is the author of The Women's Guide to Overcoming Insomnia . What does that have to do with running? On this episode, Dr. Harris shares how treating her insomnia-and-s...
Sep 05, 2019•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 168
"You just have to show up. And I showed up." Not too long ago, Mo Alkhawaldeh was a casual smoker. Today, he's a 2:23 marathoner with his sights set on representing his home country of Jordan in the 2020 Olympic Games. But although Mo is one of the top-ranked runners in the Middle East and Africa, he's not a full-time runner: He works full-time at Princeton University, where he's also the head coach of the Princeton Running Club. He gets his training done before and after work — elite marathoner...
Sep 02, 2019•46 min•Season 1Ep. 167
"I was in survival mode. What can I do to pay our rent? What can I do to put food on the table?" When Rachel Wyman was five months postpartum with her third child, she opened her first bakery: Montclair Bread Company . Then, when the bakery hit 4,000 Facebook likes, Rachel decided she should do something to celebrate the social media milestone. Despite not being a runner and never having run a race herself, she hosted a low-key 4K race that has since grown to become New Jersey's hardest-to-get-i...
Aug 28, 2019•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 166
"I never picture myself at the start or during the race or what I’m doing during the race. I just picture myself finishing. That’s all I can see." Chirine Njeim is a four-time Olympian — but the four times she's represented her home country of Lebanon haven't all been on the run. Chirine is a former alpine ski racer turned marathon runner. She competed at the Winter Olympics three times, and in 2016 made her Summer Olympics debut in the marathon. Today, Chirine is a 12-time marathoner who has ta...
Aug 26, 2019•45 min•Season 1Ep. 165
"I was letting life pass me by. I had just gone through all of this insanity, and I wasn’t really a participant in my own life. How could I let that happen?" I first met Carrie Kreiswirth in 2011, when a marketing campaign for a local running store brought us together. Several years later, I saw a photo of Carrie on Facebook. She was bald. What had I missed? In the time since we met, Carrie had tested positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation — the one that raises the probability of developing breast...
Aug 21, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 164
"I realized, no one on the sidelines is judging me as harshly as I’m judging myself." Welcome to the first episode in the seven-part "You Can Run a Marathon" series, all about getting you through training and to the start line of your first or next 26.2-mile race. Whether you're training for your first, your fastest, or your funnest, we're here to help you reach your goals. Who's "we?" On this series, I'll be talking with runners about their training and races, as well as experts who can answer ...
Aug 20, 2019•50 min•Season 1Ep. 163
"It’s still really unreal to me that I get paid to run. Running is something that I would do anyway. It’s not a job, it’s just a good time!" It's been a big summer for Allie Ostrander. The Alaska native graduated from Boise State University, signed her first professional running contract with Brooks Running, and made her pro debut at USA Track & Field Nationals, where she finished fourth in the 3000m steeplechase, landing her a spot on the U.S. team headed to world championships in Doha next...
Aug 14, 2019•57 min•Season 1Ep. 162
"As an entrepreneur, just like an athlete, you have to be almost psychotically optimistic. You have to believe, ‘We can do this, we can make it back.’ You have to have that belief because there’s so much headwind." Husband-and-wife team Lauren Fleshman and Jesse Thomas are the co-founders of Picky Bars and hosts of the Work, Play, Love podcast . Lauren is a former professional middle-distance and marathon runner who spent 13 years competing and is now a coach for Little Wing Athletics, and Jesse...
Aug 07, 2019•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 161
“I didn’t really have the credentials to back up what I wanted to do. I just had a dream and a lot of passion and determination.” If you don't already know it, remember the name Kaitlin Goodman. Kaitlin is a professional runner for the Boston Athletic Association and a run coach with a master's degree in public health. She's fast — and multifaceted. Kaitlin, who lives in Providence, RI, and trains in Boston, is a four-time Olympic Trials qualifier: She's qualified in the 5,000 meters, the 10,000...
Jul 31, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 160
"When you focus on yourself, you get the best results." Mirinda "Rinny" Carfrae is a professional triathlete and three-time Ironman World Champion. On this episode, Rinny talks about her road to swim-bike-run domination, and how she went from a scrappy basketball player to the fastest woman in Kona. Rinny — who is from Brisbane, Australia, but now lives and trains in Boulder, CO — is a podium staple at both the Ironman and the Half-Ironman distance. She's also a mom to two-year-old Isabelle, and...
Jul 24, 2019•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 159
"I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and discovered this tremendous strength that I had. It made me realize that so many of us have amazing gifts within us, but we’re sometimes scared to take that leap — so we don’t even realize what we’re capable of." —Beatie Deutsch Beatie Deutsch is a 29-year-old Orthodox Jewish mom of five living in Israel, by way of New Jersey. And she's earned the nickname "Speedy Beatie" for a reason: Despite only picking up running a few years ago, Beatie runs a 2:42 ...
Jul 17, 2019•53 min•Season 1Ep. 158
"I’m wearing these massive pads that are like six inches deep and waddling around the house. I think I thought the first week would be rough. But it was a month out and I’m still rocking these massive pads. I was never told about that." Every week on these Motherhood Mondays episodes, I've asked my guests, "Who's in your village?" I feel so lucky to be able to say that the two women on today's show — Laura Green and Julia Berteletti — are in my village. Laura lives in Boston, and is mom to 10-mo...
Jul 14, 2019•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 157
"It’s not sexy, but all the little teeny tiny things add up. Invest in recovery, nutrition, and sleep. That’s where you’re going to see the big gains — even though it’s not as much fun to put on Instagram. You’ll see it pay off." Sarah "Mac" Robinson is an elite runner, mom of two, and freelance brand storyteller. On this episode, she gets very candid about how her life — on the run and beyond — has changed since becoming a mom. She opens up about her experience with postpartum depression and an...
Jul 10, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 156
"There's a fear of the foundation we're standing on having too many cracks in it." Dr. Molly Millwood is a clinical psychologist and licensed psychotherapist specializing in marital therapy and intimate relationships. She's also the author of the just-released book, To Have and To Hold: Motherhood, Marriage, & the Modern Dilemma . On this episode, Dr. Millwood — a mom of two — expands on many of the new-mom-related topics she covers in her brilliant book, including guilt, shame, missing life...
Jul 07, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 155
"You are never going to be the woman you were before, and that’s great. Because this woman you are now is so much stronger, more powerful, capable of doing so much more. But you’ve gotta give her some time and space to heal and figure things out a bit." Hitha Palepu has many titles. She's an entrepreneur and the CEO of Rhosan Pharmaceuticals , the author of the book How to Pack: Travel Smart for Any Trip , an angel investor and advisor to women-led and women-focused start-ups, the creator of the...
Jun 30, 2019•58 min•Season 1Ep. 154
