"{Houston} was a really great season opener and showed me again that I could fuel like I even fuel in the half marathon now, it's I'm able to take fuel. It's, and sustain my training and feel healthy and finishing strong in my races," shares Molly Bookmyer.

Bookmyer is an elite distance runner based in Columbus OH. She walked onto the Ohio State XC/Track and FIeld teams, but left the sport before graduating because of some frustrating injuries and health issues. She wasn’t getting regular periods, which actually led to her healthcare team discovering a small brain tumor.

After some time away from the sport she got back into distance running and eventually qualified for both the 2020 and 2024 Marathon Olympic Trials. While her marathon and half-marathon times have improved over the years—she ran a PR and won the 2024 Twin Cities Marathon in 2:28, and ran a half-marathon PR at the 2025 Houston Marathon with a 1:09—she has also navigated some intense challenges with gut health and fueling. 

We recorded this right before she traveled to DC where she ran the Cherry Blossom 10-miler, which she finished in 52:42, 8th overall female and 7th american. As she shared on Instagram, she “Ran over a minute PR in the 10 mile race and snagged a 10k PR of 32:11 in the process”.  Next up is London, so we’ll be virtually cheering for her in a few weeks!

This episode covers a lot! We discuss: 

• Her 14th place finish at the Half marathon championships in March 2025

• Why she’s planning to do more races this year

• How she walked onto the XC/TF team at Ohio State in college, her experience as a collegiate athlete, and why she quit after a few years

• How she found out she had a small brain tumor,which may have been related to her experience with amenorrhea 

• Why and how she got back into high level/elite running, which only a few years later landed her in 3rd place at the 2019 US 25K Championship

• How her fueling has evolved, especially after two stress fractures in/around 2020, and then a very unpleasant experience during the 2022 Houston Marathon

• Her gluten-free fueling strategies and what's working well for her now

• Her water bottle secret for elites

• And her post-race journaling prompts! 

Follow Molly on Instagram to cheer her on, @MollyBookie. 

Follow Lane 9 @Lane9Project. 

Connect with a women's health and sport clinician to get support with YOUR fueling, mental health, and/or period health by going to Lane9Project.org/directory.