Overview

Grief broke her. Running rebuilt her. When her son David died of cancer at just ten years old, Susan Carpenito Heard was consumed by grief and debilitating guilt. She hadn't just lost a child; she'd lost her sense of control, her identity, and her will to live. As Susan sank into a deep depression, she found solace in food and alcohol. But those crutches brought an additional burden: the knowledge that her son, whose motto was ""Embrace Life,"" would be devastated by her decline. After years of avoiding reality only to hit rock bottom, Susan decided to run, quite literally, towards something new: hope. She strapped on a Fitbit. She took her first strides. With every mile, Susan found new ways to process her pain, regain control, and heal her heart. The girl who once failed P.E. because she refused to run a mile was now a woman on a desperate yet exhilarating mission. From her couch, to her first 5K, to completing a marathon, the thousands of miles she logged became a journey through grief and a grounding force to navigate many additional challenges she endured in the years after David died. Award-winning journalist Jeanne Albanese used hundreds of journal entries and interviews to chronicle Susan's transformation, sharing her victories and setbacks in Susan's voice--with the same raw honesty found in the online journals and sweaty selfies Susan used to document her progress. Out on the road, she discovered a sense of self and accomplishment she struggled to find elsewhere. Because even if you're at the back of the pack, you're still moving forward. Woman on the Run is an honest, gritty, and ultimately joyful memoir. It shows healing is rarely linear, but through persistence and resilience you can find hope, joy, and a new sense of self, even in the wake of life's darkest moments. This story is for anyone who has suffered great loss, wrestled with purpose, or needs an inspirational jolt to start their own journey. The goal, as David so eloquently put it, is simple: embrace life.

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Reviews

""Sucked down by a massive whirlpool of grief, Susan Heard is tossed a lifeline that not only saves her, but heals her into a triumphant hero. The lifeline? The shoestring on a pair of running shoes. Running works. Every time, for every person. Let it. This wonderfully written book is inspiring, enlightening and just plain helpful."" --Kathrine Switzer, first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon, co-founder of 261 Fearless ""There are moments in life that break us, and there are the choices we make afterward. Susan Carpenito Heard's story is a testament to the courage it takes to stand back up after the unimaginable loss of a child. I've learned in my own fight with ALS that we don't get to choose every battle placed before us, but we get to choose how we show up. We can surrender to what's been taken, or we can live fiercely in what remains. Susan's journey reflects that same spirit, the refusal to let tragedy have the final word. This book is not just about loss. It's about resilience and learning to move forward. And its proof that even in the shadow of profound sorrow, the human spirit can still rise, still run, still inspire."" --Tim Green, New York Times best-selling author, attorney, former NFL player and commentator ""At once devastating and deeply life-affirming, Woman on the Run tells the story of a mother forced to survive the unimaginable. After losing her ten-year-old son to a long and brutal battle with cancer, Susan finds herself unraveling-grappling with grief, alcohol, and a despair that threatens to swallow her whole. But healing begins, unexpectedly, with a single step. Running becomes her lifeline-first a way to outrun the pain, then a path back to herself. What emerges is not a tidy triumph over tragedy, but something far more powerful: the hard-won ability to live fully in the presence of both joy and sorrow. Woman on the Run is a testament to resilience, to movement as medicine, and to the fierce, fragile courage it takes to keep going."" --Selene Yeager, host of award-winning podcast Hit Play, Not Pause ""In Woman on the Run, you will run every step with Susan: The pain that turns into resilience. The loss that turns into optimism. The struggles that turn into courage. I never met her son David, but I promise that I will never forget him."" --Ted Spiker, former Men's Health senior editor, Sub-30 Run Club founder ""Woman on the Run will capture your heart and encourage you to always keep moving forward."" --Johanna Garton, author of All in Stride: A Journey in Running, Courage and the Search for the American Dream

Author Information

After her son David died of cancer, Susan Heard left her career in higher education to work for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, the largest private funder of pediatric cancer research, to help with her grief and to keep her promise to him to never stop working toward cures. Now the Senior Director of Distinguished Giving, she works tirelessly to bring in large donors and assist donors to incorporate St. Baldrick's into their estate planning. Before her work at St. Baldrick's, she worked in student admissions and activities at Moravian University, Lafayette College and Centenary College, where she was the director of admissions operations. She holds a master's degree in college student development from Northeastern and counseling and a bachelor's in psychology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She's a diehard member of the Sub-30 Club. Jeanne Albanese has over 35 years of experience as a journalist in Syracuse, NY, where she worked for The Syracuse Post Standard, Herald Journal and Herald American newspapers, as well as as a freelancer for several local magazines. She is a former adjunct professor at her alma mater, the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University as well as Onondaga Community College and Manlius Pebble Hill School. She is currently the Assistant Director of Media and Public Relations at SUNY Upstate Medical University. She has won local, state and national journalism awards and was once listed under Notable Writing in ""Best American Sportswriting."" Her poem ""Your Chair"" was published in The Healing Muse, A Journal of Literary and Visual Arts.

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