Run Your Story Podcast · Allison Gaillard

Anna Arsenault - "Telling somebody is really important"

·59 min·4 clips

Anna says 'the first mile is always the hardest' and applies it to running and life.

Run Your Story opens by thanking Wagner's Run Walk and Wagner's Team Sports for connecting the show to Anna Arsenault and Iron Tribe. Allison Gillyard calls Anna an amazing human being and frames the connection as something made possible through Wagner's community. That gratitude sets the tone. The conversation settles into Anna's life around fitness, nutrition, and the everyday work of helping families build healthy habits together. She comes across as someone listeners can turn to when movement and healthy routines need to matter at home. Her story runs through Spartan races, trails, and roads. It also reaches into MomStrong and KidsStrong, the programs she created for families who want health to feel practical. Anna keeps bringing the focus back to her children. She wants kids to learn that taking care of the body also touches the spiritual side of life. The Wagner's Turkey Trot gets its own warm spotlight. Anna cares about that race because it serves the community, and she is grateful for the people who help carry the financial burden. Later, the talk turns to the after-race rhythm. She likes a big meal if her stomach allows it, time with friends, a little celebration, rest, and then the familiar urge to sign up again. Asked for a favorite memory, she goes straight to running with her kids. Those family races include the Tuscaloosa Half Marathon, and they left her with some of her most cherished moments. She says young parents should do something hard with their kids because tiredness can make room for honesty. Her own children opened up when they were tired and suffering, and those parking-lot stretches, selfies, and small post-race moments turned into real conversations and good memories. The whole conversation keeps pointing back to the same thing: healthy effort, shared work, and community support make the story bigger than one person.

As heard by us

A warm run story about family habits, hard work, and a community that keeps showing up.

Anna Arsenault ties running, fitness, nutrition, MomStrong, KidsStrong, and family habits into one steady message: health works best when it is lived at home, not only talked about.

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Why you'd press play

You want a story about fitness, nutrition, kids, and the way local races can lift a community.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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