19. Emma Wilson on Having Fun with Running

01/08/21 • 27 min

After transferring from the University of Illinois, sophomore Emma Wilson now runs for Huntington University and is taking the collegiate running world by storm. During the craziness of the 2020 COVID-19 affected fall season, she ran a 20:18.7 6k (a PR of 1 minute), a 16:24 5k, and a NAIA national record time of 32:38.56 in her debut 10k (1 second off of the Olympic Trials standard!). Hear from Emma on how she overcame burnout and a stress fracture to make huge strides this season.

Emma’s roster: https://www.huathletics.com/roster/19/13/4880

Emma’s roster: https://www.huathletics.com/roster/19/13/4880

Previous Episode

18. Juniper Eastwood as the First and Only Out Transgender NCAA D1 Runner

This episode was recorded at the end of May and I just didn’t get to it out until now. The conversation around gender in sport feels particularly relevant after the recent Caster Semenya ruling which you can read or listen more about here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/sports/olympics/caster-semenya-court-ruling.html and https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/case-caster-why-principle-trumped-bad-evidence-her/id1461719225?i=1000491007047and sign the petition (I was trying to find tangible ways to support Semenya) here: http://chng.it/KRQCkDJmys

In this episode, Juniper discusses:

How she got her start as a runner
Feeling like she couldn’t be “both a transgendered person in a small rural town and also an athlete”
Running as her entire identity, being “distant,” and living a dual-reality
Parental pressure
College decisions, aspirations, scholarship considerations, and trying to build the Montana dynasty
Battling an injury and having the identity of running taken away leading to mental health challenges and the ultimate need to develop an identity outside of running
Coming out to teammates and coaches
Taking a year off of competing for hormone treatment
Pressure and hype around return to competition
Media, journalists, and who she let tell her story
Backlash and opposition to progress
Proudest moments and memories at Montana, COVID-19 ending her collegiate career early
A sneak peak at June’s future pursuits in trail running and environmental philosophy

For more on Juniper’s story check out this video: https://www.spokesman.com/video/2019/sep/27/junes-run-transgender-montana-athlete-driven-succe/and this Dyestat article: https://www.runnerspace.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531&do=news&news_id=584586

Next Episode

20. Wildwood Girls Camp Reflection with Counselors Marci, Emily, and Miranda

Content preparation: we discuss relationships with food, body, and eating disorders throughout this episode.

Thank you to guests and fellow Wildwood Girls Virtual Camp counselors Miranda DiBiasio, Emily Chaston, and Marci Klimek for making this conversation happen. Thank you to Marie Markham and Robyn McGilis for creating Wildwood Running, such a wonderful platform and opportunity for runners to collaborate, learn, and grow the current and future generations of females in the sport. Check them out at wildwoodrunning.com and wildwoodrunningpdx on instagram!!

In this conversation we cover....

Background and introductions
Our “why” for running and the evolution of our “why”
Our “why” for joining camp
What knowledge we left our trail group with, what our trail group taught us
What challenged us in our preconceived beliefs, current practices, and with facilitating a group
How the topics covered at camp have showed up in our experiences
Our transition from high school to college running
The evolution of our relationship to food and our bodies
Where we want to take the work of wildwood from here
Finally, how everyone’s process to success in running and life looks different!

Links to other resources discussed in this conversation: