THE GREATEST INVENTION IN RUNNING—EVER! P.

44

S PE C I A L
BU Y E R ’S
G U I DE

BEST
TIPS
Fuel Up!
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BROOKS
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 S E P TE MB E R /O CTOB E R 2018 VOL . 5 3 NO. 8

HELPFUL TIPS, 30 38 44 50
“Yalla.” Let’s go! From helping The sports bra Navajo runner

FE ATURES
E X P E R T A DV I C E ,
Defying a long- runners attain is a badge of Edison Eskeets
S M A R T TA K E S held cultural feminism, calls his tribute
PRs to receiving
& PROFOUND taboo, Saudi on-the-spot and the most to his people a
( I F S L I G H T LY Arabian women marriage pro- important 330-mile-long
are taking to posals, these invention run- dance. We call it
OVE R - O B S E S S IVE)
the streets and are the stories ning has ever damn inspiring.
RUNNING WISDOM starting a run- of marathon known. BY JOHN A. KISSANE

ning revolution. pacers. B Y E R I N G L O R I A R YA N

B Y M I C H E L L E H A M I LT O N BY RW EDITORS
P.4 How not to lose your
toenails, by Edison Es-
keets, plus more tips from
this issue’s stars // P.8 Pat
Heine’s change of heart
on trekking poles and
5 8 T H E N E X T- G E N T E C H
G E A R O F T H E Y E A R Reebok Floatride Run Fast best shoe in
what to use for packing this guide / H O T L I S T Nike Air Zoom Pegasus Turbo same
race gear // P.10 Amanda springy foam as the Vaporly 4% / New Balance Fresh Foam Beacon thick foam mid-
FALL SHOE BUYER’S GUIDE!

sole helps pound out the miles / H O T L I S T Inov-8 Terraultra G 260 stronger-than-steel
Furrer on why hydration material.
is important—and the
reason she stocks up on E D I T O R S ’ C H O I C E Brooks Ghost 11 the shoe that keeps getting
64 THE LEGENDS
better / R E C O M M E N D E D Saucony Ride ISO the afordable everyday
Band-Aids // P.12 Jef
trainer gets a fancy tech upgrade / Asics Gel-Cumulus 20 super soft long-haul shoe
Dengate geeks out on is even softer / Asics Gel-Kayano 25 a classic with a redesigned upper / Nike Air
why now is the best time Zoom Pegasus 35 still runs like a Peg.
to buy running shoes //
72 SO SOFT Adidas Solar Glide ST a stability shoe that doesn’t feel like a stability
P.14 Jeremy Shore is out-
shoe / Brooks Glycerin 16 the softest Glycerin yet / Altra Torin 3.5 Knit
running aging—you can, a best-seller gets a facelift / 361 Degrees 361-Spire 3 high-mileage trainer / Hoka
too // P.18 Ashley Mateo One One Clifton 5 for when your legs are feeling dead.

on how to run back-to-

78 WILD CARDS Puma Hybrid Runner Unrest looks wild, ofers great energy return /
back races—and still Topo Athletic Ultraly 2 doesn’t punish the legs / Salomon Sonic
kick ass // P.22 Heather RA Nocturne wool insulation for nippy runs / Under Armour HOVR Phantom Connect-
ed deceivingly, looks too cool for racing.
Mayer Irvine explains why
veggies can make you
82 THE TRAIL BUSTERS E D I T O R S ’ C H O I C E Salomon Ultra Pro epitome of versatility /
a better runner // P.26 Skechers GOrun MaxTrail 5 Ultra major cushioning for the
Why accepting failure toughest terrain / Brooks Cascadia 13 handles gnarly terrain / Saucony Xodus ISO 3
softest ride with loads of energy return / New Balance Summit K.O.M./Q.O.M. looks
will help you achieve your rugged, moves swift / Altra Lone Peak 4 beast on the trails / Columbia Variant X.S.R.
goals, by Erin Kelly // P.96 jack-of-all-trades hybrid..
Julia Grosserhode on why
being a runner means
giving high-ives.
ON THE COVE R: Cover photograph by Andre Rucker.

RUNNER’S WORLD (ISSN 0897-1706) VOL. 53, NO. 8 IS PUBLISHED BIMONTHLY, 6 TIMES A YEAR, BY HEARST MAGAZINES, INC., AT 300 W. 57 TH ST., NY, NY 10019, USA, A WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY OF HEARST
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RUNNE RSWORL D.COM 3

Inside

THIS ISSUE’S RUNNERS & CONTRIBUTORS SHARE A FAVORITE TIP

EDISON ESKEETS,
RUNNER, THE 330-MILE
TRIBUTE, P.50 Make
sure the front end
of your shoes has an
extra space from ⅜
to ½ inch—it will
save your toenails.

4 RU N N ERSWORLD.CO M PHOTOGRAPH BY CAITLIN O’HARA

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Inside
THIS ISSUE’S RUNNERS & CONTRIBUTORS SHARE A FAVORITE TIP
ARWA ALAMOUDI, RUNNER,
SAUDI WOMEN, P.30 Each week,
I always cover three different
types of runs: intervals, long
runs, and recovery runs. This
ensures that I don’t exhaust
my body with one type of run
and experience different
running conditions.
SOMAYA ALGHAZALI, RUNNER,
SAUDI WOMEN, P.30 If we listen,
our bodies have a way of tell-
ing us when we need more
or less of something. When
we pay attention to the signs
(sickness, niggling or re-
occurring injuries, tiredness,
or maybe energy to push fur-
ther), we can give our body
what it needs.
JEFF DENGATE, RW RUNNER-IN-
CHIEF, SHEPHERDED THE FALL SHOE
GUIDE, P.57 When running
uphill, pay close attention
to how you’re carrying your
arms: Focus on swinging your
hands “from hips to pits”
(armpits). If you continue to
drive with your arms, your
legs will follow, and you’ll get
up the hill faster.
AMANDA FURRER, TEST EDITOR,
WHAT WE’RE RUNNING, P.10 Never
ever throw your shoes in
the dryer; you’ll damage the
shoes’ construction through
the heat! To dry them, take
out the insoles and stuff
the insides with newspaper
overnight.
MICHELLE HAMILTON, WRITER,
SAUDI WOMEN, P.30 I set a form
goal before each run—shoul-
ders down, spine tall; light
6 RU N N E RSWORLD.CO M
feet; feet under hips—and
focus on it throughout the
workout. Keeps my mind
occupied and my body lighter,
more relaxed.
PAT HEINE, VIDEO PRODUCER, WHAT
WE’RE RUNNING, P.8 For all the
performance benefits of train-
ing plans and run streaks, I
found that the spontaneous
“off day” has been the real key
to letting my body recover and
stay injury-free.
NARMIN HELAL, BLISS RUNNERS
TEEN COACH, SAUDI WOMEN, P.30
Even a 15-minute run is
money in the bank—short
distance daily can build into
good mileage weekly, and it
will still add up to your fit-
ness goals. The more mileage
under your belt, the better
runner you’ll become.
ERIN KELLY, WRITER, NO EXCUSES,
P.26 Find an accountability
buddy who is either running
the same race as you or has
similar goals. It’s 10 times
harder to press the snooze
button on your 5 a.m. alarm
when you know someone is
waiting for you to show up.
CHRIS LOW, PHOTOGRAPHER,
HOW TO BE A RUNNER, P.96 Stick a
blister kit in your hydration
pack for a long run on the
trails—they’re small and can
save your day. Also a Sawyer
water filter is a good idea, you
know, just in case.
HEATHER MAYER IRVINE, WRITER,
THE RUNNER’S WORLD VEGETARIAN
COOKBOOK, P.22 Marathon
fatigue is real. But before you
decide you hate running alto-
gether because of all those
miles, target a shorter race
like a 5K, and train for speed.
It’ll get your mind and body
doing something different
than the same monotonous
marathon miles.
CAITLIN O’HARA, PHOTOGRAPHER,
THE 330-MILE TRIBUTE, P.50 When
planning your route in a heat
wave, ensure there are water
fountains along the way, or
stash a water bottle some-
where you can do loops. And
don’t be discouraged if you
feel more tired or your heart
rate is elevated when you’re
working hard in the heat—it’s
normal.
MORGAN PETRUNY, TEST EDITOR,
SPORTS BRAS, P.48 Keep a train-
ing log that works for you
and that’s fun for you to use,
either online or a journal.
I know someone who even
uses a voice recorder. It’s
helpful for me to go back
and see what did and didn’t
work. I discovered that when
my weekly mileage got up to
a certain point, my IT band
would start to hurt. Find a
log that you’ll stick with, and
it’ll help you learn from your
training.
ERIN G. RYAN, WRITER, SPORTS
BRAS, P.44 The night before
a long run during summer
months, I toss Clif Shot
Blocks in the freezer. When I
need one on the run, I’ll tuck
it into my cheek. This serves
the triple purpose of giving
a little energy boost, cooling
me down, and, because they
soften pretty slowly, giving
me something mundane to
focus on besides how I wish it
was less hot.
MUNA SHAHEEN, BLISS RUNNERS
HEAD COACH, SAUDI WOMEN, P.30
Rolling a lacrosse ball on the
floor with the bottoms of the
feet is outstanding recovery
self-massage, especially for
those with plantar fasciitis.
JENNY SCHERER, RUNNER, SPORTS
BRAS, P.48 I recommend taking
two weeks off from running
at least three times a year
for recovery. Your body will
thank you for it. Breaks are
the key to longevity in the
sport.
CLAIRE WYCKOFF, RUNNER,
SPORTS BRAS, P.48 If you ever
get sick of your running rou-
tine, try running a shape!
Before your workout, create a
drawing in the streets using
the GPS on your run-tracking
app to map it out. Then follow
the route. Your mind will be
focused on the directions,
adding a bit of novelty to your
run. (And you get a great
social post at the end.)
DANIELLE ZICKL, ASSOCIATE
HEALTH AND FITNESS EDITOR,
TESTED THE NEW BALANCE FRESH
FOAM BEACON, P.61 If you’re
running on a track—and it’s
not crowded—change direc-
tion halfway through your
workout to prevent injuries
caused by too much repeti-
tion of left turns.
 What We’re Running
OUR IDIOSYNCR ATIC BUT E XPERT ENDORSEMENT OF AWESOME STUFF
Bill Strickland
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Jeff Dengate
RUNNER-IN-CHIEF

Jesse Southerland Creative

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EDITORIAL
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DESIGN + PHOTO
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CONTENT OPERATIONS
Molly Ritterbeck Health &
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video producer // not warmed up until TEST TEAM
the first 26.2 miles are in the bag Jennifer Sherry Associate
Test Director; Matt Phillips
Senior Test Editor; Amanda
Furrer, Matt Jacobs, Bobby
1 / Suunto Spartan of better inspiration Lea, Gabriel Lodge, Morgan
Petruny, Dan Roe Test Editors;
Sport $499 I LOVE than Scott Jurek’s Jimmy Cavalieri Image Editor;
LOVE LOVED my adventure up the Trevor Raab Photographer; Joël
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I bought years ago. love when people Derek Call, Pat Heine
The Spartan Sport complain about how 4 Video Producers
keeps up the perfor- Lori Adams Administrative
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Contact Wyndell Hamilton at
Great to use as a with a crop-top. Wright’s Media, 281-419-5725 x152,
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1
2

AMANDA FURRER

before high school xc meets

1 / Believe Training 5 / Adidas Boston

Journal $22 I track
runs online, but also tion Jacket $110
like using journals. I used to live in
This one, from elite Boston and have
runners Lauren run the marathon
Fleshman and Roisin consecutively since kmcdonald@qg.com, Produc-
McGettigan-Dumas, 2013. I never bought tion Services Manager; Kim
Gallagher kagallagher@qg.com,
has pace charts, the jacket because I 4 Production Specialist
motivational quotes, was afraid of jinxing
GLOBAL EDITIONS
and writing prompts. my qualifying streak. Brazil: Andrea Estevam Editor-
in-Chief; Caco Alzugaray
When I moved away Publisher; Netherlands: Laurens
2 / Let Your Mind in 2016, a friend gave ten Dam Editor-in-Chief; Olivier
Heimel Publisher; South Africa:
Run by Deena Kastor me that year’s jacket Mike Finch Editor-in-Chief;
$27 I missed a few as a going-away gift. Louise Meny-Gibert Publisher;
Sweden: Daniel Breece Editor-
stops on NYC’s 6 I’ve bought one at the in-Chief; Hans Lodin Publisher
train reading this—a expo ever since.
HEARST MAGAZINES
high compliment INTERNATIONAL
Simon Horne SVP/Managing
when ready to 6 / Vaseline $5 5
Director Asia Pacific & Russia;
decompress after 9 When I trained a Richard Bean Director of Inter-
national Licensing & Business
hours at work. dozen first-timers Development; Kim St. Clair
for a half marathon, Bodden SVP/Editorial & Brand
Director; Chloe O’Brien Deputy
3 / iPod Shuffle $140 I pushed Vaseline Brands Director, Shelley Meeks
Executive Director, Content
So bummed Apple like that lady in Drop Services
discontinued it! This Dead Gorgeous. 6
PUBLISHED BY HEARST
C o u r t e s y A m a n d a F u r r e r ( F u r r e r) ; Tr e v o r R a a b ( P r o d u c t s)

one got laundered It’s my number-one COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

a couple times and defense against Steven R. Swartz President &
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ended up playing chafing. R. Hearst III Chairman; Frank
only Hop Along’s
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and Perfume Genius’s 7 $100 I’ve gone
7
“Slip Away” the last through 10 pairs.
12 miles of a mara-
thon. I still play them with just enough
on a newer silver one.
shown here got
4 / Hydro Flask 21 oz soaked in Boston
Bottle $33 I’m trying
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AS THE PREDOMINANT shoe geek here at
Runner’s World, I get asked all the time
what I wear. My answer is always the same:
“I run in different shoes every day.”
And that’s mostly true: As of this writing,
I’ve worn 42 different pairs of shoes this
year. That’s a little lower than normal, but
it still means I’ve rarely worn the same
model on back-to-back days.
Last year, I had an ambitious little
project: Run in a different pair of shoes
every single day. (The flaw in my thinking
was that it meant I had to actually run
every single day!) I fell shy of my goal,
making it 257 straight days before taking
a break; I ended the year having worn 285
different pairs. But it was fun, and I got a
lot of interesting Instagram posts out of
know somebody who stockpiles pairs when THE DIGITS
their favorite shoe hits the clearance bin?
Or maybe you’ve been wearing the Kayano
for 20-plus years? 43
In any case, there’s never been a better AGE OF
time to shake things up and try on a new THE AGELESS
shoe. There’s a real battle happening in BERNARD
shoe tech—mostly occurring with the com-
LAGAT, WHO
position of midsole foams—that promises
WON THE
to change your interaction with pavement.
Not sure where to start? Fret not. Flip
USA 10K
to page 57 for our Fall Shoe Guide, where CHAMPIONSHIP
our team of testers dishes the insight on IN 28:45
the season’s best new shoes, after logging AT THE AJC
hundreds of models in each pair. PEACHTREE
And if you don’t see what you’re looking ROAD RACE
for here, check out runnersworld.com, ON JULY 4.
where we publish a new shoe review

4
DAYS BETWEEN
WHEN HARVEY
LEWIS, A
HIGH SCHOOL
TEACHER FROM
CINCINNATI,
W H AT I ’ M
TESTING
FINISHED THE
8TH-FASTEST
Salomon Sense THRU-HIKE
Ride GTX OF THE
Using Gore’s APPALACHIAN
Invisible Fit tech-
nology, the shoe TRAIL (49 DAYS,
has a waterproof 14 HOURS,
membrane bonded
directly to the fabric
57 MINUTES)
so it fits better and AND BEGAN
absorbs less water. THE BADWATER
135.
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BY JER EM Y SHOR E

ESSENTIAL
RECOVERY
PRODUCTS

The S t ick uniquely shaped

Trave l S tick foam roller that
This portable contours to your
version of the pop- body. $40
ular massage stick
makes it easier to Trigg e rPoint
hit tired muscles M B1 This massage
when you travel to ball is small enough
races or runs. $28 (2.6 inches) to hit
hard-to-reach knots
Rollg a Foam and just soft enough
Rolle r Get pres- to make your mas-
sure where you sage feel great. $15
WHEN I TORE my medial Recover More! need it with this
meniscus in my 30s, there was Aging can make just about
a chance I might never run anyone wish they had a per-
like I had—freely, whenever I sonal massage therapist, but
wanted, for as long as I wanted, a ball and a foam roller can
on any terrain, at any intensity. get the job done–for a lot less.
I set a goal: Instead of sur- These self-massage tools can
gery, I would rehab my knee help you free up tight spots,
so I could still run with excel-
lence—and with my two young
sons. I set up an appointment Plus, it just feels great.
with a physical therapist who
specializes in working with Jump!
runners. I did everything he
asked, and I learned a lot on
my own, too—not just about
my knee and my body, but also
about how to train as I aged.
These lessons are universal, and
they benefit anyone who wants
to run freely without pain for as altogether.
long as possible.
Here are three key lessons I
learned on the way to creating
my Run 360 training system—
which you can find out more
about on page 16.

Incorporate Intervals!
Swap long runs for shorter,
intense sessions that include
sprints. Intervals are good for
your heart, training it to pump
at its max and then quickly
recover. They also target the
highly metabolic fast-twitch
muscle fibers. To run off body
fat, interval sprints in any form
are the way to go. ments you want to make.

14 RU N N ERSWORL D.CO M PHOTOGRAPHY BY TREVOR RAAB

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 5 AGE-
DEFYING
ROLE
MODELS
1 FLO MEILER, 84 /
Regularly competes at
her state’s senior games
in events like the hurdles
and pole vault—claim-
ing over 700 medals!

2 GEORGE ETZWEI-
LER, 98 / Has raced
one of America’s tough-
est uphills 13 times—
the 7-plus-mile Mount
Washington Road
Race—including a finish
of just over four hours
this year. 1

3 PAUL OLDEN, 2 3

64 / When the public

address announcer for
the New York Yankees
got back into running
at the age of 60, he

M a r v i n H i l l / H u m a n a ( M e i l e r) ; A n d r e w D a w s o n ( E t z w e i l e r) ; C h r i s t i a n R o d r i g u e z (O l d e n ) ; C o u r t e s y J u d y W i l s o n ( L o p e z ) ; B u s i n e s s W i r e ( W r i g h t )
decided to run at least
one mile every day. His
second streak eclipsed
600 days in July.

4 BEGO LOPEZ,
50 / Fulfilled a lifelong

* ambition to compete at
the college level when
she joined the NJCAA
cross-country team at
Daytona State College.

PROTECTION
(Two of her teammates
on the nontraditional
team were 42 and 49!)

5 DON WRIGHT, 4

77 / Diagnosed with
multiple myeloma, an
incurable blood cancer,
just two weeks after 5
completing his first

THAN marathon 15 years ago,

he never stopped run-

U by Kotex Click. ning and has crossed

more than 100 mara-
thon finish lines.
*Among regular absorbency
See video, photos, and
stories of these running
heroes and others at
runnersworld.com
© Procter & Gamble, Inc., 2018

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BY ASHLEY M ATEO

Plan your race schedule smart so you

don’t set yourself up for burnout.

THERE’S A REASON you’ll proba- involving a marathon distance

bly never see Desiree Linden,
Galen Rupp, or other top pros
race both the Chicago and
New York Marathons. Elites
know that pushing themselves
that hard in more than one
major marathon per season
can hinder performance in race
number two.
But running back-to-back
races isn’t that uncommon for
amateurs, whether it’s at run-
ning festivals in which you can
do multiple races on consecutive
days, or simply because there
are so many races within weeks
during peak running season.
Some of us sign up immedi-
ately after one race because we
botched a PR opp; others just
want to keep riding that run-
ner’s high to the next finish line.
because after mile 20—the
longest long run in most mar-
athon training plans—you push
your body beyond its physical
limits, says Janet Hamilton,
an exercise physiologist and
running coach with Running
Strong.com. And running at
race effort adds another ele-
ment of stress. “Physiologi-
cally, you’re going to tax your
energ y resources, you may
experience microtrauma in
muscle cells, and you’ll prob-
ably experience some mental TOTALLY WORTHY
fatigue,” she says. BACK-TO-BACK
If you push yourself that far CHALLENGES
again too soon, you’ll increase
your risk of injury. It’s also D op ey RW H al f B e rmuda
not uncommon for runners to Challe ng e. & Fe s t ival Triangle
experience reduced immune The mileage might Come race with Challe ng e
be grueling—5K, us! Our weekend These three races
function and slower recovery 10K, half marathon, of running nets you in three days—5K,
R W H a l f M a r a t h o n: R y a n H u l v a t

There’s no need to settle for afterward. “Long-duration, and a final 26.2 in 26.2 miles over 10K, and either
just one major race per season, maximum-effort activities four days—but at three days, with a half or full
least you’re in the a 3.8-mile trail on marathon—may
as long as you know what you’re place huge loads on a variety Happiest Place on Friday, back-to- leave you feeling
getting into. of areas—muscle tissues, ten- Earth. More info: back 5K/10K on slightly lost.
dons, bones, even blood vessels rundisney.com Saturday, and a More info:
half marathon to bermudarace
Why You Fall Apart and the mucosal linings of the
close. More info: weekend.com
General running wisdom tends respiratory system,” Hamil- runnersworld
not to support stacking races ton says. “Tissue repair ➞ .com/rwhalf

18 RU N N E RSWORL D.CO M
©2018 AMERICA’S MILK COMPANIES SM

SLOANE
S TE P H E N S

www. Bu i l t W it hChoc ol a t e M i l k . c om
MARATHON RECOVERY RULE 1 day of recovery per 1 mile of running

➞ and regeneration takes lutely would not want to tax

time and metabolic energ y,
and if you divert that meta-
bolic energy to resume hard
training too soon, you may
shortchange the repair and
regeneration process.”
That’s still true if you’re fol-
lowing a marathon with a half,
and potentially even back-to-
back halfs. “While a half mar-
athon is half the distance, it’s
also run at a harder effort than
a full marathon,” she adds. “It’s
still a maximum-effort activity
and still deserves respect in
terms of recovery.”
the same energy system that
you just used. That’s why I
think some people feel totally
fried or f lat in race number
two—their central nervous
system get s at t acked a nd BOUNCE
overloaded.” Instead, if you’re
BACK
running between eight and 16
LIKE A
miles, break that up into mile
reps over a 24-hour period. For BOSS!
instance: three 4-mile runs During the race:
Hydrate not just
throughout the day versus with water, but
12 miles at once. For faster also with electro-
workouts, keep your intervals lytes—they help
replenish every-
to just 30 or 60 seconds with
thing you sweat
double the rest. out.

First 24 hours
postrace: Warm
and loosen your
muscles with a hot,
Epsom salt bath,
then manually
massage every-
“FATIGUE USUALLY FADES thing that hurts.
Skip the anti-
FASTER THAN FITNESS DOES,” inflammatory
drugs. They may
SAYS HAMILTON. “BY TAKING interrupt healing
SOME RECOVERY TIME AFTER and tissue repair.

THE RACE, YOU’LL HOPEFULLY First few days:

REDUCE FATIGUE, BUT YOU
WON’T LOSE MUCH FITNESS.”
How to Stay Strong
Leah Rosenfeld, a Flagstaff,
Arizona–based coach for the
Run SMART Project, an online
coaching service, has a simple
but effective prescription for
recover y: “Ideally, af ter a
marathon, you get one day of
recovery per mile of running,”
she says. “That’s about three
weeks of light, active recov-
ery work; then it would be
ideal to have another three to
four weeks to build up again
before another race. So you
would have about two months
between races.”
One thing you don’t want
to do between the two races:
additional steady-state runs,
cautions Rosenfeld. “You abso-
A sports massage,
stretching, and
foam rolling help
keep everything
moving properly.
Get out and
walk, too—that
If you’re going to do some- stimulates blood
flow and provides
thing that requires high mile- low-level stress
age in a short amount of time that encourages
( like a running festival or healing.
multi-leg relay race), Hamilton
suggests getting your longest
training run up to a distance
that’s equivalent to the total
you’ll be racing.
The Ultimate Save
And, of course, Hamilton
says, you can always just decide
to take it easy. “Completing
a n event at a subma xima l
effort will not result in the
same tissue damage profile
as competing in an event at a
maximal effort. If you run an
event rather than race it, the
calculus changes.”
BY HEATHER M AY ER IRVINE

we love:

More and more runners rely on grains, fruits,

and vegetables as their primary fuel sources—
all the way up to elites such as ultrarunning
legend Scott Jurek. Even runners who don’t
want to give up burgers and steaks will find
that ramping up their plant intake can help
them run strong and recover right. Here are a
few easy ways to make the most of plants.

1. Eat all the colors. their calories in the form of

A rainbow of produce provides
all the nutrients you need. For
example, the orange in veg-
etables, such as carrots and
butternut squash, means there
are high levels of beta-carotene,
which ultimately becomes vita-
min A—an immunity and eye-
health booster. Bright colors
also indicate that the food is
rich in antioxidants, which can
fight Alzheimer’s and heart
disease. And studies suggest
that when the pigments in pro-
duce interact with each other, it
maximizes the health benefits.
2. Choose the right carbs.
In general, runners should
consume 50 to 65 percent of
carbohydrates—the higher
your mileage, the higher your
percentage. This doesn’t mean
all pasta, all the time. You’ll
find quality carbs in grains
such as quinoa and rice, in
potatoes, and, yes, in veggies.
And eat whole grains, which
are almost always the best
choice compared with refined
grains like white four, because
nutritious B vitamins, iron,
magnesium, selenium, and
fiber are stripped during the
refining process.
3. Be smart about fat.
In addition to making food
taste good, fats play a key role
in keeping you healthy ➞

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➞ a nd boost i ng per for- 4. Don’t skimp on protein. previously recommended for aerobic activity increases
mance. Fat is chock-full of vita- Protein helps maintain lean athletes. It’s also important to red blood cell count, which

mins and minerals, and when
eaten alongside nutrient-rich
foods (like dark leafy greens), it
actually helps your body absorb
key nutrients such as vitamins
A, D, E, and K.
Avoid trans fats, which are
found in processed and fried
foods and can lead to heart
disease, stroke, type 2 diabe-
tes, and weight gain. Instead,
opt for heart-healthy mono-
unsaturated fats found in oils
like olive, canola, and sesame
seed. Other sources include
avocados, nuts, seeds, and
muscle mass and repair the
microscopic tears and damage
in muscle tissue caused by hard
workouts. Studies have found
that runners who consume the
right amount of protein are less
likely to get injured. Protein is
also associated with a healthy
immune system, thanks to its
ability to stimulate white blood
cells. And because protein takes
longer to digest than simple
carbohydrates, it helps you feel
fuller for longer. Mix and match
eggs, dairy, nuts, tofu, lentils,
and beans to get the protein
spread out your protein intake
throughout the day, consuming
more right before and right
after your workouts.
AND DON’T FORGET!
* Vitamin B12 : This
water-soluble vitamin helps
keep the nerve and blood
cells healthy, make DNA, and
prevent anemia. Because it’s
not naturally found in plant
foods, vegetarians and vegans
should load up on fortified
foods such as orange juice,
milk, breads, cereals, and
P r e v i o u s P a g e : C o u r t e s y V i t a m i x ( V i t a m i x ) ; c o u r t e s y N i n j a ( N i n j a ) ; c o u r t e s y B l e n d t e c ( B l e n d t e c) ;
demands a higher amount of
iron. Red meat and seafood
have high levels of iron, but
runners who don’t eat meat
can increase their iron by
consuming whole grains, nuts
and seeds, legumes, beans,
lentils, tofu, leafy greens,
and dried fruit. These foods
should be eaten with vitamin
C–rich foods to help increase
absorption.
Excerpted from

nut butters. And the omega-3
fatty acids found in walnuts
and flaxseeds are known for
their effect on brain and joint
health. Runners should aim
to get 20 to 35 percent of their
daily calories from unsatu-
rated fats.
T h i s P a g e : M i t c h M a n d e l ( H u m m u s)
The Runner’s World
you need. pastas. Check the labels to Vegetarian Cook-
New research recommends confirm which foods are for- book. Copyright
© 2018 by Hearst
that athletes consume 0.54 to tified. Magazines. Pub-
0.91 gram of protein per pound lished by Rodale
of body weight. Not only is that * Iron: Runners, regardless Books, an imprint
of Crown Publishing
significantly more than the of dietary preferences, are
Group, a division
recommendation for nonrun- at a higher risk of develop- of Penguin Random
ners, it’s more than what was ing iron deficiency because House LLC.

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BY ERIN KELLY
MY FRIEND, ERIN, and I ritually
began our early morning runs
with excuses. “Don’t hate me
if I’m slow today,” I’d plead. “I
was up late finishing an assign-
ment.” She’d almost always roll
her eyes and cite a reason she
didn’t feel 100 percent either,
which made me sigh in relief.
Then one day I st a r ted
second-guessing this comforting
routine. We’re both competitive,
career-driven, accomplished
women. Besides running mara-
thons, we work full-time, take
on side gigs, and have thriv-
ing social lives. Why were we
starting our runs by telling each
other we couldn’t perform?
I posed the question to Ben
Oliva, a sports psychologist and
mental performance coach for
SportStrata. Self-handicap-
ping—the psychological term
for my behavior—is, he says, “a
way of lowering your expecta-
tions for yourself. Then, you
won’t be disappointed if you
come up short.”
The irony is that the self-
handicapping used as a shield
actually hurts us. A study in
t he Journal of Personality
26 RU N N E RSWORL D.CO M
REMEMBER
TO REWARD
YOURSELF
Studies show that promising
yourself a reward helps you
stay focused and achieve
goals. Here are seven prizes
that rose to the top when
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and Social Psychology found
that self-handicapping can
lead to lower overall motiva-
tion—which may explain why
I hadn’t run a personal best
marathon since 2014, despite
racing the distance more than
a half dozen times since.
Armed with this new knowl-
edge, and freshly jaded by a
soul-crushing breakup last fall, I
cut ties with my self-sabotaging
C o u r t e s y L u l u l e m o n ( T i g h t s) ; c o u r t e s y J a y b i r d ( E a r b u d s) ; c o u r t e s y Tr a c k s m i t h ( J a c k e t )
habits. I vowed to quit bailing
before I started, to stop pre-
emptively buffering a bad out-
come with words, and to let my
actions speak for themselves. I’d
been tiptoeing around ambitions
to protect myself from failure,
and defeat. Rather than let my
big goals scare me, I pledged to
embrace the challenge—and to
declare, loud and proud, that I
was doing it. The goal I would
begin with was running the
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If that sounds a little anti- Align Pant Run E arbuds N or ’e as te r
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→ Oliva helped me realize
that a specific, speedy finish
time could lead to self-handi-
capping. He suggested zeroing
in on the controllable steps of
training—basically, adopting a
growth mindset over one fixed
on a specific result.
So, I h ired a coach, got
a high-tech GPS watch, and
enlisted the help of a good
friend, who I knew would
hold me accountable during
the tough winter months of
training. I promised to never
snooze on the mornings of my
predawn miles and to embrace
the toughness of long runs and
speed workouts. I vowed to
push myself a little harder
when charging uphill—and to
be disgustingly lazy on my rest
days. There would be no room
for excuses past the finish line.
My coach believed that if I
did all that, a 3:10:00 at Boston
was within my reach. I did, too.
By now, we all know about
the nast y weather that hit
t h i s yea r. I held onto my
pace, headwind and rain be
damned, through the first half
of the race and even part of the
second. But after ascending the
first Newton Hill, my quads
locked up, and I hit a wall. I
28 RU N N ERSWORL D.CO M
4
The author
contemplates
her next goal
on a morning
run in her new
hometown of
Berkeley, CA.
steeled myself and slogged to a
3:22:19, more than 10 minutes
slower than I’d hoped.
But I don’t consider the
experience a failure. My bold
approach pushed me to the
fastest marathon I’ve run in
four years, and a course PR by
C o u r t e s y J e n i ’s ( I c e C r e a m ) ; c o u r t e s y B o a r d w o r k s ( B o a r d ) ; c o u r t e s y C i e l e ( H a t ) ; c o u r t e s y D r i n k t a n k s (G r o w l e r)
more than two minutes despite
driving rain, 25-mile-per-hour
headwinds, and temperatures
in the 30s. I ran fast, and I took
chances—and when my body
broke down, my mind stayed
resilient, focusing on finishing
in spite of what the clock said.
Learning to shake the self-
handicapping has extended far
our favorite recov-
beyond my running. I stopped All The recovery days: This ery beer ice-cold
missing the ex, and quit chas- Cho c olate s inflatable board is for 24 hours. $74
ing others who didn’t deserve I ce Cr eam wide enough for
C olle c t ion SUP yoga and fits 7. Cie le G o Cap
my time and energy. I made Four pints of the in a trunk. $799 “ C e ntur y ”
an appointment with a ther- world’s greatest I ce Edition
apist to responsibly deal with chocolate ice 6 . D rink Tanks We love the cool,
creams. $48 6 4 oz In su - color-blocked style
the aftermath of my breakup, late d G r owle r and comfy bend-
and decided it was time to quit 5 . B oar dworks Stainless and dou- able brim for long
talking about going back to S H U B U S olr ble-walled to keep runs. $40
school on the West Coast and
finally do it. I have a newfound
sense of confidence to declare
what I want, and the courage SET AN INTENTION PRACTICE “FALLING
to go after it. 2 SIMPLE
Instead of starting with FORWARD”
Last week, when I met Erin BUT EFFECTIVE an excuse for feeling Commit to a goal,
for our morning run, I smiled, WAYS TO slow, state how fast you and focus on the pro-
plan to run: “I’m going cess of improving when
then said to her: “Let’s see how STOP SELF- to do an 8-minute-mile not everything goes as
fast we can go today.” HANDICAPPING pace today.” you planned.
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Saudi Arabia effectively banned women’s sports
for decades. Exercising in public has long been a
cultural taboo. But Kingdom-wide, groups of
robed runners have taken to the paths and streets,
proving that change is coming.
BY MICHELLE HAMILTON ⁄ PHOTOGRAPHY BY IMAN AL-DABBAGH
JRC Women, the first women’s
running group in Saudi Arabia,
on a walkway in Jeddah.

RUNNE RSWORL D.COM 31

NESREEN GHONAIM STEPS OFF THE
CURB AND INTO TRAFFIC. CARS SLOW,
ALLOWING US TO CROSS. IT’S A FEW
MINUTES PAST 7PM AND THE RUNNING
GROUP SHE LEADS IS WAITING. SHE
HUSTLES DOWN THE WALKWAY, A WIDE
MERIDIAN STRETCHING THE CENTER
OF TAHLIA, ONE OF THE BUSIEST
SHOPPING STREETS IN THE PORT CITY
OF JEDDAH. HER BLACK ABAYA, THE
LONG ROBE WOMEN MUST WEAR IN
PUBLIC, SWISHES AROUND HER CALVES.
Nesreen is 43, with warm eyes, high
Egyptian cheekbones, and curls that bounce
as she moves through the evening crowd.
Twenty feet ahead, about 15 women wait in
the walkway. They all wear abayas, running
shoes, and various forms of head covering,
from the veiled niqab to a loose hijab, or no
head covering at all. The women—mothers,
professionals, students—smile and embrace
us when we arrive. This is JRC Women, a
division of the local running group Jeddah
Running Collective, which Nesreen heads.
They’ve recently launched a couch-to-5K
program to welcome newcomers, and while
some in tonight’s group have been members
for a couple years, many are new.
“All right, gather round,” says Raghad
Almarzouki, 31, who tag-team coaches JRC
Women with Arwa Alamoudi, also 31. “We’ll
run down the walkway, out to the grassy
area and back,” she says, detailing the 5K
route. She waves her hand, “Yalla.” Let’s go.
The women take off down the path, a
mosque across the street on one side, a
female-only Gold’s Gym franchise on the
other. Couples stroll as children dash about.
A man kneels on a prayer rug. Veiled women
walk with cell phones to their ears, and
Nesreen Ghonaim wears
Nike Legend tights with
her abaya, and Nike Air
Zoom Pegasus shoes.
SUVs, luxury sedans, and the occasional
rundown Toyota whiz by.
The moment seems ordinary: a group
of women out for a run in a city. Except
that it’s revolutionary. The Saudi Arabian
government, a monarchy that follows a
conservative form of Shariah law, effec-
tively banned women’s sports for decades.
In the 1960s, when the country launched
widespread public schooling, it prohibited
physical education and sports for girls and
barred women from forming sports teams
or participating in sporting events. When
JRC was founded in late 2013, the country
had no women’s running groups.
Now, from the western city of Jeddah,
to the capital, Riyadh, to eastern Khobar,
women are running in the streets, claim-
ing a place and activity long considered
inappropriate for their gender. In each city
the running scene is a unique blend of the
women themselves, the run groups, and the
local political climate. The common thread:
The women, and the men supporting them,
are committed to advancing Saudi culture
around women’s sports.
“Saudi society has traditionally viewed
women exercising in public as taboo or
improper,” says Mezna AlMarzooqi, Ph.D.,
a public health professor at King Saud Uni-
versity in Riyadh who researches activity
levels among young, educated Saudi women.
As recently as 2016, women who wanted to
slip out for a five-miler worried they would
be stared at, harassed, or even stopped by
the Mutawwa, Saudi’s religious police who
enforce the strict mores on modest dress
and behavior, including mixing with the
opposite gender. Historically, the Saudi gov-
ernment believed that interactions between
men and women who are not related could
lead to immoral behavior. Because of that,
Saudi became the most gender-segregated
country in the world. Restaurants have
separate sections for “singles” (men) and
“families” (women, children, and their
male relatives). Some shopping malls have
designated female-only floors. Almost all
schools are single-sex, as are universities.
And until recently, the government did not
issue licenses for women’s gyms.
So women ran on treadmills at home.
They held yoga, Pilates, kickboxing, and
other fitness classes at their houses. They
also engineered creative workarounds to
the licensing issue by fronting a gym with a
seamstress shop, or opening a fitness studio
in a hospital or hotel, where a license wasn’t
required. Some women joined the running
groups and fitness classes that take place
inside walled compounds—gated commu-
nities where foreign workers live more
Western lifestyles.
Back on the Tahlia walkway, Raghad waits
until everyone has caught up, then leads the
group down a side street. We run alongside
the high walls, ubiquitous in Saudi Arabia
for privacy, and eventually come to the
wide grassy field where the women move
through conditioning drills—lunges, squats,
leg swings—sweat glistening on their faces.
The run back along the walkway is quieter,
the heat, 75 degrees, 70 percent humidity
after dark, weighing everyone down. One
woman slows to a walk. Her daughter runs
ahead. As the run ends, another woman bolts
to the curb to take advantage of an ice cream
truck. After postrun high-fives, the women
gather for the requisite group-run selfie.
Munira Abdalwahid, 30, a tall, confident
runner who’s been part of JRC for more
than two years, raises her phone to the sky,
finds the smiling faces, and snaps the shot.
S K W E S T E R N E R S W H AT T H E Y
know about Saudi Arabia, and
you’ll likely hear two points:
oil wealth, and its oppressive
laws and practices against women. Yet the
JRC Women don’t fit that part—they have
a joie de vivre, a badass quality. As Mashael
AlShehri, 22, one of the first female JRC
RUNNE RSWORL D.COM 33
members, puts it, “There is no law that says
women can’t run. It’s just not common—it
goes against our culture.”
“THERE IS NO LAW THAT
I’ve followed JRC for three years, talking
and emailing with Mashael and dozens of
other women and men, including Nesreen,
SAYS WOMEN CAN’T
Raghad, and Arwa. They’ve been patient in
explaining the nuances of Saudi life, and
the challenges and joys of running, and RUN. IT’S JUST NOT
running with men.
They told me that while genders are
segregated, this feels “normal.” And while
women’s running and mixed running are
COMMON—IT GOES
not yet common, the goal is to make what
seems radical become ordinary.
“We didn’t think it was bold at the AGAINST OUR CULTURE.”
time,” says Rod, JRC’s founder. (Rod, who
asked that his last name be withheld,
was jailed by the Saudi religious police
in 2013 and 2014 for running in public
with women.) In 2011, Rod began run-
ning Jeddah’s walkways and corniche,
the promenade along the Red Sea, and
noted that no women were out running.
Aiming to change that, he and two friends
set up a Tumblr and Facebook page and
launched JRC as a mixed group in 2013.
They quickly realized not all Saudi women
were comfortable running with men, so
they created JRC Women.
Both groups grew steadily, first with 25
runners, then 50. People did stare at the
women. Some men yelled at them to go
inside, that they shouldn’t be running. The
hashtag #YouAreNotAllowedToDoThat
appeared in Arabic on Twitter next to a
video of a woman running. Still, each week,
Rod and Nesreen responded to inquiry
after inquiry, and more women, and men,
joined them.
Then, one day in March 2016, a mixed
JRC group was stopped by two religious
police. The officers asked the men why
they were doing “such things,” Rod told
me. “We were like, ‘what things?’ We’re

THEY RUN THESE

Nike was the first

brand to invest in the
Middle East’s new
running groups. “The
JRC and JRC Women
are powered by Nike.
They provide shoes
and shirts for crew
leaders,” Nesreen
says. That sort of sup-
port has made Nike’s
Pegasus, Vomero, and
React favorites among
Saudi runners.
stretching to get ready for our usual run.”
The police rounded up five male runners
and took them in for questioning.
“It was ridiculous,” Nesreen told me.
“Stopped for what? For promoting some-
thing that is good for human beings.”
None in the group thought about stop-
ping—running had already changed their
lives. Nesreen had been a pack-a-day smoker
lost in her work, motherhood, and marriage
when she learned about JRC. “I found myself
through running,” she says. She brings her
son, Saif Al-Turki, 19, on her group runs,
and it’s brought them closer. Raghad’s sister
suffered from depression, and their home
felt like a dark place. “Being able to run was
freedom,” she says. “It saved me from going
into my own depression.” For Arwa, running
helped her gain more self-esteem and confi- The
dence: “Challenge yourself, see your limits.
I understood this from running.” Tech
JRC ran on, finding the line between
respecting culture and working to change Abaya
it. They moved the Tuesday mixed workout
to an undeveloped lot. At Saturday morning
TWO OF THE FIRST KNOWN
long runs on the corniche, the men and
sports abayas came
women started at opposite ends and waved
as they passed. Often, they disappeared into from Zuzana Likavcova
the Hejaz Mountains, where women could and Eman Joharjy,
run without abayas or Mutawwa on patrol. Jeddah-based runners
But by then, Saudi Arabia was chang- working independently
ing. More women were entering the busi- toward the same goal: a
ness sector. Young people were mixing in run-friendly redesign of
cafes. The first women had been sworn abayas, the long robes
Saudi women wear. “They
are like running in a tent,”
says Zuzana, a physical
therapist from the Czech
Republic working in
Saudi Arabia. The women
used quick-dry, technical
fabrics and launched a
cottage industry. “I’m
getting calls from women
in Riyadh and Damman,”
says Eman, who sells
her jumpsuit-like abayas
(pictured below) for
about $145 via Instagram.
Zuzana’s has a front half-
zip and light elastic waist-
band, and she mostly sells
the $66 pullover-style
within the Jeddah Run-
ning Collective. Maybe in
a few years, Zuzana says,
she’ll start a regular busi-
ness—that is, she adds, if
women still feel like they
need to run in abayas.

RUNNE RSWORL D.COM 35


in to the Shura, the Saudi government’s
advisory council. A month after JRC’s inci-
dent with the Mutawwa, the government
stripped the religious police of their power
to arrest. They also announced sweeping
economic and social reforms in a plan called
Vision 2030, which included a commitment
to encourage more sports participation
for all. That summer, Saudi Arabia sent
four women to the 2016 Olympic Games,
and created a new women’s division in its
national sports federation.
“We’re part of the change going on right
now,” Nesreen says of JRC’s effort to shift
cultural attitudes about mixing and women’s
running. “It doesn’t come overnight. You
have to be patient and persistent.”
Listening to Nesreen and the other
women, I thought of the pioneers of wom-
en’s running in the U.S. Bobbi Gibb, who ran
the Boston Marathon in 1966, when women
were barred from entering, and Katherine
Switzer, who the following year was nearly
pulled off the Boston course by race director
Jock Semple. Switzer finished, later saying
she knew that if she quit, it would have sent
women’s sports back.
What confused me, though, was what
I wasn’t hearing. Saudi women still live
under a male-guardianship system that
requires a man’s permission—father, hus-
A CHANGING NATION
In the past six years, Saudi Arabia has issued wide-reaching social reforms.
2012 2013
↑ ↑
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Running
sends two female Collective forms in
athletes to the the western port
Olympics city of Jeddah
More women enter
the workforce
36 RU N N ERSWORL D.CO M
band, brother, son—to travel internationally,
marry, and in some situations, seek medical
attention or work. A guardian can file a
legal complaint against a woman for dis-
obedience. His permission is necessary for
her to leave jail. The country is ruled by an
authoritative, conservative theocracy that
has silenced peaceful dissent as recently as
May 2018, when multiple women’s rights
advocates who had lobbied against the driv-
ing ban were jailed despite an announced
end to the ban coming in June.
Yet when I asked about barriers, the
women cited the oppressive heat. When I
asked what made them passionate about
the sport, they told me about the satisfac-
tion of finishing a Spartan race in nearby
Dubai, which allows women to race, or
the beauty of an early morning run in
the mountains when the sun was coming
up. Most talked about the love they had
for running, and the community they’d
discovered. But they said nothing about
breaking free of restrictive lives or run-
ning for liberation. Why? Wasn’t this a
revolution? What was I missing?
O B E T T E R U N D E R S TA N D T H E
emerg ing women’s r unning
scene in Saudi Arabia, I flew to
the country for three weeks in
2015
↑ ↑
Women appointed Women vote and
to Shura, Saudi run for office for
government the first time
advisory council
Until 2018, Saudi women could
only race out of public view, like
Hejaz50 trail race in the mountains
outside Jeddah. There, the women
feel comfortable without abayas.
March, splitting time in Jeddah, Riyadh,
and Khobar. Jeddah is the county’s liberal
heart, where change begins. Women started
wearing colored abayas here before the
trend appeared in other cities. It’s where an
experiment like JRC slowly expanded into
JRC Women, and where the latest running
group, Jeddah Runners, now welcomes both
men and women. It’s also where the nation’s
changing rules are most visible. On the bike
path along the Red Sea, women and men can
be seen running and cycling, separate but
together, all part of the expanding fitness
P r e v i o u s s p r e a d : C o u r t e s y E m a n J o h a r j y ( Te c h A b a y a ) ; T h i s s p r e a d , C h a n g i n g N a t i o n: f r o m l e f t : O L I V I ER M O R I N /A F P/ G e t t y I m a g e s; C o u r t e s y J e d d a h R u n n i n g C l u b; A F P/ G e t t y
scene for both genders. The government
now opens the municipal stadium one
night a week for community sports, and
men, women, and kids all run, cycle, and
I m a g e s; J E W E L S A M A D /A F P/ G e t t y I m a g e s; G e h a d H a m d y/ p i c t u r e a l l i a n c e v i a G e t t y I m a g e s; C o u r t e s y K h o b a r R u n n i n g C r e w ; A L I A L- A R I F I /A F P/ G e t t y I m a g e s
play in a place where Saudi women had
previously been banned. (See “A Changing
Nation,” below.) “You can feel the change all
around you,” Nesreen says. “There’s a real
community feel around fitness.”
This doesn’t mean the tension is gone.
“You will find people who think this is too
much,” Nesreen tells me, referring to both
women’s r unning | C O N T I N U E D O N P. 9 2
2016
Riyadh Urban Four Saudi female
Runners crew athletes go to the
launched Rio Olympics
Female employ- Saudi Arabia strips
ment up 130 per- religious police of
cent from 2012 its power to arrest
2017 2018

Government allows
Jeddah Running
Collective to host
an International
Women’s Day,
run at the city’s
municipal stadium,
where women
↑ ↑ ↑ had been barred
The government Khobar Running Education Saudi women The first official from entering
decreees that Crew founded Ministry announces allowed to attend public women’s
women will drive physical education soccer matches road race is held KSU Movement,
in 2018 will begin in an all-women
all-girls schools Movie theaters running club, starts
Licenses granted reopen after in Riyadh, behind
for women’s gyms 35-year ban university walls

RUNNE RSWORL D.COM 37

38 RU N N E RSWORL D.CO M
 THEY’RE THE UNSUNG HEROES
OF EVERY MAJOR MARATHON: PACERS.
HERE’S WHAT IT’S LIKE TO HELP
OTHERS REALIZE THEIR 26.2 DREAMS.
Photography by Oli Hillyer-Riley
takes much more to be

O p p o s i t e P a g e : C o u r t e s y H a r m a n d e r S i n g h (S i n g h ) ; c o u r t e s y P a t a g o n i a ( H a t ) ; c o u r t e s y T h r e a d Wa l l e t s (C a r d H o l d e r) ; c o u r t e s y U l t i m a t e D i r e c t i o n ( Ve s t ) ;
a pacer—a leader who
helps a group hit their
goal time—than being
fast. A pacer has to be
entirely comfortable
at their assigned
average speed, run as
evenly as possible, and
assume all the stress of
monitoring split times.
They evaluate course
congestion, elevation,

L e b a z e l e / G e t t y I m a g e s ( F i r s t A i d K i t ) ; c o u r t e s y C l i f (G e l ) ; C o u r t e s y S u u n t o ( Wa t c h )
and yep, even bathroom
Camilla Langlands, 31
breaks to get their PACING : 4:45

followers to the line on MARATHON PR: 3:41:59

MARATHONS RUN: 130
time without surging,
all while doing complex
mental math. (You try
long division at mile 24.)
¶ RW’s 2017 London IT’S SUCH A PLE A SU R E TO
Marathon pace team RU N TH ROUGH OU R A M A Z I NG
shares what it’s like C I T Y I N I T S E L F, A N D I T ’ S
to run with dozens of
people counting on them
M A DE EV EN MOR E SPECI A L
for guidance, inspiration, W H E N YO U H AV E A T E A M
and steadiness. T O S H A R E T H E D A Y W I T H .”
40 RU N N E RSWORL D.CO M
I’VE HAD
THE GEAR
PEOPLE SAYING THEY
THEY COULDN’T COUNT ON
THANK ME Shannon Price has finished more than 70
marathons, and paced 35 of them around
ENOUGH FOR Paul Addicott, 32
PACING: 4:00
the U.S. He typically leads the 3:15 finishers
group. Here’s the gear he brings on race day.
HELPING THEM MARATHON PR: 3:08:08
MARATHONS RUN: 32

SET PRS, AND

EVEN HAD
LADIES ASK
ME TO MARRY
I had years of Hat “I like to run with Thread Wallets
THEM.” hitting PRs, my Patagonia ‘Live
Simply’ hat on back-
Elastic Card Holder
“I always carry a few
but something wards. My wife says
it stinks, but that hat
dollars. You never
know what you might
changed in me has stories!” ‘need’ after a race.”

and I wanted to
help others. I
think the first
year I paced
London was the
first time I truly
experienced it. I Race Vest 4.0 “I love
First aid kit “I carry
this for very minor
have shared so the fact that the pack injuries but rely on

many PRs with just disappears on the

body and I can basi-
medics for anything
else. I do get asked if

runners, and it cally forget that I’m

wearing it.”
I have fresh legs in my
pack late in the race.”
far exceeds the
feeling I’ve had
after my own.
The look on
peoples’ faces
Harmander Singh, 58 when they cross
PACING: 5:00
MARATHON PR: 3:11:36
that finish line, Clif Shot Energy SUUNTO Ambit3
MARATHONS RUN: 130+ and sharing in Gels “I always bring
extra nutrition, and I
Peak GPS Watch
“Great functionality
that moment, is like Clif’s caffeinated
options and the little
without unnecessary
stuff, and the battery
indescribable.” garbage leash.” life is great.”

RUNNE RSWORL D.COM 41

 Jack Easthope, 31
PACING: 4:45
MARATHON PR: 3:06:11
MARATHONS RUN: 30+

Jules Roberts, 36
PACING: 4:00
MARATHON PR: 3:15
MARATHONS RUN: 50+

IN MANY CASES IT’S

THEIR FIRST MARA­
THON, AND FROM
THE CHARITY RUN­
NERS I HEAR AMAZ­
ING STORIES ABOUT
THE REASONS WHY
THEY ARE RUNNING.
FOR MANY, THIS IS
THE BIGGEST CHAL­
LENGE THEY HAVE
UNDERTAKEN AND
THEY’RE NERVOUS
AND SCARED. BEING A
PACER IS SO REWARD­
ING, AS YOU GET TO
PASS ON YOUR EXPE­
RIENCE TO HELP
CALM THESE NERVES
C o u r t e s y J u l e s R o b e r t s ( R o b e r t s)

AND GET THEM TO

THE FINISH LINE, I ’ M S T I L L I N T O U C H W I T H A L A DY
INTACT AND SMIL­ I HELPED THROUGH THE L AST
ING. PLUS, I HATE
RUNNING FOR PRs—IT
M I L E A N D CA R R I E D OV E R T H E
HURTS TOO MUCH!” L I N E W I T H A N O T H E R PA C E R . ”
42 RU N N E RSWORL D.CO M
 A slim, affordable A watch with long life, 645 Music, $450
BEST multisport watch a built-in training log, Sync your playlist and
IN 2016, I GOT TIMING that has an enormous
battery life (25 hours
heart-rate sensor, and
alert that notifies you
pair it with Bluetooth
headphones for five
TO MILE FOUR WATCHES in GPS mode). when it’s low on juice. hours of GPS and jamz.

AND, DESPITE
FREQUENT
TOILET VISITS
PRIOR TO
For every chatty runner, there are
STARTING, two or three who don’t say a word
WAS CAUGHT to you the whole race. It’s only after
OUT. I THEN the finish when they come up saying,
C o u r t e s y I a n R o o t s ( R o o t s) ; D a v i d A l t a b e v ( F o y) ; c o u r t e s y Ve r o n i c a S i n g l e t o n - L a w l e y (S i n g l e t o n - L a w l e y) ; c o u r t e s y C o r o s (C o r o s Wa t c h ) ;

HAD TO CATCH ‘I was with you the whole way,’ or ‘I

wouldn’t have gotten my BQ with-
UP TO MY
out you,’ and that
GROUP. PEOPLE Emily Foy, 35 hits home. I’ve had
MUST HAVE PACING: 4:00
MARATHON PR: 3:19:04
many sweaty hugs
BEEN WON- MARATHONS RUN: 50 on the finish line.”
DERING WHY
A 3:30 PACER Veronica
WAS RUNNING Singleton-Lawley, 57
PACING: 4:15
SO QUICKLY AT MARATHON PR: 3:04:05
MARATHONS RUN: 50
MILE FOUR.”
c o u r t e s y S u u n t o (S u u n t o Wa t c h ) ; c o u r t e s y G a r m i n (G a r m i n Wa t c h )

We spend a lot
of time explaining
that we are
definitely on track,
but our actual
running time will
be different unless
they crossed the
Ian Roots, 55
PACING: 3:30 start line at the
2:41:32
MARATHON PR:
MARATHONS RUN: 25+
same moment
as us.”

RUNNE RSWORL D.COM 43

B Y E R I N G L O R I A R YA N

PHOTOGRAPH BY JORDAN LUTES

IN THE BOTTOM CORNER OF MY OVERSTUFFED
dresser drawer of running clothes is a
9-year-old sports bra. Its once-fiery orange
has faded to a dingy, tepid coral. Two of
its hooks are bent in directions that make
it impossible to wear. The Velcro straps—
adjustable for comfort on this Cadillac of
bras—don’t stick together anymore, which
means that if I were to put it on, my breasts
would loll out like a pair of microwaved
Peeps. This nearly decade-old bra is the
opposite of lingerie. Frankly, it’s a little
gross that I still have it, but I can’t bring
myself to throw it away.
I’m not the only one with an inordinate
attachment to this type of garment. Come-
dic storyteller Robin Gelfenbien, 46, of
New York City retired one of her veteran
bras like a Michael Jordan jersey. The bra
emeritus now sits in a place of honor in the
middle of an acrylic case, surrounded on
three sides by Gelfenbien’s race numbers.
“It represents my journey with endurance
events and how much my bra supported
me through those experiences,” she says.
Running’s ubiquity in modern American
life started in 1972, when American Frank
Shorter won the men’s marathon at the
Munich Olympics. From there, jogging
went from fad to full-on craze. Jim Fixx’s
1977 The Complete Book of Running flew off
bookstore shelves. Jogging clubs formed.
Even President Jimmy Carter got into it.
1972 also saw the passage of Title IX,
which mandates gender equality in edu-
cation and, by extension, equal funding of
men’s and women’s college athletics. Girls
and women flocked to sports. But there was
no such thing as a sports bra. Women just
ran in regular bras. (Wince.)
It wasn’t until 1977 that Lisa Lindahl,
Polly Palmer Smith, and Hinda Schreiber
Miller joined forces to change women’s ath-
letics forever. Lindahl was a runner, Miller
was a costume designer from Canada, and
Smith was Lindahl’s close friend. Work-
ing out of the costume department at the

RUNNE RSWORL D.COM 45

“There was a market for a functional garment
that held the chest in place so that people with
breasts could go about their daily routines
of kicking ass in a high-impact manner.”
University of Vermont, the trio produced
the great-great-grandmother of the modern
sports bra: a medical gauze–colored gar-
ment that looked like two jockstraps sewn
together (because it was two jockstraps
sewn together). They called it the JockBra,
which changed to JogBra before it hit the
market. In 1979, the three were granted
U.S. Patent 4,174,717.
Lindahl insisted that the sports bra
belonged in athletic stores rather than in
department store lingerie sections along-
side lacy nightgowns. This confused some
people. Why would women want to be
anything but sexy? Why would a bra be in
an athletic supply store? Store owners who
overcame their skepticism were rewarded
financially. The JogBra proved so popular
that the company made a profit in its first
year. It turned out that breasts weren’t
merely decorations attached to the female
body for men to enjoy, and that there was
a market for a functional garment that
held the chest in place so that people with
breasts could go about their daily routines
of kicking ass in a high-impact manner.
It turned out that women wanted to run.
hard way. For years, she wore a snazzy
sports bra that was all form and no func-
tion. “My boobs were flopping around,” she
says. Only when she finally bought a prop-
erly supportive sports bra did she realize
she could have been running in comfort all
this time. “My mind was blown,” she says.
I once experienced a similar awakening.
I was a mediocre high school cross-country
runner, and stopped running in college.
This was in part because I was sure I was
having more fun partying with people I’d
never speak to again after the age of 21 than
I would running around the twin lakes on
Notre Dame’s campus clutching my purple,
outdated-even-for-2002 Discman. But I also
abandoned running because I couldn’t find
a good sports bra.
To put it delicately, I’d grown since high
school. To put it indelicately, when I ran in
my old stretched-out Target bra, I looked
like a slow-mo shot from a bad sex comedy,
the one where the horny teenage boys’ eyes
boi-oi-oi-oi-oing out at the sight of breasts
undulating beneath a tank top. It felt like
I had two water balloons strapped to my
chest. It was, socially and physically, very
uncomfortable.
When I took up running again in my
mid-20s, I went in hard. I started run-
ning in January of 2010, ran an 8K in
March, and decided after I finished that
I’d be running the Chicago Marathon that
October. (I finished that first marathon in
just under 4:40, but couldn’t walk down
stairs facing forward for days.) I sought out
the proper equipment before I embarked

AS A WOMAN, a feminist, and a runner, I find

the sports bra fascinating and revolution-
ary. It’s a product that came about during
the height of the culture wars then known
as “women’s lib”—the movement in the
1960s and ’70s for equal rights and pay—and
was actually designed for women’s comfort
during an activity that makes us feel good,
not to please the male gaze.
Style-wise, sports bras have come a
long way from the two jockstraps of yore.
They’re now functional fashion pieces, with
a huge array of patterns and cuts. I often
see all-women’s running groups making
their way through Central Park in the
summer, shirts off, their colorful, strappy
bras on display. Designers from Stella
McCartney to Kanye West have attached
their names to high-end sports bras.
But while sports bras now look cooler,
they still have a job to do. And some do that
job better than others, as Claire Wyckoff,
37, a writer in Los Angeles, discovered the

46 RU N N E RSWORL D.CO M
 on my adventure of hubris, eventually
FIND YOUR a B cup; 3 inches is down or jog in place
finding myself in a Chicago running store HOW TO CUP SIZE C, etc. to make sure your
holding the formerly bright-orange number.
It looked nothing like the sports bras I’d
FIND A Measure just above
your breasts, in FITTING-ROOM
breasts exhibit
minimal bounce.
worn before. Its straps were adjustable. It SPORTS inches, rounding
down to the
CHECKS
1. Ensure your RED FLAGS
was constructed like a regular bra, with BRA THAT nearest whole breasts are fully 1. On a clasped bra,
hooks in the back, and sized by band and number. Then covered with no make sure you aren’t
cup. It also cost about three times as much FITS measure around the bulges around the using the tightest
as the Target and Old Navy versions I’d Deb Doyle, fullest part of your top or underarms. hook. If so, your bra
O P P O S I T E PA G E: R O B ER T O S C H M I D T/A F P/ G E T T Y I M A G ES (C H A S TA I N ) ; C L I V E B RU N S K I L L / G E T T Y I M A G ES ( W I L L I A M S) ; A N D Y LYO N S / G E T T Y I M A G E S (S I M P S O N , C O B U R N ) ; M I C H A EL S T EE L E / G E T T Y I M A G ES ( F EL I X )

worn in high school. But who was I to bra expert and bust. Subtract the 2. Lift your arms is stretched out or
first number from above your head— too large.
question the very nice woman working co-owner of
the second number. the band should not 2. If the straps dig
at the specialty store, who said I needed Fleet Feet in A 1-inch difference ride up in the back. into your shoulders,
it? I spent what I then thought was a silly Pittsburgh, shares means you’re an 3. Do the bounce the bra may be too
her top tips. A cup; 2 inches is test: Jump up and small.
amount of money on it and took it home.
BY MORGAN PETRUNY
And it changed my life.
WHEN TO REPLACE Every 6 to 8 months if you run 3 to 4 days a
Suddenly I didn’t feel like two pectoral
week—or as often you replace your running shoes.
counterweights were working against
me. Suddenly I didn’t feel pinching on
the sides of my ribcage. I could focus on
what feels good about running—the air in Americans, overall, are getting larger. THE SPORTS BRA has become much more than
my lungs, the power of my legs pushing Women with larger breasts often cite breast an undergarment—it’s a part of American
the ground back, the meditative thump discomfort as a reason to avoid exercising. culture. Who could forget soccer player
of my feet. I didn’t spend the entire run Companies like Enell, Bloom Bras, and Brandi Chastain scoring the winning goal
waiting for it to be over. I relished it. I SheFit (see the Ultimate, featured on the in the 1999 Women’s World Cup, ripping
woke up at 5 a.m. for my weekend long next page) aim to remedy this. Enell offers her shirt off, kneeling on the pitch, and
runs, and jogged past bars that were just sizes up to 52GG, and custom sizing. roaring in her sports bra like a warrior? Or
closing, past couples hailing cabs after last But for women of all cup sizes, an the role of the sports bra in street fashion,
call, my day beginning as their night was ill-fitting sports bra can have painful from TLC to Aaliyah to Rihanna? Athlei-
ending, past a version of myself I wanted consequences. There are only a few dis- sure, anyone? The Smithsonian has even
to leave behind. I’d make it to the path that tinct variations of pain I have felt in my featured prototypes and photos from the
runs along Lake Michigan as the sun rose. life that I still can conjure up years later. early days of the JogBra, donated by Lisa
Every time I broke a mileage milestone, One was pinching my upper thigh between Lindahl and Hinda Miller.
I felt a sense of wonder. I’d had no idea I two marble tables I was trying to push But more importantly, the sports bra has
could do any of this. together at a restaurant. One was breaking had an immeasurable, cumulative impact
my finger on a spiraling football. And one in the lives of ordinary women. Without a
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN women and their was showering after a 20-miler, my sweat garment designed to support our bodies
sports bras isn’t all feminist kumbayas. It’s running down into the chafed skin below properly, millions of us wouldn’t have taken
still hard for some women, including new my armpits, rubbed raw by the twisted up running. And running has become the
moms and those with larger cup sizes, to band of my sports bra. foundation of what makes so many of us
find a bra that fits. Other body issues can factor into our feel confident and formidable. If I can run
Lauren Cook, 37, a writer and actor abilities to fully enjoy our sports bras. 5, 10, 26, 50 miles, who’s to tell me I can’t
from Los Angeles, found When Jenny Scherer, 30, of Madison, switch careers, move to a new city, tackle
that her breasts made it Wisconsin, first started racing at the elite motherhood, persevere through tragedy
Clockwise
from top left: frustratingly painful to level, her obsessive focus on results devel- and loss? To run is to prove to yourself
Brandi Chastain
at the 1999
exercise after she’d given oped into anorexia. In 2015, she completed that you can.
Women’s World birth. “Everyone told me treatment and recovered, but when she was In our personal lives, careers, and even
Cup; Serena
Williams during
to stick to walking, Pilates, struggling with her illness, wearing a sports in our political rights, things can be taken
the 2015 Miami or barre class,” she says. bra without a shirt was fraught. “I used to from us—by bad judgment, bad luck, or
Open; Jenny
Simpson wins But by the third month run with my shirt on on the hottest days other forces beyond our control. But not
the 1500-meter after her daughter was because I deemed myself not skinny enough in running. Every mile run is a mile that
at the 2015
USA Outdoor born, she was bored with for anyone to have to see my stomach.” cannot be erased, every finish line crossed
Track & Field
Championships;
low-impact exercise. It This is why events like New York City’s is a line that cannot be uncrossed. It may be
Allyson Felix took two tight sports bras Sports Bra Challenge, where women rode an undergarment that started as two jock-
wins gold in the
200m at the
and a maternity tank to spin bikes in their sports bras, exist—to straps sewn together in Vermont, but by
London Olym- start jogging comfortably. encourage more women to go bras-out enabling women to run, the sports bra has
pics; Emma
Coburn on her According to bra indus- when they exercise. In April, journalist given us access to indelible achievements.
way to winning try statistics, the average Bryony Gordon and plus-size model Jada It’s given us power beyond the fleeting bliss
the 3,000m
steeplechase bra size has jumped from Sezer ran the London Marathon wearing of consumption.
at the 2016 U.S.
Olympic Track
34B to 36C in a single gen- only their sports bras, underwear, and Maybe I’ll hold onto that dingy orange
& Field Trials. eration, partly because shoes to promote body positivity. bra in my drawer for a little while longer.

RUNNE RSWORL D.COM 47

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48 RU N N ERSWORL D.CO M PHOTOGRAPHY BY TREVOR RAAB

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RUNNE RSWORL D.COM 49

Eskeets, on
the first day of
his 15-day run
to retrace the
Long Walk.

50 RU N N E RSWORL D.CO M PHOTOGRAPH BY CAITLIN O’HARA

 In 1864, the U.S. Army forced
10,000 Navajo to leave their
homes and march through the
New Mexico desert to a 4-year
internment. Ultrarunner Edison
Eskeets retraced the steps of his
people to honor their survival.

BY JOH N A . KI S S AN E

RUNNE RSWORL D.COM 51


— N AVA J O P R AY E R
As predawn light colored the eastern Arizona
sky, Edison Eskeets walked alone toward the
south rim of Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly and
gazed out at Spider Rock. He stood a slight 5'9"
and 135 pounds, his long, brown hair streaked
with gray. Bare-chested and wearing a kilt and
moccasins, Eskeets, 12 days shy of his 59th birth-
day, briefly studied the 800-foot red sandstone
monolith. He glanced across the layered canyon
walls, toward the brightening pinkish-orange
horizon, and in silent reverence, took in the
ancient, sacred landscape, its meaning, and its
significance.
Over a century and a half earlier, at Canyon
de Chelly (pronounced də-SHAY) and the
Southwest’s surrounding Four Corners region,
more than 10,000 of Eskeets’s ancestors, Navajo
men, women, and children, were subdued by the
U.S. Army. A series of forced marches followed,
with the Navajo traversing 350-plus miles on
52 RU N N E RSWORL D.CO M
foot to a desolate landscape, now east-central New Mexico. Once
there, the Diné, as the Navajo call themselves, were imprisoned.
Hundreds perished during what became known as the Long Walk;
several thousand would die in the brutal conditions experienced
during a four-year internment.
Today, Eskeets planned to honor his people’s Long Walk with
a run that roughly retraced their steps. (His adjusted route would
accommodate modern roads, and allow his support van to ride
along.) While many Navajo prefer to never speak of that era,
Eskeets’s life’s work—a cross-country and track coach to Native
students, teaching them Navajo art and history, and celebrating
Diné culture—guided him otherwise. “The Navajo people suffered
before, during, and after the Long Walk, but we survived,” he says.
“We still have our language, our traditions, our creativity. My run
is an acknowledgment of their survival, and the hope that this
never happens again.”
Over his lifetime, Eskeets had completed four ultra-distance
spiritual runs in recognition of Navajo culture, and on this chilly
May morning, his final run would cover 330 miles in 15 days. “Of
all the people I know, Edison has the best understanding of what
matters and how we relate to one another,” says Matt Hannifin, a
former science teacher who worked alongside Eskeets. “Part of his
wisdom has to do with understanding how one’s path can change,
even for people who have very little to start with.”
There’s Something Out There
Edison Eskeets was born in 1959 on his parents’ farm 20 miles
Cour tesy Edison Eskeets
northeast of Gallup, New Mexico, in the dispersed rural commu-
nity of Springstead. His parents, Louis and Bessie Eskeets, had
no formal education, and the family home lacked electricity and
running water. Eskeets, the fifth of seven children, was kept out
of school to help his mother tend the farm until age seven. “That
meant I had a late start in English, because we only spoke Navajo
 at home,” he says. “I was always behind, even Within weeks of arriving at Haskell, several of Eskeets’s new
in college.” teammates had quit and left for home; Tuckwin half-expected
From a young age Eskeets was constantly on the shy recruit from Springstead to follow suit. “You could barely
the move, covering several miles a day tending get Edison’s name out of him when he arrived, but his love of
the family’s sheep and goats at an altitude of running was there, and he started blossoming,” Tuckwin says. “I
nearly 6,500 feet. “When I was about five, I got was amazed at the transition that took place over two-and-a-half
this notion in me that ‘there’s something out years. Now he’s such an articulate, unique person.”
there,’” Eskeets says. “That became a vehicle, While visiting home prior to his final semester at Haskell in 1980,
a driving force—to see what’s out there. I still Eskeets told his parents he intended to undertake a five-day run. He’d
live by that.” planned a 135-mile route from Albuquerque to Gallup that would
Thanks to those farming miles and the alti- take him to Mount Taylor, the southernmost of the four peaks that
tude, at 15, Eskeets was sized up as a natural demark the Navajo homeland and are sacred to the Diné. “That first
distance runner by the Gallup High School run was an innate thing,” Eskeets says, “and I even told my parents
cross-country coach; he reluctantly agreed I wasn’t sure why I had to do it. I had no clue until years later.” His
to run a three-mile time trial with the team. father drove along with his younger sister Lorraine, and the three
Eskeets blew the field away, finishing second. camped each evening.
Suddenly, he was a varsity cross-country Eskeets capped his Haskell career with a sixth-place, All-American
runner, his school days lengthened by practices finish at the 1980 national junior college cross-country champion-
and meets, hitchhiking home most evenings. ships at Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and that strong showing helped secure
Left: Running for
After finishing 10th at the 1976 New Mexico a full-ride scholarship to Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. An Yale Co-Op in
state cross-country championships his junior aspiring ceramicist, he jumped at the opportunity to pursue a degree Connecticut, in
1985. Below: On
year, Eskeets and his teammates were side- in fine arts and take his running to the next level. day seven, near
lined the following year when Gallup High’s Although he reflects fondly on his time at Bradley, Eskeets’s Fort Wingate, New
coach left the school. Unable to compete, the running was hampered by intense training and unforgiving Mexico, on Inter-
state 40. By this
promising runner went unnoticed by college indoor track surfaces that brought on debilitating knee injuries. point, Eskeets had
programs, and Eskeets shelved the notion of He withdrew from school after two semesters and didn’t run for a run 120 miles.
higher education—until a call came from Jerry
Tuckwin, cross-country and track coach at
what was then Haskell Indian Junior College
(now Haskell Indian Nations University) in
Lawrence, Kansas. Tuckwin offered Eskeets
a spot on the team and the opportunity for a
tuition-free education.
“At first my Mom said no, because I was
supposed to be at home, helping take care of
things,” Eskeets recalls. “Every few days I’d
go back to her and say, ‘You know, this would
be nice—I can try it.’ Lo and behold, in one of
those conversations she said yes.”
In August 1978, Tuckwin made his annual
swing through northern Arizona and New
Mexico, driving a small Haskell bus and col-
lecting new student athletes from various
tribal lands. “I picked up a few kids at Window
Rock [Arizona, capital of the Navajo Nation],”
Tuckwin says, “Edison was there with just his
little bag and jean jacket, looking apprehensive.”
Saying goodbye to his mother, Eskeets prom-
ised her he’d return to live in the Southwest.
It wouldn’t happen for more than a decade.

Exploring the Unknown

“I struggled at all levels,” says Eskeets of his
adjustment to leaving home for the first time.
W N PA /J o e L u n n e

But falling back on his natural talent, he found a

way to endure and adjust. “What saved me was
that running became an asset,” he explains. “It
eased the pain, the pressure.”
 At NAPS, Eskeets taught and coached

5 T I P S T O TA C K L E A M U LT I D A Y R U N again, and he soon took on administrator

roles. The school flourished, attaining a
graduation rate of 99 percent that brought
NAPS national acclaim. Eskeets was
Pay Attention to be disciplined, When It’s Hot, Build a Solid eventually promoted to a headmaster role,
to Your Feet // motivated, and Drink Extra // Support Crew // where he became intertwined with NAPS’s
“During past determined to “Hot, dry con- “My family was financial challenges: 98 percent of stu-
ultraruns, one of fulfill the dream. ditions require my crew for my dents depended on need-based financial
my most painful I call that the far more water first long run, aid, and money was always short.
areas of suffering ‘D.M.D.,’ and intake than you and I was lucky Compelled to raise funds for the school,
was blisters and if I feel like I’m might think. to have them and to continue the spiritual journey
losing toenails. flagging on a run, During the again for my through Navajo Nation that he started
I made sure my I’ll think of those warmest part of final run. We back in his Haskell days, Edison came up
shoes were a half words. Really, the days [tem- know each other
with a solution: an ultrarun.
size larger than they’re important peratures hit the well enough that
During his first attempt that June,
usual, because in everything in 90s on Eskeets’s the flow was
Eskeets took only six days to cover 208
the feet swell, and life.” run], I had to easy, it was per-
miles from Flagstaff to Gallup, including
I changed foot- have water every fection. During
a run like this,
an ascent of 12,633-foot Humphrey’s Peak,
wear and socks Run Through the single mile, not
often during the Soreness // “Yes, just during my you’re not really one of the San Francisco Peaks sacred to
day to keep my when you start planned breaks. thinking—your the Navajo. Less than two years later, he
feet dry.” a run, your body Even backing off support crew is tackled his most ambitious ultra, a 10-day,
might say, ‘This to drink every thinking for you, 375-mile trek that included runs up sacred
Remember: is not good.’ But two or three and you don’t mountains Blanca and Hesperus in southern
D.M.D. // “The if you go slow, in miles would have want to argue Colorado. Between the two ultras, Eskeets
mental part is a mile or two, it’ll been a huge or have things raised almost $90,000 for NAPS scholar-
huge. You’ve got go away.” mistake.” go astray.” ships. What’s more, the long runs delivered
a crucial perspective.
“Gradually, as I thought about the sacred
mountains that Navajos pray to every single
day, I saw that my runs were about honor-
year, then resumed his studies in 1985 and made a major comeback to ing those sites from the past to the present
running. That October he logged a 2:26:18 at the Chicago Marathon, and into the future,” Eskeets says. “And in
and it inspired him to work toward the 2:20 qualifying standard for the that way, the runs were really about the
1988 Olympic Trials. A year later, with his BFA degree from Bradley Navajo people and their voices and prayers
in hand, he took a job at a Bloomington, Illinois, jewelry store and and thoughts—and acknowledging that
started upping his mileage. we’re still here.”
On a windy Patriots’ Day in April 1987, Eskeets ran two-thirds of the In early 2001, Eskeets left the academic
Boston Marathon in a group that included four-time Boston champion setting of NAPS to become executive direc-
Bill Rodgers, on pace to easily qualify for the Olympic Trials. But at mile tor of Wings of America, a nonprofit in
19, he suddenly felt an excruciating headache and fell off the lead pack. Santa Fe. Established in 1988, Wings uses
The buffeting winds slowed Rodgers to a 2:18:11 finish time, good for 15th, running as a catalyst to empower Native
while Eskeets struggled to cross the line 80th in 2:31:21. Says Eskeets, American youth to take pride in their
“While it certainly wasn’t my fastest marathon, it felt like my bravest.” cultural traditions, embrace educational
opportunities and healthful living, and
make responsible decisions. Each summer
Wings holds up to two dozen running
Teaching, Coaching, Running Long and fitness camps in tribal communities
With his Olympic Trials aspirations unfulfilled, Eskeets decided it across the Southwest, and every winter
was time he returned to the Southwest. He spent a few years training coaches assemble teams of elite indigenous
docents at a museum in Flagstaff, then teaching art and coaching athletes to compete at the USA national
cross country and track at an elite college-preparatory high school in cross-country championships. In the past
Mayer, Arizona. Though he loved it, in 1996 he was lured away to the 30 years, Wings athletes have won more
Native American Preparatory School (NAPS) in Rowe, New Mexico. than 20 national junior titles.
Opened in 1995 as the nation’s only privately funded intertribal college As executive director at Wings, Eskeets
prep school, NAPS quickly ranked among top private high schools based traveled throughout the country, gener-
on student advancement to colleges and universities. While its enroll- ating funds and support for the program.
ment was just over 100 students, the school represented nearly three “He’s charismatic and people gravitate
dozen native tribes from more than a dozen states, including Hawaii. toward him—he’s able to communicate

54 RU N N ERSWORL D.CO M
with the students, and get Native kids out of their comfort zones,”
says James Nells, a Navajo who ran with Eskeets at Haskell, and
who also coached the Wings elite teams in 2001, 2003, and 2014.
After six years at Wings, a new opportunity arose at Hubbell
Trading Post National Historic Site. Opened in 1878 in Ganado,
Arizona, Hubbell still functions as a place where Navajo, Hopi,
and other Native Americans trade and sell handcrafted woven
goods, baskets, jewelry, and pottery. As the first Navajo trader
employed at Hubbell, Eskeets helps curate Navajo goods, and
passes along his insights on Navajo rug design to visitors—as
well as his philosophy that people are more alike than different.
Every one of his popular rug talks ends with the same line: “If
your blood is red, you’re my kind.”
“The Message—The Run”
Not long after beginning work at Hubbell in 2007, Eskeets came
up with the idea of a final ultra-distance run. He wanted to try a
route that would trace much of the Long Walk, and also honor the
history of Native long-distance messengers: For centuries, fleet-
footed, supremely fit young Navajo would literally run messages
from tribe to tribe, and were essential to survival during war.
But committing to this ultra took nearly a decade. “The biggest
challenge was the spiritual aspect,” he explained. “There’s an ele-
ment that’s so powerful, because of all that transpired during the
Long Walk and after, with the treaty of 1868 and the government
saying, ‘When you sign here, you’re going to leave your language,
your law system, your farming, and your children will attend
our schools.’ It’s hard to look back at it, and there’s still a lot of
bitterness among the Navajo people.”
Ultimately it was a deep wish to honor his ancestors that con-
vinced Eskeets to go forward with his idea: a 330-mile, 15-day run
beginning May 18, 2018, from Canyon de Chelly to the historic Plaza
in Santa Fe, site of New Mexico’s territorial capitol. The run’s end
on June 1 would coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Navajo
Treaty, which allowed the Diné to return to their homelands. Eskeets
dubbed the undertaking “The Message—The Run,” to acknowledge
Navajo suffering during the Long Walk era, and celebrate their
ultimate survival.
Eskeets decided to donate the money he would raise (ulti-
mately, it would be $90,000) to the Western National Parks
Association and educational programming at Hubbell. Then he
called his sister Lorraine: “When he told me he was going to do
another run, his final run, I said, ‘Well, you know what, Ed? If
this is going to be your last one, I started it with you, let’s end it
together.’” Lorraine’s husband, Jason Bunion, agreed to drive,
and the couple’s daughter, Jay-lynn, convinced her parents to let
her miss two weeks of her sophomore year of high school. The
support team was in place; the run was on.
Just before dawn on May 18, a small group gathered above Spider
Rock, sacred to the Navajo as the home of Spider Woman, who
taught the Diné the art of weaving. Eskeets began with a ceremony
honoring that tradition, which included a rug that master weaver
Mary Henderson Begay had woven especially for use that morning.
Eskeets kneeled on the rug, looked out toward the canyon, and
spoke Navajo words of recognition for the Diné’s survival. “I made
the connection between the elements—the earth, the wind, the
water, the fire,” he recalls. “And I gave thanks that there’s life here,
it’s still evolving as we go along.” To end the
ceremony, Eskeets sprinkled white cornmeal
on each of those in attendance. “It was a token
to the words, the surroundings, and the event,
giving acknowledgment,” he says.
At 6:10 a.m., dressed in the attire of a tra-
ditional Navajo long-distance messenger and
carrying an Apache-made rattle, Eskeets set off
into the 39-degree morning. The rattle was a ges-
ture to the Apache people, at least 500 of whom
had also been interned along with the Navajo.
Eskeets broke most days into three running
segments, totaling some 20 to 25 miles. His
shortest running day was his third, 11 miles,
and it ended at Hubbell Trading Post. His
95-year-old mother, Bessie, was there, as were
his siblings Emerson, Lorraine, and Irene.
“This run has been in the works for over 10
years,” Eskeets said to the crowd assembled at
Hubbell. “The preparation has been going on
over 40 years—I’ve run over a quarter million
miles [in that time]. The Long Walk is a part of
this. People were hurt, they starved, there was
homesickness and sickness. I’m feeling every
inch of it. You know how people talk about
having a purpose? This is down to the core. And WHAT
it has nothing to do with running, nothing to HE WORE
do with athleticism. This is about humanity.” For his
And partly, about its future. “That Edison 330-mile trek,
put himself on display, showing people how Eskeets ran in
New Balance,
physically and emotionally taxing a journey
Nike, and Avia
like that is, is very important,” says Wings shoes, along
executive director, Dustin Martin. “I try to with native
remind kids that running and moving over moccasins.
the land, and knowing the land on our own “All of these
were well-
two feet, is in our blood. Young Native people tried, older
need to have some vision of that, because it’s models that
our heritage.” are good for
After averaging 22 miles per day for two all terrains and
conditions,”
weeks, Eskeets’s final, 26-mile day was his
Eskeets says.
longest. He battled high winds, temperatures “To me, the
in the 90s, tendinitis in both ankles, and most import-
heavy interstate traffic along the approach to ant thing for
Santa Fe. Awaiting his arrival was 76-year-old ultrarunning
is shoes that
former Haskell coach and athletic director provide extra
Jerry Tuckwin, who had given little regard stability and
to a heart ailment to travel from Kansas to cushioning,
be on hand. “My wife and I went out from the rather than be
lightweight.”
finish a half a mile or so,” he says, “and when
we saw him coming up the last long hill, he
was just flying—I swear, he looked like he was
racing a 5K.” Edison ran those last 10 miles in
just over an hour.
Not that Tuckwin couldn’t believe it: “I’ve
learned, when Edison sets his mind to some-
thing, somehow, he does it,” he says. “He
told me afterwards, ‘It wasn’t a run—it was
a beautiful dance for 330 miles; I danced the
whole way for our people.’”
RUNNE RSWORL D.COM 55
REVIEWS &

R E C O M M E N DAT I O N S

FROM THE

EXPERTS IN

THE RW

TEST ZONE

N E X T- G E N T E C H p.58 | L E G E N D S P.64

S O S O F T P.72 | W I L D C A R D S P.78 | T R A I L P.82

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who just want to update their old favorite, and others for those who want to try something completely different.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TREVOR RAAB 57

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REEBOK FLOATRIDE RUN FAST
PRICE: $140 W E I G H T:
The fastest shoe you can
buy in 2018 is a Reebok.
Seriously. Sure, Nike’s
$250 Vaporfly 4% (the
commercially avail-
able version of Nike’s
“Breaking 2” racing
shoe) is still on the feet
of speedy marathoners
all over the country,
but good luck actually
finding a pair to buy.
The Floatride Run Fast,
however, won’t stress
your credit card nearly
as hard and shares some
traits with the 4% to
help you reach the finish
line faster. It all starts
with the foam: Reebok
is using a Pebax-based
foam—much like what’s
found in the Vaporfly
4%—which is far lighter
shoes. Pebax is lighter,
more flexible, and more
6.9 oz (M) , 5.6 oz (W)
impact-resistant than
other plastics, and
when it’s blown into a
than the standard EVA foam, those properties
that’s been used in run- remain, meaning the
ning shoes for decades, material compresses
but it also delivers more and rebounds
excellent cushioning and with more force than
off-the-charts bounce. typical midsole foams.
That foam is Reebok’s What it means for run-
answer to Adidas’s Boost ners is a fun (and really
midsole. Since Boost fast) shoe. We first expe-
was launched in 2013, rienced this foam in the
every shoe maker has Reebok Floatride Run, a
been working on its own training shoe that won
version that delivers high our “Best Debut” award
energy return (techni- in 2017 for its magical
cally, the foam reduces ability to turn easy jogs
the amount of energy into tempo runs. We
you lose with each step). quickly realized Reebok
The Pebax that makes was onto something
up Reebok’s version, special with this foam,
Floatride, has more com- and it has continued to
monly been used as a improve on the formula
hard but flexible plastic with the Run Fast.
component—think the This lighter, thin-
Wave plate in Mizuno ner version is a shoe →
 many of us reach for when
we’re headed to the track
for a race. But thanks to
that foam, it’s also a shoe
that remains comfortable
if you want to rock it at a
more leisurely pace. On
our daily lunch runs from
Runner’s World HQ, the
Run Fast is almost always
on somebody’s feet—we’ve
quickly burned through
our test samples, which is
rare, given we’re always
testing different shoes. I’ve
personally worn the Run
Fast for everything from a
hilly 15-miler at a 7-minute
pace to a run up and down
the local mountain—the
shoe was fast enough for
me to log one of my quick-
est splits on the climb,
but still soft enough when
pounding the pavement on
the run back downhill. It’s
that kind of versatility that
has us lacing up this shoe
more often than others.
Of course, Reebok isn’t the
only company working with
this type of material. Nike’s
Vaporfly 4% was released
last summer, and instantly
became the racing shoe
of choice for fast runners.
And just this summer the
brand used the same foam
for the Pegasus Turbo (in
this guide), a shoe that’s also
geared for fast-paced train-
ing. The Run Fast, however,
is more than an ounce lighter
than the Peg Turbo and
has a thinner, snug-fitting
upper that feels faster when
you pull the laces tight.
Our wear-testers raved
about that upper and loved
the highly breathable engi-
neered mesh, which secures
your foot over the midsole
without any seams or over-
lays to cause irritation during
long runs. The thin mesh
and lightly padded collar
and tongue help keep weight
in check, but also won’t
get weighed down if you’re
trying to dash through rain-
slicked roads.—Jeff Dengate

60
WE’RE INTO THIS STYLISH TRANSLUCENT MESH ON THE NEW PEG’S UPPER.

Those
DEEP SOLE
GROOVES
add a ton of

FA LL S HOE G U I DE 2 018
F L E X I B I L I T Y.

NIKE AIR ZOOM PEGASUS TURBO NEW BALANCE FRESH FOAM BEACON

/
PRICE: $180 W E I G H T: 8.1 oz (M ), 6.4 oz (W) PRICE: $120 W E I G H T: 7.5 oz (M) , 6.2 oz (W)

NEXT-GEN TECH
Based on the immedi- legendary fit and feeling The Beacon pulls off a parison is made, given
ate success of Nike’s to the racing-flat weight nearly impossible tri- the thick foam sole. New
Vaporfly 4%, it was only class. Nike gave it the fecta: It’s light and fast, Balance used a durable
a matter of time before aforementioned springy, yet soft enough for high midsole compound called
we saw the brand’s lightweight foam. It mileage. One tester wore Fresh Foam Ground
ZoomX foam rolled into delivers a bouncy, fast it for both long runs of Contact, which can with-
/

other shoes. First up: the sensation underfoot. 20-plus miles and 400- stand road abrasions.
Pegasus 35 Turbo. Run- But, the Peg Turbo is meter speedwork, and By exposing this to the
RUNNERSWORLD.COM

ners are no strangers also exceptionally soft, was impressed in each pavement, New Balance
to the Pegasus, which especially in the heel. So scenario. Assessments could eliminate a lot of
is on its 35th iteration you’re assured a protec- like that bring to mind rubber that would other-
(see review on page 70). tive, well-cushioned ride the original Hoka One wise be needed for dura-
But that trainer is a bit over long runs, but will One Clifton, which was bility. The result is an
too heavy to be used still have bounce to your astonishingly light and exceptionally lightweight
for speedwork. This step so you can motor fast for the amount of shoe that’s incredibly
all-new “Peg Turbo” is along more quickly when cushioning it offered. It’s smooth and quiet—and
designed to bring that the mood strikes.—J.D. easy to see why the com- fast.—Danielle Zickl

61
 INOV-8 TERR AULTR A
G 260
PRICE: $150
W E I G H T: 10.1 oz (M), 8.1 oz (W)

It’s not often you see seri-

ous innovation in footwear
coming from brands as tiny
as British-based Inov-8, but
the company has come up
with a new hard-wearing
rubber compound being
used in its G series, promis-
ing longer life and stronger
materials. What this means
for you: a trail shoe you
won’t quickly wear through,
and that will give you confi-
dent footing on steep, rocky
RUNNERSWORLD.COM

ground. “I’ve had them in a

good bit of mud and uneven
soft terrain, as well as loose
rock and sand on steeper
inclines and descents,”
said one tester. “I never felt
unsure about where to place
my foot or if I would slide.”
As unanimous as our testers
were about the grip, they all
had the same feedback on
/

the cushioning: not enough.

NEXT-GEN TECH

Of course, that’s a hallmark

of Inov-8 shoes—they’re
all thin-soled, with a firm
ride, low heel-to-toe drop,
and minimal features. The
design encourages you to
dance across rocks and
/

roots, but you have to be

nimble so you don’t take a
FA LL S HOE G U I DE 2 018

pounding. While the sole

is getting a lot of attention That curved
upon its launch, we like sole helps you
roll from heel
the burly upper that’s as to toe.
bombproof as the rubber. It
uses Kevlar mixed into the
fabric of the exoskeleton,
for a superb hold on your
foot and extra protection
from trail debris.—J.D.

62
 S O M E S H O E S N E E D O N LY O N E N A M E .
H E R E A R E 5 T H AT H AV E B E E N
A R O U N D A D E C A D E —— A T L E A S T —— A N D
CONTINUE TO IMPRESS.
RUNNERSWORLD.COM
/
LEGENDS
/
FA LL S HOE G U I DE 2 018

64

BROOKS GHOST 11
PRICE: $120 W E I G H T:
This year, the Brooks
Ghost racks up its sev-
enth Editors’ Choice
award for its appeal to a
wide variety of runners.
Newbies love its comfy
cushioning, marathon
vets pick it for pounding
out high-mileage weeks,
and road runners like
its quick, smooth ride.
And the 11th version of
the shoe is no exception.
This legend
is back and
even lighter
than before.
the weight of the shoe,
our testers who have run
10.2 oz (M) , 8.4 oz (W ) in several models of the
Ghost thought that it
did add an extra spring
The Ghost delivers again absent in previous ver-
with an almost spooky sions. A new, structured
consistency, plus some mesh upper wraps your
notable updates to its foot more securely—and
midsole. Using a new with a better fit—than
foam, the Ghost feels the 10. The stretchy
lighter without a loss of material is designed to
softness or bounce. (The fit snugly through the
same material is used midfoot and heel for
in the Ghost’s more- more support, with a
cushioned sibling, the bit more wiggle-room
Glycerin 16, on page 74.) when your foot needs to
While this didn’t affect flex.—Morgan Petruny
 SAUCONY RIDE ISO
PRICE: $120 W E I G H T: 9.9 oz (M) , 8.2 oz (W)

Technically, the Ride edges of the foam

ISO would have been curve up around
Ride 11, but a dif- your foot for extra
ferent upper design security. A layer of
(ISOFit) typically bouncy Everun foam
found on Saucony’s is still used, too,
premium-level shoes leading to a quick
warranted the new feeling when you
name. What didn’t run. The differences
change: the depend- in the new upper are
able cushioning the most noticeable at
line is known for. the midfoot. Rather
The price remains than the typical row
unchanged for a fifth of eyelets, Saucony THIS IS A
year, too, making it is using a grouping REALLY
GOOD
a good value. Com- of free-floating tabs SHOE, AT
pared to the Ride which allow the shoe A REALLY
GREAT
10, this year’s shoe to flex without the PRICE.
is slightly thicker, material bunching,
but didn’t add any and let each lace
weight. That’s due to connection work
the new construction independently so
where your foot rests the upper hugs
down into the top your foot better.
of the midsole—the —Andrew Dawson

A S I C S G E L- C U M U L U S 2 0
RUNNERSWORLD.COM

PRICE: $120 W E I G H T: 10.2 oz (M), 8.1 oz (W)

Shoe companies previous models—all

don’t typically make confirmed in tests
major overhauls at the RW Shoe
to their top shoes, Lab. The result,
but Asics did for say our testers, is a
the Cumulus—and “crisper and more
we’re happy about responsive ride.”
the improvements. If, however, you’re
/

Shave nearly an one of the runners

LEGENDS

ounce and a half of who seeks the same

weight off the shoe? plush experience
Check. Swap out of the 19, check out
the old foam with a the Nimbus 20.
/

lighter FlyteFoam The sleek upper

midsole? Done. Put got an overhaul,
FA LL S HOE G U I DE 2 018

the cherry on top too, with a stretchy

with a more breath- jacquard mesh and
able upper? You bet. engineered sup-
Longtime Cumulus port that replaces Y U P,
there’s still
wearers picked the heavier plastic GEL
in there.
up on the changes overlays adorning
quickly, noting that the 19. The change
the shoe felt lighter, helps the shoe better
with less cushioning adapt to the run-
and more snap than ner’s foot. —M.P.

68
 THAT
LOOONG TONGUE
LOOKS COOL
(AND IT’S NOT A
BOTHER WHEN
YOU RUN).
RUNNERSWORLD.COM
NIKE AIR ZOOM PEGASUS 35
PRICE: $120 W E I G H T:
/
The Pegasus is one of
LEGENDS
the most versatile shoes
available—it excels at
everything from an easy
jog to a long run at an
elite’s pace. That range
/
has made it a popular
FA LL S HOE G U I DE 2 018
pick for more than three
decades. So, it’s strange
that Nike would almost
entirely overhaul the
shoe. But, amazingly, the
35 still feels like the Peg-
asus. Beneath its sporty
new styling, the Pegasus
35 has a full-length air
unit for the first time.
70
9.3 oz (M), 8.0 oz (W)
This new, longer piece
smooths out the tran-
sition from heel to toe
as you go through your
stride. It’s still encased
in Cushlon, the light-
weight, responsive foam
used in previous models.
The upper gets a sleek
bootie construction; we
found the fit to be snug
through the midfoot yet
roomy in the forefoot,
without being too wide.
The upturned collar and
pointed heel make it
look as fast as it is.—J.D.
A S I C S G E L- K A Y A N O 2 5
PRICE: $160 W E I G H T:
Asics celebrates the 25th
anniversary of the Gel-
Kayano with some big
changes. With a fully
redesigned jacquard
mesh upper that adapts
to the foot for a better
fit, the 25 is sleeker than
last year’s model and
does more for runners
seeking rock-solid sup-
port. Underfoot, the
Kayano still features
Gel cushioning in the
heel and forefoot, but
the top layer of foam has
been upgraded to Flyte-
↑
This
longtime
favorite is
celebrating
its 25TH
BIRTHDAY.
11.4 oz (M), 9.2 oz (W)
Foam Propel, a soft and
bouncy compound. The
change, however, didn’t
affect the shoe’s overall
cushioning, as tests at
the Runner’s World Shoe
Lab found it on par with
previous versions. It also
didn’t affect the weight,
unfortunately, as the
shoe remains a heavier,
stiffer option. Testers
noted that the redesigned
upper improved the fit,
but some felt that it did
not manage heat as well
as prior models. —M.P.
 IF YO U WANT TO FLOAT OVER THE
R O A D , G E T T H E S E U LT R A - P L U S H
A N D S U P R E M E LY P R O T E C T I V E S H O E S .

ADIDAS SOLAR GLIDE ST

PRICE: $150
W E I G H T: 10.8 oz (M) , 9.0 oz (W)

A stability offering with

some pop underfoot, the
Solar Glide ST is your next
go-to shoe. Fans of the
RUNNERSWORLD.COM

Supernova will love what

Adidas has done here, taking
what worked (plush ride)
and updating it with a fresh
upper and less bulk. The
flexible forefoot pushes you
through speedwork and up
hills, while plenty of Boost
foam in the heel will get you
through weekend long runs.
Testers gave the heel cush-
/

ioning near-perfect marks,

SO SOFT

complimenting the foam’s

impact-absorbing quality
and the even distribution of
the cushioning. Like its neu-
/

tral counterpart, the Solar

Glide, there’s more of a foot
FA LL S HOE G U I DE 2 018

shape, but the forefoot isn’t

as roomy as Altra’s similarly
inspired toebox. That’s com-
plemented by a two-layer
engineered mesh design in
the forefoot, allowing for
flexibility on toe-off with-
out the creasing found in
shoes with more traditional
construction.—Derek Call

72
 ABSORBS 37%
MORE IMPACT THAN PATENTED FOOTBED + ARCH SUPPORT
PERFORMANCE REDUCES STRESS + PRESSURE ON FEET,
SHOE FOAMS BACK, HIPS, KNEES + ANKLES

FOLLOW @OOFOS
 THE NEW KNIT UPPER IS [ INSERT A-OK EMOJI HERE ]

THIS
ONE’S
FOR
RUNNERS
WHO
LOVE
A PLUSH
RIDE.

B R O O K S G LY C E R I N 1 6 ALTR A TORIN 3.5 KNIT

PRICE: $150 W E I G H T: 11.0 oz (M) , 8.8 oz (W) PRICE: $135 W E I G H T: 9.8 oz (M), 7.9 oz (W)

The name of the game “DNA Loft” that amps With its off-year update strictive. Of course, the
SO SOFT

for the Glycerin 16 is comfort over the pre- (designated by the point- signature foot-shaped
comfort—plain and vious model, with no five naming convention), design remains; the
simple. This neutral loss of responsiveness the Torin keeps the wide toebox allows for
trainer is the plushest or durability. Further same midsole and out- optimal toe movement
pair Brooks has to offer enhancing the plush sole as version 3.0, with and splay. The Torin
/

right now, and delights ride is a slightly restruc- tweaks limited to the still has exceptionally
FA LL S HOE G U I DE 2 018

runners who just want tured midsole, divided upper. Those changes soft cushioning, espe-
a shoe that feels indul- into transition zones to are considerable: A cially from the forefoot
gent on their foot. While make your stride feel smooth engineered that’s more than an inch
this makes it one of the smoother and more knit fabric enhances thick. That platform,
heavier shoes in this natural. Between the comfort. This new however, makes the shoe
guide, testers tell us the new foam and softer construction gives the difficult to bend. Both
trade-off is worth it for ride, our wear-testers shoe a sock-like fit, and wear-test feedback and
one of the softest shoes ranked the Glycerin as wear-testers said the tests at our Lab confirm
you’ll find here. Credit one of the comfier shoes flat tongue makes the the shoe rides very
the new foam dubbed they’ve laced up.—M.P. lacing system feel nonre- stiff.—Amanda Furrer

74
 AU TO
cyc l e
home
RENTERS
b oat
But you can choose to
switch to GEICO. rv
U M B R E L LA

GEICO.COM 1 - 8 0 0 - 9 4 7 - AU TO L O CA L O FFI C E

Some discounts, coverages, payment plans and features are not available in all states, in all GEICO companies, or in all situations. Boat and PWC coverages are underwritten by GEICO Marine Insurance Company. Homeowners, renters and condo coverages are written through non-affiliated insurance
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Employees Insurance Company and GEICO General Insurance Company policyholders and other eligible persons. GEICO is a registered service mark of Government Employees Insurance Company, Washington, D.C. 20076; a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. subsidiary. © 2018 GEICO
 361 DEGREES 361-SPIRE 3
PRICE: $150 W E I G H T:
The 361 brand may
be unfamiliar to
some runners, but
the third iteration
of its flagship neu-
tral shoe, the Spire,
is a great example
of what the brand
has to offer. Test
results from the RW
Shoe Lab showed
that the men’s and
women’s versions
both saw improve-
ments in flexibility,
and well as a leap
in supportiveness.
While the Spire 3 is
a bit heavier than
its previous model,
the shoe’s overall
weight is still on
par with similar
HOKA ONE ONE CLIFTON 5
RUNNERSWORLD.COM
PRICE: $130 W E I G H T:
Maximum cush-
ioning at minimum
weight: That’s
always been the
promise of the
Clifton. The orig-
inal version was
especially light and
/
speedy (it weighed
SO SOFT
just 7.6 ounces for
a men’s size 9). But,
since then, the shoe
has gotten heavier
/
and thicker—it’s
now as heavy as
FA LL S HOE G U I DE 2 018
the Brooks Ghost 11
and Nike Pegasus
35. That’s not super
bulky, but it does
put the Clifton 5 in
the daily-trainer
category, and makes
it better suited for
recovery runs than
for speedwork. The
76
→
I T BR I NG S
10.8 oz (M) , 8.7 oz (W) T H E CUSH,
BU T T H E
FI R M E R R I DE
big-name neutral
MAKES IT
trainers, like the
F E E L FA ST.
Brooks Glycerin.
But the biggest
difference between
these two shoes
is the cushioning
and flexibility.
The Spire lacks the
Glycerin’s plush
feel, testers said,
but it counters
that with greater
flexibility. Overall,
testers who liked
a firmer ride grav-
itated toward the
Spire, and believed
there was ample
comfort for every-
day training and
long runs alike.
—M.P.
k, new m
ee
es
l
f to n’s s
10.1 oz (M) , 8.1 (W)
hu
p p er.
C li
shoe’s cushioning,
↑
e
W
too, has evolved. e l ove t h
Early models were
exceptionally
squishy, but tests at
the Runner’s World
Shoe Lab show the
heel is firmer on
this version. Beyond
that tweak, nothing
else underfoot has
changed. And only
minor adjustments
have been made to
the upper, which
now features a sleek
mesh. That allows
Hoka to strip away
the overlays it used
on the previous
version, resulting
in a much cleaner
aesthetic without
affecting the shoe’s
support.—J.D.

Break Through Your Weight Loss Plateau
BY AMBER RIOS
Being a health and nutrition
correspondent means that companies
frequently send me their products, and ask
for my stamp of approval. Most of the time
I dive into research, give the product a try,
and send the company honest feedback
about what they’ll need to change before
I’ll recommend it. Plus my hectic job and
my determination to stay fit means I’m
always hunting for a quick and nutritious
way to fi ll up on nutrients my body needs.
So I can confidently say, “I’ve tried it all”.
Last Tuesday work was especially hectic,
but I’d booked with my $200 an hour
personal trainer, Tony, a triathlon winning,
organic-to-the-bone fitness guy with a
ten mile long track record of whipping the
“who’s who” into shape in record time, so
I had to go. He noticed that my set count
was down and playfully asked, “Feeling a
little tired today?”, as he handed me a bottle
from his gym bag. After one sip I figured
that there was no way this could be healthy
A DV ERT ISEM EN T
because the creamy chocolate flavor was
just too delicious. Still, he’d never risk his
reputation.
With more than a healthy dose of
scepticism I decided to investigate this
shake he’d called INVIGOR8.
Turns out, it’s a full meal replacement
shake, which stunned me because
virtually every other shake I’d researched
had tasted chalky, clumpy and packed with
hidden “no-no’s” like cheap protein, tons
of artificial ingredients, not to mention
harmful synthetic dyes, additives, sugars,
preservatives, and hormones. And even
though INVIGOR8’s full meal replacement
shake cost more than many of the shakes
I’ve tried, it was about half the price of my
favorite salad, and the nutrition profi le
looked second to none.
Wanting to know more, I reached out
to a few of the people who were talking
about it on trustworthy fitness forums. By
the next morning three people got back to
me saying, “As a trainer I love Invigor8. It’s
defi nitely helped me to have more all-day
energy, plus build the kind of lean sculpted
muscle that burns more fat.”
“Yes, I’ll recommend it, it tastes great,
and I really like how it keeps me feeling full
for hours.”
“I’m a marathon runner and a friend
recommended it to me. Drinking it has
become a part of my regular training
routine, because my time has improved,
my energy is up, and I’m thinking more
clearly than ever before.”
I decided to take my investigation
one step further by researching the
development of INVIGOR8. I was
pleasantly surprised to fi nd out that the
company went to great lengths to keep
INVIGOR8 free of harmful ingredients.
The makers of INVIGOR8 were
determined to make the first 100%
natural, non-GMO nutritional shake
& green superfood. The result is a meal
replacement shake that contains 100%
grass-fed whey that has a superior
nutrient profi le to the grain-fed whey
found in most shakes, metabolism
boosting raw coconut oil, hormone free
colostrum to promote a healthy immune
system, Omega 3, 6, 9-rich chia and
flaxseeds, superfood greens like kale,
spinach, broccoli, alfalfa, and chlorella,
and clinically tested cognitive enhancers
for improved mood and brain function.
The company even went a step further by
including a balance of pre and probiotics
for optimal digestive health, uptake, and
regularity and digestive enzymes so your
body absorbs the high-caliber nutrition
you get from INVIGOR8.
As a whole-foods nutritionist with
a thriving practice I understand the
importance of fi lling my body with the
best Mother Nature has to offer. I have
always been reluctant to try new products
because I was never sure of the impact they
would have on my energy, and weight.
INVIGOR8 is different, not only because
it’s delicious, but because it helps me to
maintain the energy I need to run my busy
practice, while helping me to stay fit and
toned. Considering all of the shakes I’ve
tried, I can honestly say that the results I’ve
experienced from INVIGOR8 are nothing
short of amazing.
A company spokesperson confi rmed an
exclusive offer for Runner’s World’s readers:
if you order this month, you’ll receive
$10 off your fi rst order by using promo
code “RUN10” at checkout. You can order
INVIGOR8 today at www.DrinkInvigor8.com
or by calling 1-800-958-3392.
 FROM THREE-PIECE MIDSOLES TO WOOL-LINED
UPPERS TO ROOMY TOEBOXES, THESE SHOES
C H A L L E N G E T R A D I T I O N —— A N D W E L O V E I T !

THE UNREST
BLENDS
REAL ROAD
PERFORMANCE
WITH LEGIT
STREET STYLE.

A new
FOOTBED
helps keeps your
feet from feeling
RUNNERSWORLD.COM

SWAMPY
on hot runs.

PUMA HYBRID RUNNER UNREST T O P O AT H L E T I C U LT R A F LY 2

$100 11.1 oz (M) , 9.3 oz (W) $120 10.5 oz (M) , 8.2 oz (W)
/

PRICE: WEIGHT: PRICE: WEIGHT:

WILD CARDS

With the new Hybrid
Runner, Puma melds
street style with perfor-
mance running tech. At
the core of the Hybrid
Runner is a dual mid-
/
Ignite foam also assists The Topo Athletic Ultra- management. One
with propulsion and fly earned “Best Debut” runner familiar with the
responsiveness. Our tes- back in 2016. We loved first Ultrafly felt that the
ters found the midsole how the shoe fit like a 2 was more snug in the
comfortable and springy, slipper and didn’t feel forefoot. Even though the
and the shoe performed oversized despite its shoe was on the heavier

sole that functions to well from 5K to 5 miles. above-average cushion- side in tests at the RW
FA LL S HOE G U I DE 2 018

propel the wearer faster
while also providing a
comfortable ride. The
shoe is a conversation
starter with its bead-
embedded sole. That
bumpy texture is Puma’s
NRGY midsole, com-
posed of TPU beads for
cushion and comfort.
A soft knit upper gives ing. Its successor, the Shoe Lab, wear-testers
the impression of run- Ultrafly 2, upheld the were surprised at how
ning in a cushioned sock, original model’s reputa- they cruised in it. One
which we found can tion for a soft and stable tester summarized
feel loose in the fore- ride without feeling that the Ultrafly may
foot. The lacing system bulky. The Ultrafly 2 has not be pillowy soft, but
somewhat alleviates a few minor updates, its midsole takes extra
this problem, making including a new mesh care not to punish the
the shoe a little snugger upper and OrthoLite legs and feet while hit-
when pulled tight.—A.F. footbed for moisture ting the road.—A.F.

78
MARCH 15 - 17, 2019 VIRGINIA BEACH
SHAMROCKMARATHON.COM

RUNNERSWORLD.COM
SALOMON SONIC RA NOCTURNE
$160 9.2 oz (M) , 7.7 oz (W)
/
PRICE: WEIGHT:
WILD CARDS
It’s tough to drag your-
self out the door when
snow starts falling.
But the roads can still
be fun—with the right
equipment. The Sonic
/
RA Nocturne is designed
FA LL S HOE G U I DE 2 018
to keep your feet happy
during sloppy winter
runs. Using its trail
expertise, Salomon
included stability and
protection to create a
slush-busting road shoe.
It uses the company’s
proprietary Wet Traction
Contagrip rubber that
80
A WINTER-READY
HIGHTOP
YOU’LL WANT TO
WEAR ALL YEAR.
we’ve found delivers
sound footing on slick
surfaces. Add to that
a high-rise, water-
resistant ankle gaiter,
which keeps moisture
outside so your feet stay
warm. Testers noted that
the shoe really stands
out in wet and slippery
conditions. “There was
no sliding on wet or
dry surfaces,” said one
tester. “And it was able to
withstand rain, dirt, and
one incident where I fell
in a creek.”—Pat Heine
DATA JUNKIES
WILL LOVE
THE BUILT-IN
SENSORS TO
TRACK THEIR
RUNS.
UNDER ARMOUR HOVR PHANTOM CONNECTED
$140 10.6 oz (M) , 8.8 oz (W)
PRICE: WEIGHT:
Yes, this is another high-
top shoe, but you have
to look under the hood
to see the cool tech in
this one. In this case,
it’s battery powered
and connects to the
MapMyRun app on your
smartphone. A sensor
is embedded within the
shoe’s midsole, tracking
your every stride so
you can see data like
distance, cadence, and
stride length after your
run. Setup is simple, say
some of our less tech-
savvy runners. Under
Armour has been using
this system in a few of
its shoes in recent years,
but also makes a non-
connected version of the
shoe for $10 less. In any
case, you get the compa-
ny’s HOVR cushioning,
which is its take on the
bouncy foams that are
hot right now. Testers
reported the cushioning
was sufficient without
being too soft, though
they wished for a more
flexible forefoot.—J.D.
YOU NEED STRONG DEFENSE AND SUPERIOR TRACTION ON
RO C K- A N D S T I C K- S T R E W N D I R T PAT H S . T H E S E S H O E S D E L I V E R !

82
 SALOMON ULTR A PRO
PRICE: $150 WEIGHT: 10.9 oz (M) , 9.6 oz (W)
As the name implies,
this trail shoe is built for
going the distance and
staying comfortable late
into an ultramarathon.
The shoe is based on
the S/Lab Sense Ultra,
a competitive racing
shoe better suited for
rail-thin, faster runners.
This is the shoe for the
rest of us. It maintains
Those neat
little wings that
connect your
laces to midsole
help keep your
foot snug.
it’s not a squishy soft
shoe. And, because the
foam is thicker than
the aforementioned S/
Lab model, Salomon
long-haul comfort, left out its Profeel film,
thanks in part to wings which is its lightweight,
that wrap up around the flexible stone protec-
midfoot, providing a sta- tion. It did, however,
bilizing hug even as your layer on a Premium
feet begin to swell late Wet Traction Conta-
in a race. Underfoot, the grip outsole, which we
Ultra Pro is softer than found held firm on slick
the Sense Ultra, too, rocks immediately out
though our wear-testers of stream crossings
and measures in the or anywhere else we
RW Shoe Lab confirm encountered them.—J.D.
 SKECHERS GORUN MA X TR AIL 5 ULTR A
PRICE: $125 WEIGHT: 10.0 oz (M) , 7.9 oz (W)
Just like the beer
mile, the MaxTrail
5 is a hit thanks to
some unlikely pair-
ings. Most evident
is the knitted collar
that wraps around
the ankle as snug as
a sock and manages
to shield against dirt
and rocks almost
as well as a gaiter.
Another ambitious
feature comes at
the shoe’s luggy
outsole, which is
designed to tackle
both road and trail
running. Soft foam-
filled lugs compress
just enough to stay
comfy when you
hit the pavement,
but can still dig in
deep when you’re
BROOKS CASCADIA 13
PRICE: $130 WEIGHT: 11.7 oz (M) , 9.7 oz (W)
RUNNERSWORLD.COM
Trail runners will
likely see a lot of
themselves in the
latest Cascadia—it’s
spunky, quick, and
at its best when
covered in mud. For
its 13th iteration,
Brooks added more
/
tools to gobble up
TRAIL
off-road miles. A
3D-printed rubber
mud guard now
/
shields the lower
foot from rocks and
FA LL S HOE G U I DE 2 018
sticks, and a handy
gaiter hook at the
back of the shoe lets
you strap on extra
coverage for excep-
tionally dirty trails.
The Cascadia is also
armed with more
cushioning than its
predecessor, deliver-
84
ALL THAT
FOAM AROUND
THE HEEL
CRADLES
YOUR FOOT
FOR EXTRA
STABILITY.
on rocky trails. “I
love the way the sole
bites into the trail
on uphill sections,”
said one tester. The
only drawback was
that we saw the
lugs break down
more quickly than
traditional treads.
The same Ultra
Flight foam that
pumps up the out-
sole lugs comprises
the shoe’s midsole,
giving the MaxTrail
a seriously plush
ride with minimal
weight. Ultrarun-
ners will love the
two ports in the sole,
which divert water
out of the shoe after
you splash through
a creek.—M.P.
ing a softer ride for
long runs, plus has
added stability for
navigating technical
singletrack trails.
Data from our Shoe
Lab confirmed the
surge in support
and comfort—and
highlighted a slight
improvement in
forefoot flexibility
from the previous
version, though the
shoe is still quite
A COOL,
stiff. Our testers 3D-PRINTED
found that the shoe’s MUD GUARD
performance was KEEPS STICKS
AND ROCKS
excellent when AWAY FROM
running on dirt, YOUR FEET.
grass, gravel, and
rocky trails, but felt
a little unsteady
when things got
slick.—M.P.
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 THE SMALL FOREFOOT
LUGS DIG INTO THE TRAIL
FOR TONS OF TRACTION.

That stout
external
HEEL COUNTER
locks your
foot
in place.

SAUCONY XODUS ISO 3 NEW BALANCE SUMMIT K.O.M./Q.O.M.

PRICE: $150 WEIGHT: 13.8 oz (M) , 11.8 oz (W) PRICE: $120 WEIGHT: 11.4 oz (M) , 9.1 oz (W)

The Xodus has been rugged. Plus, Saucony The Summit K.O.M. conditions. The RevLite
hitting the trails for thinned out the sole a (men’s, King of the midsole reduces weight
TRAIL

nearly a decade, and it
remains every bit the
tank it’s always been
with trail-pounding
/
bit for a lower profile Mountain) and Q.O.M. without sacrificing too
that keeps you closer (women’s, Queen) are much cushioning, though
to the trail. Our testers designed to withstand some testers wanted a
noted no loss of horse- any trail, thanks to their little more underfoot.

tread and foot-cradling power. The lone knock: rugged durability. Our Others said the Summit
FA LL S HOE G U I DE 2 018

protection. The third
iteration has been
refined and gets a brand
new midsole. Saucony’s
Everun foam now cush-
ions the entire length
of the Xodus—dishing
out a surprising amount
of energy return and
comfort for a shoe this
It’s gotten mighty heavy. testers found the shoe to K.O.M./Q.O.M. was still
The shoe has packed be resilient over muddy comfortable over long
on three ounces over and rocky Pennsylvania periods on the trail. “I
the last two updates, trails; a RockStop plate can always use a little
but our testers say it inserted between the more cushioning,” said
doesn’t feel that beefy midsole and outsole a tester, “but I didn’t
and they’re willing to minimizes pressure and find my feet hurting
trade the weight for disperses shock. And tes- any more or less when
the traction and dura- ters confirmed that the using these on some
bility it offers. —M.P. shoe held up well in wet 20-plus-mile runs.”—A.F.

86
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ALTR A LONE PE AK 4
PRICE: $120 WEIGHT: 10.7 oz (M) , 8.7 oz (W)
When you need
claw-like traction,
look no further
than the Lone Peak.
A favorite among
long-distance
hikers because of
its no-slip grip and
burly build that sur-
vives long days on
trails, the shoe also
delivers for runners
moving at a faster
clip over gnarly
terrain. Credit the
aggressive, angled
lugs on the outsole,
made from a stick-
ier rubber. Testers
found the shoe
held firm on both
slippery rock and
muddy surfaces.
Boosting its versa-
RUNNERSWORLD.COM
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FOR R E A L LY
NA ST Y
RU NS, GET A
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tility is a rock plate $ 30 MOR E .
that deflects sharp
trail debris, so you
can blast over the
trails with slightly
less worry about
what you’re stepping
on, and a strapless
gaiter attachment
that keeps dirt out
where it belongs.
Tests at the Run-
ner’s World Shoe
Lab show that the
shoe’s sole is harder,
and wear-testers
felt that dip in
cushioning. Some
wished the 4.0 was
softer like earlier
models, while others
appreciated the
ability to feel more
of the trail.—A.F.

COLUMBIA VARIANT X.S.R.

PRICE: $150 WEIGHT: 12.5 oz (M) , 10.2 oz (W)

The Variant X.S.R. within the outer

is a true door- layer is “Pearl-
to-trail shoe: It Foam”—Columbia’s
effortlessly covers spin on a high
the mile or more of energy return
/

paved road many material (like

TRAIL

of us have to tra- Adidas’s Boost or

verse to get to the Saucony’s Everun).
trailhead. But the Testers found it
outsole has suffi- reduced the pound-
/

cient traction once ing on hard sur-

FA LL S HOE G U I DE 2 018

you hit dirt, thanks faces and kept feet

to all of the edges padded when trails
along its length, yet got rocky. The
it isn’t jarring on lone knock is that els as go
Fe
hard surfaces. That the shoe is heavy
od
trails. ↑

smooth ride can (only the Xodus

on road

be credited at least is heavier in this

on

in part to a dual guide), but testers s as

s
it doe
layer of foam in the say it doesn’t feel
midsole. Embedded clunky.—A.F.

88
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F O R A D V E R T I S I N G R AT E S C O N TA C T J A C K I E C O K E R AT 8 0 1 . 6 6 8 . 6 0 3 8 O R J C O K E R M E D I A @ G M A I L . C O M 91
Saudi Women Will Run the Kingdom
C O N T I N U E D F R O M P. 3 6
and mixed groups. What’s more, not all Saudi
women think running is the right vehicle for
advocacy. When I asked the Rasha Alharbi, 45,
one of the founders of Bliss Runners, Jeddah’s
second and more beginner-friendly club, if she
saw her group as part of the push for women’s
freedoms, the poised and outspoken mother
of four quickly called me out. “Westerners
always want it to be about women’s rights,”
she said. “Saudi people are talking freely about
important issues for women, and it’s time for
those discussions. Is that through running?
I don’t know. My emphasis is on health.”
There’s good reason for that. Over the last
few decades, Western fast-food chains have
popped up in Saudi cities, and the increase in
processed foods and portion sizes, along with
a predominantly sedentary lifestyle—Saudi
Arabia was the third most inactive nation in
a 2012 Lancet report—has contributed to an
obesity crisis. Seventy percent of the adult
population is estimated to be overweight or
obese, right on track with the U.S. And women
are at a higher obesity rate than men (41 per-
cent versus 30). Health and gender researchers
attribute the discrepancy, at least in part, to
unequal access to sports.
Bliss’s coach, Muna Shaheen, 50, a certified
personal trainer, watched people she knew in
Jeddah suffer due to high blood pressure and
diabetes. “I don’t want to be like them,” she says.
“We want to create a different society, a healthy
one for ourselves and our children.”
Which is why Bliss created a teen division,
Jeddah Teen Bolts, and opened it to girls and
boys. “We shouldn’t have to drive our kids to
separate gyms or have the boys outside and the
girls and women inside a compound,” Rasha
says. “We want to be outside together.”
One evening I run with the Bolts, and while
they don’t say much about health, they have
strong opinions about mixing. Aroub, an
articulate 13-year-old girl with braces, says,
“We’re going to be mixing in the workplace, so
we might as well learn to communicate with
the opposite gender now.” A boy drops back
and joins Aroub and me. “I thought you might
want the male perspective,” he says, grinning.
Malik, 16, has thick wavy, hair and a bright
smile. “Running with girls gives you more
respect for women because we are running
the same distance and speed,” he says. Later,
Hala, 16, forthright like her peers, tells me it’s
important for women to be seen running. “It
opens minds about the ‘Ideal Saudi Woman,’
which is seen as covered and not moving,”
she says. “That’s not the Saudi woman I am.”
Candor like this isn’t limited to the coun-
try’s youth—Saudis talk openly about their
culture, religion, and reforms (many women
92 RU N N E RSWORL D.CO M
told me that the air changed when the gov-
ernment announced in September 2017 that
women would drive), along with the more
delicate matter of guardianship. The harsh
reality is that Saudi women only have as
much freedom as their families allow.
“My father was open-minded,” Nesreen tells
me. “He believed in education and equality. I
lived with no restrictions.” A woman in Nes-
reen’s office, however, lived freely until her
father died, and now her brother prohibits her
from traveling. Al-Batool Baroom, 36, a JRC
member since 2016 and commercial director of
women’s fitness chain Studio55, says that she,
too, can make her own choices. But Studio55’s
founder, Fatima Batook, had to wait two years
for her brother to give her permission to marry
the man she loved.
Most women I interviewed run with the
full support of their families. But one woman,
who asked to remain anonymous, runs with
JRC Women despite her parents’ disapproval.
Another says she chooses not to share that
she runs in the streets, and sometimes with
men, for fear a male family member may try
to stop her.
“Some women feel like hostages to their
guardians, and I find that appalling and unac-
ceptable,” says JRC member Mohammed
AlQatari. “On a personal level, my wife and
kids, including my 15-year-old Maria, have
complete freedom to decide for themselves—
travel, study, friendships. I am here to guide,
not confiscate her right to choose.”
Mohammed, like many runners I spoke
with, hopes to see women’s freedoms fully
restored in the law on a faster pace. Islam
teaches equality, he says, pointing out that
one of the Prophet Muhammad’s wives led an
army after his death, riding alongside tens of
thousands of men. Nesreen tells me, “In the
days of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon
him, women were treated equally.”
The Saudis I spoke with were quick to dis-
connect Islam from their country’s practices.
“How we live in Saudi is based on culture,
not religion,” Raghad says one afternoon over
coffee at a cafe with me and Arwa. “Whoever
put these rules in place may have done so in
the name of religion, but that by no means
makes them Islamic rules.” She cites the abaya
and driving as examples. Modesty is a tenet of
Islam, but it doesn’t stipulate that women must
wear abayas. Similarly, women drive in other
Muslim nations, she says.
“And the ban on women’s sports?” I ask.
“That’s the old mentality,” says Arwa. “But
it comes from the top. If the rulers say some-
thing”—that women will drive or participate
in sports—“people trust them and accept it.”
Scan Riyadh from above, and among the
towering skyscrapers and wide boulevards of
the Saudi capital are the walled compounds
where the majority of women run. Riyadh is
the country’s religious and political center,
and the pressure to follow tradition is strong.
While the city’s first women’s group, Riyadh
Urban Runners, began running on a public
walkway in late 2016, most female runners
still prefer logging miles inside compounds,
largely exempt from Saudi social norms, or
inside walled female college campuses, where
women can run without abayas.
“Women’s running is an emerging scene in
Riyadh. We have women who like running,
but are anxious to run in public,” says Amal
Maghazil, 31, a mom and speech pathologist
who heads Riyadh Urban Runners. The hand-
ful of female runners I speak to in Riyadh’s
Diplomatic Quarter—a sprawling and walled-
off complex of embassies, schools, housing,
and restaurants—have no interest in running
the streets just yet. “I’m waiting for society to
be ready,” says Rehab, 33, a university lecturer
who preferred not to give her last name.
“We have a collective society, which empha-
sizes the group over the individual—acting
outside deep-rooted gender roles can put you
outside the group,” says Mezna AlMarzooqi
when I meet her on KSU’s female campus in
Riyadh. Mezna’s dissertation examined activity
levels among Saudi female college students,
and 94 percent of the women she surveyed
were insufficiently active, citing social and
family beliefs as the primary reason. “That’s
why campus is a good place for women to start
running,” she says. “Inside, we’re not breaking
any social norms.”
Mezna felt the tug between her desire to run
and also wanting to respect her culture. She
began a walk-run program in Australia while
getting her Ph.D., and the first time she ran
an entire 5K, she was elated. “This was the
highest happiness of my life, even now, after
running marathons and climbing mountains,”
she says. While she was in Saudi Arabia in 2015
to conduct research interviews, female students
told her their families wouldn’t let them walk
in the street without a guardian, or that they
were afraid to walk alone. “I felt sad for the
girls—then I realized I was one of them,” she
says. “In Saudi, I didn’t have the freedom to
head out my front door.” But it occurred to
her she could run on campus, and she set out
one afternoon for 15K. “The women clapped
for me, and I knew I wanted this for others.”
In February, Mezna founded KSU Move-
ment, the first women’s running initiative
at a Saudi university. I line up with 30 or so
students doing a 5K that day and she sends us
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off for three one-mile loops around campus. I
run with Dana Amlih, a 19-year-old with round
glasses and a wide smile. She’s blown away
when I mention Jeddah’s sports abayas. “There
is a sports abaya?” she says, her eyes wide. We
climb a small hill and Dana and I give in to the
effort and walk, then run again. She tells me
she joined KSU Movement because she wants
to run a marathon. When I run a loop solo and
reconnect with her, she’s amazed I didn’t have
to walk and drills me about training. I tell her
about Riyadh Urban Runners, that they’re
running in the streets. She grins, and I can
see her mind turning.
After the run, I sit with a 20-year-old nurs-
ing student who used to dream of running in
other countries because she couldn’t run at
home. Her parents said it was Aeeb, a taboo,
something one cannot do in front of men. They
did, however, give her permission to run with
the campus group. An animated young woman
eager to get out of the gym, she ran outdoors
only for the second time the day of my visit. “I
love being outside, being free,” she says.
I tell her about Riyadh Urban Runners, too. “I
would like to see women running in the streets;
it is my dream!” she says, smiling. “I want to
race, too. And do karate. I want it all.”
Somaya AlGhazali hops out of an Uber in a
black abaya, her face snug in a hijab. She is 25,
a graphic designer, and founder of Khobar Run-
ning Crew, the Eastern region’s only women’s
running club. She embraces me as if I’m a long
lost friend. We are meeting for the first time.
It’s evening and men work out on the outdoor
fitness equipment on the corniche in Khobar,
a small city on Saudi’s Persian Gulf. Khobar is
part of the Dammam metropolitan area, home
to Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company
that brought a mass of foreigners to the region
in the 1960s and ’70s. The influx has placed the
city culturally between more open Jeddah and
more conservative Riyadh.
Somaya and I run along the promenade, the
gulf water just visible in the dark. Two to four
women ran with her this spring, but tonight
it’s just her, a sign of the group’s nascence.
Somaya began running the corniche solo in
2014 after her mother died, and now divides her
life into “before running” and “after running.”
Describing what running has given her, she
says, “I focus better, think better, sleep better,
and feel in control as a person.” After being
featured as one of the country’s few female
runners in Destination Sharqiya, the regional
magazine, women requested she start a club.
She put the word out, and friends began joining
her in October 2017. Few returned.
“They hated running in abayas,” she says. “It
94 RU N N ERSWORL D.CO M
was difficult for me in the beginning, too, but
you find a light one that’s shorter than most,
and you get used to it.”
The Khobar corniche shows signs of the
changing times. Construction is ongoing
to extend the promenade north, part of the
government effort to provide more recreation
space. Earlier that day, crews were setting
up for a car show for women, complete with
driving simulations. The country held the first
official women’s race on city streets in the town
of Al-Ahsa, about 300 miles north of Khobar,
in March, and more than 1,500 women ran, all
in black abayas, many in niqab. When a video
of it went viral, it garnered angry comments
like “God will ask you about this vulgarity,”
and “Our conservative society has begun to
slip away, and its moral decline is infused with
Western ideas.”
Every runner I speak to in Saudi Arabia,
though, is focused on the overwhelming pos-
itive response women’s running is receiving.
That energy is in the air in Khobar. Veiled
women give me the thumbs up as I run solo;
another woman stops me and is delighted
to learn about the Khobar crew. This is the
revolution. “Come, join us, change your life,”
Nesreen would say.
When Saudi women talk of the future,
they see women’s running growing—more
women, more races, more choices. Already,
JRC, Riyadh Urban Runners, and the Khobar
crew have formed The Running Collectives, a
nationwide umbrella group. And the Riyadh
Half Marathon, which held its first race for
men this past February, has announced a
women’s race for 2019.
Some even predict that running in abaya will
be optional in six months. “But we don’t want
females running in sports bras,” says Nesreen,
summing up the view of most women I spoke
with. “We are Muslims. Modesty is good.”
Saudis will tell you the current reforms
are helping to push the country further
into the modern world—or back to the true
equality of Islam, as some suggest. This excites
the runners. Mohammed says nothing is
sweeter than knowing his daughter is growing
up with the freedom to run. Nesreen’s son Saif
tells me the expansion of running, cycling,
and triathlon is giving boys and girls in his
generation more to do besides sniffing glue, a
former time-killer for him and a friend.
“The story is about more than running,”
Nesreen says. “When you run, you search for
yourself, find yourself, improve yourself.” She
believes this is what’s happening to the Saudi
people, and by extension, their country. “Run-
ning is learning you can do more and be more,”
she says, “and it has no gender.”
Forty-five minutes after leaving Jeddah,
Nesreen’s driver slips off the freeway and turns
down an unmarked dirt road in the Hejaz
Mountains. Silhouettes of the barren peaks
we’ll be racing on come into view. We pull up to
a clearing, and people in shorts, leggings, caps,
and hijabs hover under white tents, picking
up numbers, pinning on bibs. Runners dash
off behind a just-high-enough dirt mound to
pee. The flags of the Hejaz50 catch the breeze.
Nesreen jumps out of the SUV, leaving her
abaya on the seat, and rushes toward registra-
tion. We’re late, and as one of the organizers,
she’s got the race T-shirts.
As the sun rises over the mountains, com-
petitors line up for the fourth running of the
50K, a solo race or relay with four loops in
each cardinal direction. Among the 159 com-
petitors are Nesreen, Raghad, and dozens of
other women, none in abayas, all covered to
their personal level of comfort. They’re lined
up with men, ready to run with the freedom
they hope to feel in the city streets soon. The
field surges off the line.
Nesreen puts on headphones and Raghad
begins at a slow jog; both are a part of relay
teams. Saif is ahead, tackling his first ultra.
Light clouds overhead disappear and the tem-
perature begins its ascent as runners climb the
day’s toughest hill, SMF (Sexy Mother F**ker,
named after music legend Prince).
By the time the runners head to the south
loop, it’ll be 85 degrees Fahrenheit; when they
hit the west loop, 100. Relay runners sprawl
under the Bedouin-inspired tent, shoes off
and nibbling salty snacks. Heads emerge to
cheer on runners passing through or to sign
the cardboard map of the world showing the
31 countries represented that day. Some snap
shots in the Hejaz Ultra Instagram photo booth.
Others read the Islamic prayer for travelers.
I follow Nesreen, who’s done with her first
leg, as she keeps an eye out for Saif. “We have
this sense of freedom here, and choice, really,”
she says of why JRC women love running and
racing in the mountains despite the heat and
hills and dirt. “It’s because it’s the real deal,”
she says. “You do it under your rules. You finish,
overcome something, and you’re not the same.”
Soon, we see Yossra Ifaoui, 35, a Tunsian
who was raised partially in Saudi Arabia,
sprint alongside her teammate Raghad as she
finishes her leg. JRC runner Amira Bahaaldeen
smiles over the line, finishing. U.K. runner
Eugene Galvin completes his segment and
tags Nesreen. She sets off toward the east to
run the fourth and final leg, dressed in black
leggings and a blue T-shirt, her curly hair
bouncing as the desert dirt dusts up and the
sun beats down.
How to Be a Runner
J U L I A G R O S S E R H O D E , 2 7, P O R T L A N D , O R E G O N

Trail Road
400s Hills
Wave Nod
Group Solo1
Heart Rate Feel
PR Finish
Shoe Store Online
Uphill Downhill
Hot Cold2
5K Marathon3
GPS Naked
Gel Chew
Morning4 Night
Hugs Daps5
Stop Go
PR PB
Start Finish
Heel Toe
Calves6 Quads
Headphones Inner Voices7
Bagel Banana
Treadmill Frostbite
Medal T-Shirt
Warmup8 Cooldown
Distance Time
Low Socks Tall Socks

LET ME EXPLAIN
(1) I love running in groups, but I prefer solitude and drifting into my own world of reflection, recharging, and even nothingness. (2) I love running in the
cold, wearing beanies and gloves while breathing icy air. Snowy and dry winter mornings are paradise to me, and I don’t mind rain if a hot shower awaits.
(3) I am thrilled by running long distances and amazed by the different terrains and landscapes you can experience on long runs. (4) Almost nothing
beats the feeling of accomplishment after you convinced yourself to get up for an early morning run. (5) I’m a dapper. Also a fan of high-fives, low-fives,
middle-fives, and verbal recognition of achievement. (6) My calves have started to revolt more than my quads. I started incorporating single-leg training
to strengthen my hamstrings and quads, so hopefully they will accept their fate soon. (7) I hardly ever run with headphones. Nature’s sounds are music to
me. (8) I definitely have more of a warmup routine. Ideally with a massage stick, stretches, and a light jog. Then epsom salt and some stretching afterward.

96 RU N N ERSWORL D.CO M PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRIS LOW