WATCH: Ultrarunner’s short film packs a powerful punch

“When I wasn’t a runner, I didn’t know who I was,” says Oregon-based pro ultrarunner and scientist Keely Henninger in a recent short film made with her shoe sponsor, Altra. Henninger, an accomplished ultratrail runner, was a top contender going into the 2022 Western States Endurance Run (WSER). She explains that “how we train, fuel, and race all impact how we feel about ourselves,” a concept athletes of every level experience challenge navigating.

After years of basing her entire life around running, along with feeling like she was constantly underfuelled, she says: “I wanted to see what would happen if I chose to be happy and put people and relationships first.”

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Keely Henninger (@runwidkeel)

Henninger poses some tough questions–questions that many of us, regular runners or elite, can relate to. In a society with often disturbing expectations around image and weight, how does one perform in a sport that requires consistent, steady fuelling (often in massive amounts) to continue moving for hours or days on end?

In a world where being busy and achieving more is often valued, it can be a challenge to know when to scale back. When running is your job, or simply an important part of your identity, it can seem impossible to imagine a life not focused around it.

Henninger experienced years of struggle with injury and setbacks trying to navigate societal expectations. “I was following the narrative I had been taught. I was underfuelling, over-training, and avoiding rest,” she says.

“What if I started fuelling more during races instead of less, so I didn’t find myself struggling in the middle of the race, hating myself, doubting my body, and questioning why I ran?” she asks. “What if I changed the narrative?”

In fourth at mile 55, Keely Henninger is in fourth. She’s 11 minutes off the front and says she rolled her ankle pretty bad. #WS100 pic.twitter.com/t7mOO0KXPv

— iRunFar (@iRunFar) June 25, 2022

Henninger had embraced the deep questions, navigated a balance, and made some key changes leading up to the 2022 WSER. Fitter than she’d ever been and more dialed into her community and passions, both within running and outside of it, she was ready to race–until she wasn’t.

Not only does Henninger manage to encapsulate a lifetime’s worth of knowledge into less than six minutes, but you’ll also be hit with all the feels, and may start asking “what if?” about some things in your own life.