"I saw the tie between, you know, delaying recovery, restricting food and ending up with a bone injury in my foot. And it was part of why I took six years off." 

Mary Denholm was a dual-sport athlete in college, competing in ski racing and cross country, track and field. After her first (and so far only) bone injury in college and struggling with restricting food intake, she took a long break from the sport. It ended up being six years off, while she went through law school and started her law career. "I can count on one hand the number of times I went for a run in those six years," she shared. 

She has navigated a lot of change since getting back to the sport, times of very high stress, big moves, career transitions and more. But running has been a constant for her, since 2015. She shares her story within this sport, which includes qualifying for both the 2020 and 2024 Olylmpic Trials Marathons. Last year (2024), she finally got into trail running, and it's gone pretty well, to say the least! She signed her first professional running contracts at the end of last year, and at age 38, feels like many of her best races are ahead of her. 

We talk about: 

• her experiences as a college athlete, and what happened when someone told her she'd be "faster" if she was "lighter" 
• how she's become in tune with her body to try to minimize injury risk, even with the timing sucks 
• changing your mid, leaving a career and other life transitions
• why she's been intersted in trail running, but held off until 2024
• her year on the run in 2024
• the reason she had some menstrual cycle disruptions a few years ago
• how she stays on top of her health now
• how she recovered from her trail races, including Leadville 100 (which she won!) and JFK 50-miler (2nd place)
• and what she's training for in 2025

Mary is a coach for Lift Run Perform. Follow her on Instagram @eatrunandbemary

Follow Lane 9 Project: @Lane9Project on Instagram and BlueSky. Subscribe to our newsletter at Lane9project.substack.com.

And head to Lane9project.org/Directory to find a clinician or coach that specializes in women's health and sport, and wants to support you!