Sweet & Salty

I’ve never had a Sour Patch Kid.

I’m a chocolate girl, though I make frequent exceptions for red and pink (and “maroon,” which is fruit punch) Starburst.

But we all know the tagline: “First they’re sour. Then they’re sweet.”

I relate to this deeply at the moment.

For the past few days, I have felt increasingly sour, salty, and generally unimpressed by humanity.

There was the awful situation at the USATF Half Marathon Championships in Atlanta on Sunday. Surely by now you’re in the know. After making major waves (tsunamis, actually) in the running community immediately, the story has since been picked up by major news outlets including the New York Times and People. The leaders in the women’s race — Jess McClain, Emma Grace Hurley, and Ednah Kurgat — were led off course by the official lead vehicles just after mile 12, and ultimately lost their likely podium spots, their moments of glory, their spots on a world championship team, their prize money, their sponsor bonuses, their world ranking updates, and more. No one was or should be happy with how the women’s race played out.

And then the pileup began. Everyone is an expert on how to solve a problem like…whatever this was. It got so ugly so fast. People putting out “emergency podcasts” littered with inaccuracies and misinformation, demanding immediate resolution. People laying into the athletes, either that the leaders should’ve memorized the course and committed all 25+ turns to memory (give me a break) or that the woman who broke the tape, Molly Born, wasn’t the rightful winner (it’s not her fault, and my god, you could tell she felt awful and uncomfortable at the finish, and my heart goes out to her).

It was just a lot. And it’s terrible. What happened in Atlanta, from just about every perspective, totally sucks, and I am firmly Team Athlete here, wanting the best for the women we all know, love, and support. But I wish everyone would take a breath and give the people at these organizations (USATF and Atlanta Track Club; ATC has already agreed to pay prize money to Jess, Emma Grace, and Ednah) a chance to make things as right as possible, and sometimes that takes more than a day or two. I believe that the public outrage over this situation will, in fact, help right the wrong. I just wish people didn’t have to be such assholes about every injustice. Take. a. breath.

And then! The woman on Threads sharing an absolutely insane take about the New York City Marathon and claiming she, a 2:57 marathoner, works harder than other runners, so she should get to run it while others are less worthy?! Come on. Gross. This is a wild, engagement-baiting post with ill intent. This person is not representative of the running community. Full stop.

But then it spiraled out of control. It went beyond, “Hey, you seem like a jerk, and here’s some perspective,” and devolved into full doxxing, people contacting her employer, just…too much. It’s too much! Stop taking the bait! And take another breath.

Meanwhile! Another runner, one I really genuinely like in real life, posted about how pro runners shouldn’t show up at local 5Ks or “destination / vacation races” because…why, exactly? I couldn’t tell if this was a joke, but the blowback was swift. Are we just living in a world where people want to go viral for their hot takes on the internet? Are we all too sensitive and easily offended? (Yes.) Are we all just online way too much? (Definite yes, and sometimes I don’t love how much my work has me on my screens and in my head.) But some of these takes lately are just exhausting. We can agree and we can disagree and we can agree to disagree, but I wish in all those instances we could agree to be good, well-intentioned, people-focused people.

It’s been a long winter.

In the northeast, we’ve been absolutely hammered with snow and bitter cold, and while it’s made for a great ski season, it’s been, well, a long winter.

And the world continues to burn. We are literally at war. People are dying. It’s all too much.

I write all of this knowing full well that venting does very little in any of the aforementioned scenarios, or in general.

But this is what’s weighing on me at the moment. We all (me too) need to calm down. Breathe. Refocus. Exist in real life. Be well-intentioned in our interactions. Root for each other.

In the spirit of pivoting to the sweet:

• Ski racing season is over, which is a bummer, but what a great season it was! For eight consecutive Monday nights this winter, I was on the mountain, with friends (and family!), trying (eh, not very hard) to get better at something I enjoy, with low stakes and high rewards. This season was awesome.

• I had a PET scan last week, and while the results weren’t quite what I wanted — I really, really wanted to get to No Evidence of Disease — it was still good news, and my team is very happy. There’s no growth, no spread, no further metastases. I am stable. (Well. My scans are. As for me? Debatable!)

• I ran 12 hilly miles on Saturday, and raced a 5K on Sunday. Both felt so good. Challenging. But so good.

• Annie is back! The absolute hardest part of divorce is not getting to be with your child(ren) every day. It is, especially early on, an ache that’s hard to describe. Annie was just away on vacation with her dad, and while I missed her deeply every minute of every day, the reunion on Wednesday was the absolute best. I picked her up from school and she sprinted for me and jumped in my arms and we spent the entire afternoon and night playing and hugging and kissing and exchanging nonstop I love yous. I feel whole again.

See? First I was sour. Now I’m sweet.

(DOES ANYONE DARE ME TO TRY A SOUR PATCH KID? OK I’ll do it.)

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This week on the Ali on the Run Show:

• No Stupid Questions: Professional Running Edition, with Aisha Praught Leer and Eric Jenkins: The most fun I’ve had in the longest time. I learned a ton, I really did. But mostly, I giggled for two hours straight while letting Aisha and Eric, the cohosts of the Off the Rails podcast, explain everything from track lane assignments and waterfall starts to how much pro runners, agents, and coaches are making. I’m very excited about this new series. Thank you for submitting questions!

• Emma Grace Hurley’s 2026 USATF Half Marathon Championships Recap: I so appreciated Emma Grace coming on the show 48 hours after that emotional day in Atlanta to talk about how she was feeling in the aftermath of being led off-course en route to a likely podium finish at a national championship. I’m so impressed by her optimism in the midst a really awful situation. (Emma Grace is also on the Fast People podcast this week, which I enjoyed listening to.)

Watching:

• Love Story, obviously. I, too, am obsessed with Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s style, hair, vibes. This show is really making me miss my long hair!

Reading / listening to:

• Ask Not: The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed, because I’m obsessed with learning everything about the Kennedy family now. (And yes, I know the writer is a Daily Mail writer and that she has likely taken some real liberties in the retelling of these stories. I am aware.) This has been an absolutely fascinating listen, and is the real reason I ran almost every day last week. Each chapter is wild. Sad. Horrifying. People (men) in power have been getting away with the unfathomable for literally ever.

Coming soon:

• Boston Marathon live show announcements! We’re nailing down some details, but I’ll be sharing everything I can soon. For now, I can tell you that I’ll be hosting three events for us throughout the weekend: Friday afternoon (free, open to the public), Friday evening (not free, OMG, medium-size very cool venue), and Saturday afternoon (free, huge venue, per your request, so please come!). And of course, you’ll find me at the finish line all day on Marathon Monday.

I am so grateful for the wonderful brands and partners I get to work with on the Ali on the Run Show. Supporting them = supporting me!

• Shokz: Click here and use code ALI for $10 off your next purchase.

• Lagoon: Click here to get my favorite pillows (I sleep on the Otter every night), and use code ALI for 15% off.

• New Balance: Click here to shop New Balance’s latest releases for the season.

• Oofos: Click here to check out the new Club+ line. Comfy and supportive = a dream!

• UCAN: Click here to get an Edge Energy Gel sample pack (four gels!) for free (you’ll just pay the $7.95 shipping cost), and use code ALI at checkout for 30% off your entire UCAN order. (The Chocolate Almond Butter bars are forever my fave!)

Take good care of yourselves. Take good care of each other. Be the good. Spread the love.

(You’ve got this. You’re doing great.)

Love,

Ali