Bringing together everyday runners and taking "Life in Stride"

By: Jacob Infald

In a world full of social media influencers trying to push people towards their goals, The Life in Stride podcast and coaching group has taken the opposite approach. Through relatable stories, adaptable coaching plans, and a strong emphasis on community, they want to pull everyday people into the running community and have been doing a great job.

For the last month or so, Chris Striegel has not been getting much sleep. Striegel and his wife recently became parents, and Striegel said these days he sleeps in short pockets around the baby’s schedule. Still, he manages to produce and edit the Life in Stride podcast, coach nearly 50 athletes and find time to run 100 mile weeks as he looks to qualify for the Olympic Trials in the marathon for the first time. 

Striegel’s routine is a snapshot for what Life in Stride is all about. Striegel said the name Life in Stride is meant to represent people who are squeezing in the miles and the training around their careers, family, and other commitments. Striegel does the podcast with Danny Perkins and Scotty Scearce. While Striegel ran Division II at Bellarmine University, Perkins, Scearce, and many of the athletes they coach did not run at the collegiate level, but have still found success with the LIS coaching group which also consists of Kendy Eckel, Ali Raftery, and Ethan Ennis.

“I think for people that didn’t run in college, even if you start [running] later in life, it’s all about building that aerobic base,” Striegel told The Extra Mile. “If you build that aerobic base over several years, you constantly stack miles, I think literally anyone could qualify for Boston.”

For Perkins, running a sub-three hour marathon and qualifying for the Boston Marathon once seemed like a distant dream. Perkins, who primarily played soccer growing up, decided he wanted to run a marathon for fun with a friend after college. He said he did not train very well for it, and ran a 4:41. Since then, he has shaved over two hours off his original time and has a personal best of 2:37. 

Perkins said coaching new runners is fulfilling because he is able to relate to all of his athletes as at one point or another, he was in their position during his running journey. Perkins said he wanted to try running after college just to have something to progress at besides his career. 

“I think people see my progression from 4:41 to 2:37 and they think, ‘okay, this guy isn’t your prototypical runner, that's just talented. This guy puts in the effort…this guy has not only the experience of time, but he’s been there…and he’s able to put in the work and figure out how to get better in the sport,’” Perkins told The Extra Mile.

Striegel and Perkins both believe that having relatable stories in the running community media landscape is something that is both important and lacking. From the many professional running podcasts to the David Goggins esque motivational side of running media, they felt as if there was a lack of representation from the average runner that wants to train hard while also maintaining a strong career and family lifestyle. 

“I think hearing relatable stories from non-pro runners is really important to have,” Striegel said. “I think that’s what most of our listeners are; parents that run and work 9-5 jobs…that’s most of the athletes we have too, so that’s hopefully what our podcast does, I think it’s been doing that and it’s been growing steadily.”

What started as a joke in their running groupchat, their podcast has become a steady presence in running media. They have over 10 thousand followers on Instagram, over three thousand on YouTube, with a total of 334 episodes with a plethora of established guests. Through the success of the podcast and their new coaching business, Striegel was able to leave his job in health insurance to focus on Life in Stride and running.

Striegel said he is very fortunate that he is able to pour so much of his energy into his passion of running, but added that having a passionate hobby makes him better in other areas in life. He said he suggests that adults who live a family lifestyle find their own thing on the side that fulfills their needs so they can be better for their family. He said running is a great tool to use for this because of how rewarding finishing a marathon and running a personal best is, especially when the training involves early mornings and late nights to fit around careers and family. 

“I do this because I love it, I love chasing PRs and I’m chasing that feeling,” Striegel said. “I also need to fill my cup in a way that I’m gonna be in a good mood and fully supportive of my family as well.”

Perkins said seeing followers and athletes find that fulfillment in their day-to-day lives through running has been the most rewarding part of this journey for him. He said that out of the approximately 120 athletes that the group has coached, all of them have hit at least one personal best.

Perkins said part of this success comes from the fact that they truly believe that all of their athletes are capable of improvement. Perkins said regardless of how busy someone is, everyone has the same 24 hours in a day.

“The average American watches Netflix after they get off work, or they scroll reels or eat poorly,” Perkins said. “It’s those little micro-decisions, that’s the difference in the high-achievers and the non-achievers lives.”

In the modern era of running, especially with social media, it can be easy to feel as if you do not have enough time in those 24 hours to improve. With running influencers and professional runners talking about “optimal conditions” for training, it can feel intimidating for new runners to even start.

However, Striegel said that while getting eight hours of sleep daily is great, six or seven hours is still more than enough to see gains in the sport. 

“You just have to accept things aren’t always going to be optimal, but if you really want it, you’re gonna make time for it,” Striegel said. “From our podcast alone there are countless stories of people who are in non-optimal positions, and they’re still getting in their miles.”

Even if an athlete does not want to pay for the coaching services of LIS, Striegel and Perkins both believe LIS can be a supportive community to any runner just through the podcast. From having friendly banter to listen to on solo runs, to being able to learn about training through the hosts and the guests, Perkins said Life in Stride has been able to unlock training partners for people who are just looking for a friend to run with. 

“If you can find a community of people that are like-minded, driven, and striving towards a goal, it’s best to join them,” Perkins said. “If you can find someone that is doing the thing that you want to do, that’s gonna be a superpower and more of a pull than a push.”