Running News Daily

Four runners share their mental health stories

Many runners find their sport is not only a way to gain physical resilience, but also a powerful ally in the path toward mental well-being. The road to mental health isn’t solitary, and witnessing others share their challenges and successes can be uplifting and inspiring.

From pros to amateurs, athletes are speaking out about their struggles and triumphs with mental health. Here are four runners to follow who are also mental health advocates.

1.- Alexi Pappas

Pappas is known for being a remarkable athlete (she ran the 10,000m for Greece at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro), but she also boasts credentials as a renowned author, filmmaker, and mental health advocate. Pappas opened up about mental health in 2020: after working toward and achieving her Olympic dreams, her mental health spiralled, and she was eventually diagnosed with severe clinical depression, which was compounded by injuries, a lack of sleep and her own reluctance to take a break from training.

Pappas authored her first book in 2021: Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain, and Other Big Ideas, highlighting her triumphs and challenges in sports and life, and encouraging readers to be “braveys” in pursuing their passions. She continues to advocate and be a source of hope to others on social media.”What if we athletes approached our mental health the same way we approach our physical health?” Pappas asks.

2- Allie Ostrander

Former American steeplechaser turned elite trail runner, Ostrander uses her Instagram platform to share mental health and eating disorder awareness and advocacy.

In 2021, Ostrander returned to professional competition after being sidelined with multiple injuries for the previous 18 months. During this time, she was hospitalized for treatment of an eating disorder. Ostrander qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials, where she ran a personal best of 9:26.96 in the 3,000m steeplechase, before deciding to take a year-long break from professional running to prioritize her own mental health.

Ostrander returned to racing in 2023, and made a shift to the trails, running to ninth place at the Mammoth 26K in California in September.

3.- Evan Birch

Canadian ultrarunner and mental health advocate Evan Birch shares an unflinching look at his mental health journey on social media as he works to destigmatize the conversation around mental wellness. Birch is a former 911 dispatcher from Calgary who has been running on trails for more than a decade, and who most recently conquered Western Canada’s first 200-mile race, The Divide 200, in September 2023.

A busy father to young children, Birch recently collaborated with filmmaker Dylan Leeder to create Running Forward, a documentary illuminating the intersection between running and mental health.”It is more important to me now that I meet the truth within me, than it is to make other people comfortable with how I am,” Birch says on social media. “The gifts I have received from allowing myself to be sad are so plentiful.”

4.- Denoja Uthayakumar

From Scarborough, Ont., Uthayakumar is no stranger to hardship, but she has taken her experiences and built a social platform where she can advocate for individuals from similar backgrounds. Uthayakmar is a cancer survivor, body positivity and mental health advocate and was Canadian Running’s pick for our 2023 Community Builder of the Year award.

Uthayakumar was born into a Tamil family, and was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age five; she shares her physical and mental health challenges alongside the joy that running and the community around it bring to her. “This year pushed me. It broke me down. It challenged me to no end,” Uthayakumar says on Instagram. “It was hard, but I rose higher with my running journey, and was able to share more of my story during my healing while being a survivor.”

Pro-runner Allie Ostrander’s Five tips for avoiding injuries

Former American steeplechaser turned trail-elite Allie Ostrander shared her tips for runners to avoid injuries on social media recently, telling fans to consider it her “formal petition against running-related injuries.”

Ostrander announced her shift from track to trail in Feb. 2023 (along with her partnership with ultrarunning GOAT Kilian Jornet‘s brand NNormal) and is also a mental health and eating disorder awareness advocate.

Originally from Kenai, Alaska, Ostrander had a very successful NCAA career with Boise State University in Idaho, winning three straight NCAA titles in the 3,000m steeplechase. Her tips on avoiding injuries are excellent ones for all runners, whether they run on track, trail or roads.

Here are Ostrander’s suggestions, along with some ideas to get you started.

Run more uphill miles

“Uphill running is lower impact and higher output, so you work harder,” shared Ostrander, “but it puts less stress on your bones.” She suggests running on the treadmill at a 3–5 percent grade, running up a long hill and getting a ride down, or doing hill repeats and walking downhill between reps.

Replace easy miles with cross training

“You don’t have to replace every easy run with a bike sesh because, let’s be honest, running is way more fun, but cross-training can be a great tool to get in some aerobic training without the impact,” Ostrander says. She suggests replacing 1–2 runs a week with a cross-training session and explains that she uses the formula of 10min of XT=1 mile running.

Try: a standing bike workout.

Don’t be afraid to strength train, lift heavy, and build muscle

Building muscle will make you a stronger runner, and you’ll be better equipped to power through hard training. “It can also correct imbalances and improve running economy,” says Ostrander.

Try: these at-home strength workouts with Canadian ultrarunner Jazmine Lowther.

Fuel

“Being in an energy deficit increases injury risk and decreases adaptation to training,” explains Ostrander. She recommends focusing on consistently giving your body the energy it needs.

Rest days are important

“Rest allows your body to absorb all the training,” Ostrander says. “Don’t wait until you feel overly tired or have some sort of pain to give yourself a day off.” It can be challenging to really allow ourselves to take the time off we need, and Ostrander suggests scheduling rest days into your training plan to keep it as much a priority as hard training.

Try: recovery day yoga to relax and unwind.

Three-time NCAA champion in the 3,000m steeplechase Allie Ostrander signs with Kilian Jornet’s NNormal brand

American steeplechaser Allie Ostrander announced on Wednesday that she has signed with Kilian Jornet‘s new outdoor sports brand, NNormal. The partnership comes after Ostrander took a one-year break from professional running. In addition to the news of her new relationship, it was announced that she is transitioning from track to trail running in the coming season. 

Ostrander had a very successful NCAA career with Boise State University in Idaho, winning three straight NCAA titles in the 3,000m steeplechase. In 2019, she turned pro and signed with Brooks, but her promising career was put on hold following a string of injuries and a struggle with an eating disorder. 

She made a comeback in 2021, attempting to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, and although she fell short at the U.S. Olympic Trials, she managed to run a 3,000m steeplechase PB of 9:26.96 on route to her eighth-place finish. At the end of 2021, Ostrander ended her contract with Brooks and once again stepped away from professional running so she could put her “mental and physical health first.”

Although Ostrander was not racing during her break, she has continued to be vocal about her struggles with mental health. As she wrote on Instagram, this is a big reason she signed with the team at NNormal, who told her they want to support her athletic endeavours and her mental health initiatives. Ostrander said that the support presented by NNormal was not offered by all brands she met with. She noted that some brands pointed to her past struggles with eating disorders as a reason they were weary to take her on. 

With NNormal, though, Ostrander wrote that she knew it was “a brand that would support me through the highs and lows of sport and that cared about something other than race results.” She has yet to announce where she will begin her career as an NNormal athlete, but wherever it is, the running world will be excited to see her back in action. 

Ultrarunner Tim Tollefson shares mental health challenges in new film

Tim Tollefson is a celebrated American ultratrail runner with wins at big races like the Javelina Jundred, Lavaredo Ultra Trail 120K and Ultra Trail Australia 100K; in 2017 he was third overall at Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB), finishing well under 20 hours.

But then followed a string of failures, including at this year’s UTMB, which went badly from the start, forcing him to drop out about four hours in. (Tollefson went into the race with a positive COVID result.) A new film, What Goes Unsaid, reveals something only those closest to Tollefson knew previously–alongside his many successes and the admiration of his fans, for years Tollefson has been dealing with poor mental health and an eating disorder.

Tollefson, who is sponsored by Coros, had a tough adjustment when his family moved from rural Minnesota to the Auburn, Calif. (the sight of the iconic Western States 100 finish) when he was 10, and he was bullied– for wearing glasses, for his accent and his haircut. He started running in middle school, which helped him feel more accepted.

But it also made him want to be leaner, and more like the other runners’ body types he observed on the team; and since he wasn’t the only one trying to eat less to force his body to conform to an “ideal” body weight, he didn’t realize how insidious and dangerous it could be. 

Tollefson qualified for the 2012 Olympic Marathon trials, but struggled in his brief marathon career, ultimately switching to trail running, which he hoped would bring greater success (and therefore self-acceptance). UTMB represented, in his mind, the acme of achievement in the ultratrail world–and he describes his 2017 podium finish, where he broke 20 hours (along with winner François D’Haene and runner-up Kilian Jornet) as the best race of his career. (He finished third in 2016 also.)

But the euphoria was short-lived. In 2018, he returned to UTMB and DNF’d–and again in 2019 and 2021. In the flim, he reveals that, even during the good years, he would almost be paralyzed with anxiety over being seen by others, and by perfectionism, severe body dysmorphia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Interestingly, this is one of the reasons he was attracted to UTMB: it starts in the evening, and much of the first half of the race takes place in darkness. By the time the sun rises, he has run long enough to feel slightly less bad about being seen. “I feel thin again, because I’ve run for 12 hours,” says Tollefson.

Tollefson says it’s not the running, or the altitude, that strikes fear into his heart–it’s being seen by other runners. He says he has been counting calories since 2003, and he only sought therapy recently. He now recognizes that what he sees when he looks in the mirror is distorted and not real. 

Having grown up in the area and competed at Placer High (where Western States runners finish), Tollefson avoided it until 2021. He admits he was always critical of the race, whose course is not as technical or as spectacular as UTMB’s. Ultimately, he realized he was holding it to an unfair standard–much as he had always done to himself and his body. And he decided to run it.

He finished fifth last year, and as his fans already know, this year he finished, but not without struggling mightily–against dehydration and a powerful urge to quit. He placed 33rd overall, with a time of 20:41:28. “I decided that I wasn’t going to give up on myself,” Tollefson told filmmaker Billy Yang, who was commentating, after finishing. He also felt he owed it to his crew the volunteers and the runners who didn’t make it off the waitlist, to finish. 

He shares his story now in the hope that it will encourage others to do the same. Several female athletes (including Olympic bronze medallist Molly Seidel, trail runner Amelia Boone and steeplchaser Allie Ostrander) have shared their stories, but as Tollefson’s makes clear, eating disorders are not limited to female athletes. (Canadian beer miler Corey Bellemore opened up about his own experience during the pandemic.)

“When other people share things publicly, and I relate or emphathize, it makes me feel less alone,” he says. “I’ve never had the confidence to reach out to those people and say thank you, but I know it has an impact.”

Three indoor American records were set Saturday at the 113th NYRR Millrose Games in front of a sold out crowd

American records fell in three events as athletes entertained a sell-out crowd at the Armory and the113th NYRR Millrose Games Saturday afternoon in Washington Heights. 

Elle Purrier raised the bar in the NYRR women’s Wannamaker mile smashing the American Record in 4:16.85. At the bell, Purrier powered ahead to outpace Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen at the wire and break one of the oldest American records in the books, a 4:20.5 by Mary Slaney in 1982. Her en route time at 1,500m was 4:00.23, the second-fastest time in U.S. indoor history 

In the New York Presbyterian men’s 800 meters, Donavan Brazier added another record to his resume, crossing the line in 1:44.22 to break his own mark of 1:44.41 set here last year in finishing second. Brazier holds both the indoor and outdoor U.S. records. Ajeé Wilson put on a show in the women’s 800 meters, biding her time through 600 meters when she surged to go ahead of Jamaica’s Natoya Goule to cross the line in 1:58.29, bettering the AR of 1:58.60 she set in 2019 to win the Millrose title. 

USATF CEO Max Siegel and USATF COO Renee Washington presented the World Athletics Heritage Plaque to the Armory to honor the NYRR Millrose Games’ Wanamaker Mile. 

In a showdown between the reigning Olympic and World champions in the men’s shot put, Rio gold medalist Ryan Crouser blasted the sixth-best throw in American indoor history, a 22.19m/72-9.75 in round five, that gave him an almost three-foot margin of victory over Doha winner Joe Kovacs, who threw 21.34m/70-0.25. 

Another world-leading performance came in the women’s pole vault, where Sandi Morris scaled 4.91m/16-1.25, a height only she and Jenn Suhr have ever bettered on the U.S. indoor all-time list. 

Keni Harrison, the world record holder in the women’s 100m hurdles, won the 60m version of her specialty in 7.90, with Daniel Robertstaking the men’s race in 7.64. Coming through 200m in 20.61, 400m hurdles World Championships silver medalist 

Rai Benjamin won the Jane & David Monti 300m in 32.35, making him the No. 8 all-time U.S. indoor performer. 2018 World Indoor bronze medalist Ronnie Baker won the men’s 60m in 6.54, and ‘18 USATF Indoor women’s 60m champ Javianne Olivertook the women’s dash in 7.13. 

World Championships fourth-placer Wadeline Jonathan powered away from the field in the Cheryl Toussaint women’s 400m to win by more than a second in 51.93, while Team USATF steeplechaser Allie Ostranderunleashed an unbeatable kick over the final 100m of the Mike Frankfurt women’s 3,000m to win in 8:48.94.

Nikki Hiltz plans to race for the podium at Fifth Avenue Mile

Nikki Hiltz will compete against a stacked field that includes Olympic medalist Jenny Simpson at the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile on Sept. 8.

Simpson will race for her record-extending eighth title in the event, which stretches 20 blocks down Manhattan’s most famous thoroughfare and is expected to draw nearly 8,000 runners across 24 heats. NBC will broadcast the professional races live at 9 a.m. PDT.

Hiltz, who recently won gold in the 1,500-meter race at the Pan American Games, has been America’s best road miler in 2019 with wins at the BAA Mile, adidas Boost Games Mile, and the USATF Road Mile Championships.

The race is expected to be her final tune-up before she competes in the 1,500 at the IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar, alongside Simpson and Shelby Houlihan.

Allie Ostrander, a three-time NCAA champion in the steeplechase who also qualified for her first World Championships this fall, will line up for her first road race as a pro athlete. Elinor Purrier, who also qualified for her first World Championships this year, in the 5 kilometers, will look to contend as well. Canadian Olympian Jessica O’Connell and 2019 10k national champion, Genevieve Lalonde, as well as Great Britain’s Jessica Judd, will lead the international contingent.

“Fast times don’t really give me confidence, but performances do,” she said. “I just want to race people. The Fifth Avenue Mile is an awesome race—I’m going to really go for it and it’ll be a really good springboard. It’s really what I need to be confident going into worlds.”

Jenny Simpson will race for her record-extending eighth title and Nick Willis will chase his record-breaking fifth men’s title at the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile

The New Balance 5th Ave Mile stretches 20 blocks down Manhattan’s most famous thoroughfare and is expected to draw nearly 8,000 runners across 24 heats. It includes specialty heats for youth and seniors, with the professional athlete races rounding out the day. In partnership with New York Road Runners and USA Track & Field, NBC will broadcast the professional athlete races live on NBC at 12:30 p.m. ET.

“The New Balance 5th Avenue Mile is such an iconic road race that allows people of all ages and abilities to participate in the event on one of the most famous streets in New York City,” said Michael Capiraso, president and CEO of New York Road Runners. “This year will be incredibly special, as we celebrate 20 years of NYRR’s free youth programs.”

In the professional women’s race, Jenny Simpson, who serves as an ambassador and special advisor to NYRR’s youth programs, owns the event-record time of 4:16.6 on Fifth Avenue, which she set when winning the race in 2017. She has earned three IAAF World Championships medals in the metric mile, beginning with a gold at the 2011 World Championships. She followed that with a silver in both 2013 and 2017. In 2016, she took bronze in the 1500 meters at the Rio Olympics, making her the first American woman in history to reach the podium in that event.

Simpson will be challenged in the professional women’s race by Nikki Hiltz, who just won gold over 1500 meters at the Pan American Games and has been America’s best road miler in 2019 with wins at the BAA Mile, Adidas Boost Games Mile, and the USATF Road Mile Championships. 

Allie Ostrander, a three-time NCAA champion in the steeplechase who qualified for her first World Championships this fall, will join them as she lines up for her first road race as a professional athlete. Elinor Purrier, who also qualified for her first World Championships this year, will look to contend as well. Canada’s 2019 national champion Genevieve Lalonde and Olympian Jessica O’Connell, and Great Britain’s Jessica Judd, will lead the international contingent.

Leading the professional men’s field will be nick Willis, a four-time New Balance 5th Avenue Mile champion and two-time Olympic medalist who finished second last year. Willis, who won the event in 2008, 2013, 2015, and 2017, is tied with Spain’s Isaac Viciosa for the most career victories in the men’s race.

Challenging him as he goes for a record-breaking fifth title will be Great Britain’s two-time New Balance 5th Avenue Mile runner-up Chris O’Hare and road 5K world record-holder Edward Cheserek, who is the most decorated athlete in NCAA history with 17 titles at the University of Oregon.

Also joining them at the start line will be Johnny Gregorek, who is fresh off a silver medal at the Pan American Games and the world’s fourth-fastest miler this year. 

Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha won the 5,000 easily at Payton Jordan invitational last night clocking 13:10 along with other top performances

The big names at the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford's Cobb Track and Field stadium in Palo Alto, Calif. all got wins last night. 

Clayton Murphy won the 1500 (3:37.59) comfortably, Jessica Hull won the 1500 (4:12.08).

 Allie Ostrander the steeple, Jenny Simpson got the win (15:21) over Rachel Schneider in the 5,000.

Yomif Kejelcha won the 5,000 easily (13:10 for him, 13:17 for 2nd) and Sifan Hassan’s 10,000m debut (31:18) was a success.

Ben True won the 10k (27:52) but no one got the Worlds standard.

New Balance professional Jenny Simpson won the women's 5,000 meters in her outdoor season opener in 15:21.12.

Simpson, who last ran an outdoor 5,000 in August of 2013 in Switzerland in a personal-best 14:56.26 after capturing the USATF title that year, was competing at Payton Jordan for the first time since winning the 1,500 in 2010 in 4:08.11.

Simpson ascended to No. 3 in the world this year in the 5,000, also achieving the IAAF World Championships standard.

Molly Huddle is set for her London Marathon debut

With her sights set on a return to London in a month, Elmira native Molly Huddle opened the outdoor track season with a runner-up finish in the 10,000 meters Friday night at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, California.

Huddle, 34, posted a time of 30 minutes, 58.46 seconds at Stanford's Cobb Track and Angell Field. Emily Sisson won in 30:49.59. Sisson's time was the sixth-fastest ever for an American woman, with only Huddle and Shalane Flanagan having run quicker times.

Huddle's time was good enough to top the standard of 31:25 for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, though she would still need to qualify for Tokyo at next year's U.S. Trials. Huddle set the still-standing American record in the 10,000 at the 2016 Rio Olympics with a sixth-place time of 30:13.17.

After the meet, Huddle credited Sisson with helping to push her to a sub 31-minute race.

The meet included both professional and college runners. Allie Ostrander of Boise State took third in 32:06 in the 10K invitational race behind Sisson and Huddle.

Huddle is tuning up to compete in the London Marathon on April 28. It will be the fourth career marathon for Huddle, who finished fourth at the New York City Marathon in November after placing third in her marathon debut there in 2016. She ran the Boston Marathon last year. Sisson, who is Huddle's training parter, will make her marathon debut at London