For Lexi, Isabelle, and Lizzie, running isn’t just a workout, it’s what bonds them. From being experienced marathoners to sharing their journeys on TikTok to help girls and women see themselves as runners, these three know they’re stronger moving as one.
How did your running journey begin?
Lexi: We grew up doing sports, but none of us were runners. I hated running — I never wanted to run a mile in the gym. Then COVID hit, and my dad was a big runner growing up. He was like, “Let’s go for a trail run in Utah.” I was like, trail running? I don’t even like running on the road.
[We ran] seven miles on this most insane trail in Utah. I’m not even sure how much I ran of it, but I loved it. That once a week grew to more, and eventually I was running almost every single day.
Fast forward to 2023, I was preparing for the Boston Marathon when I was living with Isabelle. She was like, “I kind of want to run a marathon.” And I was like, “I can get you to qualify for Boston.” We ended up doing another marathon in November where we met Lizzie. Lizzie had done a 5K that summer, and she was like, “I could do a marathon.” It was in California — Big Bear. We all ran that marathon and met Lizzie at the finish line.
We all kind of got into running a different way, but it’s interesting how we all crossed paths on this journey, because now I feel like I could not do this without them.
What went through your mind the first time your running videos gained real traction?
Lexi: I remember the very first time Isabelle and I went on that trail run in Utah. Isabelle was videoing the back of me, because it was this insane view. Then she flipped the camera around, and it went viral — over a million views.
We were like […] what if we started posting about our runs? From almost the start, we had really good traction. We never thought anything of it. We just posted for fun, tried to be creative, and posted every single day. Girls began reaching out saying, “Oh my gosh, I want to do this. I want to run. This is getting me out the door today.”
It was crazy realizing that number is a real person. Regardless of social media, we would still all be best friends. We run together because we love to, and social media is just an extra bonus.
How has sharing your running journey changed your own relationship with movement?
Isabelle: I started posting because Lexi was helping me train for my first marathon. I’ve always liked posting little things here and there, so when I was training, I was like, I’m just going to document this. I wanted to have these videos for myself of all the beautiful runs we went on.
When it started getting traction, it was cool because people resonated with us. We didn’t come from a track or cross-country background — we just threw ourselves into this marathon training block.
For me, it’s not only about going outside and getting a workout in. My relationship with movement has really been inspired by the people we’re inspiring. Seeing people messaging us about their accomplishments motivates me to keep doing what I’m doing, even on hard days.
What do you hope young girls take away from watching you run together?
Lizzie: Being together, enjoying the process, having fun, and taking the pressure off. Growing up, you’re taught to be competitive in sports, and that’s important, but it should come from wanting it for yourself.
A lot of our audience is younger girls and also postpartum moms. Running is one thing that everybody can do. Our biggest goal is to show that you can find great friends who are down to do things like this.
It’s special that our audience is younger girls. I hope we can set that standard — that you can have fun, be disciplined, and hit your goals, even from a young age.
How has being part of this group influenced your life?
Isabelle: It’s impacted my life far beyond running. It’s shown me how important it is to find good friends in your 20s, and how rare that really is. We all met a little later in life, but it feels like we’ve known each other forever, because we’ve grown so much together in such a short amount of time.
What do you imagine this community growing into?
Lizzie: What’s happened in the last year has been very exponential. What’s awesome and unique is that what we do brings us to our community. That outreach inspires and motivates us to encourage people to keep going and set the bar high for themselves.
Lexi: We believe in each other. We’ve run races where we’re in that pain cave, and they’ll pull me to the finish line. More minds are stronger than one.
We try to show the whole journey. There are ups and downs, bad races, injuries, and hard moments. It’s not always perfect, and it’s not always a PR. We’re just human beings.
