The OTQ window closes, and hundreds of doors open
Also: LetsRun says they want to change, another woman to watch, and more.
Hello again!
A bunch of you are new here since the last issue—welcome! (If you missed it: the latest issue was the 2020 “women to watch” edition. You can check it out here.) It’s been an exciting start to the year so far, so let’s get into it! Also: just a reminder that you can always keep up with the Kick on Twitter and Instagram between sends.
The OTQ window is now closed
Last weekend was the final call for aspiring OTQers, and most of the last-chance runners went after it in Houston. It’s been so inspiring to watch hundreds of women achieve this goal—and still inspiring to watch a bunch of other women swing big and fall short—in the past few years. The growing wave of sub-elite women marathoners has been a huge source of motivation for me personally, and their goals and accomplishments have led to so many great stories about the sport in the past few years that will only continue after the Trials in Atlanta.
Can LetsRun ever really change?
The nastiness on the LetsRun message boards has long been a topic of discussion among female runners. (The debate bubbled up recently in light of Mary Cain’s story and Leah O’Connor’s subsequent call-out). At the beginning of 2020, LetsRun announced some changes to the boards—including one that would make it more difficult for users to post under multiple usernames. In a piece I edited for Outside, Fritz Huber looked into what those changes might look like, and also spoke to Sally Bergesen and Sarah Lesko of Oiselle to hear their opinions of the message boards and their reaction to the changes. As Fritz writes in the piece: “While the conundrum of the LetsRun boards isn’t likely to be resolved any time soon, Bergesen says that she is encouraged that women in running are increasingly taking matters into their own hands, by creating their own media to redirect the narrative of their sport.”
Listen up
I’m not a regular listener of the Rich Roll podcast, but I tuned in for the two most recent episodes: with Lauren Fleshman and Lindsay Crouse. The interviews are long, but I highly recommend listening to them in tandem—there’s so much great stuff in them about the future of women’s running, storytelling in the sport, and the role that both Lauren and Lindsay have played in elevating the conversations about female athletes in our community and beyond.
Rebecca Mehra’s mysterious shock
Last June, pro runner Rebecca Mehra had a very bizarre experience: in the middle of a tuneup workout on the track, she felt like her speed had been zapped from her legs. As it turns out, she had gotten an electric shock a few days earlier from a broken oven—but it hadn’t occurred to her that the incident might be affecting her training. (Eventually, Mehra bounced way back and went on to have a breakout season.) In a piece I edited for Outside, Alex Hutchinson spoke to a few experts about what might have happened to Mehra on the day of the shock.
Another woman to watch
(This one didn’t make it into the previous issue, so I wanted to include it here. If you have any other additions you’d like to send along, shoot me a note!)
“Alison Désir is a movement starter. First there was Harlem Runs, then Run4All Women, and her latest is the @globalwomxnruncollective, where the mission is to help unite womxn-led run crews all over the world (regardless of location, affiliation, or sponsor). What’s clearer than ever is that women runners need common ground. Going into 2020 and the future, we will only reach our greatest power and potential if we keep from being siloed from each other—whether that’s because of geography, age, ethnicity, or brand sponsors. And we say that as a brand sponsor. Alison truly unites different women, and that is a gift and super power.”
—Sally Bergesen, CEO of Oiselle
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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