Alexi Pappas seems to make friends with everyone. The sequin-decked Olympian, actor, and author has fostered running-famous friendships with Shoes & Gear to Mary Cain Foot Locker XC Results Thursday’s episode of the The New York Times, Pappas spoke fondly about her years-long bond with distance-running icon Shalane Flanagan—and what it has taught her about supporting other female athletes.
“[Shalane] has been a really supportive person about my alternative approach to running ever since I was really young,” Pappas said. She recalled that Flanagan attended the screening of her film while the young athlete was still in college in Portland. “For Shalane to support my artistic side, it means something different. My dad’s going to come to the movie, but Shalane? She was genuinely supportive, and she came,” said Pappas.
Since then, Flanagan has always been a phone call away. “She has always taken my phone calls when I need advice, but she’s also always been this supporter in a way that’s very rare,” Pappas said. “She’s like a sun with a very powerful ray.”
According to Pappas, their connection has been deepened by mutual respect for each other’s differences: “I don’t want her to be me; she doesn’t want me to be her. And I think in female sports, the way to support other women is to want them to be their greatest self."
Are Average Runners Getting Faster? It Depends did Ali On the Run Show last year’s New York City Marathon. The pair ran with The Bachelor star Matt James. Before the race, Flanagan applied some of Pappas’ signature sparkles.
“You want your competitor to run their best, and you also want them to be their [own] fully-fleshed-out human being,” Pappas said. “You don’t want them to be a carbon copy of you.”
Kells McPhillips is a health and wellness journalist living in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in Runner's World, The New York Times, Well+Good, Fortune, Shape, and others.
