OprahHandshake

Amby shaking hands with Oprah

Sarah and co-host Ellison Weist are delighted to be joined by long-time Runner’s World editor and author Amby Burfoot to talk about his new book, First Ladies of Running, which profiles 22 groundbreaking women runners. First Amby shares his running story, including remembrances of winning the 1968 Boston Marathon at the age of 21 (!!). Amby and Ellison bond over having androgynous names, then he muses on why Kathrine Switzer is mistakenly thought to be the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon. He talks about the risk for new runners to do too much, too soon, offering the reminder, “big progress in running comes from slow, incremental steps.” When he utters the sentence, “running is constantly about beginning again,” Amby earns a mother runner stripe. He continues showing his empathy for women runners when he talks about the ways in which running fosters independence and builds strength. Having run the majority of the 1994 Marine Corps Marathon mere steps behind Oprah, Amby shares several intriguing stories about her epic 26.2 journey.

Intrigued by Ellison’s book recommendations? Here they are:

Dog Run Moon by Callan Wink

Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson

The Past: A Novel by Tess Hadley

The Nest by Cynthia d’Aprix Sweeney

And please share your personal Find Your Finish Line story with us in a Voice Memo that’s 90 seconds or less, starting with your name and where you live. Email it to us by March 31 at runmother [at] gmail [dot] com. We thank you in advance!

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