This week on Is It Just Us?, Remin and Ashley are joined by freelance journalist, runner, and certified running coach Emilia Benton for a conversation that goes everywhere a good long-run chat should.
Emilia takes us from her early days dreaming of working in magazines (including internships at Glamour and CosmoGirl!) to building a career covering health, fitness, and running for publications like Runner’s World. We talk about how journalism has changed in the age of influencers, why there’s still a place for long-form storytelling, and what it’s actually like working inside the running industry while also being part of the community.
Then, obviously, we talk running.
Emilia shares the very chaotic strategy behind her first New York City Marathon, the long road to her Boston qualifier, how working with Nell Rojas changed her approach to training, and why she believes she still has faster marathons ahead of her.
Plus: New York vs. Chicago vs. Boston, Denver vs. Houston running culture, “runflation,” why trail running might just be glorified hiking, running marathons without headphones, the rise of the runfluencer, paywalls, super shoes, injuries, pacing, and whether Remin may have actually been a hamster in a past life.
Basically: running, media, friendship, questionable opinions, and exactly the kind of tangents you’d expect from us.
Is it just us? Probably not.