We loved speaking with author and sportswriter, Johanna Garton, whose most recent book, All in Stride: A Journey in Running, Courage and the Search for the American Dream,” was published on Tuesday, April 2. We met Johanna at the Boston Marathon and were thrilled to invite her to talk about her new book on our show.

The book is about professional runner, Elvin Kibet, and her husband, Shadrack Kipchirchir and their journeys from a village in Kenya to collegiate athletes to world class American athletes, their love story, and their experiences as distance runners for the World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) for the U.S. Army. Fun fact—Shadrack paced Kipchoge to his sub 2 marathon in 2019. Through a series of interviews with Kibet, Kipchirchir, and their coaches, Garton weaves the story of the many obstacles, including racism, sexism, and disordered eating, that both athletes overcame to reach success their running careers, their challenging but happy childhoods in Kenya. Both decided, in spite of their challenges, that they wanted to serve in the U.S. Army because they were so grateful for the opportunities they were able to seize in the U.S. through running and wanted to serve their country.

In her book, Garton also shares the story of WCAP athlete and 2020 U.S. Olympian Samantha Schultz. Schultz struggled with eating disorder recovery, which ultimately led to her retirement from competing in modern pentathlon. . Witnessing Schultz’s eating disorder struggles was a culture shock for Kibet, having never seen or heard of anyone experiencing this growing up in Kenya, and it influenced her decision to study public health and research how to better address such issues. Kibet and Kipchirchir are now parents to two-year old Mylo and recently competed in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.

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