ERIN AZAR IS CROUCHED OVER THE starting line, feet firm against the blocks, fingertips grazing the track, muscles trembling. Next to her is Aleia Hobbs, who was part of the team that took silver in the 4x100meter relay at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and who recently set the North American indoor record for the 60-meter. Erin turns her head slightly to look at Hobbs as she springs to action, then says, "Oh, my god. I think I'm going to face-plant."
Erin is not a professional athlete. And she's not competing against Hobbs. Clad in a royal blue hoodie and orange shorts over black tights, her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail away from her signature oversized glasses, she's filming a video for her popular TikTok channel, where she goes by the handle @mrs.space.cadet. It's part of an ongoing series where she attempts all the events of a heptathlon; in a previous installment, she jumps hurdles with Olympic silver medalist Trey Cunningham while exclaiming, "Oh, my crotch!"
Despite three marathons under her belt, multiple brand endorsements, and an actual position with USA Track & Field (where her title is Official Hype Woman), Erin is the first to admit that she's out of her league here. "But," she says, "I just did a campaign for Nike, which is so surreal." It is surreal that a 39-year-old mom of three from a tiny Pennsylvania town so remote that the internet service goes out during a thunderstorm, a woman with no special athletic prowess, who doesn't even know her own personal best on a mile, has netted a deal with a world-renowned sports megabrand and regularly gets recognized by elites at races.
This story is from the Issue 04, 2023 (Fall) edition of Runner's World US.
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This story is from the Issue 04, 2023 (Fall) edition of Runner's World US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
TO RUN 26.2 IS TO FEEL ALIVE
THE SUN IS rising from the east, and the waves of the Pacific crash below to the west.
LEAVE IT UP TO A PIECE OF PAPER TO TEACH YOU TO RUN EASY
BEFORE I FELL for running, I thought the hardest thing about the sport was the fast stuff: the speedwork, the sprints, and the intervals.
WHY-AND HOW-YOU SHOULD RUN DOUBLES
Those are just a few of the titles entered into my training log for the second run of a day.
FIND YOUR RUNNING COMMUNITY, ONLINE OR IN PERSON
I SIGNED UP for my first marathon while sobbing in the back of a rideshare, on my way to the airport to fly to my uncle's funeral.
FUEL WITH WHAT YOU WANT TO EAT
AS AN ULTRARUNNER, I'm all too familiar with the saying that long-distance running is an \"eating contest with a running component.\"
AT THE FERTILITY CLINIC, MY PAST CAUGHT UP WITH ME
I SAT IN the fertility doctor's office white walls, bare wooden desk, opaque window-alone.
THIS IS NOT AN ESCAPE STORY
AT 15, DARLENE STUBBS WALKED AWAY FROM A POLYGAMOUS CULT-THEN DISCOVERED A NEW LIFE AND COMMUNITY THROUGH RUNNING.
RUNNING WITH HANK
How my daughter's rambunctious mutt saved my sanity while she was lost to the darkness.
WHEN I FOUND OUT I HAD MS.I THOUGHT I'D NEVER RUN AGAIN.
I checked the pins on my bib, shimmied my spandex shorts into place, and teed up the stopwatch on my wrist.
A RUNNER'S GUIDE to sleep
Nike rocked the running world in 2018 when it released the Vaporfly 4%, claiming that the shoe could boost a runner's efficiency by that amount.
