375. The Everyday Runner, Melissa Cummings

Ali on the Run Show

Ali Feller

Run, Health & Fitness, Women, Inspiration, Runner, Entrepreneur, Sports, Fitness, Health, Running

4.9 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2021

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

“I’m very proud that I have managed to, in less than a year, do four half marathons. It’s not something I ever could have dreamed of doing. And I’m just proud I have really stuck it out. Because it’s hard. It’s not easy to try to work yourself back from a poor health standard, or to bring yourself out of that mental hole that people can fall into. I’m very proud that I have stood up and said, ‘I need help, and I need to make a change.’ That’s a huge step for anybody to take. The fact that I’ve taken that step and I keep moving forward… That means a lot to me.”

Welcome to the final episode of the newest series on the Ali on the Run Show: The Everyday Runner. For the past four weeks, we’ve been hearing from runners who are just like you and me. Not professional athletes — these runners have jobs, families, and responsibilities beyond this sport we all love so much.

Today, we wrap things up with Melissa Cummings, a runner — or “walker with purpose,” as she likes to say — from Manchester, NH. On this episode, Melissa shares the story of wanting to take back control of her life, and how she found running, racing, and a welcoming running club along the way. She talks about that title, “runner,” and shares her thoughts on whether or not she — as a four-time half-marathoner — has embraced it yet. She talks about what it was like joining the Millennium Running Club, and what it was like being named 2020’s Club Member of the Year. And she talks about her experience with depression, and how running has helped.

SPONSOR: Picky Bars — Visit pickybars.com/ontherun, where code ONTHERUN gets you 20% off. (Join the Picky Club and get an extra 20% off.)

What you’ll get on this episode:

What Melissa’s childhood was like as the youngest of five children (6:45)
How Melissa found running (11:00)
How one race became a year of races (18:45)
On joining a running club (23:30)
Melissa’s quest to “take back her life” (33:30)
On becoming a half-marathoner! (35:45)
On being named Millennium Running’s Club Member of the Year (45:15)
What got Melissa to sign up for a marathon (50:40)
On owning the title, “runner” (54:00)

Follow Melissa:

Instagram @mlynette01

Follow Ali:

Listen & Subscribe:

SUPPORT the Ali on the Run Show! If you’re enjoying the show, please subscribe, and leave a rating and review on iTunes or Apple Podcasts. And, as always, spread the run love by sharing this episode with your friends, family members, running buddies, or favorite internet strangers!

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This episode of the Alley on the Run Show is brought to you by PickyBars.
0:04.1	Go to PickyBars.com slash on the run and use code on the run for 20% off your next order.
0:15.2	Welcome to the Alley on the Run Show.
0:17.5	I'm your host Alley Feller and this is the everyday runner series.
0:22.3	On this four-part series, I've been introducing you to runners just like you and me.
0:27.0	We are not professional runners, we have jobs, we have families, we have responsibilities
0:32.6	beyond running and recovering though. That would be a pretty sweet life.
0:36.9	This series came by very popular demand and I hope you loved meeting these runners.
0:42.8	As a refresher, first we met Jen Corea, the mom of two who lost her home and everything they
0:48.8	owned during Hurricane Sandy. Then we heard from Meg Navato, the couch to 5K runner turned
0:55.3	ultra marathoner who worked as a cell genetic technologist.
1:00.4	Then last week Dr. Margie Johnson was here talking about her dream to go from a 330 marathon
1:06.4	to an Olympic trials qualifying time of two hours 45 minutes.
1:11.9	And she plans to do that while continuing to work as a family medicine physician and mom to three
1:17.1	children. Casual, I know. Today we are wrapping up this series with Melissa Cummings. Before we hear
1:24.8	from Melissa herself, I want to give you a little background so I can tell you how I discovered Melissa.
1:30.5	Back in November, I started announcing races for Millennium Running, which is an events
1:34.9	company here in New Hampshire. They are absolutely amazing. They put on the best events and they
1:40.3	attract all kinds of runners from four minute-milers to one hour five K runners and truly everyone in
1:47.2	between. I can't say enough good things about Millennium. The way that we've been doing these races
1:51.5	is in a time trial format. That means that two runners who are matched in pace start at the same time.
1:57.4	Two runners off the start line every 10 seconds. And we, as announcers, we get to see and announce
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ali Feller, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ali Feller and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.