“If you really in your bones know you can meet some goal? Don’t quit until you do it.” Ashley Desanno grew up playing soccer, took a break from sports during college (partying > fitness), and then, with encouragement from her now-husband, decided to go for a run one day. One run turned into two, which turned into registering for her first race. Now, she’s a 2:58 marathoner who is best known online as @lotsamiles. (Surely you’ve seen her wildly popular, LOL-worthy, likely-to-go-viral videos, like the one where her son gave his class an oh-so-honest recap of her most recent race.) In this con ..read more

“That’s the only reason I still do this today, and I’m able to reach new heights in my performance — it’s because of the people that I’m around.” We heard from Emma Bates here on the Ali on the Run Show right after she ran that 2:22:10 personal best and finished fifth at this year’s Boston Marathon. Now, just a few weeks later, she’s back and she’s live! This episode was recorded in front of a live, 170-person, Disney Channel Original Movie-loving audience at the City Opera House in Traverse City, MI, during the Bayshore Marathon weekend. We caught up, got some life (and dating) updates, and p ..read more

“I am not interested in hurting today. I am not interested in suffering. I am not interested in working that hard. I just wanted to run and smile and see friends and wave to people. As soon as it started feeling hard, I said I needed to slow down. and I have no shame in that. We enjoyed the run, and that was all I wanted.” Welcome to Ask Ali! These episodes come to the podcast once a month, sometimes with a guest host, sometimes responding to listener voicemails, and sometimes just flying solo. That’s what today is: a solo-sode (is that a thing? can it be?) answering questions about running th ..read more

“You know in your head who you are. You just have to be brave enough to listen.” When Julia Brownell was little, she had a dream and a plan: to be a writer. She played sports, she loved to run, and she loved writing scripts and stories in her free time. And turns out, dreams come true. Today, Julia is a 3:16 marathoner, a mom of two, and a writer, producer, and playwright in Hollywood. She has been a writer and producer on shows including This Is Us, Parenthood, Smash, and more. (See? Living the dream!) In this conversation, Julia explains how a TV show is made, breaks down her favorite parts ..read more

“You just have to survive.” Welcome to the return of the Motherhood Mondays series! Once a month, I’ll be joined by a fellow mom — including professional runners, everyday runners, experts, and more — to speak candidly about motherhood and all that it entails. Today, I’m joined by Veronica Graziano, a 2:41 marathoner (she ran the Olympic Marathon Trials in 2020, and recapped that experience here and here) and twin mom. Her daughters, Kennedy and Quinn, turn two next week. In this conversation, Veronica talks about what the past two years have been like, including her road to motherhood, a ..read more

“There was a lot of anticipation for this race, and I hope it lived up to everyone’s standards!” Josette Norris is on a hot streak on the track! The On-sponsored Jersey girl (who now lives in Boulder, CO) just won the 5000m race at On Track Fest (and ran a personal best of 14:43), and won the 1500m race at Penn Relays the weekend prior. In this conversation, Josette talks about what life is like as an On Athletics Club athlete, where she is coached by Dathan Ritzenhein. (Listen to Josette’s previous appearance on the Ali on the Run Show — with now-husband and fellow pro Robby Andrews — here ..read more

“I don’t regret anything. I did my best, all the way until the end. I did what I could on the day.” You heard the live show with Shalane Flanagan. You got the full race recap with Keira D’Amato. Now, I’m wrapping up all things Eugene Marathon 2023 by answering listener questions about my training, my race experience, and what’s next. SPONSOR: Tracksmith: New customers, use code ALINEW for $15 off your first Tracksmith order over $75. Returning customers, use code ALIGIVE for free shipping, plus a portion of the proceeds from your order will be donated to Moms Demand Action ..read more

“It took a lot of work, realizing that the running community is made up of so many different people, so many different paces, so many different body types. And just accepting that — accepting that you don’t have to run a certain pace or look a certain way to be considered a runner… I finally accepted that truth.“ Molly Hernandez grew up in Texas with big dreams of being a Disney Channel star. Running? A big “no thank you.” Fast-forward to today, and Molly is a 10-time marathoner, two-time ultramarathoner, freelance copywriter, and content creator living in Austin, TX. She’s best known on ..read more

“I am so accustomed to thinking about what could go wrong, and how do I prepare for that? Which I don’t think is bad… But very rarely do I let myself be open to the possibility of something great or something magical, or a perfect day. And I tried — start to finish. I kept that in my mind: Be open to the possibility of a perfect day.” Last weekend, I ran the Eugene Marathon. It was my seventh marathon. My first marathon in seven years. And my first marathon since becoming a mom. I finished in 3:41:10 — a 10-minute personal best. And in this conversation — guest hosted by Keira D’Amato — I ..read more

“I would describe this past year as ‘drinking from a fire hose.'” It was the day before the Eugene Marathon, and the goal was to get everyone in the audience feeling less “baaaaah!” and more “aaaaaah.” Enter: Olympic silver medalist, 2017 New York City Marathon champion, assistant coach for the Bowerman Track Club and University of Oregon cross country team, and best-selling cookbook author Shalane Flanagan. We talked marathons, we talked motherhood, and we got a quote-worthy pep talk to close it all out. Thank you to the Eugene Marathon for having us, and thank you to the hundreds of people w ..read more