Aired March 10, 2024:The LA Marathon is Sunday March 17th. SO many incredible people running for so many reasons. This will be the 11th marathon of 29 that Summer Willis is running. She’s a mom and a wife, an athlete, and the Founder of strengththroughstrides.org, a female athletic empowerment nonprofit that supports strong women overcoming trauma. Summer was 19 years old and a college sophomore in Austin, Texas when she was sexually assaulted at a party that prompted her to run for her life. Now age 29, she will run 29 marathons to help others who have been sexually assaulted though her non-profit Strength through Strides.
She will run the NYC Marathon carrying a 45lb mattress the entire 26.2 miles. In LA, she is trying to break the record for ‘most outfit changes while running a marathon’ and will change into various outfits from the Barbie movie on Sunday 3/17! While in LA she will tour the UCLA Rape Treatment Center and will donate proceeds from her participation in the Marathon to them. Before taking on these challenges, Summer had never run a single mile before. Strength Through Strides is an empowerment and support program focusing on helping women overcome trauma and hardships. STS does this through coaching and holistic retreats focusing on health and wellness, goal setting, mindset coaching, and community support.
