Hi everyone,
Here’s one more issue for 2020. Of course, this year changed everything about our lives, and running was no exception. One of my all-time favorite issues of the newsletter was this one from April, where many of you wrote in about how your relationship with running was evolving during the pandemic. That was only two months in, and we’ve all gone through our own ups and downs since then. Thanks to all of you for reading and supporting the newsletter during this wild year.
It’s been two years since I started this project, and it’s so rewarding to see how many of you are still showing up, reading, and spreading the word about the Kick. I hope to send you many more issues of the newsletter in 2021, and I’m cautiously optimistic that there will be much more racing and running news to cover next year! Until then, enjoy your miles.
It’s time for Women to Watch
For the past two years, I’ve done an annual “Women to Watch” issue of the newsletter each January to highlight some of the women in the running community who are poised for big things in the coming year. (Here’s the 2020 version, and here’s 2019.) I love hearing from newsletter readers and other voices in the women’s running world about who they have their eyes on. If you have a pick for 2021, send it my way! I want to hear about a wide range of women, and they don’t all have to be focused on racing or performance—I also want to hear about the runners you’re admiring for their activism, their creative pursuits, or their leadership in the running community. I’ll be putting out a call for submissions on Twitter as well, so spread the word and send me your picks!
Aliphine is having a baby!
If you’re a reader of this newsletter, by now you’ve probably heard that Aliphine Tiliamuk—the U.S. Marathon Trials champion—is pregnant. But I still can’t resist sharing it here. I love how open Aliphine has been about her decision and about how she plans to approach her post-pregnancy training for the Olympics next summer. I can’t wait to follow along as she gears up for both motherhood and the Olympics.
Sara Hall is still on fire
At the Marathon Project in Arizona last weekend, Sara Hall ran 2:20:32 for the win, becoming the second-fastest American woman marathoner ever. She was shooting for Deena Kastor’s American Record (2:19:36), but still managed to set a new PR for the second time this year. This opinion piece from Lindsay Crouse is a great read on what the rest of us can learn from Sara’s perseverance and approach to training—both during the pandemic and throughout her career. I particularly appreciated this quote from Sara: “We can be an instant-gratification culture, but I’ve had to cultivate a long-term approach to my career. I figured as long as I could keep working on my craft, chipping away, finding joy in the mundane, then that had to be enough.”
Alexi Pappas opens up about depression
I’m a longtime fan of Alexi as an athlete and of her creative work. Her new book, Bravey, is out in January, and it covers some heavier topics that don’t always come through in her often-upbeat social media presence. In advance of its publication, she collaborated with the New York Times on this video about depression and mental health in sports. In both the video and the book, Alexi details her own experience with serious depression after the Olympics, and makes the case that athletes should treat their mental health with the same attention and care as our physical health.
Debunking the mythology around the Tarahumara
Earlier this year in the newsletter, I shared a piece I edited from Alex Hutchinson on new anthropological research about the Tarahumara—the Indigenous population of Mexico’s Copper Canyon who have been mythologized and exoticized since Born to Run. ESPN has now released a new 30 for 30 documentary, The Infinite Race, which also seeks to challenge the mainstream narratives about the Tarahumara. Fritz Huber reviewed the film in this piece I edited for Outside. As Fritz puts it in his review: “Irma Chávez, a Tarahumara activist and moral conscience of Ruiz’s film, regards the barefoot running industry as an insult—an attempt to profit off a misconception that the Tarahumara run with minimalist sandals because of alleged performance benefits, rather than out of necessity. This, in Chávez’s view, is consistent with a long legacy of external forces projecting their narratives on her people.” Whether or not you read Born to Run, these pieces are worth your time.
Other recommended reading
This episode of This American Life has a beautiful segment about Ahmaud Arbery. (The episode is all about 25-year-olds, in honor of the show’s 25th anniversary.) The segment, reported by Mitchell S. Jackson, is adapted from his piece for Runner’s World from this summer.
Every year at Outside, we poll some experts in the health and fitness world for their predictions about what’s to expect in the coming year. Here’s the latest iteration, featuring predictions from Christine Yu, Alex Hutchinson, and many others.
Des Linden is everyone’s new favorite race commentator.
On his Outside column, Alex Hutchinson wrote about new research on what “running power” really measures and whether we should care about it.
Drop me a line
I want to hear from you! Tell me about what you like here, what I missed, and what’s going on in your running life. (You can also follow the Kick on Twitter, and on Instagram.) Thanks for reading, and enjoy your miles.
Molly