Molly Bookmyer, Elite runner on making big fueling changes, and finding what works for you
Release Date: 04/10/2025
Nutrition trends that may cause runner's 💩 with Grace Kelley MS RDN
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"I think runners specifically are convinced that sh*tting your pants is normal...I see stuff all the time online of people saying, 'Oh, running causes me to have GI issues.' No, running plus your nutrition is the cause." Grace Kelley really wants you to be able to run without sh*tting your pants. And she's got the myth-busting reels on Instagram to help! Kelley is a sports dietitian, part of the Lane 9 Directory, and a runner training for her first marathon, Fall 2025. Throughout the process, she's testing out a variety of gels so you don't have to, and keeping a spreadsheet with...
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"I saw the tie between, you know, delaying recovery, restricting food and ending up with a bone injury in my foot. And it was part of why I took six years off." Mary Denholm was a dual-sport athlete in college, competing in ski racing and cross country, track and field. After her first (and so far only) bone injury in college and struggling with restricting food intake, she took a long break from the sport. It ended up being six years off, while she went through law school and started her law career. "I can count on one hand the number of times I went for a run in those six years,"...
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Ari Hendrix: 2:35 Marathoner & LGBTQ+ Athlete, on Trail Running, Fueling, and Mental Health
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" ...definitely we're underrepresented and I think especially with the state of our country and the world now, it can be really scary to put yourself out there." Ari Hendrix is the third fastest US-Born African American marathoner (2:35, CIM 2022), and ran the 2024 US Olympic Team Trials Marathon in 2024. She works for HOKA and lives in Portland with her wife and two dogs. Ari joined the Lane 9 podcast to talk about her recent move to the trails, on which she's already had some success! She recently finished 9th in her 50K debut at the 2025 Canyons Endurance Run by UTMB, and also...
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Renee Hodges DPT: What endurance athletes need to know about Bone Stress Injuries
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" We have a lot of work to do to help improve the health of [running] culture, like the basic understanding of what it means to be a healthy runner," shares Renee Hodges DPT. Renee Hodges is a physical therapist (DPT) based in the Phoenix AZ area, specializing in endurance athletes. As an endurance athlete herself, Hodges shares that she has experienced REDs, low energy availability, overtraining syndrome, and more. She breaks down the basics of bone health (pop quiz on osteoclasts and osteoblasts!), and how low energy avability impacts our body's recovery, and overall health. ...
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Meghann Featherstun RDN: Running after a sacral stress fracture, and sports nutrition trends in 2025
Lane 9 Podcast
" I just needed to do all of those things for myself before I really talked about it publicly. Plus, I was not in a great head space about it at first, as most people aren't with a big injury," says well-known sports dietitian Meghann Featherstun, RDN MS CSSD, in regards to the post where she shared her sacral stress fracture injury at the end of 2024. Meghann Featherstun, aka "Feathers" (if you're a "Fuel for the Sole" listener), and maybe best known by her private practice's name and Instagram handle, Featherstone Nutrition, joined Lane 9 to talk about her running...
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Jess McClain on Fueling, Pro Running Round 2, and her 2025 Boston Marathon
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" I think I was just trying to make only running work for me and I just am not the kind of person that can only run. I need other things in my life," shares Jess McClain, who most recently finished 7th overall and first American across the finish line at the 2025 Boston Marathon, in 2:22:43, a 3-minute personal best. Jess McClain is professional marathoner for Brooks Running. In 2024, she placed 4th at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, placed 4th at the U.S Olympic Track & Field Trials in the 10,000m, won the 2024 U.S. 10K road championships, and placed 8th overall at the 2024 TCS...
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Sasha Gollish on Perimenopause, and Gender Equity in Sport
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"My big fear with all of this is the trickle down," Dr. Sasha Gollish joins us on the episode, to chat about her work in Gender Equity in sport, her time as a professional runner for team Canada, how she knew she was in perimenopause, and much more. Gollish ran at a younger age, but took some time off and worked as an engineer in Toronto before getting back to the sport at a high level. We talk about what it looked like to go back into competitive running, working with Oiselle and Asics, going to the World Marathon Championships in 2023 for Team Canada, and eventually navigating perimenopause....
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Emilia Benton, 14x marathoner and freelance journalist
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"I didn't know what I was doing at all...I didn't take any gels in my first marathon...Now I take gels like every 5K or sometimes every 30 minutes." Emilia Benton is a freelance health and wellness journalist who is particularly passionate about sharing diverse stories and elevating underrepresented voices. Her work has been published by outlets such as Runner's World, Outside RUN, SELF, Women's Health and the Houston Chronicle. Emilia is also a 14-time marathoner, 50-something-time half-marathoner and USATF Level 1-certified run coach. We talk about the races she has run and...
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Alexa Efraimson: From pro runner at 17 to Registered Dietitian helping athletes fuel without restriction
Lane 9 Podcast
"For so long, every conversation, every day, was like, 'what is your weight?' So really like reinforcing confidence and performance all around the number on the scale." Alexa Efraimson signed a professional running contract with Nike when she was just 17 years old. She hadn't gone through puberty yet, and while did shortly after that, her cycles were "super inconsistent" for the next six+ years. She navigated challenges with weight, body image, and fueling for performance. She got a college degree while running professionally, and had some success during her eight years as a pro. But in...
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Molly Bookmyer, Elite runner on making big fueling changes, and finding what works for you
Lane 9 Podcast
"{Houston} was a really great season opener and showed me again that I could fuel like I even fuel in the half marathon now, it's I'm able to take fuel. It's, and sustain my training and feel healthy and finishing strong in my races," shares Molly Bookmyer. Bookmyer is an elite distance runner based in Columbus OH. She walked onto the Ohio State XC/Track and FIeld teams, but left the sport before graduating because of some frustrating injuries and health issues. She wasn’t getting regular periods, which actually led to her healthcare team discovering a small brain tumor. After some time...
info_outline"{Houston} was a really great season opener and showed me again that I could fuel like I even fuel in the half marathon now, it's I'm able to take fuel. It's, and sustain my training and feel healthy and finishing strong in my races," shares Molly Bookmyer.
Bookmyer is an elite distance runner based in Columbus OH. She walked onto the Ohio State XC/Track and FIeld teams, but left the sport before graduating because of some frustrating injuries and health issues. She wasn’t getting regular periods, which actually led to her healthcare team discovering a small brain tumor.
After some time away from the sport she got back into distance running and eventually qualified for both the 2020 and 2024 Marathon Olympic Trials. While her marathon and half-marathon times have improved over the years—she ran a PR and won the 2024 Twin Cities Marathon in 2:28, and ran a half-marathon PR at the 2025 Houston Marathon with a 1:09—she has also navigated some intense challenges with gut health and fueling.
We recorded this right before she traveled to DC where she ran the Cherry Blossom 10-miler, which she finished in 52:42, 8th overall female and 7th american. As she shared on Instagram, she “Ran over a minute PR in the 10 mile race and snagged a 10k PR of 32:11 in the process”. Next up is London, so we’ll be virtually cheering for her in a few weeks!
This episode covers a lot! We discuss:
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Her 14th place finish at the Half marathon championships in March 2025
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Why she’s planning to do more races this year
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How she walked onto the XC/TF team at Ohio State in college, her experience as a collegiate athlete, and why she quit after a few years
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How she found out she had a small brain tumor,which may have been related to her experience with amenorrhea
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Why and how she got back into high level/elite running, which only a few years later landed her in 3rd place at the 2019 US 25K Championship
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How her fueling has evolved, especially after two stress fractures in/around 2020, and then a very unpleasant experience during the 2022 Houston Marathon
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Her gluten-free fueling strategies and what's working well for her now
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Her water bottle secret for elites
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And her post-race journaling prompts!
Follow Molly on Instagram to cheer her on, @MollyBookie.
Follow Lane 9 @Lane9Project.
Connect with a women's health and sport clinician to get support with YOUR fueling, mental health, and/or period health by going to Lane9Project.org/directory.