GIF by Laurene Boglio
Hello there!
I’ve been thinking for a long time about starting a running-focused newsletter for women. In both my personal and professional lives, I’ve met so many smart women who care deeply about this sport and have lots of opinions to share about it. Some of you are chasing an OTQ or trying to break three hours in the marathon, while others are just trying to squeeze in an easy six somewhere in your busy lives. And many times over the past few years, I’ve wanted to read a newsletter that feels like the best conversations I’ve had with my friends and training partners during a long run. There’s a lot of running media out there (some of it is great, and some of it... we’d be better off without), but I haven’t found that yet. This project is my attempt to fill a bit of that void. “For women” doesn’t mean that I’ll only cover female runners, but that will definitely be a focus. And if you’re not a woman and you end up loving this newsletter, that’s great too.
A tiny bit about me, in case you don’t know who I am: I’ve been running since elementary school, when I first found out that it counted as a sport. I eventually ran track and cross country at Tufts University, and in the few years since I graduated I’ve slowly (and at first, quite reluctantly) worked my way up to marathons. Right now I’m training for Boston 2019. I also work as an editor at Outside magazine—where I edit most of our running coverage, among many other things—though this project is just my own personal side hustle. I also write another newsletter called Pop a Molly.
For now, I’m not setting a hard frequency for how often I’ll send this out. When I have enough material to cover for a solid issue, I’ll send one. There’s still a lot I haven’t figured out here, and I welcome your comments and suggestions. The format will probably change from here, but to kick things off, here’s a rapid fire round of some of the things I’ve been thinking about:
The women of CIM
I still can’t believe it, but 99 women ran the OTQ at the California International Marathon—and 265 (!!) women ran under three hours. It’s honestly hard to wrap my mind around that many speedy women in one place. Watching my Instagram and Twitter feeds in the few days after the race, it felt like everyone I knew of who was racing completely crushed it. (On Outside’s running column, which I edit, Fritz Huber wrote about how the race has become a celebration of the high-level amateur. I totally agree.) It might finally be time to add CIM to my race calendar...
A new 24-hour record
Ultrarunner Camille Herron just set a new 24-hour world record by running 162.9 miles at the Desert Solstice track invite. (Honestly, nothing sounds worse than an ultra on a track—but it takes all kinds. I guess it helps that she had a taco and beer at 2 a.m.) Lots of people had their eyes on Courtney Dauwalter, who previously held the American 24-hour record and was aiming for the world mark. She ended up calling the attempt early, but she’s been crushing it all year and seems to have taken it in stride. I love this photo of Courtney and Camille, from photographer Howie Stern—reminds me of the “Shalane effect,” or just good old shine theory.
A tiny punch to the pay gap
There’s a trail race in Utah that pays out a higher prize purse for the top female runners than the men. It’s a small race (and a small prize), but you gotta start somewhere. I edited this piece for Outside, and it never ceases to amaze me how many angry dudes will latch onto stories like this and insist that moves like this are bad for the sport, or even that the pay gap doesn’t exist. In other words, we still have a long way to go.
Actually, Mr. Murakami
I also worked with writer Tatum Dooley on this essay for Outside about running and harassment, in the context of Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. Admittedly, when I read this book years ago, this counterpoint didn’t even occur to me. Of course, in the years since then, there’s been a lot more dialogue around the harassment of female runners. And there’s been some great coverage of this issue already, but unfortunately there’s always more to be said. I think any female runner I know could relate to this line of Tatum’s: “Throughout my years of running, the catcalls have included honks (distracting); “Run, Forrest, Run!” (annoying); and crude remarks about my body (terrifying).”
Who needs toenails?
Thanks for reading, and enjoy your miles. Send me your thoughts on things I missed, and what you’d like to read here. Talk soon!
Molly