Our Favorite Fitness Stories of 2017

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This year we taught you how to turn eggs into a high-performance fuel, highlighted historic feats like Cat Bradley’s Grand Canyon FKT, celebrated the lives of icons like Ed Whitlock, and dived into critical topics like eating disorders among endurance athletes. Here’s a list of our favorite 2017 stories and why they stood out. 

“I loved the insight that going hard while doing something in nature feels easier than going hard indoors. I won’t feel any guilt when I go hiking with my family this Christmas rather than slogging through another treadmill run.”

—Svati Narula, assistant social media editor 

A totally new perspective for us, this beautiful first-person reflection describes how running in prison completely changes day-to-day life for Rahsaan Thomas through its ability to heal and empower. 

“Kelly Roberts is a role model of mine. I love how real she is about her relationship with running and with her body. I hope to be half as badass as she is one day.” 

—Abigail Wise, managing editor

Living in one of the poorest and unhealthiest parts of the country, it’s easy to just give up. But one man believes that nature walks will help energize residents around their health and future.

“Everything Taffy Akner writes is good, but when the first sentence is about vagina steaming, you know it’s going to be spectacular.”

—Molly Mirhashem, associate editor

A team of tech-savvy entrepreneurs are looking to transform the health care industry in a way that could benefit athletes, and they’re starting with your iPhone.

In October, we brought on Alex Hutchinson, an expert on the science of endurance and adventure, to dissect the monumental body of research around health and fitness. Sometimes that means calling bullshit.

Readers and editors went crazy for this one, which means we now have an office full of folks stirring globs of peanut butter into their morning oats. 

“A flat-out inspiration.” 

—Jonah Ogles, articles editor

“This is a hugely important issue in our world, and one that we hadn’t really explored in a big way.”

—M.M.

It’s a concern that has long existed among many advocates of low-carb, high-fat endurance fueling. But is it true? Our Sweat Science columnist finds out.

The good news: it’s not as terrible as you think. The bad news: but only if you call it quits for a few weeks at most.

In ultra-distance events, it’s becoming more common for women to beat men.

“I’m a sucker for Nate Dern’s writing. Here he echoes my extreme disdain for cardio.”

—Jenny Earnest, assistant social media editor