• Vanessa C. Peralta-Mitchell: Founder of Games Changers, Redefining Who Is a Leader in Running
    Jan 7 2025
    Vanessa C. Peralta-Mitchell was inspired to start running after learning how hard women had fought to just participate in sports. That moment of inspiration would eventually change her life, setting Peralta-Mitchell on a path to change the running industry. How that all unfolded is what this episode is all about. Peralta-Mitchell is a runner, business owner, running coach, and mother of three children. She's well known for being the founder of Game Changers, an organization that supports women of color to become run coaches and leaders in the running industry. Game Changers started in 2020, and in October of 2024 accepted its fifth cohort of women into the program: like those who came before them, these 24 new women from 12 states will become certified run coaches, and receive mentoring business development support. This adds to the over 80 women who've already gone through the program. Just last year, Peralta-Mitchell also launched PWRher'd. This is a program, powered by Game Changers, that partners with races and gives entrants an opportunity to sign up for online coaching services that get them ready for that specific race, so they can be well prepared to have a successful experience. Additionally, when PWRher'd partners with a race, they make a contribution to the local community on behalf of the partnership. Peralta-Mitchell's story demonstrates what can happen when we see our potential as limitless. How to Keep Up with Vanessa C. Peralta-Mitchell Instagram: @vcpmitchell Website: vcpm.com How to Keep Up with Game Changers Instagram: @pwrherd How to Keep Up with PWRher'd Instagram: @pwrherd Website: pwrherd.com Support Our Supporters Lagoon Pillows: lagoonsleep.com/WRS15 Use the discount code WRS15 for 15% off your first order YMR Track Club: ymrtrackclub.com Use the discount code WRS20 for 20% off your purchase To support WRS, please rate and review the show iTunes/Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womens-running-stories/id1495427631 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8Hr2RysbV4fdwNhiMAXc?si=1c5e18155b4b44fa Music Credits Cormac O'Regan, of Playtoh Coma-Media, via Pixabay RomanBelov, via Pixabay Grand Project, via Pixabay Rockot, via Pixabay SergePavkinMusic, via Pixabay Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project Instagram: @over50sub20_5k_project WRS Instagram: @womensrunningstories Facebook: facebook.com/WomensRunningStories Website: womensrunningstories.com Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com Women's Running Stories is a proud member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    53 mins
  • 2024 Reflections: Clips to Take With You Into 2025
    Dec 31 2024
    For this episode, I chose a variety of clips from 10 episodes published in 2024 that have stuck with me and made an impact. This isn't a "best of" so much as a celebration of the huge variety of experiences and motivations women have in this sport. I hope you'll find something in here to motivate and inspire you, and perhaps spark a new interest for 2025. It's incredible how much this sport brings to so many people and the myriad ways it can show up in our lives. Enjoy! Clips were pulled from these 10 episodes Katie Holmes: The Life-Changing Power of Running, After 40, published Sep 17 Sister Liz Sjoberg: Becoming a Sister on the Run, published Jan 19 Alison Mariella Désir: Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, published Jul 9 Emily Halnon: An Epic Trail Run to the Gorge, Her Book, Her Mother, Her Return to Living Big and Bold, published May 6 Rebecca Mehra: Professional Track Racer, On a Season of Inspired Change, published Mar 8 Race Report: Rachel McArthur + USATF One-Mile National Championships, published May 20 Anita Cardinal: Don't Stop Unless You're Proud, published Jan 11 Micha Powell: An Olympian's Transformative Race Experiences and Book: Sprinting through Setbacks, published Aug 12 Carmen Graves: Professional Track Racer and Steeplechaser, published May 13 Naseemah Palmer: "Running Reminds Me I'm Living," published Nov 4 Support Our Supporters Lagoon Pillows: lagoonsleep.com/WRS15 Use the discount code WRS15 for 15% off your first order YMR Track Club: ymrtrackclub.com Use the discount code WRS20 for 20% off your purchase To support WRS, please rate and review the show iTunes/Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womens-running-stories/id1495427631 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8Hr2RysbV4fdwNhiMAXc?si=1c5e18155b4b44fa Music Credits Cormac O'Regan, of Playtoh Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project Instagram: @over50sub20_5k_project WRS Instagram: @womensrunningstories Facebook: facebook.com/WomensRunningStories Website: womensrunningstories.com Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com Women's Running Stories is a proud member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    20 mins
  • Cherie Louise Turner: Part 8, Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project: A Mile PR, A Coaching Change
    Dec 24 2024
    This is part 8 of the Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project, where WRS host and producer Cherie Louise Turner is sharing her journey to break 20 minutes in the 5k, in her 50s, in real time. Feel free to join the journey from here; it's not mandatory to listen to previous episodes in order to enjoy this one. Previous episodes will provide more context around this project and provide details about the many lessons Cherie has learned so far. This episode picks up where Cherie left off in early October: she'd made the big move from Cork, Ireland, back to Boston, Mass., and had returned to racing. She ran a 10k to get back in the groove of running fast, and she had a great time, racing with her US team the Tracksmith Boston Hares. In this episode, Cherie shares what's happened over the past few months, including a mile PR and a coaching change. Through it all, Cherie continues to learn and grow, as an athlete and a competitor. And she's having a lot of fun along the way. About this project: In June of 2023, Women's Running Stories host and producer Cherie Louise Turner closed the chapter on running longer distance races (at least for now), like marathons and ultras, and turned her attention to the 5k. Her goal: break 20 minutes in the 5km. Cherie is currently 55 years old and she has never dipped under 20 minutes at this distance. The closest she's ever gotten was back over a decade ago, when she ran 20:19. Cherie's current day 5k PR is 21:01 (set June 2024). This update spans early October to the latter part of December 2024. To catch up on all past episodes check out the links and publication dates below. Come along for the journey. Links and Publication Dates to Earlier Episodes in this Series Find the whole series here. Part 1, pub date (September 8, 2023): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherie-turner-the-over-50-sub-20-5k-project-part-1/id1495427631?i=1000627157697 Part 2, pub date (October 27, 2023): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherie-turner-the-over-50-sub-20-5k-project-part-2/id1495427631?i=1000632786362 Part 3, pub date (January 5, 2024): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherie-turner-over-50-sub-20-5k-project-part-3-the-reset/id1495427631?i=1000640614612 Part 4, pub date (March 25, 2024): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherie-turner-over-50-sub-20-5k-project-part-4-the/id1495427631?i=1000650320154 Part 5, pub date (May 28, 2024): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherie-louise-turner-over-50-sub-20-5k-project-part/id1495427631?i=1000657010943 Part 6, pub date (July 23, 2024): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherie-louise-turner-over-50-sub-20-5k-project-part/id1495427631?i=1000663065105 Part 7, pub date (October 8, 2024): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cherie-louise-turner-part-7-over-50-sub-20-5k-project/id1495427631?i=1000672194951 Support Our Supporters Lagoon Pillows: lagoonsleep.com/WRS15 Use the discount code WRS15 for 15% off your first order To support WRS, please rate and review the show iTunes/Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womens-running-stories/id1495427631 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8Hr2RysbV4fdwNhiMAXc?si=1c5e18155b4b44fa Music Credits Cormac O'Regan, of Playtoh Coma-Media, via Pixabay Rockot, via Pixabay RomanBelov, via Pixabay chillmore, via Pixabay Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project Instagram: @over50sub20_5k_project WRS Instagram: @womensrunningstories Facebook: facebook.com/WomensRunningStories Website: womensrunningstories.com Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com Women's Running Stories is a proud member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    31 mins
  • Birdie Wermy: A Marathon Journey, through Sobriety to the 2024 Chicago Marathon, Her 7th at 26.2
    Dec 17 2024
    Birdie Wermy had moments of connecting to running early in life. But it wasn't until she was an adult that her journey with the sport really got going. At that time, Birdie was going through some big life challenges, and a co-worker suggested she participate in a running event. That was where it all started. Birdie Wermy lives in Oregon but is originally from Oklahoma. She is the mother of two, and she is a native woman, of Southern Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Pawnee ancestry. As part of her running story, Birdie also embarked on a life of sobriety. That has been a central part of discovering a deeper connection in her running practice, resulting in more meaningful experiences, growth, and healing. This deeper connection manifested in a particularly strong way at the 2024 Chicago Marathon, which Birdie ran as a member of the Native Women Run team. Birdie shares her powerful story on the podcast. How to Keep Up with Birdie Wermy Instagram: @redrace_oregon How to Keep Up with Native Women Run Instagram: @native_women_run Website: nativewomenrunning.com Mentioned in this Episode Live conversation with Native Women Run at the 2024 Chicago Marathon Expo: womensrunningstories.com/live-event-native-women-run-team-at-the-2024-chicago-marathon-expo Verna Volker: womensrunningstories.com/verna-volker-a-journey-of-health-and-healing-culture-and-community Support Our Supporters Lagoon Pillows: lagoonsleep.com/WRS15 Use the discount code WRS15 for 15% off your first order YMR Track Club: ymrtrackclub.com Use the discount code WRS20 for 20% off your purchase To support WRS, please rate and review the show iTunes/Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womens-running-stories/id1495427631 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8Hr2RysbV4fdwNhiMAXc?si=1c5e18155b4b44fa Music Credits Cormac O'Regan, of Playtoh Coma-Media, via Pixabay RomanBelov, via Pixabay Grand Project, via Pixabay Rockot, via Pixabay SergePavkinMusic, via Pixabay Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project Instagram: @over50sub20_5k_project WRS Instagram: @womensrunningstories Facebook: facebook.com/WomensRunningStories Website: womensrunningstories.com Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com Women's Running Stories is a proud member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    36 mins
  • Marlinda Francisco: Ultra Trail Runner, Her Running Journey to Finishing Her First 100km
    Dec 10 2024
    Marlinda Francisco has run many distances on road and trail. In this episode, she shares how she first got into running and how it has become such a big part of her life. Marlinda also shares how she first started out running on the roads but then discovered her love of trail running. She now runs ultras, and she shares how just this past October at the Javelina Jundred in Arizona, she finished her longest distance yet, 100 kilometers (62 miles). Marlinda is a native woman, Navajo and Tohono O’odham. Running is embedded in these cultures, and Marlinda runs both to challenge and strengthen herself and to represent and carry on the long tradition of running in her family and communities. In addition to running many events every year, Marlinda is a very active part of the running community. She works behind the scenes at many events and she is part of the leadership team for the non-profit advocacy organization Native Women Run. Marlinda's mantra is "run with your heart, pray with your feet." Hear the whole story on the podcast of how she arrived to this place in running and in life. How to Keep Up with Marlinda Francisco Instagram: @lou_bedonie How to Keep Up with Native Women Run Instagram: @native_women_run Website: nativewomenrunning.com Mentioned in this Episode Live conversation with Native Women Run at the 2024 Chicago Marathon Expo: womensrunningstories.com/live-event-native-women-run-team-at-the-2024-chicago-marathon-expo Support Our Supporters Lagoon Pillows: lagoonsleep.com/WRS15 Use the discount code WRS15 for 15% off your first order YMR Track Club: ymrtrackclub.com Use the discount code WRS20 for 20% off your purchase To support WRS, please rate and review the show iTunes/Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womens-running-stories/id1495427631 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8Hr2RysbV4fdwNhiMAXc?si=1c5e18155b4b44fa Music Credits Cormac O'Regan, of Playtoh Coma-Media, via Pixabay RomanBelov, via Pixabay penguinmusic, via Pixabay SergePavkinMusic, via Pixabay Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project Instagram: @over50sub20_5k_project WRS Instagram: @womensrunningstories Facebook: facebook.com/WomensRunningStories Website: womensrunningstories.com Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com Women's Running Stories is a proud member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    31 mins
  • Lauren Hagans: Racing the Marathon, a New Chapter for a Seasoned Professional Runner
    Dec 3 2024
    Lauren Hagans is a professional distance runner with a long racing career, and she's been a top competitor at many distances. Now that includes the marathon, which Hagans just started racing in 2023. This episode focuses on this new chapter of Hagans's running career. At 38, Hagans is just getting rolling with at the 26.2 mile distance, and she's competing among the best. For her debut in 2023, Hagans raced the prestigious Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN, where she came out flying: She won! And she clocked an incredible 2:25:55: this is the fourth fastest debut marathon by an American women, ever. This episode focuses on Hagans's second marathon, Chicago, which she just raced in October 2024. Learn why Hagans is even more proud of this performance than the big win in Duluth, and why she's excited to keep racing marathons. What's clear is that Hagans has untapped potential in the marathon, so it will be exciting to see what she does from here. Hagans also has some big changes coming up as she prepares for 2025. Keep Up With Lauren Hagans Instagram: @haagendazs_86 Lauren Hagans's previous appearance on WRS womensrunningstories.com/race-report-lauren-hagans-2023-usatf-half-marathon-national-championships Support Our Supporters YMR Track Club: ymrtrackclub.com Use the discount code WRS20 for 20% off your purchase To support WRS, please rate and review the show iTunes/Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womens-running-stories/id1495427631 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8Hr2RysbV4fdwNhiMAXc?si=1c5e18155b4b44fa Music Credits Cormac O'Regan, of Playtoh Coma-Media, via Pixabay RomanBelov, via Pixabay penguinmusic, via Pixabay Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project Instagram: @over50sub20_5k_project WRS Instagram: @womensrunningstories Facebook: facebook.com/WomensRunningStories Website: womensrunningstories.com Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com Women's Running Stories is a proud member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/
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    24 mins
  • Podcast Spotlight: Starting Line 1928: Cheryl Toussaint
    Nov 26 2024
    This week Women's Running Stories is taking a break and bringing you an episode of Starting Line 1928. This outstanding podcast features in-depth interviews with women running pioneers. The episode I chose features Cheryl Toussaint, the meet director of the Colgate Women’s Games and an Olympic silver medalist. Toussaint grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and began running with the Atoms Track Club at age 13. There, Coach Fred Thompson nurtured her athletic talent—and encouraged her academically. Cheryl earned an academic scholarship to New York University and kept training with the Atoms, eventually making the Olympics in 1972; she competed in Munich in the 800 meters and 4x400 relay, where she helped the team make the final—and eventually, win silver—despite losing a shoe. She also began assisting Thompson with his other venture, the Colgate Women’s Games, and took over as meet director when he retired in 2014. It’s the longest running track and field series for girls and young women in the United States, open to all young women from elementary school through college and beyond, and has launched the careers of many other Olympians and successful women in other fields. Starting Line 1928 is an oral history project dedicated to preserving the stories of women pioneers in distance running. The project chronicles the individuals who paved the way for a post-Title IX world. Guests have included Olympians (like here), steeplechase pioneers, ultrarunning champions, coaches, and those who fought hard for women to have new opportunities in the sport. Starting Line 1928 was founded in 2020 by Cindy Kuzma, Cara Hawkins-Jedlicka, Freddi Carlip, and Johanna Gretschel and is supported by the Theodore Corbitt Institute for Running History Research. Learn More about Starting Line 1928 Website: StartingLine1928.com Instagram @startingline1928 Twitter @startline1928 Email: startingline1928@gmail.com Learn More about the Colgate Women's Games Website: colgatewomensgames.com Listen to the Live Episode featuring the Native Women Run team and NWR Founder Verna Volker womensrunningstories.com/live-event-native-women-run-team-at-the-2024-chicago-marathon-expo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 39 mins
  • Grace Norman: Her Paralympic Return to Gold
    Nov 19 2024
    Grace Norman is a four-time Paralympic medalist, once in track and field and three times in the sport of Paratriathlon. She is also, as of October 2024, a five-time world Paratriathlon champion. This episode focuses on Norman's Paralympic journey which spans Rio, Tokyo, and this year's 2024 Paralympics in Paris. For over a decade now, Norman's primary focus has been Paratriathlon, but before that, she was a competitive runner, and running is at the foundation of Grace's athletic life: she ran track and cross country in high school and college, racing able-bodied competitors. Grace was born with Congenital Constriction Band Syndrome, which resulted in the amputation of her left leg below the knee and her right big toe when she was young. Norman runs and races with a prosthetic. Norman started racing Paratriathlon in her teens, and made her Paralympic debut in Rio, the same year Paratriathlon debuted at the Games. There, Norman surprised everyone, herself included, by winning gold. Since then, Paratriathlon has continued to grow and the competition has intensified, and in turn, Norman has continued to develop as a world-class competitor. Starting with those Rio games when Norman was just graduating high school and heading into college through her collegiate years, which led to Tokyo, until now as a full-time professional athlete. Over the past several years, Norman has been the athlete to beat in Paratriathlon, but it did take some time for that consistency to set in. She's gone through the highs of being the young, talented newcomer in Rio, to a time of learning and growth heading into the Tokyo Paralympics, where she and her coach had very high confidence that a repeat gold medal performance was within her abilities. And it probably was; Norman was certainly prepared to give her all in Tokyo. What happened in Tokyo inspired Norman to double down on her preparation for Paris. In this story, Norman shares the whole journey, including the unwavering determination and dedication she carried all the way through the finish line at this past summer's 2024 Paralympic Games. Keep Up with Grace Norman Instagram: @gracenormantri Support Our Supporters Lagoon Pillows: lagoonsleep.com/WRS Use the discount code WRS to receive $25 off any pillow! Through Dec. 2, 2024 YMR Track Club: ymrtrackclub.com Use the discount code WRS20 for 20% off your purchase To support WRS, please rate and review the show iTunes/Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womens-running-stories/id1495427631 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8Hr2RysbV4fdwNhiMAXc?si=1c5e18155b4b44fa Music Credits Cormac O'Regan, of Playtoh Coma-Media, via Pixabay RomanBelov, via Pixabay SergePavkinMusic, via Pixabay Grand Project, via Pixabay Rockot, via Pixabay Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project Instagram: @over50sub20_5k_project WRS Instagram: @womensrunningstories Facebook: facebook.com/WomensRunningStories Website: womensrunningstories.com Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com Women's Running Stories is a proud member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/
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    39 mins