I have had the absolute pleasure of working with Emily for 1:1 coaching for a few months now to tackle some big half marathon goals, and her training block has been VERY untraditional. Shes been battling weather, injury, and a whole lotta treadmill runs, but despite it all she CRUSHED her longest run of training this morning!! Proud of you @Emily Bailey !!

Hi my name is Audra and I’m beyond excited to be a part of this group. I have been running off and on since my 30s and I am currently 52. I have done 4 half marathons and quite a few 10k&5ks. I have dreamed of doing a full marathon for many years and have finally committed to training and signed up for my very first to run in December. I am so happy to have found this group and Taylor’s podcast. Listening to all these amazing stories on my runs brings me such excitement and motivation to run my first at the end of this year. Love these podcasts Taylor and keep them coming 😁👏🏼

Hi everyone! Nice to meet you :) So excited to be running my first marathon this year. I have always wanted to “be a runner”. Out of college, 10+ years ago, I jog/ran a half marathon and enjoyed it. However, for years I had some health struggles which held me back - mostly mentally but also physically. I’ve gotten my health on track the past 2 years and have wanted to take running seriously. Now I’m grateful I’m healthy enough that I can. I am so lucky to have a charity bib to run the NYC marathon this year! My first stop on that journey is The Flying Pig half in Cincinnati this May. As a born and raised Cincinnatian I’ve always loved watching my friends and family participate and I’ve done the 5K and 10K in the past. So excited for the journey but also nervous for the challenge. Thanks for the community and support!

After nearly 2 years of interviewing runners on their first marathon stories, there were two really clear patterns: coaching support isn’t accessible for everyone, and even for those it is accessible to, many don’t feel ready for 1:1 coaching. On top of that, there’s simply too much information out there to make sense of when you’re a beginner marathoner. I built The First Marathon Buddy community to fill that gap. This space is meant to be community first and to make the training process feel less isolating and more supported, no matter what plan you’re following. The My First Marathon Buddy Program is officially out now!! I’m really excited to build this with you all and see where it goes. -Taylor 🧡