This episode features the running story of Mireille Siné, a marathon and ultra runner, a coach, and so much more. And intertwined into Mireille’s running journey is an autoimmune condition she’s been navigating since college: lupus.
Since childhood, being active and participating in sports has been part of Mireille’s life, and that included running. Running became a more central part of her athletic journey through college and after. Now in her mid-30s, Mireille has completed numerous half marathons, over a dozen marathons, and several trail ultras. She was also on a relay team for the Speed Project, a 340-mile event that goes from Santa Monica, CA, to Las Vegas, NV, and she ran from Boston to New York City as part of a group of women who completed the 200-mile journey in 11 days.
All to say, Mireille loves the challenge of running long distances, and she has for years now.
Throughout her running journey, Mireille has met the challenges presented by lupus. And that is the story Mireille is going to tell. How her pursuit of running and a lupus diagnosis have shaped her life and her athletic pursuits, as she continues to run far, and now coach others to go
after their running goals.
How to Keep Up with Mireille Siné
Instagram: @heycoachmireille
Website: coachedbymireille.com
To support WRS, please rate and review the show
iTunes/Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womens-running-stories/id1495427631
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8Hr2RysbV4fdwNhiMAXc?si=1c5e18155b4b44fa
Music Credits
Cormac O'Regan, of Playtoh
Coma-Media, via Pixabay
Lidérc Bell, via Pixabay
aidanpinsent, via Pixabay
AlexGrohl, via Pixabay
RomanBelov, via Pixabay
PaulYudin, via Pixabay
Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories
WRS Instagram: @womensrunningstories
Facebook: facebook.com/WomensRunningStories
Website: womensrunningstories.com
Women's Running Stories is a proud member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I am bringing you a reair of a terrific episode.
I'm taking this one-week break because I've been working on a new project that we just announced, and that I know you'll be excited about: the podcast EARTHMOVERS, with Alison Mariella Désir, Stefanie Flippin, Verna NezBegay Volker. It will launch Aug 14. Keep up with news and information about EARTHMOVERS now on Instagram: @EARTHMOVERSpodcast. I'll be back next week with a new episode of WRS. In the meantime, this is a great one: enjoy again or for the first time.
Wynonna Curely-Fulgham first discovered the life-changing impact running could have on her during her Kinaaldah, the Navajo puberty ceremony. She's carried the teaches from that transformative time into her adult life.
Wynonna has continued to be drawn to running, and specifically ultra trail running, as a way to test her own limits and also to process life's challenges and find her peace. It is a deep well of connection, discovery, and release: a physical endeavor that is also spiritual and healing.
In this episode, Wynonna shares the story of the pivotal moments she's experienced in ultra trail running, up through today. Her journey includes taking part in the Transrockies, a multi-day stage running race that takes place in Colorado, traveling through the mountains and over peaks, at altitude. Wynonna often runs as a member of the Native Women Run team.
Wynonna's story is powerful and beautiful. One women's incredible journey of self-discovery, evolution, and inspiration.
Keep Up with Wynonna Curely-Fulgham
Instagram: @blacksheep_running
Keep Up with Native Women Run
Instagram: @native_women_run
Website: nativewomenrunning.com
Information about Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, MMIW
mmiwusa.org
Information about Native American Boarding Schools
boardingschoolhealing.org/education/us-indian-boarding-school-history
boardingschoolhealing.org
www.irsss.ca
nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/30/us/native-american-boarding-schools.html
Mentioned in this podcast
Live with Team Native Women Run at the 2024 Chicago Marathon: womensrunningstories.com/live-event-native-women-run-team-at-the-2024-chicago-marathon-expo
Support Our Supporters
Lagoon Pillows: lagoonsleep.com/WRS15
Use the discount code WRS15 for 15% off your first order
To support WRS, please rate and review the show
iTunes/Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womens-running-stories/id1495427631
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8Hr2RysbV4fdwNhiMAXc?si=1c5e18155b4b44fa
Music Credits
Cormac O'Regan, of Playtoh
Coma-Media, via Pixabay
penguinmusic, via Pixabay
RomanBelov, via Pixabay
Grand Project, via Pixabay
Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories
Instagram: @womensrunningstories
Instagram: @over50sub20_5k_project
Facebook: facebook.com/WomensRunningStories
Website: womensrunningstories.com
Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com
Women's Running Stories is a proud member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This is a special live report from the inaugural We Out Here Trail Festival that just happened this last weekend on June 7, 2025. It took place outside Seattle, WA, at St. Edwards State Park.
The trail scene is and has long been the whitest, most male dominated sector of the running world. Instead of continuing to wait for the system to change, RDs Aaliyah Earvin and Alison Mariella Désir stepped up and made the event that they have wanted to see for a long, long time, and that they knew was possible.
Their vision: “We imagine a world where everyone feels welcome to find joy in the trails, free from fear or intimidation, and surrounded by a supportive community.”
Welcome, We Out Here. An event that, by all accounts, not only met, but exceeded expectations. Event participation featured the largest percentage of people of color at a trail event, ever. And 66% of participants were first timers. And, the day was nonstop full of joy! Which you will hear reflected in this episode.
Not only did these women create a successful event, they created a new model. It's not often that you get to be at a history making groundbreaking event. And, I'm really excited to share this with you.
This episode comprises a series of on-the-spot interviews featuring women talking about their experience of the day. Many of these women you will likely not be familiar with, but several you probably will: Verna Volker, founder of Native Women Run; Carolyn Su, founder of Diverse We Run and co-host of the Making Strides podcast with Stefanie Flippin; Flippin, a pro racer, is also featured in this episode: she is one of the fastest a 100-mile racers in the country; and you’ll also hear from Mirna Valerio, author of the book, A Beautiful Work In Progress. Also, you’ll hear from the two race directors, Earvin, who is a coach, fitness professional, and community builder, and Désir, who, among many other accolades, is the author of the groundbreaking book Running While Black.
Get a taste of what it was like, live at this historic event, the inaugural We Out Here Trail Festival.
See More About the Event on Instagram on these accounts
Seattle Running Collective: @seattlerunningcollective
Aaliyah Earvin: @confidentaaliyah
Alison Mariella Désir: @alisonmdesir
Mentioned in this Episode
Stefanie Flippin on WRS: womensrunningstories.com/stefanie-flippin-pro-ultra-runner-transforming-through-difficulties
Verna Volker on WRS: womensrunningstories.com/verna-volker-founder-of-native-women-run-a-running-journey-of-healing-and-community
Alison Mariella Désir on WRS, Running While Black: womensrunningstories.com/alison-mariella-desir-running-while-black-her-story-her-book
Alison Mariella Désir on WRS, Kilimanjaro: womensrunningstories.com/alison-mariella-desir-climbing-mount-kilimanjaro
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Sara Aranda is a trail runner and outdoor adventurer who has developed a strong interest in going after FKTs, fastest known times. But her outdoor passions are about much more than setting records: Aranda's motivations are spurred by processing life and death, grief and hope, fear and joy.
Aranda's passion for trail running began while she was in college. It was a space where she could process the death of her mother, who'd died after many years of fighting breast cancer.
Aranda herself then had to face some tough decisions. She first decided to learn whether or not she carried the same genetic abnormality her mother and other family members had, a BRCA mutation, which puts the carrier at high risk for breast and ovarian cancer.
She did.
Aranda then had a decade to decide if she wanted to take the preventative steps that would lower her chances of getting cancer, beginning with a double mastectomy.
This episode traces how running and moving through wild spaces have become intertwined with how Aranda has navigated big life questions and experiences that clarify how short this life can be.
The meaningful experiences found out on the trail are integral to how she chooses to live.
How to Keep Up with Sara Aranda
Instagram: @oyesaranda
Website: bivytales.com
Mentioned in this Episode
FKT Website: fastestknowntime.com
Becky Croft on WRS: womensrunningstories.com/becky-croft-running-endometriosis-and-post-hysterectomy-menopause
To support WRS, please rate and review the show
iTunes/Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womens-running-stories/id1495427631
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8Hr2RysbV4fdwNhiMAXc?si=1c5e18155b4b44fa
Music Credits
Cormac O'Regan, of Playtoh
Coma-Media, via Pixabay
Lidérc Bell, via Pixabay
aidanpinsent, via Pixabay
penguinmusic, via Pixabay
RomanBelov, via Pixabay
Rockot, via Pixabay
SergePavkinMusic, via Pixabay
PaulYudin, via Pixabay
Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories
WRS Instagram: @womensrunningstories
Facebook: facebook.com/WomensRunningStories
Website: womensrunningstories.com
Women's Running Stories is a proud member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Becky Croft’s life experiences have led her to becoming not only a performance minded runner but also a sought-after running coach. She’s developed a specialty in guiding runners through their menopausal years—pre and post.
Croft brings her own experience of post-hysterectomy menopause, which resulted from of a long history of endometriosis.
Croft shares her whole running story, which began later in life, in her 30s. She discovered her competitive mindset early in her running journey, and has been training with performance-focused goals ever since.
Becky Croft is a native woman, representing the Cherokee and the Yakima nations. She is part of the Native Women Run community, and has run as a member of the NWR team.
Croft's journey has also led her to become a Chi Running instructor, an RRCA certified running coach through the Game Changers program, and a She Runs this Town group leader. And Croft is on the board of ReNew Earth Running.
Becky Croft shares how running has empowered her, helped her process and heal through challenging health issues, brought her closer to her native roots and community, and been a pathway to leadership as a coach who brings much needed wisdom, knowledge, and experience to others.
How to Keep Up with Becky Croft
Instagram: @coach.croft
Mentioned in this Episode
Native Women Run: @native_women_run
Running Industry Diversity Coalition: runningdiversity.com
ReNew Earth Running: renewearthrunning.org
Game Changers: vcpm.com/game-changers
Vanessa Peralta-Mitchell on WRS: womensrunningstories.com/vanessa-c-peralta-mitchell-founder-of-games-changers-redefining-who-is-a-leader-in-running
To support WRS, please rate and review the show
iTunes/Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womens-running-stories/id1495427631
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8Hr2RysbV4fdwNhiMAXc?si=1c5e18155b4b44fa
Music Credits
Cormac O'Regan, of Playtoh
Coma-Media, via Pixabay
Lidérc Bell, via Pixabay
aidanpinsent, via Pixabay
penguinmusic, via Pixabay
RoyaltyFreeMusic, via Pixabay
Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories
WRS Instagram: @womensrunningstories
Facebook: facebook.com/WomensRunningStories
Website: womensrunningstories.com
Women's Running Stories is a proud member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jessica Mena is a longtime runner now focused on ultra trail running. She’s continually driven to discover what she is capable of: beginning with her first marathon, at age 12!, to today, as she explores running long distances on the trails.
This episode focuses on Mena reaching one of her biggest goals yet: running 100 kilometers (62 miles) over hilly trails. She shares how it all went down, along with the running journey that got her to this point.
In addition to being a runner, Mena is a physical therapist, coach, and running community builder—she’s the founder of the Tempo
Training Run Club. Mena is driven to find out just how far she can push herself in running. This 100k is the latest adventure in that quest.
How to Keep Up with Jessica Mena
Instagram: @tempo_with_jess
To support WRS, please rate and review the show
iTunes/Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womens-running-stories/id1495427631
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8Hr2RysbV4fdwNhiMAXc?si=1c5e18155b4b44fa
Music Credits
Cormac O'Regan, of Playtoh
Coma-Media, via Pixabay
RomanBelov, via Pixabay
aidanpinsent, via Pixabay
penguinmusic, via Pixabay
Camila_Noir, via Pixabay
chillmore, via Pixabay
Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories
WRS Instagram: @womensrunningstories
Facebook: facebook.com/WomensRunningStories
Website: womensrunningstories.com
Women's Running Stories is a proud member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This is an update from me, WRS host and producer Cherie Louise Turner, about my running, training, and racing. This picks up from where the last episode of the Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project, Part 9, left off.
As I mentioned in my last episode, I have decided to stop focusing so completely on this sub-20 minute 5k goal, so am just calling these running updates. I still have a sub-20 goal, but it's not my all-consuming singular focus.
This update covers the time period between mid-March and mid-May 2025. I left off in the midst of a break from running, and in this episode, I share details about my return to a formal training program. I'm experimenting with some new approaches to training that I'm very excited about.
Feel free to join the journey from here; it's not mandatory to listen to previous episodes of my running story (which includes parts 1-9 of the Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project, and two Comrades race reports, from 2022 and 2023) in order to enjoy this one. Previous episodes will provide more context around my running story and provide details about the many lessons I have learned so far.
Come along for the journey.
Mentioned in this Episode
Find the whole Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project series here.
Gwen Jacobson on WRS: womensrunningstories.com/gwen-jacobson-masters-marathon-champion-120-plus-marathons-and-counting
Cherie's Comrades Race Report 2022: womensrunningstories.com/cherie-turner-2022-comrades-marathon-a-hear-her-sports-special-collaboration
Cherie's Comrades Race Report 2023: womensrunningstories.com/cherie-louise-turner-2023-comrades-marathon-experiencing-the-magic-again-and-better
To support WRS, please rate and review the show
iTunes/Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womens-running-stories/id1495427631
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8Hr2RysbV4fdwNhiMAXc?si=1c5e18155b4b44fa
Music Credits
Cormac O'Regan, of Playtoh
Coma-Media, via Pixabay
penguinmusic, via Pixabay
RomanBelov, via Pixabay
SergePavkinMusic, via Pixabay
Lidérc Bell, via Pixabay
Camila_Noir, via Pixabay
Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories
Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project Instagram: @over50sub20_5k_project
WRS Instagram: @womensrunningstories
Facebook: facebook.com/WomensRunningStories
Website: womensrunningstories.com
Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com
Women's Running Stories is a proud member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Angel Tadytin shares the epic story of her first 50-mile trail race, and how it unfolded in unexpected and magical ways.
Tadytin is a wife, mother, social worker, and ultra runner, and she is from the Navajo Nation. She and her family currently live in Mesa, Arizona, but she’s originally from Page, Arizona, and the surrounding area.
Tadytin is also a lifelong hiker and outdoor explorer, and a
longtime weightlifter. In addition, Tadytin is a community builder and currently is a board member of Native Women Run (NWR), a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering and supporting native women in running.
The event that is at the center of this story is the Antelope Canyon Ultras 50 mile trail race, which goes through the land that Tadytin grew up on. The longest race Tadytin had ever run before was 55 km (34 miles), also
at Antelope Canyon.
Not only had Tadytin never run 50 miles before, she’d never wanted to run 50 miles. She didn’t even commit to this 50-miler until a month before the
event.
So, her training did not take a conventional path: most athletes would have started training for an event like this several months beforehand, and they’d have run several long runs of 20 or more miles in preparation.
Tadytin’s longest run leading into the event was 16 miles, which she ran once.
The reasons why Tadytin decided to run this 50 mile event, and the strength, support, connection, and experience that carried her through and to the end is what this story is all about.
How to Keep Up with Angel Tadytin
Instagram: @angels_ventures
Mentioned in This Episode
Native Women Run: @native_women_run
To support WRS, please rate and review the show
iTunes/Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womens-running-stories/id1495427631
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8Hr2RysbV4fdwNhiMAXc?si=1c5e18155b4b44fa
Music Credits
Cormac O'Regan, of Playtoh
Coma-Media, via Pixabay
RomanBelov, via Pixabay
SergePavkinMusic, via Pixabay
aidanpinsent, via Pixabay
penguinmusic, via Pixabay
Rockot, via Pixabay
Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories
Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project Instagram: @over50sub20_5k_project
WRS Instagram: @womensrunningstories
Facebook: facebook.com/WomensRunningStories
Website: womensrunningstories.com
Women's Running Stories is a proud member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This is a live recording from Sunday, April 20 at the Boston Marathon Expo. Once again, WRS host Cherie Turner teamed up with Julie Sapper and Lisa Levin from the Run Farther and Faster podcast to co-host an excellent panel.
This year's panel was titled Mental Strategies for Mastering the Marathon, and it featured exceptional masters marathoners Stephanie Bruce, Erica Stanley-Dottin, and Dot McMahon.
These women shared wisdom and experience on strategies for developing mental strength and resilience, mental approaches to the marathon, how to build confidence when you have self-doubt, and so much more!
This is an episode to listen to again and again; it's so packed with helpful advice and useful takeaways.
Stephanie Bruce, 41, has been racing professionally for over 15 years. Among her many racing accomplishments, she's placed 6th at the Chicago Marathon, and 10th at the London and NYC marathons. Bruce has also earned 3 national titles on the road, one in the half-marathon and twice in the 10k. Additionally, Bruce placed 6th at the Olympic Marathon Trials in 2020. Bruce started a new chapter in her running career this year, signing on with Tracksmith. She now runs for them professionally and will be helping to mentor younger runners going after big goals.
Erica Stanley-Dottin, 51, came to marathoning later in life, at age 35. In her early 40s, she began to train seriously and joined the Black Roses racing team. She then learned about The List: an accounting of all the American-born Black women who have broken 3 hours in the marathon. As she continued to get faster at the marathon, this became her goal. Erica met that goal with room to spare at the 2022 Berlin Marathon where she ran 2:52, at 48 years old. That came just six months after running 3:01 at Boston. This year, Stanley-Dottin ran the Boston Marathon as a member of Team Bevans, in honor of marathon pioneer Marilyn Bevans.
Dot McMahan, 48, has been running marathons for 19 years and she’s run for the Hanson Brooks Original Distance Project team for 20. Among Dot’s many accomplishments over her long running career, she’s qualified for and run 5 Olympic trials marathons, and she has placed in the top 10 at two of them. Last year, she was the oldest woman to compete in the marathon trials, and she qualified for last year's trials by running 2:35 at the 2023 Grandma’s Marathon. Dot is also a running coach. She works with private athletes and as an assistant track coach for Oakland University.
How to Keep Up with Stephanie Bruce
Instagram: @stephrothstein
How to Keep Up with Erica Stanley-Dottin
Instagram: @estanleydott
How to Keep Up with Dot McMahon
Instagram: @dotmcmahon
Ways to Connect with Run Farther and Faster
Instagram: @runfartherandfaster
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RunFartherFaster
Twitter: @RunFartherfast
Website: https://www.runfartherandfaster.com/
Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories
Instagram: @womensrunningstories
Website: womensrunningstories.com
Women's Running Stories is a member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This episode features prolific marathon runner and internationally competitive masters racer Gwen Jacobson.
Jacobson, who is 66, got started running in 2010, when she was in her 50s. She has run many distances, but without question she has the greatest affinity for the marathon: in the last 15 years, Jacobson has run over 120 marathons as well as one 50k.
In addition to loving the 26.2 mile distance, Jacobson loves big challenges and she is very goal oriented. So, for instance, she has completed a marathon in every state, under 4 hours. She also wants to win her age category in a marathon in all 50 states, so where that hasn’t already been the case, she’s going after that goal, too. Jacobson has 7 states left in that challenge.
She’s also chasing a sub-3 hour marathon on a downhill course, and she’s gotten very close. Her current downhill marathon PR is 3:04, which she set at the end of 2023. She has plans to better that time at the end of 2025.
Jacobson has gone through her fair share of trial and error when it comes to staying injury free, and she’s learned a lot about bone health. She’s landed on healthy habits that work for her, and she shares that in her story, too.
In this episode Jacobson shares so much: about her running progression, her goals and how she continues to run fast and far now in her mid-60s.
How to Keep Up with Gwen Jacobson
Instagram: @gwenjacobson
To support WRS, please rate and review the show
iTunes/Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womens-running-stories/id1495427631
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8Hr2RysbV4fdwNhiMAXc?si=1c5e18155b4b44fa
Music Credits
Cormac O'Regan, of Playtoh
Coma-Media, via Pixabay
RomanBelov, via Pixabay
penguinmusic, via Pixabay
chillmore, via Pixabay
Rockot, via Pixabay
Grand Project, via Pixabay
Camila_Noir, via Pixabay
Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories
Over 50, Sub 20, 5k Project Instagram: @over50sub20_5k_project
WRS Instagram: @womensrunningstories
Facebook: facebook.com/WomensRunningStories
Website: womensrunningstories.com
Women's Running Stories is a proud member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices