Episode Details

Like the episode? Let us know with a quick text!

Cherinna Coulter was the girl who hid in the locker room during P.E. to get out of running the mile.

Nobody in her family ran, and running was nowhere in her history.

Walking her baby son down the dirt road past her parents' house in the mountains of Washington, she told her mom that one day she'd run to the end of that road without stopping, and when a doctor suggested she get outside for thirty minutes a day, she took it as her chance to start running.

She talks about mapping routes by car and hanging them on the fridge, a first half marathon run under wildfire smoke with her daughter Brooke running her into the finish, the hydration vest she was sure was made for a kid, and the library copy of Dean Karnazes' Ultramarathon Man that sent her into the ultra world.

A comment on a Facebook post grew into a friendship with Ryan and his daughter Kala - Team Steiner - and Ryan became her friend and trainer: through her first 25K on the Hiawatha Trail and its long, dark, freezing tunnel, a 22-mile loop along the Columbia River that told her she could run a 50K, her first 50K at the Cascade Super Ultra, and 400 miles in ten and a half weeks in Ornery Mule Racing's winter challenge.

Then came 2022, the year that almost broke her - including her best friend's breast cancer diagnosis and her dad's prostate cancer diagnosis - and she stopped running.

A move across the country to Alabama helped her find her smile again, and with Coach Loretta she went from basically couch to the Hennepin 50-miler in under ten months, with Brenda beside her the entire race.

On the way home, she finally met Ryan and Kala in person; two days later Kala passed away, and now Kala runs with her, laminated and pinned to her bib, at every Ainsley's Angels race.

She shares how Ainsley's Angels and Bras Across the CAUSEway became her community on the Gulf Coast ("I'm a show-upper and a doer"), why she deferred a 100K to run the Publix Battleship 12K with her Ainsley's Angels team, the nutrition shakes, mashed potatoes and homemade gels that fuel her long runs, the fifteen-hour playlist a friend made for her 50-miler, and the Diadoras she has run in since 2021 without a single foot issue.

Her advice to new runners: start slow, give your body time to adjust, get a coach if you can, and it's okay to walk. Her mantra: "Slow and steady holds the pace." And her last word: find a cause and get involved.


Cherinna Coulter - https://www.facebook.com/cherinna.coulter


Races Mentioned
Hiawatha Trail Run
Cascade Super Ultra
Freeze Your Ass Off (Ornery Mule Racing)
Hennepin 50-miler
Bras Across the CAUSEway 5K
Publix Battleship 12K
Ballin' on Bellrose


Shout Outs
Coach Fox
Ryan and Kala (Team Steiner)
Coach Loretta Tobolske-Horn
Ornery Mule Racing
Dana
Michele Hartwig
Brenda
Dawn
Shirley
Ainsley's Angels
Bras Across the CAUSEway
Kathy Smith
Courtney
Jody
Manci's Run Club
Janine and Jessica (Pinnacle Cardiovascular)
Jen
Renee
Dean Karnazes
Scott Jurek
Pam Reed
Asher's Medical Closet
The Dirt Podcast
Fleet Feet
Bethany Madson
Skye Guy

Support the show

For more details on Run Your Story happenings, visit https://runyourstory.com/

For web development, app development, or tech services, visit https://gaillardts.com/

Go Run Your Story and take a piece of this story with you! Follow us on Facebook and