Somehow, in my phone, this photo with Phoebe was already named “Cheers to Run Like a Mother!”
Community: Since Day 1, that’s what Another Mother Runner has been about. Thus, as I reflect back on our 15 years together, it is friendships and encounters with women runners that stand out most vividly in my mind. There are too many to count or name yet I want to share 15 of them as they are representative of the wealth of this community that Dimity and I have been enriched with all these years. In no particular order:
Phoebe: You roadtripped from New Hampshire to Cape Cod to a Run Like a Mother reading in a bookstore basement (think cobwebs and dirt walls!), then went on one of the most humid “group” runs—just you and me—after which we “cleaned off” by jumping into the pool behind the bookstore owner’s house.
Erica: You took photos of Dimity and me in a beachside parking lot behind the wheel of a rental Chrysler Pacifica when we were trying to ink a deal with Chrysler. I can still hear the newly released P!nk CD that Dimity blared on the van’s sound system!
Kristen: You stopped by my house when you were visiting Portland from Minnesota (where we’d met at several TCM expos). I was laid up with my fractured-in-4-places ankle. My husband called to say he couldn’t get home in time to drive our younger daughter, Daphne, to soccer practice and our babysitter was out with the two other kids. Without missing a beat, you said, “I’ll take her.”
Kristen and me before I hobbled to her rental car to shuttle my daughter to soccer practice.
Gal on a plane: You were one of ~30 other passengers on the commuter jet when I was traveling solo with my three young children to visit my parents. On the plane, I talked a lot to my younger daughter as she was super-cranky from the cross-country flight. When we were in the women’s room at the airport post-flight, you asked, “Are you Sarah from the Another Mother Runner podcast?” My kids thought I was famous!
Gal in a shower: You, like me, were running a Ragnar Relay across Maryland. At one exchange point, runners could pay to take a shower in a high school locker room. I hadn’t even been in the group shower long enough to get my hair fully wet when you asked, “Are you Sarah from Another Mother Runner?” You proceeded to ask me a few questions, and I decided if you weren’t embarrassed to chat while we’re both naked, then I didn’t need to be, either!
Samantha: You show me what real #foundchange looks like, returning from your San Antonio runs with literal fistsful of coins. I try to emulate your money-finding prowess ($1,500+ in the last dozen years!), yet you have the universe on your side as you selflessly donate your stash to a fund that helps children in Africa.
Kelly: You and I met at numerous AMR retreats, and you live a mere 5K from my son John’s college. As if attending all three musicals John has performed in thus far isn’t enough, you showed your true colors when, with 45 minutes notice, you hightailed it to his dorm room to help him transport his belongings to the rental house he was moving into.
My (New) Jersey “girls,” with Kelly on the right.
Janice + Linda: You are both repeat retreat attendees, but you stand out most in my mind (+ heart) because you always give me kudos on Strava. The only way I see your kind words and thumbs-up are because I get email notifications—I’ve long forgotten my Strava password so I can’t give you praise in return!
Lisa: You and I happened to be wearing matching tank tops in the 2017 Twin Cities Marathon, and we jockeyed leads throughout the race until about Mile 23, when we were both flagging. As we ran side by side in those final miles, we said very few words, yet there was an unspoken agreement that we were sticking together to the end. And that we needed each other.
Penny: You first entered my life in Anchorage, when you were checking Alaska off your list of 50 states to run a marathon in. You didn’t start running consistently until middle age, and you were 72 when you completed your marathon-in-every-state goal—yet you keep going, having just run Boston Marathon in April.
Hillary: You happened to be running along Spokane’s riverfront trail when I fractured my ankle. You lent me your jacket to keep me warm, and stayed with me when my friend/colleague Jonna got medical help. (And I’m fairly certain you had said going down the massive, wet, metal slide in slick Lycra capris was a bad idea in the first place…)
Hillary offering her coat—and comfort.
Rachel: You and I were besties in 7th grade, but drifted apart in high school; we hadn’t been in touch in decades. Yet last October, you popped into AMR’s general email inbox to let me know you and your wife, Leslie, regularly listen to our podcasts, despite neither of you being runners. You told me you two “regularly find inspiration and useful information” in the episodes.
Too many to name: You handwrote me condolence cards when my father died in 2018, then again when my mother passed in 2021. You let me know memories of my parents live on in the minds of many podcast listeners (even if my elderly parents never quite understood what a podcast is!).
Anna: You show me time and time again what true strength and badass-ery is, whether it’s pushing your high-needs teen daughter in her custom-fitted stroller so you can both cover 26.2 miles or going canoeing at our Redmond retreat despite a lifelong fear of water.
Anna, as always, with a broad, beautiful smile
I am truly humbled to be included in your list, Sarah! You and Dimity have created such an amazing community that has changed my life. I am not only more confident as a runner/athlete, but as a person. Thank-you so much and Happy 15th Anniversary!!