We are so thrilled to introduce Alexandra (Ali) Niles, a masters runner who will be toeing the line in the Professional Women's Field at the 2024 Boston Marathon. Ali, a former competitive college gymnast who is now a gymnastics coach, started running in her 20's after college. Ali quickly fell in love with running and hired coach Tom Fleming, a legendary runner who won the 1973 and 1975 NYC Marathon and placed second in the 1973 and 1974 Boston Marathon. Tom helped Ali break three hours and set a goal to qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials. Sadly, in 2017, Tom died of a heart attack. Devastated, Ali continued chasing the OTQ and in 2018, with the encouragement of her friend, Sika Henry, Ali achieved her goal at the One City Marathon and ran the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials. This year, Ali will be running in the Boston Marathon Professional Field for the first time (her third Boston Marathon) and couldn't be more excited to run in the field as a masters runner. We loved hearing Ali's story and look forward to seeing her crush Boston on Marathon Monday.

Gina Rouse, a 44 year-old mom of three in Knoxville, just ran her lifetime marathon PR at CIM 2023 in a time of 2:37:10! Gina's next race will be the 2024 Boston Marathon--her fifth--where she will be running once again in the professional field. Gina started running in middle school and became a Tennessee state high school champ. She then ran for the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga where she became a Southern Conference runner of the year. Gina's path was not without struggle. She overcame an eating disorder and multiple injuries on her path to greatness. After a ten-year hiatus after college, Gina returned to competitive running after becoming a mom and quickly set a goal to qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials, which she achieved in 2020. When Gina is not running or parenting with her husband and coach, Matt, she is coaching and motivating others in her Knoxville community. We absolutely loved meeting Gina, who is such a force, and we have no doubt that she will crush Boston in April. Gina can be found on Instagram at @rouse.gina. We are so appreciative to Gina for joining us on the show. Can you do us a favor and leave us a review? This helps us grow! Thank you! Oh, and you can find us on Instagram and Facebook @runfartherandfaster. Looking for coaching? Email us at [email protected] to set up a coaching call. Thanks for listening!