Linday Crouse is changing how the sport of running operates – from inside of it but also as a journalist breaking some of the biggest stories in sports.
If the name Lindsay Crouse sounds familiar, you’ve probably read some of her work. In fact, last year she was the first woman to win the George Hirsch Journalism Award for coverage of distance running.
A Senior Staff Editor and OpDocs producer at The New York Times, her most-read and watched work includes:
- How the ‘Shalane Flanagan’ Effect Works
- I Am 35 and Running Faster Than I Ever Thought Possible
- Nike Told Me to Dream Crazy, Until I Wanted a Baby
- I Was the Fastest Girl in America, Until I Joined Nike
- (browse all of her work here)
Lindsay is one of the foremost voices for women in running, helping us better understand structural inequities that lead to gender inequality and power disparities in the sport.
After earning a history degree from Harvard University while competing in track and field and cross country, Lindsay moved to New York City and worked in a variety of editing and journalism awards before finally landing at The New York Times.
As a senior producer of OpDocs, she’s produced memorable videos about the marathoner Memo and Walk, Run, Cha Cha (which earned a nomination for an Academy Award).
Lindsay is at the forefront of current affairs in the running world, highlighting how power is often unjustly wielded by the powerful against those with very little of it.
But she’s not just a running journalist – she’s a runner! And quite a fast one at that… just this past fall, she raced 2:53 at CIM, scoring a sub-3 marathon and improving on her PR by a massive 6 minutes.
Lindsay Crouse on Gender, Power, and Running
Lindsay at the Academy Awards for her work on OpDocs at the New York Times
In this conversation, Lindsay and I discuss her work, its real-world impact on the running community, and what draws her to these stories.
We also talk about:
- The changing culture of distance running
- Why representation matters, particularly for female athletes
- How we shortchange women runners through coaching and science
- Whether being a runner has helped her break these huge stories
- Why so many runners consider quitting (but shouldn’t)
Lindsay Crouse is someone to watch in the world of running. As a near-Olympic Trials Qualifier working for the “newspaper of record,” breaking the biggest stories in running, she’s an exciting figure in the industry.
Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or Google Play.
I hope you enjoy this episode and please give Lindsay a shout to thank her for making time for us!
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