Free Republic

To close out her 2019, Lupita Hernandez stopped after every mile to plant a small flag along Interstate-10 between Houston and San Antonio. Each pause in her 200-mile run was to honor a fellow veteran battling post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), something she has dealt with since she retired from the Marines in 2004. PTSD still affects her life each day, whether personally or in Hernandez’s work in the Veteran Treatment Court in Harris County, Texas. On average, 22 veterans commit suicide everyday, and that’s a statistic that is always on her mind. “I wanted to bring awareness to the stigma...

Waving the Chinese national flag above her head, face ecstatic, Yao Miao sprints through thick, cheering crowds lining the streets of Chamonix, France. It’s September 2, 2018, and the 23-year-old runner is about to win one of the world’s premier mountain ultras—the 62-mile division of the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB). She crosses the finish line in 11 hours, 57 minutes, and 46 seconds. The second place woman, American Katie Schide, is more than 30 minutes behind her. Despite a race that’s infamous for its high-altitude passages and grueling weather conditions, Yao Miao’s stride and posture betray no signs...

New York City resident Todd Aydelotte has come up with an inventive way to make long runs in the city interesting: Turn them into a history lesson. It started about two years ago, when he started running longer distances. Inspired by ultrarunners like Tommy Rivers Puzey and Timothy Olson, who seem to run wild, free, and connected to the land, Aydelotte wanted to bring that to his own runs. But running in canyons and near streams is not easily feasible in the concrete jungle. Aydelotte needed to find a different way to motivate himself to go farther and distract himself...

Comedian Michelle Wolf has had quite the year. Her HBO special, Nice Lady, proved she’s one of today's best standups. Then, whether you loved it or hated it, she made her mark as the featured guest at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. On top of that, Wolf, 33, just wrapped up the first 10 episodes of her new Netflix show The Break, which is a half hour of sketches, late-night show desk segments, and her cutting standup on news and politics. But when she needs her own break from writing a weekly comedy show or preparing for a set on...

Ultra Runner Karl Meltzer Sets Appalachian Trail Record, Fueled by Beer and Candy - NYTimes.com By LINDSAY CROUSE September 18, 2016 At a time when “endurance running” no longer means mere marathons — and even 100-mile races are attracting the masses — Karl Meltzer, a former ski-resort bartender, has proved he can suffer longer and faster than almost anyone else. When he staggered onto Springer Mountain in Georgia before dawn Sunday, Meltzer set a record for completing the Appalachian Trail. He covered the 2,190 miles over 14 states in 45 days 22 hours 38 minutes. Meltzer, 48, is a little...