Blog: Feature Stories

In 1967, Kathrine Switzer became the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon despite being attacked by a race official who tried to physically pull her out of the race. To quote Ms. Switzer from one of her many interviews reflecting on the moment, “The perceptions of women back when I was running — amazingly enough just 53 years ago — were that you were going to get big legs, grow hair on your chest, and your uterus was going to fall out.”

Fast forward to the 21^st century, where things aren’t necessarily perfect, but have changed considerably. In a 2019 poll, researchers found that of the 443,878 marathon results recorded for the USA, an amazing 44% – or 196,586 runners – were women. Not only are women running great distances, they are also enjoying careers in the running industry as coaches, store owners, brand ambassadors, authors, and even celebrities in their own right. Ladies: we have come a long way!

There are, of course, challenges that persist and are unique to the female runner. According to our experts at Novant Health, runner’s knee, IT band syndrome, shin splints, Achilles tendonitis, and plantar fasciitis are all more common in women. Women also seem to face an inequitable amount of scrutiny about their body type and appearance, which, in turn, affects running performance. There are the physical and emotional challenges of the child-bearing years and then the inevitable struggle to juggle the responsibilities of career, family and physical fitness. If you know, you know.

One might wonder why women are constantly willing to face these challenges and continue to run. Why are we willing to endure the injuries, the inconvenience, and the societal and psychological pressures? Aside from the obvious connection between activity and health, two more factors drive us to keep going.

The first: Self care

Yes, it’s a quarantine buzz word, but running can provide a much needed dose of sanctuary or a momentary escape from the grind. On the daily to-do list, taking time for ourselves often falls to the bottom. Running, whether for 30 minutes or 2 hours, can be a time to focus on our physical fitness, to improve endurance and agility, and to push the limits of what we can do with our bodies. For many women, running is a time for some much-needed solitude and personal reflection that our busy lives often get in the way of.

The second: Personal connection

Ask a woman runner who her closest friends are, and she will likely name the three people with whom she just entered a race or logged a few miles. We women often find that when we gather for a run, it becomes a time to unload our worries, sympathize with our fellow runners as they unload theirs, and to try to make sense of the world. As women navigate the uncertainty of early adulthood, marriages, babies, child rearing, aging parents, and all of the joys and heartaches in between, they know that it is best done with a support system – which often comes in the form of a trusted running group.

Arguably, the playing field is still far from even. Scholarship dollars, sponsorship opportunities, prize money, audiences, media coverage, etc., all still lag behind. There are women (and men) working daily to advocate for women’s running – and female runners. And while most of us will likely never earn a nickel from our running, it’s important to recognize the impact women can – and do have — on the sport and the industry. Consider this: It wasn’t until the mid 80’s when the first running shoe built specifically for women hit the market. Nearly 20 years after Switzer’s groundbreaking Boston.

And nevertheless, women runners persist.

Seriously.

If you’re a runner in Charlotte, you may know Judy Caswell or have heard her story. It’s a great one! She picked up running as an adult and started challenging her college-aged sons to run marathons with her, and wagering on who’d finish first. Lesson: never bet against a mom.

Sounds like a woman in perfect health for her mid-50’s, right? Yeah, that’s what she thought, too.

Except the stomach problems. They were a pain. Just training hard, right? Comes with the territory, she figured. She had all of the classic symptoms – bleeding, abdominal pain, cramping – but they were manageable. Or so she thought, for too long. After four years, they were no longer manageable, so she started googling her symptoms. She finally went to the doctor and made an appointment with a gastroenterologist.

In May 2016, Judy was diagnosed with Stage 3 colorectal cancer. She was floored! She had never heard of it. She ate a healthy diet and exercised often, training for marathons and trail races. How does someone like her have this problem?

“I didn’t realize how common it was, and how many people I knew that had it,” says Caswell. “It’s not a cancer people are open about because of the part of the body we’re talking about.” True. No one really likes to talk about something wrong with their butt, right?

Caswell did more than talk about it. She and her treatment team went after her cancer aggressively. She shared her story with us for Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, which is a good time to talk about that body part no one likes to talk about.

“I went through the whole process pretty easily,” she recalls, noting that doctors were aware of her marathon training, and figured she was not one to sit idle during recovery.

She had a pelvic resection with ileostomy in September 2016 using the “ERAS” method — Enhanced Recovery After Surgery – so she didn’t take pain meds afterwards. She felt fine and was up and walking around the hospital – 3 miles! – the same day. She went home a day later. After 4 weeks of recovery, she was out running again with her specially-fitted ileostomy bag in tow.

Caswell progressed through chemotherapy and had her resection reversed in April 2017. After another 4 weeks of waiting (and skipping that marathon she had signed up for!) she was back to running again. She learned to be more aware of what she ate – both content and timing – but she hasn’t slowed down. Pre-pandemic, she was running the best times of her life! Now she turns her attention to others who are going through what she did.

“I have met more and more people on this journey – especially younger people — who are getting colorectal cancer,” says Caswell. “Traditional therapies aren’t effective with younger people, who also are getting more aggressive cancers.” In her work with the Congress for Colorectal Cancer, she’s learned this kind of cancer is expected to be the #1 killer of people aged 20-49 by 2030.

“Education and access are important,” she reminds us. She’s working on that through the Cancer Action Network, too, to provide better health equity and support.

Sadly, Philip Sanford’s mother didn’t have Caswell’s success. Mary Kay Sanford was just 42 when she was diagnosed with her cancer, during Philip’s senior year in high school.

“We were all shocked. Nobody had any idea what it meant. We had no real idea what it was, what its side effects were, what the severity was, or the next steps to take,” says Sanford. “It was a complete mystery to all of us.”

A PR & Media professional, Mary Kay spent the next 6 years using her skills for patient advocacy and clinical trials while fighting cancer with everything she had. She succumbed to it in 2006 at the age of 48. Sanford was just 22.

Sanford, a runner “since kindergarten,” kept running, but it was a few years before he learned of an opportunity to use his running to benefit a cause so close to his family. The “Get Your Rear In Gear” run was a perfect way for him to use his talents to raise awareness and support for colorectal cancer. He joined the GYRIG Committee in 2016 and became the event director for Charlotte in 2018. The race supports local patients, survivors, and caregivers through community grants.

LISTEN: Phillip Sanford on the Running Around Charlotte Podcast

“It’s important to make as many people aware of colorectal cancers as possible,” he says. Mainly, he wants to let people his age know that a colonoscopy is not a big deal, and patients who are diagnosed with these cancers are not alone. “We’re breaking through barriers to let people know this is serious, and with small steps you can stay healthy if diagnosed early enough.”

One of the big hurdles of colorectal cancer, like Caswell says, is getting people to talk about it.

“It’s such a taboo subject,” says Sanford. “People make a lot of jokes about colonoscopies, but it’s just a matter of making it part of normal conversations, and normal medical conversations.” Now that the demographics of the cancer patients are skewing younger, it’s more important than ever to have the conversations, says Sanford.

“It takes time to break that mindset,” he says. Seeing celebrities like Katie Couric and Al Roker advocate colon screenings is a big help, too. He also proudly sports a “✓ ur : ” T-shirt on his Instagram page.

The other big obstacle is getting patients the screening tests they need. Most insurance plans don’t cover colonoscopies until you’re 50, but a lot of people are being diagnosed before then – and have to pay out of pocket for tests. Both Sanford and Caswell are advocating to change that, along with groups like Fight CRC.

“At Fight CRC, their primary mission is government advocacy and insurance to cover colonoscopy at a younger age (45), or non-invasive blood or fecal tests to find potential disease or that coverage of your colonoscopy should be included as a separate and necessary screening,” says Sanford. “We are trying to let people know about the resources available to them if they get referrals.”

The Colon Cancer Coalition of Charlotte teams up with Novant Health and other providers to pay for screenings for those who need them. They raise money for grants and support with their Get Your Rear In Gear race, which is coming up on March 26, 2022.

The goal is always, “to do better than last year,” says Philip, which means raising more than $127,000. The pandemic ate into their annual fundraiser in 2020, but he’s confident Charlotte can return to pre-pandemic levels of fundraising.

In addition to screenings, the money raised provides grants for Wind River Cancer Wellness Retreats, to help with patient, survivor, and family support. A young survivors group has also been established and has been well-received.

Sanford is leading up the race, and has his own team. So does Caswell. They’re hopeful for more than 2,000 participants showing up for this year’s event.

“I’m really excited,” says Sanford. “We’re back to being our full event, and we have a new course this year. Come join us!”

To learn more or support CRC, find more here: https://donate.coloncancercoalition.org/charlotte

If you’re like most of us, there are two big factors that decide when you need to stop pushing your body to new limits:

1. Your legs (or other muscles)
2. Your cardio

We feel you. Sometimes your heart is in it, but your body can’t keep up. Or maybe your legs feel great but your heart starts pounding out of your chest and you have to slow down. Either way, we all know darn well how important a healthy heart is for us to live and perform our best.

The CDC says one person dies every 36 seconds in the U.S. from cardiovascular disease, making it the leading cause of death nationally in adults. Heart disease is responsible for 1 in every 4 deaths.

Runners generally bust the curve on these sorts of statistics, but running alone isn’t a singular prescription to overall heart health. We asked our partners at Novant Health for some fast facts to keep hearts healthy year-round.

Men and Women May Have Different Indicators of Heart Disease

Because women are underrepresented in research and clinical trials, doctors don’t have a wide pool of data about how they respond to heart disease. Women are more prone to some of the risk factors that cause heart disease, like obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. African American women, especially, have a higher incidence of blood pressure than any other race or gender and are at higher risk of heart disease.

Because of these differences, women may have different symptoms of heart disease and need different approaches to treatment, according to Go Red for Women. Women often need to look for different signs of heart trouble than men. So:

Know Your Symptoms

Chest pain is probably the most obvious sign of heart disease, along with a feeling of tightness in the chest or shortness of breath. But there are less obvious signs that you may just chalk up to a tough workout or a bad meal – but may be signs your heart needs attention! For women, especially, the symptoms are more likely to be upper back or neck pain, indigestion, heartburn, nausea or vomiting, extreme fatigue, upper body discomfort, and dizziness, and are more likely to occur while resting rather than working out.

And here’s one you might not expect: Pain, numbness, weakness or coldness in your legs or arms. What you believe to be soreness from a hard workout could be a sign of heart disease or heart attack, if the blood vessels in those parts of your body are narrowed. If you’re experiencing any signs or signals from your body that are unfamiliar, call your doctor. Or call 911 immediately if you think you are in cardiac arrest.

LISTEN: Black Men Run Works to Upend Health Disparities 

Risk Factors Play a Part

If you’re a runner, you’re off to a good start: Lack of exercise is one of the biggest risk factors for heart disease. The others are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking. The CDC says nearly HALF of Americans have at least one of these risk factors!

Anyone with these four big risk factors should also be aware of other indicators that may lead to heart disease, like diabetes, obesity, substance abuse, and poor diets high in trans fats. Tackling any one of these risk factors is a good start towards heart health.

How-To for Heart Health

There are ways to limit your risk, starting now. If you exercise and get your heart rate up for 30 minutes, 3 days a week (like going for a walk or an easy run!), that’s a good start. Runners, fine-tuning that cardio is what we do. But just because we run doesn’t mean we can forgo the other essentials to heart health. Here are a few other tips:

• Forget the fast food. Yes, it’s convenient, but no – and you know this – it shouldn’t be an everyday thing. At most, it should be occasional treat, which means you should really limit how often you eat it.
• Be a good shopper and a lazy cook. A good shopper fills the carts with a rainbow of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and very little processed food. Throw a piece of chicken or fish in a pan, and a bag of veggies in the microwave. Add seasoning (but limit salt if your diet calls for it). Eating healthy can be easy if you keep it simple. And make sure to drink plenty of water, too.
• Walk when you can! If you can take stairs instead of an elevator, do it. Working from home? Take a trip around the block when you feel like snacking. Going somewhere? Park at the end of the lot and walk to the store – or take your bike if you can.
• Quit smoking and lose weight, if these apply to you. Don’t be afraid to ask for help – a personal trainer or program can help you take a leap and break bad habits, or exchange them for new, healthier ones.
• Go see your doctor. It may have been years, but your doctor can check you out for overall health and spot any problems before they develop into something more serious.

If you’ve got this covered, good for you! If not, no worries. Like the saying goes, the best time start something was yesterday. The second best time is today.

Runners love to run. Runners love to talk about running. Runners love to plan and analyze their runs. Runners love to dream about running. Runners love to read about running, too. In this list of running books we love, you will find humor, practical advice, adventure, and some insight into what pushes us to the boundaries of our mental and physical limits.

If you’re looking for motivation, inspiration, a good laugh, or a thoughtful gift for your running bestie… read on!

North: Finding My Way While Running the Appalachian Trail by Scott Jurek

After years of success in the ultra running world, Scott Jurek decided to up the ante and run the Appalachian Trail. This book tells the story of the emotional and physical strength needed to conquer this Herculean task as well as the personal transformation that resulted.

Mike Cooke, a runner who spoke with us says this about any Jurek insight: “I love Scott’s books because he has every right to brag about being an amazing ultra runner, but comes off in this, and other books that talk about him, as a very humble down to earth person. He makes it easy to believe that everyone can achieve greatness if they do the work. He doesn’t claim to have the heart of a champion or say he’s blessed, gifted, or special, as a way to set himself above the people he competes against.  He’s great because he worked hard and enjoyed doing it. Hearing someone speak passionately about their craft, in a way that urges people to just try things, is fantastic. I read about him winning races and then standing on the line to welcome every runner until the last one had crossed.  I don’t care if it happened once, or a hundred times, that’s a class move. He strikes me as a “me vs me” guy and not a “me vs everyone” guy.”

The Rise of the Ultra Runners by Adharanand Finn

The author, Adharanand Finn, was challenged by his editor to run an ultramarathon after writing two successful running books. He got hooked and decided to write this book which examines the question many have about this extreme form of running… is it an antidote to modern life, or a symptom of a modern illness? He talks about what it took for him to become an ultramarathoner and offers insight into what pushes people to test the boundaries of what the human body can handle. Expect to find interviews with “many colorful characters” as well as descriptions of the highs and lows that come along with ultra running. A can’t miss for anyone considering an ultra race!

Running & Being: The Total Experience by Dr. George Sheehan

This is a book is as much about running as it is about life. It provides a philosophical outline for a lifetime of fitness and joy, showing how the body helps determine our mental and spiritual energies.

DC Lucchesi has been running (and writing) for a minute, as the kids say. This book still holds a special place on his shelf. “Sheehan is the runner’s writer, or perhaps the writer’s runner. Depends on from which angle you’re looking. Regardless, the 1978 classic still holds up in many respects. Most notably in Sheehan’s philosophy on why runners must run. Would you take training advice from a 40-plus-year-old manual? Most likely not. Sheehan (almost) predicts the shelf life of this part of the book in pointing to the constantly changing and sometimes conflicting information about diet and exercise. In the end, he says, it is all still a practice and we’re all really just an experiment of one. Those of us who embrace the opportunity to keep “play” — whatever that looks like — as part of our lives, will finish with a life fully-lived and completely experienced. It is play that keeps the body and the mind young and in balance with the intellectual, the labor, that is our work.”

Runner’s World How to Make Yourself Poop: And 999 Other Tips All Runners Should Know by Meghan Kita

If you know, you know, and if you don’t this book will tell you. It’s not just about hitting the portajohn before a race, though. “Despite the title, this book really does have a ton of super helpful information. From nutrition tips to racing strategies, Kita has done her research and lays out simple pointers from experienced runners, physicians, dieticians and coaches. It’s a great reference,” says Lisa Landrum of Forward Motion and runCLTrun.

In addition to the entries above, check out these fan favorites that have been staples for years:

Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins

If you are looking for a story of triumph over adversity, this is the book for you. The author endured poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse during his childhood but managed to transform himself from a depressed, overweight young man into a U.S. Armed Forces icon and one of the world’s top endurance athletes. This book is chock full of inspiration for pushing past the pain to reach your full potential. The advice applies to running and to life. A can’t miss if you are looking to not only be motivated but to be inspired!

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall

Tired of dealing with running injuries and eager to know the secret to avoiding them while training? Look no further than this story centered around the Tarahumara Indians. This tribe resides in Mexico’s Copper Canyons and has honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. The author brings you along on his journey across North America as he researches what gives ultra runners the ability to push their bodies to the limit. The book ends with a climactic race in the Copper Canyons that pits America’s best ultra-runners against the tribe. McDougall’s incredible story will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.

Marathon, Revised and Updated 5th Edition  by Hal Higdon

Hal Higdon is a household name when it comes to running. He progressed from running in college, to the Olympic trials, to placing fifth in the Boston Marathon. He is the longest-lasting writer at Runner’s World and has written more than 3 dozen running books.  Countless runners of all levels have used this book as a manual for how to start training, how to maintain motivation, and how to improve their marathon performance. Marathon running has changed in the seven years since the fourth edition—there are more runners than ever before, the popularity of half-marathons has grown immensely, and guidelines for best recovery and diet practices have changed. This revised fifth edition includes a new chapter on ultramarathons, along with material on recovery techniques, several new training programs, and advice on how to win a Boston qualifying race and improve your personal record. If you are looking for advice and training plans that are tried and true- this is the book for you!

So there you have it. From practical advice to inspiration and everything in between. Enjoy these books about running that will stoke your love for the sport, and fill you with the desire to stay moving!