Ari Hendrix: 2:35 Marathoner & LGBTQ+ Athlete, on Trail Running, Fueling, and Mental Health
Release Date: 06/05/2025
From struggling with injuries to a marathon debut OTQ at CIM with Melissa Berry
Lane 9 Podcast
"That really was the biggest thing during my marathon build is like, wow. Reminding myself to get back into those [fueling] habits, but also remembering I shouldn't need to train for a marathon to have these healthy habits," shares Melissa Berry, a former D1 Cross Country and Track runner for the University of Oregon. Berry ran her debut marathon at CIM 2025, in 2:35:57, getting her first OTQ in the marathon. Berry grew up in Eugene OR and was excited to find herself at her hometown university as a collegiate athlete. She fueled well in highschool and saw big improvements, but struggled...
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What to do when Body Image (in sports) feels tough
Lane 9 Podcast
"There are a lot of outside influences that challenge the way we experience our body, which accumulates to our own personal body image," shares Dr. Krissy Ladner, a sports dietitian in the Lane 9 Women's Sport & Health Directory. Dr. Ladner joins us to talk about how body image dissatisfaction may impact our fueling and nutrition, our mental health, and our performance in sport. It's a very common thing for people socialized as women to struggle with, and of course athletes and people of all genders may struggle with body image concerns. She speaks to the importance of coaches (and...
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The Big New Thing in Lane 9, for 2026
Lane 9 Podcast
We are coming up on Lane 9's 9th birthday!! This episode gives you a big update on a new thing in Lane 9, for our athletes. Listen first, then go to Lane9project.org to join us! If you're looking for sports nutriton and marathon fueling support for your next training cycle, and/or a coach informed in REDs and women's health, go to our Lane 9 Women's Sport and Health Directory at . Follow Lane 9 on IG , and contact us anytime via
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Justine Fédronic: Rewriting her running story, after it didn't go as planned
Lane 9 Podcast
" It's interesting looking back because I normalized being hungry, normalized being super tired... and when you don't know that that's not normal, you're also not necessarily open to hearing otherwise because it sounds like somebody wants to hold you back from your performance." Justine Fédronic immigrated to the US from Europe in elementary school. Before she learned English, she found a way to connect with her classmates at recess—through running. She showed talent on the run early, and a coach suggested she try for an athletic scholarship to college. She competed at Stanford, but not...
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How a REDs Researcher Fueled for and Ran Her First Marathon with Melissa Lodge PhD
Lane 9 Podcast
"I was prioritizing the general trend toward a carb load, but it really kind of stressed me out in a way that I was a little bit surprised by. But also, we talk about this in the REDs space all the time—having energy is better than having no energy," shares REDs researcher Melissa (Mel) Lodge, whom you may know from following @FED_Collaborative on Instagram. Lodge was an elite track and field athlete who competed collegiately, but hasn't tackled longer distances until now. (She's done some 10Ks, but never raced a half-marathon!) Her REDs and female athlete health reserach, along with...
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REDs & Running a Marathon: "How much damage will I do if I run anyway?"
Lane 9 Podcast
" Consider why you want to do this. What are the motivating factors for completing the marathon right this second? What are your long-term health and movement goals, and does this get you closer to them or further away?" Lane 9 co-founder, and dietitian, Heather Caplan RDN takes on two more listener questions in this episode. 1) How do clinicians navigate what may be REDs, with an athlete who has an IUD and doesn't get periods? 2) If I'm undertrained and experiencing symptoms of REDs (haven't had a period in about a year), but I want to run marathon, what should I do? As always,...
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Q&A: Overall health, with irregular or absent periods & What if I recover from REDs...and get slower?
Lane 9 Podcast
"You might think, 'On the other side of this, if I'm not even guaranteed better performance, Why would I do it?' That comes down to our values," shares Lane 9 co-founder, and dietitian, Heather Caplan. This Q&A episode tackles two questions: Is it possible to be 'healthy' even with extremely irregular periods or absent periods, if everything else is going well? Will I recover from REDs and get faster? What if I get slower, or get injured? Have your own question to submit to Lane 9 for a future episode or resource? We'd love to hear them! Go to Lane9project.org and contact us. Or...
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Erin McDonald: From Rigidity and Restricting to Running Her Fastest Times, and Getting Her Life Back
Lane 9 Podcast
"I'd rather suck at running and have my life back," Erin McDonald, who just won the 2025 Detroit Free Press International Half Marathon in 1:16. She objectively does not suck at running, but she does have her life back! Erin McDonald recently opened up about her struggles with restrictive and rigid eating in college as a runner at Michigan State University. She was primed and favored to make nationals her senior year—staying "disiplined" with her food, rest, and training routine—but the race went totally awry. With a job lined up after graduation, she was ready for a long break from...
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Nutrition Support for College Athletes with former D1 Athlete Lauren Segal RDN
Lane 9 Podcast
"Athletes aren't immune to that messaging of like, 'carbs are bad, you shouldn't have carbs, and they're the worst thing ever.' But we know that carbs are our body's preferred source of fuel, especially when you're doing these intense bouts of exercise like most athletes are doing," shares sports dietitian Lauren (or Lo) Segal. Segal is a now in private practice, after almost 10 years of working as a collegiate sports dietitian, most recently at the University of Utah. She's part of our Lane 9 Clinicians and Coaches Membership, and listed in the Lane 9 Women's Sport and Health...
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"We Loved to Run" author, Stephanie Reents, on Women's Cross Country teams and their stories
Lane 9 Podcast
" You can't ultimately control what happens in a race. And so you convince yourself you can, right? Or you tell yourself, well, if I control these other things, I might be able to control what happens in the race." Stephanie Reents ran for four years on the Amherst College women's Cross Country team in the early 90s, and is the author of "We Loved to Run" her debut novel. Reents wanted there to be a novel about women's running, stories about the identities athletes hold and how those identities shape and change team dynamics, friendships, and relationships...to themselves, to their...
info_outline" ...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 happened to win a road 5K in Portland this spring. She played college basketball before getting into endurance running, and has navigated mental health, injuries, and setbacks in the sport.
We also talk about:
- the challenges she navigated with both injuries and mental health during 2020
- her CIM race in 2022, finishing in 2:35 to qualify for the 2024 US Olympic Team Trials Marathon and becoming the 3rd fastest US Born African American woman in the marathon
- her experience at the 2024 Marathon Trials
- why she got interested in running trails instead of sticking to road racing
- how she met her wife, and her experiences as an open LGBTQ+ and African American athlete
- what she's excited about in the sport
Follow Ari Hendrix on Instagram @ari_hendrix1
Follow Lane 9 Project on Instagram @lane9project, on Bluesky, and Substack.
Connect with a clinician in the Lane 9 directory by going to Lane9project.org/Directory. Find a dietitian, mental health therapist, physical therapist, and/or coach to support you as an athlete in women's sports.