Jay spent years playing soccer and dabbled in other sports, but running itself was never her thing until she signed up for a local 5K in her off season as another way to move. That race quickly turned into a half marathon in DC, and crossing that finish line left her with one very unexpected thought: she could probably go further. So she set her sights on the New York City Marathon, and started to poke around charities that she could apply for and along the way found an organization that would allow her to run for her uncle. He had always been active, and Jay saw a shot at running in his honor when she applied for a charity bib with ALS United's Greater New York chapter.

Training through a brutal, humid summer tested her in ways she didn't expect, and she leaned on a running buddy, a rewards system built around her favorite snacks, and a mantra she repeated when the miles got long. But nothing quite prepared her for what race day itself would throw at her. Between the nerves, the heat, and a curveball she never saw coming, Jay had to find a completely different way to get to that finish line than the one she'd trained for.

Follow along with Jay Wood: @fit.w.jayy

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Hunter didn't set out to become a runner. He joined his high school's cross country team on a whim (mostly because his friends were doing it) and discovered he loved being part of a group more than he loved the actual running. That pull toward community followed him through college, a couple years teaching in Korea, and eventually back to North Carolina, where a local run club led him to Ainsley's Angels. Pushing other runners through races so they could cross the finish line changed how he saw the sport entirely, and it planted the seed for chasing a marathon of his own.

Hunter went into the City of Oaks Marathon in Raleigh without a real time goal, just a plan to find the 4:30 pace group and stick with them for as long as he could. That plan hit a snag before he even reached the start line, but he pushed on regardless.. He leaned on that same pacer to get through the miles that followed, one mile at a time, and at the end of the day ended up a marathoner.

Follow along with Hunter Pardue: @runhuntrun

Learn more about Ainsley's Angels: https://ainsleysangels.org/

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Sierra grew up in a running family and found her own love for the sport through a middle school team in Georgia. She ran through high school and rediscovered it years later during a hard stretch in college, but just as she was building back toward a half marathon, her body threw her a curveball.

A case of long COVID sent her heart rate soaring to 175 just from walking, and running immediately had to take a back seat. It took her two years to feel like herself again, and by no means was that comeback easy. When she finally toed the line in Chicago, she went in with a mindset rooted in joy rather than performance, and it shaped everything about how her race day unfolded.

Follow along with Sierra: @sierra.von

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👣 Personal IG/TikTok: @tay.says / @taysays
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📺 YouTube: @MyFirstMarathonPodcast
🌐 Website & extras: myfirstmarathon.co & myfirstmarathon.co/resources
Book a free 1:1 Coaching Call with me! - https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=37408473&appointmentType=85354440
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This one's for all my fall marathoners who are deep in training right now!! I'm pulling together my full survival guide for running your first marathon, five things I wish someone had told me before my own first one. We're talking fueling strategy (and why the back half of the race is where it really matters), why respecting your easy pace is about more than just your fitness, and why the bad runs in your training block might actually be the most useful ones you have. If you're in the thick of a block right now and need a little reset, this one's for you.

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📺 YouTube: @MyFirstMarathonPodcast
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Barry Scruggs came to running with his wife after some health struggles when they decided to make change happen together. It started with a Spartan race , and that single decision opened the door to a running life neither of them expected, eventually pulling them into Charlotte's trail and ultra running community and setting Barry on the path toward his first marathon.

By the time race day arrived, training wasn't the hard part. Days before the Charlotte Marathon, Barry was diagnosed with bronchitis that had turned into pneumonia, and both his doctor and his wife told him not to race. He toed the line anyway, and what followed became one of the hardest tests he's ever faced on a course. Somewhere in the miles that came next, Barry learned what his body could actually carry him through when his mind wanted to quit, a lesson he still leans on today.

Follow along with Barry Scruggs and his run club on Instagram:
@runbear_runnc
@locolocal.runclub

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🌐 Website & extras: myfirstmarathon.co & myfirstmarathon.co/resources
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Abia Mallick never planned to run a marathon herself until she volunteered at the finish zone of the New York City Marathon, where a woman stopped by the fence near her to catch her breath and ended up sharing her story, a story that stuck with Abia so much she threw her own name into the marathon lottery, assuming she'd never get in.

But spoiler alert: she did. Her training tested her more than she expected: her body kept finding new things to ache, and she leaned hard on her physical therapist and her community to get through it. Race day brought its own complications, and by the time she reached mile 26, what carried her through was the community of people that she's built around her.

Follow along with Abia on Instagram: @abiamallick

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👣 Personal IG/TikTok: @tay.says / @taysays
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Book a free 1:1 Coaching Call with me! - https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=37408473&appointmentType=85354440
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I get this question all the time from my first-time marathoners: if I don't have a time goal, why do I need to do speed work? In this week's mini episode, I'm breaking down exactly why I still program speed work for athletes who aren't chasing a specific finish time, what it's actually teaching your body and mind, and how something as simple as picking up the pace at a colorful mailbox can prepare you for those brutal last six miles of your marathon.

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👣 Personal IG/TikTok: @tay.says / @taysays
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📺 YouTube: @MyFirstMarathonPodcast
🌐 Website & extras: myfirstmarathon.co & myfirstmarathon.co/resources
Book a free 1:1 Coaching Call with me! - https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=37408473&appointmentType=85354440
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Sara played tennis all through high school, but running stayed casual for her, a mile here or there, until 2023, when she signed up for her first 5K and then got sidelined by a health complication for most of the year. By summer 2024 she was back on the trail outside Chicago, and after watching the para-athletes and half marathoners at a local race, she reached out to a charity for a Chicago Marathon bib almost on impulse. She texted her fiancé that she thought she'd just signed up for 26.2 miles. He wrote back, "You think?"

But by no means was training easy for her. A flooded house sent her and her husband to live with his in-laws for nine weeks that August, running took a back seat to insurance calls and contractors, and her peak mileage never got close to where it needed to be. She made it to the start line anyways, but a chaotic corral search, the Chicago heat, and something that happened to her knee around mile seventeen turned the back half of that race into a fight she wasn't sure she'd win. What got her from that curb to the finish line is a story you're going to want to hear.

Follow along with Sara on Instagram at @thatssosaaraa !

Follow along with the show:
👣 Personal IG/TikTok: @tay.says / @taysays
🎙️ Podcast IG/TikTok: @myfirstmarathonpod
📺 YouTube: @MyFirstMarathonPodcast
🌐 Website & extras: myfirstmarathon.co & myfirstmarathon.co/resources
Book a free 1:1 Coaching Call with me! - https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=37408473&appointmentType=85354440
Join the First Marathoner Community! - skool.com/myfirstmarathon