From Losing Her Arm at 14 to Six Years of Success in the NCAA: Ashley Jones on Grief, Faith, Victim Mentality, and What Running Gave Her Back

Ashley Jones competed for six years in Division I distance running with one arm—and she insists that was never the point. If all running taught her was how to go faster in a race, she missed everything.

Fresh off a trip marking ten years since the ATV accident that took her right arm at 14 (three months after losing her father), Ashley joins Dominic to discuss her farewell to college running. 

Across three programs in six years–from High Point's humble grind; to Tennessee's private jets; to a homecoming at Colorado–-she lived what she calls three different lives. She walks us through each chapter: the mistakes and identity-building at High Point; the leap of faith and breakout performances at Tennessee; and a final injury-riddled Colorado season she nearly walked away from over the winter before deciding to finish the race.

Along the way she gets candid about the parts of her story most people never ask about: why she has never covered her arm or worn a prosthetic; what it costs to share the most vulnerable thing about yourself with strangers; why she stopped training on Sundays in one of the most competitive environments in sport; and why victim mentality, in her words, robs people of life and opportunity. 

She challenges an NCAA team culture fading toward semi-pro. She tells rising freshmen to build community fast and advocate for themselves. And she hints at what comes next: writing, speaking, an email list, and saying yes to crazy adventures—because running was the vessel, never the destination.

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