Amanda runs to stay halfway sane, and to spend time with her amazing friend and running partner, Alissa. Which means she runs a lot. Amanda has been running for nearly 30 years and has done all sorts of races with a primary goal to run until she is an old lady. When she is not running, she is leading the Institute for Religion, Politics & Culture at Iliff School of Theology, working her way toward a PhD, writing, and speaking, and parenting 3 teen/ young adults. Amanda ran her first marathon in 2001 and it was so horrible it took her 11 years to run another... and she hasn’t stopped since. Ten years ago, she was lucky enough to move into the house directly behind Alissa they quickly discovered that they were both runners, and even better, found that they ran a similar pace and had more in common than she ever could have imagined. Amanda & Alissa did their first ultra in the summer of 2019- the Bear Creek 50K, and just survived the Bear Creek 50 mile.
Alissa is a research faculty at the University of Denver and has dedicated her professional life to education. Personally, she is the mother of 2 and it was motherhood that propelled her into running about 18 years ago. She ran her first half marathon in 2013 and her first marathon in 2015. She has run 3 marathons, a 50K and most recently a 50-mile race. Alissa describes running as her coffee, her happy hour, her social time, her therapy, her time in the outdoors … and oh yeah… and exercise.
“Today well lived makes every yesterday a memory of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.” We had such a great time discussing friendship and trail running. This one will make you want to grab your bestie and hit the trails. Amanda & Alissa tell the story of their friendship and love of running. We discuss how beneficial having a good friend is during runs and races. These beautiful ladies have a wonderful bond that has been strengthened by lots of miles. Their support of each other will leave you inspired.
