Sasha Wolff, founder of Still I Run, and I were connected through my friend, Lindsey Hein, of I'll Have Another. This episode comes out right before National Run for Mental Health Week and Still I Run's 10-year anniversary on October 10. During this episode, we talk about: [1:00] How much Still I Run has changed since Sasha was on Lindsey's podcast[3:00] Being hospitalized for depression and anxiety in 2011, and the conversation in a Best Buy parking lot that got her there[6:00] Building a "mental health toolkit," choosing running, and the first run home from the hospital [7:00] What a week inside a mental health hospital is actually like[10:00] Digging into the science behind running and mental health, and searching for a group that didn't exist[13:00] Finding out we both have daughters named Sloane (Ferris Bueller fans unite)[16:00] Her husband's promise to get her to run a marathon, the Dopey Challenge, and how Maya Angelou's "Still I Rise" became a tattoo and then Still I Run[17:00] Pitching local TV and turning "a girl and her Facebook group" into something bigger[18:00] Selling hand-stamped jewelry in church basements and donating every dollar back to the hospital that helped save her life[21:00] Being one of those "nerdy running couples" [22:00] Running through three pregnancies, and what going off her medication cold turkey taught her[25:00] Trying to run a race every month of her first pregnancy, and her daughter arriving early on race day[26:00] Meeting the first Still I Run member in person, the first World Mental Health Day 5K, and the Still I Run tattoo that told her this was really something[30:00] The Starting Line Scholarship (now Mental Health Runner), and why it has always been free[32:00] Why running is therapeutic, but it is not therapy[36:00] Becoming a New York City Marathon charity partner in 2022, and leaving the corporate world to go all in[39:00] Year 10: a new mission and brand, and why everybody has mental health[43:00] 380+ ambassadors, run chapters across the country, and the "pace protectors" who promise to be last in a group run[45:00] Cold emailing Women's Running, and keeping reminders of the good around you[47:00] The lululemon grant that put Still I Run alongside organizations from Chicago and Minneapolis[51:00] Running 30 races in 2016, the Dopey Challenge explained, and realizing running had swayed into addiction[57:00] Her Hyland's Boston Marathon team spot, the 2020 virtual Boston, and "the one that got away"[1:00:00] How charity applications for Boston and New York work, and why charity runners aren't being greedy[1:02:00] Bayshore, and running the New York City Marathon two days before her 40th birthday[1:03:00] My Alex's Lemonade Stand regret, and her advice for charity runners in their final weeks of training[1:05:00] Her fourth Hood to Coast, a 7:30 opening mile downhill, and the van magnets[1:12:00] National Run for Mental Health Week, the Strava challenge, Kara Goucher, and the World Mental Health Day 5K[1:17:00] "Forward is a pace" Previous Guests Mentioned Lindsey Hein - Episode 100 Other Links Subscribe to Finish Lines & Milestones weekly newsletterFollow me on Instagram @allytbrett_runsGet your ticket to our Monumental Weekend celebration event with Athletic Annex and Brooks Running - use code FLAMS for $10 offMonumental Shakeout Run on 11/6 - Free tickets Join the National Run for Mental Health Week Strava challenge - ~45K participants and counting!Get the full National Run for Mental Health Week experience - sign up for the email list for running and mental health research, stories, daily challenges and intentions, and each day's partner activationSasha on I'll Have Another with Lindsey Hein This is a SandyBoy Productions podcast.
