Stories

For most runners, a detour means an unexpected running route, a sudden injury or illness that derails training, a fork in the running journey to be avoided or quickly overcome. For Stephen Pecevich, a detour was the beginning of his journey into running. As a former Division 1 college athlete, father of two (now three), […]

Please note: This post is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

My name is Brooks Wheelan, I’m a comedian, and about three months ago I bet my friend $500 I could run a solo marathon with no training under four and a half hours. Two days later, slightly hungover, I ran my marathon in 4 hours 16 minutes and 20 seconds. I also hurt myself. End […]

My name is Brooks Wheelan, I’m a comedian, and about three months ago I bet my friend $500 I could run a solo marathon with no training under four and a half hours. Two days later, slightly hungover, I jogged out my front door and did it. I ran my marathon in 4 hours 16 […]

Can you imagine running a marathon, or even an ultramarathon, as part of a long-distance relay team? Over the course of a morning or even multiple days, each of your teammates would run a long-distance leg before reaching an exchange zone and passing along a wearable sash, or tasuki, to the next runner to continue […]

My name is Brooks Wheelan, I’m a comedian, and about three months ago I bet my friend $500 I could run a solo marathon with no training under four and a half hours. Two days later, slightly hungover, I jogged out my front door and did it. I ran my marathon in 4 hour 16 […]

In August 2014 I had a problem. My 5K times were slowly getting worse and I was struggling to make it through a race without stopping and walking. I felt like something was wrong. I was running races in 30 or 31 minutes when in that year my best race ever was a 28:54. To […]

I walk down the hill onto the soccer field. Assemble myself at the line, wait for the whistle to blow and walk. My head’s on a constant swivel, waiting for Mrs. Eldrige to look in the other direction long enough for me to make a break for it–and by break for it, I mean waddle […]

The world’s most legendary marathon is less than a week away! As a Boston-based company, the Runkeeper team has got you covered for your Boston Marathon race day, with advice for both spectators and runners. So without further adieu, here are a few tips from our team to yours.  The Best Place to Watch the […]

“I am a runner.” These were the words I said out loud last March when I was at my surgeon’s office for a pre-surgery checkup. A nurse had taken my pulse and commented that I had a healthy pulse and asked if I was an athlete. Without a pause, I answered, “I am a runner.” […]

It took me almost 32 years to realize I wanted to be a runner. I remember thinking every time I saw my stepmom’s dad lace up his shoes and head outside: why would someone want to run on these boring country roads? But I also used to say the same thing about my mom drinking […]

Many people have asked me what my secret is to my weight loss and maintaining my health. I can honestly say that there is no easy answer to this, and it isn’t something that I can define specifically. I don’t have a degree in health science, yet I’ve been asked to speak at universities on […]

A few weeks ago I ran my first Chicago Marathon—and qualified for the Boston Marathon. That morning began like every other race morning: with a lot of nervous excitement and quite a bit of doubt. It was my seventh marathon in six years and my seventh attempt at running a Boston Qualifying (BQ) time. I […]

On October 16th, I completed my first marathon. Four years ago, almost to the day, I quit drinking cold-turkey and decided to live a healthy life. I went from 625lbs to 235lbs, conquered high blood pressure, and prevented Type-2 diabetes. October 13, 2012 is the day I turned things around, and to celebrate this year, […]

I completed my first Half-Ironman in four years on Sunday, and chose Ironman Atlantic City 70.3. Close to home (NYC), plus a whole bunch of my friends were racing it . Atlantic City is right up there with “locked in a room with all my ex-girlfriends” in the “places I’d like to spend a weekend” […]

Running has always been a part of my life. I enjoy working out and running always clears my head while also helping me to de-stress. For many years, I ran as a form of exercise, but after one fateful day, running became my therapy. On October 29, 2011, my husband Eric and I lost our […]

Reach The Beach is a relay race that stretches over 200 miles from the Mountains of New Hampshire to the state’s coastal shores, and tests the physical, as well as mental fortitude of 12 teammates.  It’s a race that will not only change your perspective on running, but life in general. I’m a stubborn runner. […]

Running has a bad rap as an individual activity. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been running for most of my life and love taking the time out of my day to head out alone, relax and collect my thoughts; but sometimes having a team or group of close training partners behind you can make a […]

There’s road races and then there’s Ragnar: the crazy mutation of races that puts 12ish people in two vans for 24-plus hours, with several bouts of running in between. Personal space is scarce, sleep is scarcer, but the fun has no bounds. That’s why team Runkeeper is at Ragnar’s Reach the Beach for the fourth […]

Since I lost 390 pounds, I have been training for a marathon. This has been a goal of mine for over two years now. I never ran a mile in my life until I turned 32. Even when I was a kid, I couldn’t run a mile in gym class—I was always the last one […]

Raise your hand if you’ve attempted a diet. Okay, keep your hand up if you’ve also had some degree of success with that diet. Now keep your hand up if those diets continue to be successful today… I’ll wait. Odds are the majority of you have put your hand down, and that’s because most ‘diets’ […]

There was once a time when I hated running. You couldn’t get me to run ten feet. A little bit of healthy sibling rivalry changed that for me. Over the past two years, I watched my sister complete half and full marathons, collecting medals along the way, and decided to give running more of a […]

I’m sorry everyone. By now you’ve woken up and noticed the fridge has been raided. The leftovers you were expecting to package into lunches this week are gone. The desserts your aunt wrapped and sent home with you from her cookout are also gone. Godzilla leaves buildings toppled in his wake, and I leave your […]

Many of you have heard my story: I’m blind and I’ve been using Runkeeper for some time to run on the open road.  I’ve been training solo but have run many races with guides, from marathons to ultras to multi-day adventures from Boston to New York. I’ve always had a question in the back of […]

When I was younger, I could eat whatever I wanted and I wouldn’t gain weight. But after I had my first daughter in 1999, I noticed that I was slowly gaining weight. I was unhappy with what I saw when I looked in the mirror, but I couldn’t find the motivation to make a change. […]

Everyone has their own story about why they run. My story begins with fear. When I was in eighth grade, both of my grandmothers died of cancer within two months of each other. Last year, my wonderful cousin died of melanoma, at the age of twenty-two. The thought of losing anyone else I love to […]

I come from a long line of runners.  Well, maybe not really a long line, but I always enjoyed my dad and his brothers reliving their road race stories after a family “fun run.” For me, it started with my one-mile sixth-grade turkey trot. My mom mapped out the route in the minivan and my […]

I was always terrible in P.E. in school. That may be a serious understatement…I was always the worst one in the class.  I have horror stories, I swear, some of which traumatized me for life. How hard is it to fail P.E. class?  Pretty damn hard, unless you’re me.  I’m the only one I know […]

Running alone can often be something to avoid. After all, running with friends is always fun, even competing in a race is a joint affair. But what if you aspire to run alone? It’s not that difficult, you just lace up your shoes and head out the door. Well, it wasn’t quite that simple for […]

I started running to get fit after a bit of a health scare. I just wanted to exercise and running was the only real option. (I live out in the sticks and going to the gym costs money and is a 25 min drive. I thought by the time I got to the gym I […]

On October 7th, 2012, I woke up extremely early bursting with nervous excitement for my first ever 5k. Race day was a blur but I remember debating my race day outfit (should I wear long sleeves or short!?!) and whether or not to chat during the race or listen to music to help me zone in. I remember making the turn […]

Seeing Runkeeper’s post on Instagram got me thinking about why I really run. Of course, like most people, I run to stay in shape ( I recently turned 36) and for health reasons. My family has a history of diabetes and high blood pressure and recently my family members have suffered some pretty serious health scares […]

I am an unlikely runner! I am 63 years and have been running for a year. My journey has been long—but worth it. I grew up a very sedentary person. I liked to read, but was in no way interested in being active. I was only active when I had to be like PE or […]

Breaking my back on Christmas Day 2005 was the most unremarkable part of the story. I make a joke of it now saying that it happened while I was rescuing kittens from a burning building (or some such nonsense!), but the truth is so mundane that it’s no story at all. I slipped on ice. […]

About a year ago, out of desperation from being so sick with migraines multiple times a week, I put on a pair of running shoes and walked out the door. I had heard that some runners had seen a decrease in migraines after running, and this was my last resort. I had suffered in private […]

When Josh Warren, of the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, first asked me to guide at Boston 4 years ago, I of course said yes. But shortly after agreeing, I also became the most nervous and anxious I’d been in a long time. I instantly started sweating, and I hadn’t even laced […]

I was a typical teenager growing up in the Midwest. The son of a factory worker and a nurse, there wasn’t a lot of time for an active lifestyle. This, unfortunately, led to a very sedentary lifestyle. As that lifestyle continued, so did the weight gain. I was 5’11” and 235 lbs. in high school, […]

Nothing like some spoilers in the headline. But really. I could tell you I wasn’t a nervous, miserable wreck before it all started but that would be a lie. The rain forecast amplified that anxiety about 10 times. The good thing is I don’t actually remember what all that feels like. All I remember is […]

I originally started running for the same reason that a lot of people do—because I was coerced. In my hometown high school back in rural upstate New York, choosing not to participate in organized sports essentially branded one as an outcast. Since I wasn’t coordinated enough for anything besides running, and since the cross-country team […]

“I wish I could exercise more.” “I hope to one day travel for fun” For the longest time, the above two things were topmost in my mind whenever I reflected on my life outside work, but I did nothing about it. A tragic grenade explosion forced me to find my running feet so that one […]

I started 2014 with one goal…walk the distance of 52 marathons in 52 weeks. Simple enough, 1,362.4miles in 364 days. What I didn’t expect was the life-altering process I set into motion. For 6 months prior to 2014, I worked closely with my doctors, therapists, and anyone who could offer advice. I was in uncharted […]

Drew and I met during a weekend retreat in college, at the beginning of my sophomore year, his senior year. It wasn’t sparks and fireworks right away but I think we both knew that we wanted to see more of the other. After talking a few times over Facebook messenger, we decided to meet up […]

At the beginning of 2014 I set a goal to walk 1,000 miles in a year.  I hit that goal in September and wasn’t too excited.  I felt like I needed to raise the bar because I finished so early.  I figured if you’re going to set a goal, shoot for the stars.  2,000 miles […]

We’ve been recapping stories from Simon‘s Boston to NYC journey. If this is your first time hearing about it, be sure to read our other blogs about his trip!  My inspiration to become a runner started when my daughter Morgan joined her cross country team freshman year at the same high school I attended. My […]

I had the amazing opportunity to be a part of Simon Wheatcroft‘s journey from Boston to NYC! I’m no stranger to the visually impaired community, having guided David Kuhn at the last three Boston Marathons on Team With a Vision. So when I heard of Simon’s adventure, it was a must that I reach out and […]

What do you live for? What is your drive? These are questions that everyone must ask themselves, and in order to succeed, you must remain brutally honest. All walks of life will face challenges in their time on this Earth, but it is how you tackle the challenges that will define you. I take on […]

Kat is the voice you're most likely to hear in your headphones giving updates on your distance and time as you grind through your activity.

You may have heard the buzz already, but our amazing ambassador Simon is running the New York City Marathon on November 2. But first, he decided to stop in Boston to see his friends at Runkeeper—and then run all the way from Boston to New York! Ever since he lost his sight at the age […]

How I got here It was a great weekend in Acadia with friends last October (you know, throwing the dog in a canoe on a pond, tromping through the woods on freshly fallen leaves with my pregnant wife and our friends, watching the stars and drinking some beer while waiting for the bonfire to die […]

To help understand, it’s important to see the journey I have taken with the help of Runkeeper. It all began several years ago when I began noticing even the simplest task was an undertaking including simple yard work, lifting, etc. Since I had always been active I didn’t quite understand why this was happening. After […]

I’ve been a sporadic runner for a large chunk of my life.  I ran a lot as a kid, a lot more in the army, and I’ve done my fair share of obstacle/mud-runs as an adult. I officially got bit by the running bug in July 2013, when for the next 10 months (with the […]

The morning of the 21st of December 2010 was supposed to dawn with me crossing the Kenya-Uganda border on a bus headed to Uganda on a one-week sight-seeing road trip. I had never been to Uganda and I was looking forward to bungee jumping, taking a boat up the River Nile, and experiencing the infamous […]

Sure, basically up to late 2010 I weighed almost 380 pounds. I was getting heavier by the day. I have given up hope on me ever losing weight. One day I read a review for Runkeeper and how it tracks your walking progress. Since I’m obsessed with apps I decided to give it a try. I […]

For years, I was an overweight friend and a son. It all started when I actually dropped playing basketball as a kid and focused more on secondary school studies. It kept going that way for four years and many more to come. Overeating happened to be a sneaky habit slowly replacing other sources of happiness in […]

Growing Up  The last time I was “thin” I was six years old. Most of my life I didn’t care in the world what I ate or when. Throughout school, I was the fat kid, the one who got called names, picked last for sports teams, or had notes from a parent excusing me from […]

If you have ever been to Boston, chances are you’ve taken the MBTA subway, more commonly known as the T. The oldest and most infamous of the MBTA lines is the Green Line, which splits into several branches and runs above ground through the street for much of its length, leading to verrrrry slow trips. In […]

Imagine sitting in the doctor’s office, weighing the most that have ever weighed in your life and hearing those words that evoke so many emotions that it changes your life. You’re just too fat! These words have haunted me all my life. From being a kid in grade school and writing my first “Do you […]

When I started running last May, I didn’t realize I would be learning an entirely new language. I’ve unofficially dubbed it “Runnerspeak,” because it’s the language that runners speak. Get it? I’m clever. And, in learning that language, I didn’t realize that there would be a whole new set of tools I could not live […]

As a long time resident of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Patriot’s Day is the one day that puts our town on the map. For one morning every year, the running world turns its eyes to the starting line of the Boston Marathon. Having attended 17 straight Boston Marathon starts, this event became more than just something that […]

I started running and using Runkeeper December 14, 2012, I went from Couch Potato to Ultra Marathon Trail Runner in just one year and I lost a combined 70lbs. On February 8th I completed my first ever 50-mile Ultra Marathon Trail Race.  Back in 2010, after having some tests ran during a checkup with a family […]

My Story As of August 2012, I was at the heaviest I’d ever been—625lbs. I was an alcoholic (drank around a fifth of vodka mixed with a liter of pop every night) and was addicted to fast food. I am 6’2″ and was still able to walk around (with a good deal of difficulty). My […]

This year my goal is to walk the distance of 52 marathons in 52 weeks. That’s 1,362.4 and more than 2.5 million steps for the Multiple Sclerosis Community. The Background But before I take another step with Runkeeper, let me tell you a bit about what brought me here: It’s January 2003; I’m in my […]

Starting Out At the end of 2007 I took a promotion that required extensive travel. Prior to this position I had been doing moderate cardio and weight training three times per week. Once I started traveling I stopped most of my exercise routine and ate out frequently. Within a few years I gained considerable weight […]

I wasn’t planning on running the Boston Marathon this year. As the CEO of a scaling startup and the father of a one-year-old son, I am lucky I have time to eat lunch every day, let alone log the miles required to train properly for a marathon. But when a number opened up and I […]