BONUS!: My friend AMANDA MARTIN just ran a 2:34 MARATHON!

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Today's BONUS EPISODE features not an amazing mother runner but an amazing HUMAN, my dear friend: Amanda Martin. 

Amanda just crushed the Eugene Marathon with an astounding time of 2:34:20, marking an 8-minute personal record. This impressive feat makes her the third fastest woman in the history of the Eugene Marathon and the seventh fastest American woman on an unaided course in 2026.

Despite not being a mom, Amanda's story is one that needs to be heard and I know it will inspire you. 

Her success didn’t come easily; it was the result of an 8-year journey filled with significant life changes, moves, family losses, injuries, self-doubt, and marathon challenges. Even just a week before the race, Amanda and I were discussing her goal of achieving the Olympic Trials marathon qualifying time, and possibly pivoting to the half-marathon qualifying time as the final 10k of the marathon had always eluded her. 

But not anymore. 

In this episode, we dive deep into Amanda’s inspiring story: 

🌀exploring her incredible negative split during the race, where she closed strong with 5:30 mile splits and still had more to give;

🌀we discuss the mental shifts, training adjustments, and nutritional choices that fueled her success;

🌀and what fuels her unwavering determination to pursue her Olympic Trials dreams, despite facing heartbreak and setbacks.

I am so excited to share Amanda's remarkable story. 

RESOURCES:

Instagram: @Amanda.e.martin & her coach @jdcunningham97 / @cunninghamrunning

Nonmio

NeverSecond

Whitney Heins is a mom of 2, a lifelong runner, a VDOT-certified running coach for moms who run, and founder of the resource, themotherrunners.com. When training for her first marathon as a mom, she found a dearth of information related to running and motherhood. She also felt extremely isolated as a new mom. As a former TV journalist and a freelance writer she decided to use her skills to fill the void with an online resource and community, called The Mother Runners. Whitney also recognized a need for run coaches who understood the demands of motherhood, so she also became a running coach—unearthing a passion for helping moms reap the rewards and empowerment of running. Coming out of a long injury cycle, she ran a 2:54 marathon and 1:20 half marathon in her 40s. She lives in Knoxville, TN with her husband, two kids, and three dogs.

• www.themotherrunners.com
• Instagram: @themotherrunners
• YouTube: The Mother Runners
• whitney@themotherrunners.com