Unlimited Women: 48hrs of Fear and Loathing in The Speed Project
Unlimited Women: 48hrs of Fear and Loathing in The Speed Project
Tired of never being invited to run The Speed Project - the unsanctioned 48-hour, 341-mile relay race from Los Angeles to Las Vegas - the Unlimited Women simply built their own team.
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Today, I speak to the Unlimited Women, who are running The Speed Project - a 341-mile unsanctioned relay race with no set route from Santa Monica, CA to Las Vegas, NV in under 48 hours.
Three of the ten, Jocelyn Rivas, Kari Weis and Pamela Price spend some time telling me about why they are running across the desert from L.A. to Vegas (there was never a good moment to suggest they fly or drive instead).
Let’s start with the Unlimited Women. Where did the idea for an all-women running group come from?
Jocelyn: “I started the group because I never got an opportunity or an offer to be part of a team. So I created a team and made it a group of women athletes. I invited women who had achieved amazing feats and were in the L.A. area but whose stories were not being shared enough.”
Kari: “We all have our own story. There are women who are moms, there’s one who ran across America, and my story is mental health. I have depression and running is the thing that’s helped me cope with that.”
Why do you run?
Pamela: “I live with a disease that is like if multiple sclerosis and lupus had a baby. I have permanent nerve damage on my right side, so running makes me feel as if life doesn’t suck.”
Kari: “My original ‘why’ was meditation. I love running with a group but I still run solo because at the core of it, it is a meditative moment where you can just clear your mind. Even if it’s a crappy run, I always feel better afterwards than if I’d just stayed on the couch.”
Let me tell you, reader: meditation is a huge reason for me - maybe the biggest. My ‘why’ is that I run for my health, but I have always believed that we cannot divorce our physical health from our mental health. Yes, our bodies become more resilient through activity, but so do our minds.
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If you find the prospect of meditating overwhelming, try this exercise. Next time you go for a run, consider taking 60-second segments for mini-meditations.
Take a minute to think about how your body feels. Go from the top of your head down to your toes, giving yourself a diagnostic checkup. Identifying a tight muscle in order to loosen it when you get home could give you an extra 10 seconds in your next race,
Take a minute to look at or listen to your surroundings.
Take a minute to zone out completely and just listen to your breath and your heartbeat (not advisable when you’re running city streets).
Try it. Take a minute. It’ll help the time go by, at least.
The next ‘why’ is truly something. Jocelyn holds the world record for being the youngest person to have run 100 marathons. It’s almost (almost) enough to make this battle-hardened never-marathoner sign up for L.A. or London 2024.
Jocelyn: “I run for women. I want to inspire women and girls - my community. I’m also a DACA recipient - I was here illegally at some point in my life. Now I have some papers but it’s temporary, so I also did it to advocate for other DREAMers.”
“I also do enjoy running. I feel the most beautiful when I’m running. It makes me feel so strong and so many things that nothing else in life has offered. It’s very unique.”
This is true. It’s good to take the title of this blog with a pinch (BrE) / grain (AmE) of salt. I like to have fun when talking about very serious things like becoming the best possible versions of ourselves. We’re all here reading (or writing) hundreds of words because we love running. We love it so much that even doing the thing isn’t enough for us.
We are the maniacs who run through the pain and choose to do it again tomorrow, and we should celebrate that.
With that said, less pain would be good, so what do you do to make running suck less?
Kari: “When I go on my solo runs I have a little routine where I have to have headphones. I have a playlist and I have to chew gum. I feel like I have to have an outfit or a look. Those are things that make me excited to go out for a run because normally I have no desire to get up early on a Saturday morning and go running.”
Pamela: “A good pair of shoes. I see people running and it looks like they’re having a terrible time and then I look down at their shoes and I think that shoe probably doesn’t fit, it’s not even meant for the road.”
Jocelyn: “My fuel. Finding strategies to fuel better. I realized that I was doing it wrong before. I was doing a good job and then I learned a little more about fuel and realized I could’ve been doing a lot better. I can tell it’s better because in my first marathon I was cramping up in mile eight! Now it sucks a lot less.”
Eight miles won’t be an issue for these women. Indeed, the 26.1 miles of a marathon seems like an everyday activity for them, but 341 miles? Even divided up between 10 of them is over 34 miles…
Beyond the distance, what will be the biggest challenge with The Speed Project?
Kari: “I’ve done a lot of things since I started running - multiple marathons; an ultra - so 34 miles really isn’t that crazy, but you’re also doing it in an RV with little to no sleep, eating granola bars and cups of noodles. You’re not at your best.”
“When you’re well rested and go for a run in the morning, that’s great, but 24 hours into a race in the middle of the desert? That will be the true test.”
Pam (laughing): “At some point all of us will say that running sucks.”
Another truth, but however much it sucks, you’ll be back running again within a week. It’s what we do.
How Unlimited Women are making running better:
Including the previously unincluded
Advocating for mental illness, immigration, physical illness
Inspiring people to understand that they can as well
Just being amazing people
Ways to make running suck less mentioned today:
Run with friends
Find a nice view
Get the right shoes for you
Learn to fuel your body
Wear clothes that make you happy
Listen to music or a podcast
Use the time to meditate
Develop a run routine
Unlimited Women run The Speed Project on Friday, 24th March 2023.
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Please leave any questions or suggestions for future interview subjects below. Thanks to Odeth for pointing me towards the Unlimited Women!
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