This is a live recording from Sunday, April 20 at the Boston Marathon Expo. Once again, WRS host Cherie Turner teamed up with Julie Sapper and Lisa Levin from the Run Farther and Faster podcast to co-host an excellent panel.

This year's panel was titled Mental Strategies for Mastering the Marathon, and it featured exceptional masters marathoners Stephanie Bruce, Erica Stanley-Dottin, and Dot McMahon.

These women shared wisdom and experience on strategies for developing mental strength and resilience, mental approaches to the marathon, how to build confidence when you have self-doubt, and so much more!

This is an episode to listen to again and again; it's so packed with helpful advice and useful takeaways.

Stephanie Bruce, 41, has been racing professionally for over 15 years. Among her many racing accomplishments, she's placed 6th at the Chicago Marathon, and 10th at the London and NYC marathons. Bruce has also earned 3 national titles on the road, one in the half-marathon and twice in the 10k. Additionally, Bruce placed 6th at the Olympic Marathon Trials in 2020. Bruce started a new chapter in her running career this year, signing on with Tracksmith. She now runs for them professionally and will be helping to mentor younger runners going after big goals.

Erica Stanley-Dottin, 51, came to marathoning later in life, at age 35. In her early 40s, she began to train seriously and joined the Black Roses racing team. She then learned about The List: an accounting of all the American-born Black women who have broken 3 hours in the marathon. As she continued to get faster at the marathon, this became her goal. Erica met that goal with room to spare at the 2022 Berlin Marathon where she ran 2:52, at 48 years old. That came just six months after running 3:01 at Boston. This year, Stanley-Dottin ran the Boston Marathon as a member of Team Bevans, in honor of marathon pioneer Marilyn Bevans.

Dot McMahan, 48, has been running marathons for 19 years and she’s run for the Hanson Brooks Original Distance Project team for 20. Among Dot’s many accomplishments over her long running career, she’s qualified for and run 5 Olympic trials marathons, and she has placed in the top 10 at two of them. Last year, she was the oldest woman to compete in the marathon trials, and she qualified for last year's trials by running 2:35 at the 2023 Grandma’s Marathon. Dot is also a running coach. She works with private athletes and as an assistant track coach for Oakland University.

How to Keep Up with Stephanie Bruce

Instagram: @stephrothstein

How to Keep Up with Erica Stanley-Dottin

Instagram: @estanleydott

How to Keep Up with Dot McMahon

Instagram: @dotmcmahon

Ways to Connect with Run Farther and Faster

Instagram: @runfartherandfaster

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RunFartherFaster

Twitter: @RunFartherfast

Website: https://www.runfartherandfaster.com/

Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories

Instagram: @womensrunningstories

Website: womensrunningstories.com

Women's Running Stories is a member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/

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