🦃 Hello! Welcome back to Footprint: one Black Friday email not designed to make you buy something.
It’s Thanksgiving weekend in the US, and today many Americans are recovering — from a big dinner, fiercely competitive friendly and casual turkey trot, or Great Uncle Alfred’s decision to bring up politics over pumpkin pie.
Thank you, as always, for reading.
EDITION #32
Honolulu Marathon CEO Jim Barahal… runner Jen Curtis… pro marathoner Keira D’Amato… 1000 Mile Club coach Diana Fitzpatrick… Lee Glandorf, writer of The Sweat Lookbook… Olympic medalist Deena Kastor… pro marathoner Erika Kemp… Sarah Lavender Smith, writer of Mountain Running & Living… and coach Steve Mura on what they’re feeling grateful for in running, and beyond, this year.
🏁 RACES
Eight teenagers ran last Saturday’s Philadelphia Half Marathon as they try to clear their criminal records, Nate File reports in the Philadelphia Inquirer. They were taking part in MileUp, a local juvenile diversion program • Read
😮💨 TRAINING
Hope has special relevance for runners, philosopher Sabrina Little writes for iRunFar. It works best in conjunction with other virtues, like perseverance, faith, patience, and resilience, she explains — and matters because running is invariably hard • Read
🪫 RECOVERY
Six days after the New York City Marathon, Theo Kahler of Runners World felt like a baby deer, learning how to walk, on his first run back. He didn’t mind that it felt terrible. Feeling good on a run is a privilege, he writes, not a guarantee • Read
🤖 TECH
Trying out Fitbit’s new AI Health Coach for Wired, Adrienne So got faster — but also found herself appreciating humanity. Other people might feel differently, she writes, but there’s still value in getting real-time feedback from real people • Read
🌮 AND...
Forget turkey trots: Raz Rauf reports in Running Sucks on a huge taco trot in Washington DC this weekend. Over 1,000 people are signed up to run 50km around the city — eating Taco Bell nine times along the way • Read
FORUM
Giving Thanks
Thanksgiving is still a novel concept for me. Where I’m from, if you can imagine, giant balloons aren’t inflated and marched through the country’s largest city on the fourth Thursday of November.
The day came and went, as it does for most people outside the US, without a vast feast or fun run. Turkey barely got a look in before Christmas.
But since moving to the US in 2021, I’ve come to appreciate this holiday. Taking a beat once a year to consider what you’re feeling thankful for is an idea that’s bigger — and possibly even better — than a 41-foot effigy of Baby Yoda, filled with helium and paraded through Manhattan.
In that spirit, Footprint reached out to some friends across the running world to ask what they’re thankful for this year.
Steve Mura, a coach at New York Road Runners, kicked us off with a common thread. “Community,” he said, “so I don’t have to do this running thing alone.”
Fresh from Philadelphia, where she ran her 26th marathon last weekend, Jen Curtis is particularly grateful to the ultra community, which welcomed her “with open arms” this year as she took on The Speed Project, and ran from Santa Monica Pier to the Las Vegas strip.
Curtis will be “forever grateful” to her crew for TSP, she added. “Brand support may come and go,” she said, “but the bonds you make while running in the desert at night last a lifetime.”
Inside San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in California, Diana Fitzpatrick leads the 1000 Mile Club with her husband, Tim, and Jim Maloney. “I continue to be grateful for all that running has done for me,” she said, “and to be able to continue to spread that to other people — particularly the men inside San Quentin — a community that is so often overlooked and forgotten.”
The 1000 Mile Club celebrated its twentieth anniversary last week, a day after its latest annual marathon in the yard. There were 38 finishers of this year’s race.
“I’m feeling grateful for a lot of little things,” said Lee Glandorf, the writer and marketer behind The Sweat Lookbook newsletter. “Our jogging stroller, weekend runs with my husband and son, egg sandwiches when we finish… But a big thing I am grateful for this year has been the collaborative spirit within the running community.
“I’m building something new, entirely on my own initiative, and I have been so appreciative of the support and generosity from others in the space. I hope to pass those good vibes on – it’s such a joy to support great ideas and passionate people!”
Keira D’Amato, the pro marathoner currently gearing up for next month’s Valencia Marathon, has literally written the book on gratitude, hope and positivity. “This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for all the usual stuff (family, friends, health),” she said, “but I’d like to also extend a heartfelt thank you to moisture wicking running socks, race volunteers that keep us hydrated, every mile I run under the sun, and my kids for having a sense of humor sharp enough to roast me on the daily.”
Trail runner Sarah Lavender Smith, who writes the Mountain Running & Living newsletter, is grateful for clean air and blue sky. “I’m no longer taking that for granted — since bad air from wildfires in the West restricts our running and creates so much devastation,” she said, calling out Jared Campbell, founder of the Running Up For Air series of ultra mountain races, which are designed to help fund and raise awareness of the fight for cleaner air.
“I’m grateful for Courtney Dauwalter,” added Lavender Smith, “who continues to be an exemplary role model with her down-to-earth personality and willingness to risk failure; this year at UTMB, she showed us how to stay positive and persevere on the struggle bus, and then she showed us the fun and excitement of stepping outside her specialty to race a road marathon.”
Erika Kemp, who represented Team USA in the marathon at September’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, said: “I’ve felt grateful for all of the opportunities running [has] created this year! Every race was a new challenge and I got to travel to new places with purpose and have fun.”
Honolulu Marathon Association CEO Jim Barahal is gearing up for next month’s race in Hawaii, with some 40,000 runners registered to take part. “I am grateful how many people have discovered the joy of running and completing a marathon,” he said. “It has changed so many lives for the better and I’m so glad to see the sport enduring for new generations.”
“I am grateful that on her own terms my daughter (age 14) has recently found the joy and benefits of running,” said Olympic medalist Deena Kastor. “I am grateful for my new red shoes. I am thankful for turkey trots to begin a day dedicated to being grateful.
“I am grateful for Taylor Swift’s new album to sing along to while cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I’m thankful for the anticipation of decorating for the holidays… but not before Thanksgiving.”
ONE LAST THING…
Katie Douglas is trying to do things differently. Running Wylder, her boutique San Francisco running store, takes the middle name of her son, Dougie. She knows who she is, Lee Glandorf wrote in the The Sweat Lookbook this week, and what she likes.
“I think that’s what draws people to the store,” Douglas told Glandorf, who has produced a short film about Running Wydler with Currently Running Apparel. “It’s very authentic. People show up to Sunday runs, and Dougie comes running through the door. It feels personable. A lot of running stores now — the more ‘third-wave’ ones — feel sterile.”
This sport can sometimes feel dominated by big brands, labels and names. But specialty stores, many of them independent, help build and support genuine running communities across the world.
Chances are, today’s edition of Footprint landed in your inbox alongside several dozen emails from major retailers offering huge Black Friday discounts and deals.
Small Business Saturday is tomorrow in the US, and next weekend in the UK. If you find yourself thinking about a running gift (for yourself, or someone else) over the holidays, consider heading over to your local speciality store. You may well find more than you’re looking for.