Run Club Leaders
Armani McDonald, manager of Charlotte Running Company’s Dilworth location, shares the vision behind the weekly running community meetup, the sole, and how the company sets itself apart in run specialty leadership.
Business Founders
Bailey Ness designed a running apparel line after she couldn’t find the styles she wanted, and then started a weekly run club alongside the Cooldown name. Several years later, Cooldown Run Club anchors the business model and continues to expand, city by city.
Running Coaches
Miran McCash shares how her running and coaching journeys have evolved and what drove her to create community access for South Seattle runners with the launch of South End Running Exchange.
Business Founders
What started as a blog about running and training evolved into a coaching and events business. After a short hiatus, Marnie Kunz is reinventing Runstreet by leaning into her passion for video-first storytelling.
Runners
How Shannon Rowbury’s pregnancy while running for Nike led her down two avenues of advocating for women runners. “If you give me lemons, I’ll make the best darn lemonade you’ve ever tasted.”
Business Founders
After years of working in the running industry together, Lauren Osborne and her husband James chose East Nashville to open a running store, where they’ve focused on creating space for connection, belonging, and collaborative art projects.
Runners
A runner all his life and born to be a writer, Martin Dugard shares the places he traveled and the surprising facts he learned while researching his newest book, The Long Run, which documents the events that kickstarted the mid-1970s running boom.
Get to know the runners, run club leaders, and small business and nonprofit founders who are shaping the running community. Plus, dive into a roundup of running-related podcasts, news, and more.
Running inspires creativity, and creativity inspires running for Jess Hofheimer. She shares how she’s woven both together in her career endeavors.
Hilary Topper started a blog to share her running journey. Years later, she’s still blogging and is also a certified triathlon, run, and swim coach. Last fall, she released her second book for endurance athletes, "Unlocking the Triathlon," to help others get started in the sport she loves.
Physical education teacher and coach, Joel Frye is a founding board member of RunJuneteenth and leads the D.C. chapter of a kids running series.
After returning from Iraq with PTSD, Army Veteran Chris Raup experienced the many challenges in receiving proper veteran care. In 2024, he launched Warrior Trail Foundation with a commitment to help fellow veterans find mental healing and meaningful community through trail running.
Shawn King developed For the Run around the need for more affordable running apparel and a desire to give back to causes that are important to runners.
Access, education, and safety are top priorities for Yo and Antoine, co-founders of Sin Miedo, a BIPOC trail running community in Nashville. They share why including representation in race data is critical in creating a more inclusive trail running space.
Co-founder of Pao Labs, Zack Yu, shares the story behind developing a new running fuel brand, including its jelly consistency and Asian-inspired flavors, plus how they involved the running community in product testing and feedback.
Committed to the notion that youth running and sports should be about having fun, Joanie Kaijala developed Running Peas, a running apparel line for kids.
Detroit runners Joe Robinson and Lance Woods launched WeRun313 to share the mental health benefits of running with their community. It quickly sparked the start of more social fitness groups and brand partnerships focused on increasing access to the sport for local runners.
From competitive cyclist to ultramarathon runner, Dana Bandy is an advocate for staying active lifelong. After a knee injury reduced his running, he remains involved as the registration director for a 50K and a volunteer for nearly every race in Missoula.
When April Pullins began running, movement ignited her creativity and sparked the idea to launch Be Light Compression. Now, she’s motivating other women to rediscover their creative sides.
After decades of raising children, running, music, and navigating grief, Jenny Maxwell, co-founder of the original PowerBar, returned to her kitchen to create a new energy bar.