Run Your Story Podcast

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Cherinna Coulter was the girl who hid in the locker room during P.E. to get out of running the mile.

Nobody in her family ran, and running was nowhere in her history.

Walking her baby son down the dirt road past her parents' house in the mountains of Washington, she told her mom that one day she'd run to the end of that road without stopping, and when a doctor suggested she get outside for thirty minutes a day, she took it as her chance to start running.

She talks about mapping routes by car and hanging them on the fridge, a first half marathon run under wildfire smoke with her daughter Brooke running her into the finish, the hydration vest she was sure was made for a kid, and the library copy of Dean Karnazes' Ultramarathon Man that sent her into the ultra world.

A comment on a Facebook post grew into a friendship with Ryan and his daughter Kala - Team Steiner - and Ryan became her friend and trainer: through her first 25K on the Hiawatha Trail and its long, dark, freezing tunnel, a 22-mile loop along the Columbia River that told her she could run a 50K, her first 50K at the Cascade Super Ultra, and 400 miles in ten and a half weeks in Ornery Mule Racing's winter challenge.

Then came 2022, the year that almost broke her - including her best friend's breast cancer diagnosis and her dad's prostate cancer diagnosis - and she stopped running.

A move across the country to Alabama helped her find her smile again, and with Coach Loretta she went from basically couch to the Hennepin 50-miler in under ten months, with Brenda beside her the entire race.

On the way home, she finally met Ryan and Kala in person; two days later Kala passed away, and now Kala runs with her, laminated and pinned to her bib, at every Ainsley's Angels race.

She shares how Ainsley's Angels and Bras Across the CAUSEway became her community on the Gulf Coast ("I'm a show-upper and a doer"), why she deferred a 100K to run the Publix Battleship 12K with her Ainsley's Angels team, the nutrition shakes, mashed potatoes and homemade gels that fuel her long runs, the fifteen-hour playlist a friend made for her 50-miler, and the Diadoras she has run in since 2021 without a single foot issue.

Her advice to new runners: start slow, give your body time to adjust, get a coach if you can, and it's okay to walk. Her mantra: "Slow and steady holds the pace." And her last word: find a cause and get involved.


Cherinna Coulter - https://www.facebook.com/cherinna.coulter


Races Mentioned
Hiawatha Trail Run
Cascade Super Ultra
Freeze Your Ass Off (Ornery Mule Racing)
Hennepin 50-miler
Bras Across the CAUSEway 5K
Publix Battleship 12K
Ballin' on Bellrose


Shout Outs
Coach Fox
Ryan and Kala (Team Steiner)
Coach Loretta Tobolske-Horn
Ornery Mule Racing
Dana
Michele Hartwig
Brenda
Dawn
Shirley
Ainsley's Angels
Bras Across the CAUSEway
Kathy Smith
Courtney
Jody
Manci's Run Club
Janine and Jessica (Pinnacle Cardiovascular)
Jen
Renee
Dean Karnazes
Scott Jurek
Pam Reed
Asher's Medical Closet
The Dirt Podcast
Fleet Feet
Bethany Madson
Skye Guy

Support the show

For more details on Run Your Story happenings, visit https://runyourstory.com/

For web development, app development, or tech services, visit https://gaillardts.com/

Go Run Your Story and take a piece of this story with you! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news on upcoming episodes. Support us on Patreon!
Can't wait to hear Your Run Story!!

Thank you to all of our Patreon supporters!
Kristen Rather
Mary Trufant
Suzanne Crist
Suzanne Clark
Dave McDonald
Karla McInnis
James Contratto
Jordan DuBose
Keith & Cristy Evans
Sharonda Shula
Meredith Nations
Allyson Lamey
Chris Strayhorn
Karen Saldivar
Stefan Clayton
Rachael McRae
Scott Thornhill
Skye Guy
Andrew Williams
Kellie Landrum

Download our new app on Apple or Android!!!

Like the episode? Let us know with a quick text!

David Whitehead grew up a sprinter in South Georgia - the 400, the 200 and the 100 - and thought he'd been a runner all his life until he started running 5Ks, 10Ks and half marathons.

Out running in Huntsville, he kept seeing people running by themselves or in small groups, so he started a run club to bring them together: Rocket City Runners, a free, all-inclusive club that just turned two, where people who come out as walkers keep coming back and turn into runners.

He talks about why long distance is a sport of its own ("it's really you versus you"), why consistency, rehab and the small muscles in your ankles and feet matter, the six-mile block party that is the Peachtree 10K, a first half marathon run in circles in a parking garage during a severe weather watch, the prayer he says before every race, his Jazz Bounce playlist, beet juice and gel gummies, his goal of catching his coach Doc in medals, and his favorite running memory - a popsicle, a Jell-O shot, a tequila shot and a banana in his hands at the Peachtree, a photographer, and a mid-race hamburger he wisely passed on.

His advice to new runners: the hardest part is showing up, so keep showing up. His mantra, for the days he doesn't feel like it: "Me versus me."

And his last word: show up for yourself first.

David Whitehead - https://www.facebook.com/david.whitehead.674419


Races Mentioned
Rocket City Marathon
Peachtree Road Race 10K
The 10-miler in Atlanta
Publix Georgia 5K
Bridge Street Half Marathon
Race to Space - Huntsville
Hot Chocolate 10K


Shout Outs
Rocket City Runners
Doc

Support the show

For more details on Run Your Story happenings, visit https://runyourstory.com/

For web development, app development, or tech services, visit https://gaillardts.com/

Go Run Your Story and take a piece of this story with you! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news on upcoming episodes. Support us on Patreon!
Can't wait to hear Your Run Story!!

Thank you to all of our Patreon supporters!
Kristen Rather
Mary Trufant
Suzanne Crist
Suzanne Clark
Dave McDonald
Karla McInnis
James Contratto
Jordan DuBose
Keith & Cristy Evans
Sharonda Shula
Meredith Nations
Allyson Lamey
Chris Strayhorn
Karen Saldivar
Stefan Clayton
Rachael McRae
Scott Thornhill
Skye Guy
Andrew Williams
Kellie Landrum

Download our new app on Apple or Android!!!

Like the episode? Let us know with a quick text!

Silvia Garcia had nine half marathons, a stretch of obstacle racing and CrossFit five days a week behind her when she decided 2020 would be the year she ran a full marathon.

Disney ended in a heat advisory and a DNF at mile 22, and that spring, at 31, just as COVID was shutting everything down, she was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer.

Sixteen rounds of chemo with no visitors allowed, a mastectomy with complications, three months on a walker, and a full hysterectomy after learning she carries the BRCA1 gene - and through all of it one thought kept her going: "You can't die. You have a marathon to finish."

She talks about relearning to move one lap of the kitchen and one driveway at a time, gaining 70 pounds and jumping into an untrained half with her sister, finally finishing the inaugural Every Woman's Marathon in Savannah in 7:45, Project Athena's 26.2-mile hike in San Diego, why grief and gratitude can coexist, her mom's "Why not me?", and her work helping people without insurance get screened.

She's about to be six years cancer-free. Her reminders: thank your legs, choose the harder option, and movement looks different for everybody.


Silvia Garcia - https://www.instagram.com/s_ilviums/


Races Mentioned
Disney Marathon
Publix Half Marathon
Every Woman's Marathon
Project Athena San Diego Marathon Hike
Bras Across the Causeway 5K
San Diego Marathon
World Majors Marathon

Shout Outs
Project Athena
East Georgia Cancer Coalition

Support the show

For more details on Run Your Story happenings, visit https://runyourstory.com/

For web development, app development, or tech services, visit https://gaillardts.com/

Go Run Your Story and take a piece of this story with you! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news on upcoming episodes. Support us on Patreon!
Can't wait to hear Your Run Story!!

Thank you to all of our Patreon supporters!
Kristen Rather
Mary Trufant
Suzanne Crist
Suzanne Clark
Dave McDonald
Karla McInnis
James Contratto
Jordan DuBose
Keith & Cristy Evans
Sharonda Shula
Meredith Nations
Allyson Lamey
Chris Strayhorn
Karen Saldivar
Stefan Clayton
Rachael McRae
Scott Thornhill
Skye Guy
Andrew Williams
Kellie Landrum

Download our new app on Apple or Android!!!

Like the episode? Let us know with a quick text!

Kaitlyn Collier only started running two years ago because of true crime podcasts.

Mid-episode of one, she realized that if she ever actually had to run for her life, she couldn't, so she set a goal of one mile on the gym treadmill and is now deep in Run the Date: running the date in miles every single day of the year (October 5th = 10.05 miles), no misses, ranked around fifth globally among everyone doing it.

Along the way: the lessons running taught her about discipline and a healthier relationship with food, the chicken-alfredo "carb loading" disaster at her first field race, the storm-soaked first marathon she wants vengeance on, and the Louisiana Half Marathon weekend where she PR'd and crossed the finish line into an engagement.

She talks Q50 trail races, run clubs as the cheat code for starting out, negotiating with herself through hard miles — "what's the lowest standard that I'll accept for today that's not quitting?" — and why nobody ages out of running.

Her words to live by: anything is better than nothing.


Kaitlyn Collier - https://www.facebook.com/kaitlyn.collier


Races Mentioned
Q50 Races Sand on the Trails 5K
Q50 Races Extravaganza
The Nun Run
Zydeco Marathon
Louisiana Marathon

Shout Outs
Hunter
Le Shin Run Club
Scott Thornhill
Andy Glaze

Support the show

For more details on Run Your Story happenings, visit https://runyourstory.com/

For web development, app development, or tech services, visit https://gaillardts.com/

Go Run Your Story and take a piece of this story with you! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news on upcoming episodes. Support us on Patreon!
Can't wait to hear Your Run Story!!

Thank you to all of our Patreon supporters!
Kristen Rather
Mary Trufant
Suzanne Crist
Suzanne Clark
Dave McDonald
Karla McInnis
James Contratto
Jordan DuBose
Keith & Cristy Evans
Sharonda Shula
Meredith Nations
Allyson Lamey
Chris Strayhorn
Karen Saldivar
Stefan Clayton
Rachael McRae
Scott Thornhill
Skye Guy
Andrew Williams
Kellie Landrum

Download our new app on Apple or Android!!!

Like the episode? Let us know with a quick text!

Something different this time: no guest chair, nineteen voices.

On September 26th, Ainsley's Angels of South Alabama rolled across its first start line at the Miles for Heroes 5K in Daphne, hosted by I Got Your 6 Gulf Coast — and this episode hands the microphone to the people who made it happen.

You'll hear from the runners who pushed, the parents whose kids rode, and the riders themselves — including a four-year-old coach named Ryann.

Allison tells the whole story of a podcast interview that planted the idea, a mentor chapter in New Orleans, a January launch, a community that bought eight chariots and then showed up early on race morning asking to be put to work.

It's about inclusion without limits, being somebody's legs, and four little words that echo through the whole hour: we get to do this.

Find a chapter near you (or start one): ainsleysangels.org
Learn about I Got Your Six Gulf Coast and Miles for Heroes — mental health support for veterans and first responders.


Speakers
Cara Lewis — rider's mom, on what inclusion really means
Jessica Godfrey — runner and volunteer, "this is what inclusion is supposed to look like"
Emily Rogers — runner, on a race that isn't about your PR
Allie Eslava — runner, "what if one day that's me"
Skye Guy — runner, carrying on her grandmother DeDe's village
Sarah Beth Hollingsworth — the runner who brought Ainsley's to her run club
Veronica Steele — pushed four-year-old Ryann with her mom Sidney; "we get to do this"
Ryann Dougherty — angel rider, age four, "like you're flying"
JC — runner
Stuart Bolen — runner, on setting your own PRs aside
Janet Bolen — pushed Team Julian, "for those minutes we're a team"
Leah Long — the other half of Team Julian's legs
Julian's mom (Team Julian) — a parent's gratitude
Bethany Madson — runner, "your legs can carry more than just you"
Ruby & Poppy Madson — young runners who helped other kids feel the finish line
Cherinna Coulter — Team Asher, "inclusion without limits"
Peyton Gaillard — Team Asher, Disney music on the uphills
Grey Gaillard — chariot crew, on watching a dream materialize
Allison Gaillard — host; founder of the Ainsley's Angels South Alabama chapter


Races Mentioned
Miles for Heroes 5K
Joe Cain 5K
Bras Across the Causeway


Shout Outs
I Got Your Six Gulf Coast — Mark, Jackie, and the whole board, for hosting the debut and saying "come back every year"
Bubbles (aka Jackson) — the Ainsley's rider whose "anybody can do this" started it all
Ainsley's Angels of New Orleans — the mentor chapter
The chariot donors: Candy at Magnolia Soap Company (the first Freedom Chair), the Joe Cain 5K runners, Bras Across the Causeway, Rhonda from Mississippi, Mr. John at Manci's, the bingo-night crew at the waterfront, and Allison's in-laws
Manci's Run Club, Fairhope Run Club, and Fleet Feet Pensacola — the running family that showed up
Jessica (who ran the tent), Janet, Stuart, Grey, and Peyton (chariot crew)
Team Julian, Asher, Ryann, Hilary, Dustin, Liam — and Tiffany with the girl squad
Scott, Stephen, and Dave — the big dreamers behind the podcast
The Patreon family, and every runner, rider, volunteer, and cheerer at Miles for Heroes

Support the show

For more details on Run Your Story happenings, visit https://runyourstory.com/

For web development, app development, or tech services, visit https://gaillardts.com/

Go Run Your Story and take a piece of this story with you! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news on upcoming episodes. Support us on Patreon!
Can't wait to hear Your Run Story!!

Thank you to all of our Patreon supporters!
Kristen Rather
Mary Trufant
Suzanne Crist
Suzanne Clark
Dave McDonald
Karla McInnis
James Contratto
Jordan DuBose
Keith & Cristy Evans
Sharonda Shula
Meredith Nations
Allyson Lamey
Chris Strayhorn
Karen Saldivar
Stefan Clayton
Rachael McRae
Scott Thornhill
Skye Guy
Andrew Williams
Kellie Landrum

Download our new app on Apple or Android!!!

Like the episode? Let us know with a quick text!

Our first panel episode, recorded race week for the Miles for Heroes 5K in Daphne, Alabama (Saturday, September 26, 2026).

The race benefits IGY6 Gulf Coast - "I Got Your Six," from the old aviation call for the spot right behind you - a group of veterans and first responders who step in for anyone in a mental health crisis.

Around the table: founder Bill Menefee, 21 years in the infantry and a Bradley Master Gunner who later served as a school resource officer and on the Baldwin County Drug Task Force, and who started the race after losing a fellow soldier to suicide; IGY6 president Ross Sykes, a veteran; Daphne Police Chief Brian Gulsby, whose department used last year's proceeds to send three officers to a 40-hour crisis negotiator course; race director Mark Kirstein; and Sarah Beth, a physical therapist assistant who will push an Ainsley's Angels chariot this year in the local chapter's debut.

Finishers get a challenge coin instead of a medal; the goal is 200 to 250 runners and $20,000, and the message is the one on the back of the coin: ask, listen, and stand by.


Speakers: Sarah Beth, Ross Sykes, Brian Gulsby, Bill Menefee, and Mark Kirstein 
https://www.igy6-gulfcoast.org/home


Races Mentioned
Ruck the Bay
Miles for Heroes 5K

Shout Outs
Steve
JD
Ainsley's Angels
Mr. John

Support the show

For more details on Run Your Story happenings, visit https://runyourstory.com/

For web development, app development, or tech services, visit https://gaillardts.com/

Go Run Your Story and take a piece of this story with you! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news on upcoming episodes. Support us on Patreon!
Can't wait to hear Your Run Story!!

Thank you to all of our Patreon supporters!
Kristen Rather
Mary Trufant
Suzanne Crist
Suzanne Clark
Dave McDonald
Karla McInnis
James Contratto
Jordan DuBose
Keith & Cristy Evans
Sharonda Shula
Meredith Nations
Allyson Lamey
Chris Strayhorn
Karen Saldivar
Stefan Clayton
Rachael McRae
Scott Thornhill
Skye Guy
Andrew Williams
Kellie Landrum

Download our new app on Apple or Android!!!

Like the episode? Let us know with a quick text!

Lenise Ligon is a Gulf Coast TV news anchor and a certified yoga instructor who swears she used to hate running.

A trainer tricked her onto the pavement about two years after she moved to the Gulf Coast, signed her up for a 5K in Daphne to keep her honest, and she was hooked - she has stuck to halves, fulls, and the occasional 15K ever since.

A Detroit native, she ran the Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon at 19 weeks pregnant (that's where her daughter got the name Phoenix), ran until she was 36 weeks along, once qualified for Boston, and still does her long runs on the treadmill so she can zone out safely.

Running, for her, is mental health: no headphones, a single water bottle, a slice of wood-fired cheese pizza at the finish, and a gratitude journal every night.


Lenise Ligon - https://www.facebook.com/LeniseLigon


Races Mentioned
Crime Prevention 5k
Seeds 5K
La Jolla Half Marathon
Double Bridge Run
Detroit Marathon
Denver Marathon
Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon
Crescent City Classic
Turkey Trot
Oak Mountain trail race
Alabama-to-Georgia ultra
Disney Marathon
Tunnel to Tunnel Run
Battleship 12K
Boston Marathon


Shout Outs
Phoenix
Steven Plankas
Matt Barrentine

Support the show

For more details on Run Your Story happenings, visit https://runyourstory.com/

For web development, app development, or tech services, visit https://gaillardts.com/

Go Run Your Story and take a piece of this story with you! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news on upcoming episodes. Support us on Patreon!
Can't wait to hear Your Run Story!!

Thank you to all of our Patreon supporters!
Kristen Rather
Mary Trufant
Suzanne Crist
Suzanne Clark
Dave McDonald
Karla McInnis
James Contratto
Jordan DuBose
Keith & Cristy Evans
Sharonda Shula
Meredith Nations
Allyson Lamey
Chris Strayhorn
Karen Saldivar
Stefan Clayton
Rachael McRae
Scott Thornhill
Skye Guy
Andrew Williams
Kellie Landrum

Download our new app on Apple or Android!!!

Like the episode? Let us know with a quick text!

Matt Bilotti is retired U.S. Coast Guard. His running started in 2003–2004 with a "Boot Camp" gym class at the WVU football stadium (Law School Hill sprints and 120-some stadium steps) to get ready for Coast Guard boot camp.

Today he is a vocational trainer for a personal fitness training program with the Federal Bureau of Prisons (Department of Justice).

He teaches the ISSA Certified Personal Trainer course — 10 to 12 weeks, about 120 hours, two classes a day — to incarcerated men, who leave with a certification ISSA backs with a job guarantee. His students call him "Coach B."


Matt Billotti - https://www.facebook.com/matt.billotti


Races Mentioned
Coast Guard Marathon
Canaan Valley Half Marathon
Pittsburgh Half Marathon
Olympic-distance triathlon
Moonlight at the Falls
JFK 50
New York City Marathon
Turkey Trot

Shout Outs
Dave McDonald

Support the show

For more details on Run Your Story happenings, visit https://runyourstory.com/

For web development, app development, or tech services, visit https://gaillardts.com/

Go Run Your Story and take a piece of this story with you! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news on upcoming episodes. Support us on Patreon!
Can't wait to hear Your Run Story!!

Thank you to all of our Patreon supporters!
Kristen Rather
Mary Trufant
Suzanne Crist
Suzanne Clark
Dave McDonald
Karla McInnis
James Contratto
Jordan DuBose
Keith & Cristy Evans
Sharonda Shula
Meredith Nations
Allyson Lamey
Chris Strayhorn
Karen Saldivar
Stefan Clayton
Rachael McRae
Scott Thornhill
Skye Guy
Andrew Williams
Kellie Landrum

Download our new app on Apple or Android!!!

Like the episode? Let us know with a quick text!

Sheila Scott — author of "Miles of Motherhood" — joins Allison to talk about a running life that started with a grade-school one-mile fun run outside Rochester, New York, and never really stopped: cross-country coaches who preached "look at the foliage" and taught visualization before it was cool, stepping away from the sport and finding her way back, and raising two runners of her own (both now at Alabama — Roll Tide).

She relives the mud that ate her shoe at a high-school race, the 2019 Marine Corps Marathon downpour, BQ hunting in Richmond, and why the race memories that stick are the people, not the times.

Plus: the packing grid, race-morning jitters that never go away, cushy shoes, a Mountain Dew confession, negotiating with herself through hot Florida miles, and why she is saying yes to everything — including 29029 Everesting and, one day, Athens.


Sheila Scott - https://www.facebook.com/sheila.scott.9041083
Author of "Miles of Motherhood"
https://us.amazon.com/Miles-Motherhood-Sheila-Scott/dp/B0G6JFMPPB


Races Mentioned
Boston Marathon
Richmond Marathon
Marine Corps Marathon
New York City Marathon
Chicago Marathon
London Marathon
Tuscaloosa Half Marathon
Mother's Day 5K at Chestnut Park
Huntsville Marathon
Athens Marathon
29029 Everesting

Shout Outs
Catherine
Wagner's

Support the show

For more details on Run Your Story happenings, visit https://runyourstory.com/

For web development, app development, or tech services, visit https://gaillardts.com/

Go Run Your Story and take a piece of this story with you! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news on upcoming episodes. Support us on Patreon!
Can't wait to hear Your Run Story!!

Thank you to all of our Patreon supporters!
Kristen Rather
Mary Trufant
Suzanne Crist
Suzanne Clark
Dave McDonald
Karla McInnis
James Contratto
Jordan DuBose
Keith & Cristy Evans
Sharonda Shula
Meredith Nations
Allyson Lamey
Chris Strayhorn
Karen Saldivar
Stefan Clayton
Rachael McRae
Scott Thornhill
Skye Guy
Andrew Williams
Kellie Landrum

Download our new app on Apple or Android!!!

Like the episode? Let us know with a quick text!

Host Alison Gilliard interviews Josh Sprague, founder of Orange Mud (started January 2012) and Seven Clay. Josh explains building Orange Mud’s hydration packs and the transition wrap/seat cover as “innovation from frustration,” recounts his background in endurance sports and adventure racing, and emphasizes training less to avoid overtraining, family-first balance, warming up slowly, and breaking big efforts into small, measurable goals while staying positive and caring for feet and gut.

He describes racing a 12-hour adventure race with his 14-year-old son, shares nutrition strategies using Infinite Nutrition custom mixes, favors audiobooks over music, and details launching Seven Clay after poor local embroidery service, growing it into a larger customization business.


Josh Sprague - https://www.facebook.com/josh.sprague.96
Orange Mud - https://www.orangemud.com/


Races Mentioned
Rock N Roll Marathon Phoenix
Leadman Series
Jailbreak
Cannonball 550

Shout Outs
Aunt Sherry
Marvin
Mike
Jack

Support the show

For more details on Run Your Story happenings, visit https://runyourstory.com/

For web development, app development, or tech services, visit https://gaillardts.com/

Go Run Your Story and take a piece of this story with you! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news on upcoming episodes. Support us on Patreon!
Can't wait to hear Your Run Story!!

Thank you to all of our Patreon supporters!
Kristen Rather
Mary Trufant
Suzanne Crist
Suzanne Clark
Dave McDonald
Karla McInnis
James Contratto
Jordan DuBose
Keith & Cristy Evans
Sharonda Shula
Meredith Nations
Allyson Lamey
Chris Strayhorn
Karen Saldivar
Stefan Clayton
Rachael McRae
Scott Thornhill
Skye Guy
Andrew Williams
Kellie Landrum

Download our new app on Apple or Android!!!