Strong Epic Life, Cleveland, OH (2026)

04/17/2026

I have a very special "proud coach" moment to share today.

Years ago, when I was just lace-up-and-learn beginner back in Ohio, I spent my time looking up to Crystal Shinosky. She was the runner I watched from afar—the woman who inspired me to keep pushing and showed me what was possible in the world of trail running.

Fast forward to today, and I am beyond honored to say that Crystal has officially joined my roster. Having someone you’ve admired for years ask you to guide their training is a humbling, full-circle moment that I don't take for granted.

This past weekend crystal ran the Forget the PR 50k in Mohican, Ohio and beyond being proud of what a great race she ran, I love the happiness and crazy hair at the finish line 🙂

"Sometimes your inspirations become your teammates."

Please join me in congratulating Crystal on an incredible 50K finish! We’re just getting started. 🚀

04/17/2026

I am so excited to share a special highlight from one of my newest athletes, Anne. We just started working together a month ago so I can’t take credit for getting her to the finish line, but I’m still really proud of her and she ran a really smart race!

Anne headed to D.C. to take on the iconic Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, but what made this race truly speacial wasn’t just the blossoms—it was her racing partner. Anne ran with her daughter and if you’ve ever had the experience of running a race with one of your kids you know that it fills your heart beyond words!

"The miles go by faster when you're sharing them with the people you love."

Please join me in congratulating Anne on a beautiful race and a memory that will surely last a lifetime. I can’t wait to see what we accomplish next in her training! 🏃‍♀️💨

03/17/2026

This is a long overdue post.
This is Lauren.
I met Lauren almost 2 years ago when she moved here from Florida. My husband had invited her to our run group when she posted in a local group that she was looking for people to run with here. I was out of town the first time she ran with our group, but my husband told me I was going to love her- she’s an absolute gem. That was probably the understatement of the decade. Lauren had a heart of gold and a smile that reaches all the way into your soul on your darkest day and makes you smile. She has a love of running like few other people I have ever met. A few months after she moved here she fell on a trail and got injured while she was training for her first 100k. While she was recovering she reached out and asked if I would coach her. I was beyond grateful to have her as an athlete- the positivity and joy that she brings to our team is priceless❤️ Within a year she went from being injured to recovering, running her first 50 miler and completing her first 100 at Run Lovit in Arkansas— 16,000’ of gain and enough rocks to fill a quarry- not an easy first 🙂
Her finish was the most endearing finishes I’ve ever seen. She came across the finish line and looked at everyone and her eyes welled up with tears and she told us all that it was the hardest thing she’d ever done- she had everyone in tears and then that beautiful smile beamed with joy. We love you Lauren. You are humility, sportsmanship, faith, commitment, joy and every other amazing descriptive I can think of. Congratulations on that buckle and I can’t wait see what you do next!

01/22/2026

This is Brad. We set out to run Fierce Dragon 100 together this past weekend. He came to me last year to coach him for Georgia Death Race this spring and being somewhat of an overachiever, when I told my GDR team that I wanted them running the 40 miler at Fierce Dragon- he took it a step further and signed up for the 100- one of the toughest races in the south with 30,000’ of elevation gain. He was a little nervous as he’d never run a mountain 100 so I told him I’d sign up and run it with him. This race is notorious for bad conditions- cold, rain, snow, high winds- and it definitely delivered. The race started Friday morning and we were able to stay on pace with our race plan until the rain hit Friday night and quickly turned to snow as the temps dropped. I developed a cough from the cold air and 50mph winds and by mile 55 around 4:00am saturday my lungs said No more and I sent Brad off to finish without me. Not only did he finish- he finished in first place! I am so proud of this man and I am so honored to have had the opportunity to spend 55 miles in the mountains in his company. His grit and determination are out of this world. Thank you Brad for the inspiration and congratulations on a fantastic performance! GDR will be a walk in the park after this ;)

01/07/2026

Join me in congratulating Jacob Cossairt on setting a huge PR at Just Survive 125 this past weekend.
Jacob first attempted Just Survive in 2024 and struggled with an injury that slowed him down ultimately cutting his race short. He returned in 2025 and finished, but the challenges of work and life had made training tough and we both knew with more consistent training and better nutrition he could finish stronger. This year his training leading up to the race was consistent- he put in so much work. His commitment paid off and he shaved 6 hours off his previous finish time!
I am so proud of you Jacob!!

12/09/2025

Some amazing things were accomplished over the weekend- 17 of my athletes raced and everyone finished!
Vicky Sullivan, Lauren Starr and Heather Oaks ran the 50 miler at Blood Rock- it was Lauren’s first 50 miler and Heather finished 3rd female overall!
Richard Hisrich ran the 55k at Blood Rock; Denny Chatel, Christine Vance, Rachel Swain and Moiez Karim ran the 50 miler at Cloudland Canyon- it was Moiez’s first 50 miler; Mary Hicks ran the 25k at CC; Tracy Riepl ran the Last 25 of 25; Mike Haviland ran a 42 miler and Jessica Whitaker ran a 50k at Smalltown Xmas; Kelly Morgan Scott ran a 10k; Rob Smith ran 3 legs of a Ragnar; Judith Bradley Dobbs ran the Pine Mtn 20 miler; Tracy Gretick ran the Ugly Sweater 5k and Kim Spradley ran the Frosty 5k—- great job everyone!!!!
I haven’t gotten pictures from everyone yet, but here’s a few 🙂

12/04/2025

I’m a little behind on this, I went on vacation last week and I’m just now getting caught up 🙂
I want to congratulate all of the Strong Epic Life athletes who raced the last couple weekends!
Kelly Stoner Baker, Chip Wells, Judith Bradley Dobbs, Melissa Gabriel, Mary Hicks, Paulla McClellan, Jason Finch and Sarah Skipper all finished the Wild Florida 50k— Sarah finished 8th female out of 85 at her first 50k!!
Em Beau finished a 50k and Gale Conner got 23 miles at Seven Trails Endurance Run;
Shari Cui finished the Looking Glass 100k; Robert Rios and Christine Vance finished the Mental Health Ultra 50k; Alyssa Reiser Prince finished the Charlotte Marathon; Kelli Stewart got 38 miles at Tortuga Endurance Run; Tracy Gretick finished the Girls on the Run 5k; and Kathy Yinger got 92 miles at Seven Trails!!
The weekend before Thanksgiving Matthew Wall, Cody Dolloff and Brad Sappe finished the Duncan Ridge Trail 50k; Christine Vance, Moiez Karim and Lauren Starr finished the Duncan Ridge Trail 30k; Tracy Gretick finish the Fall Classic 1/2 Marathon; and Courtney Barker ran the Oak Mountain Death by 5k!
I am so proud of all of you!! 💪🏻❤️

11/14/2025

I’m always talking about the expectations I have of my athletes to see things through even when they’re not getting the race they hoped for. If there’s time on the clock and they’re not injured, I expect them to keep going. Sabrina takes toughness to the next level…last year I posted pictures of her chin high in a water crossing at a race, so it should come as no surprise that she has grit and she’ll tough it put theough anoht anything. At Mamba 100 she struggled to eat or drink from mile 30 to 72. At 72 she decided to take a nap and went to her car. After an hour she didn’t feel any better so she shut off the alarm and went back to sleep. She woke up 5 hours later and grabbed her bib to go turn it in. She got to the timing table and saw there were still 8 hours left in the race to get 28 miles done and went back to her car and shoved her swollen feet back into her shoes and went back out there. She finished with 12 minutes left in the clock, the last person to cross the finish line- but likely the one who had done the hardest mental work to get it done. What a victory Sabrina- I’m so proud of you! Congratulations on a hard earned finish!!

11/14/2025

Congratulations to Kelly Scott on finishing the New York City Marathon!! Kelly is a great example of balancing life and training- she juggles owning a business and family obligations (and goats and dogs…) and always manages to get her training done! I’m so proud of you Kelly and so excited to be on this running journey with you!

11/13/2025

Buckle #1 for Jessica Myers-Adams!
I am so proud of this lady for all of the hard work she has put in to get here💪🏻 After attempting Tunnel Hill 100 two years ago we shifted gears a little and she did some shorter faster races and this year she was ready to give the 100 mile distance another shot. Jessica followed her training plan with total dedication and showed up on race day completely prepared. It can be hard to stick to a race plan- the most common mistake in ultrarunning is going out too fast, but Jessica diligently stuck to the pace plan I gave her, went out slow and was able to run strong in later miles and ended up picking up her pace in the 2nd half and finishing in 28:18— almost 2 hours ahead of the goal time we had set!
Congratulations Jessica!!

11/06/2025

Huge congratulations to Heather Oaks on her Pinhoti 100 finish this past weekend! 🥳
This finish was a redemption run of sorts for her. She finished it last year as her first 100 miler, but a broken toe just days before Rebecca Mtn 50 miler meant she had to go back to the beloved Pinhoti Trail and repeat the whole series this year- including the 100- to get the jacket.

Heather came into Pinhoti with a solid race plan, and everything was going great... until it wasn’t. She got to me at mile 62 battling severe stomach issues that threatened to derail her entire race.
She was 3 hours ahead of cut so we made the decision to take a break and get some rest and hope her stomach would calm down. After an hour of rest she tried to eat again with no luck keeping anything down so we filled her bottles with coke and I stuffed some food into her pockets and she headed off into in the night hoping for the best.
By the time I met her again at mile 78 to pace her she was getting calories in and was ready to run. Things never really got great or even marginally good for her again, but never once did she talk about giving up. I paced her for 17 miles and then my husband Rich took over for the homestretch. Heather’s determination is simply admirable. My athletes know I expect a level of toughness, but this woman takes it to the next level.
We are so incredibly proud of Heather for sticking with it, fighting through the tough times, and finally getting that jacket! Congratulations Heather!

11/05/2025

I am so proud of Drina who just crushed a 50K in Kansas with an awesome finish time of 8:52!
This achievement is remarkable on its own, but what makes it even more amazing is that just one year ago, Drina was non-weightbearing due to an injury. To go from recovery to conquering an ultra at the age of 77 is the definition of resilience and pure grit!
Drina is a true inspiration to all of us. She embodies the spirit of our team by consistently showing up- every morning, she's there, working out online with our team of athletes; she maintains her flexibility and mobility with yoga; she fuels her body with a plant-based diet— she is committed to her wellness every day in every aspect of her life.
Beyond her running and fitness accomplishments, Drina brings unparalleled positivity and support to every single person on our team. She reminds us daily that with commitment, consistency, and a great attitude, anything is possible.
Join me in giving Drina a huge congratulations! 🎉

Photo credit: Mile 90 Photography

Strong Epic Life

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