by Tracy Wynant


Eleven months, eleven races, eleven medals. In December 2014, I only had one more to complete my one-race-a-month resolution.

Of course, I couldn’t make the last race an easy 5K. Heck, just calling a 5K “easy” shows how far I’ve come this year. Because of personal hardships, 2014 started out looking like quite possibly the worst year of my life. But then it wasn’t. Amazing friends and family and running, and even this last race changed everything. It may not have been pretty, or perfect, but 2014 was full of bling!    

Running was very, very, good to me in 2014. Although I was 150 miles short of my 1000-mile goal for the year, training in a new city offered many new routes to discover; and races, like the St. Jude Memphis Half Marathon, were incredibly rewarding experiences.  

As we start a new year, it is common practice to set some resolutions, or what we at Chafing the Dream like to call RUNolutions. I don’t want to lose the good momentum I have from last year, so I am setting some running goals for 2015:

by Erin Croley

My Chicago Marathon journey began with the dream of a Boston qualifying personal record, and ended with me crossing the finish line one hour over my last marathon time (not even close to Boston, or anything I’d like to acknowledge publicly). 

In between these extremes, I was injured, slowly rehabbing, vacationing, working, supporting the marathon training of my husband, falling way short on my training goals, experiencing small positive steps forward and mini-victories that gave me hope for my health and Chicago, and then eventually, and very publicly, claiming that I absolutely was not going to complete the Chicago Marathon. 

by Trisha Brennan


It’s been six week since the Go! KT82 trail run from Creve Coeur Park to Hermann, Missouri.  To break it down by numbers: 6 runners, 82 miles, 1 stinky minivan, 2 cases of water, 3 outfit changes, 12 hours 39 minutes and 10 seconds, $500 raised for NF, and 1 Man in the Yellow Shorts. 

by Erin Croley

Last Monday, I watched Meb Keflezighi’s last three miles of the 2014 Boston Marathon on the edge of an ottoman in front of the television in my St. Louis home while my kids ate breakfast in the next room. 

As Wilson Chebet fought to close the gap between himself and Meb, I absolutely refused to imagine any alternative to Meb’s victory. I cheered as loudly as if I was there in person, shouting encouragements with tears (where did they come from?) spilling over at the same time. 

Before that morning, I hadn’t really thought about the elites running the race. I thought about the memorial events and gestures, the crowd, the average Joe runners like me crossing the finish line after being stopped short last year, and the victims from the April 15, 2013 bombings finding hope and strength in running or cheering on the runners this year. 

by Erin Croley

As my running friend was racing in his first marathon Sunday,  I was checking his Facebook page for updates. At the midway point, a friend posted a picture. He looked relaxed and ready for the next 13.1.

I was reminded of a picture my husband took of me at the 16 mile mark of my first marathon. He posted it on Facebook and a mutual runner friend commented that I looked really good for mile 16, which was true. I felt amazing! It was mile 20 that had me walking and crying. The race was the 2011 Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco. Mile 20 is near the beginning of the trek around Lake Merced. The hills behind us, this flat section leading back to the ocean front final miles should have been a breeze, but as many former NWM runners had warned online, Lake Merced tests a runner’s resolve. I didn’t believe it going in.