It took Nicole Dobransky ten years, a finish-line collapse 26 seconds short, and three kids to qualify for Boston. Her secret is simple: she doesn't give up.

Baylee Smith is one of 21 siblings, ran eight marathons while earning her master's in architecture, and raised over $15,000 to run Boston for charity. Her mantra: make it count.

Andrew Peterson was born with fetal alcohol syndrome and found alone as a newborn. Today he has run 20 marathons, qualified for Boston and won Special Olympics gold for Team USA.

After seven or eight lottery tries, Leslie Gregory ran the New York City Marathon for her 40th birthday, then built 26 Diamond, a bracelet brand that celebrates every marathoner's 26.2 miles.

Eileen Poore has run through Hurricane Katrina, bankruptcy, a parent's addiction and a sexual assault. Running has been the one place she felt like herself, all the way back to Boston.

Teddi Hayes thought asthma meant she couldn't run. A Peloton app trial, a 5K two days after a breakup, and 1,200 runs later, she finished her first marathon in Jersey City.

I met Idalis Ramos in the Orlando airport after Disney Princess weekend. She trains almost entirely on a treadmill in Puerto Rico and ran 115.8 miles in one runDisney season.

Renae Saager spent years in the grip of bulimia, anorexia and alcoholism. Now 14 years sober, she coaches women to get ballsy, stop chasing perfect and stop worrying about who's watching.

A heart murmur kept Chris Jones out of the Army. Years later, after open heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic, he ran the Boston Marathon as his very first marathon in 3:41.

Aum Gandhi couldn't run a quarter mile in 2018. Five years later he finished a 70K ultramarathon from Everest Base Camp, running for his mental health and for kids in need.

I met Preston Frazier in the Fargo airport right after he finished his 75th marathon. The kicker? He trains by running just once a week.

My friend Mary Pittman swam from Alcatraz, missed a race by a full day, and turned a joke over drinks in Tahoe into a brand for the rest of us: Average Athlete.

Larry Coblentz went from craft beer to running shoes, found his people in Running Punks, and is coming up on three years sober. Live fast, run slow.

My own running coach, Rachel Sinders, joins me to talk about NICU twins, a stress fracture before her first marathon, a canceled Boston, and why she has 10 marathon medals for 9 marathons.

A former Division I swimmer and Ironman finisher, Margaret Weniger ran the 2023 Flying Pig through thunderstorms to prove she was still an athlete after three kids.

Alex Baker lost his wife Amanda to stage 4 colorectal cancer, then took his first intentional step on July 3, 2020. Since then he's logged 2,400 miles and a full marathon.

For the first episode featuring a guy, I sat down in my office closet with my husband of almost nine years, Zach, the night before the Indy Mini. Dad jokes included.

Whitney Bevins won her first marathon, qualified for the Olympic Trials, and has used running to carry her through depression and her father's suicide. Now she coaches others to do the same.

Christi Dee of Carmel, Indiana just earned her sixth star at the Boston Marathon. She talks about the long road to a BQ at 41 and the even bigger goals she's chasing next.

My best friend Dr. Alyssa Stickley ran a sub-4 marathon because a near-stranger from Denver signed her up over wine at Ruth's Chris. We recorded this one hiding in her closet.