The second annual Runner’s World Cover Search attracted more than 1,600 entrants, and Bart Yasso, RW’s chief running officer; executive editor Tish Hamilton; and RW editor-in-chief David Willey pored over the photos and words submitted by every single awesome runner.
Readers weighed in online as well, casting more than 250,000 votes for their favorites. From a pool of 100 semifinalists, these finalists were chosen by the Runner’s World panel joined by Peter Ciaccia, president of the New York Road Runners, and Today Top male vote getter overall.
Aug. 28 update: Originally we announced 10 finalists, including two Reader’s Choice finalists (one male and one female). But due to an oversight during the final stages of judging, we mistakenly omitted Andrew Peterson as one of our Reader’s Choice finalists. Andrew received the most community votes (for a male) during the semifinal round—more than Michael Scott, who was the cumulative leader among males for community voting during final and semifinal rounds combined. So we have added Andrew as a third Reader’s Choice finalist, along with Michael Scott and Kimberly Griner Heinz, who was the overall leader in community voting among female entrants as well as the leader in the semifinal round.
Interviewing potential finalists by Skype at times left all the judges in tears—the stories were that inspiring. We wish we could have 100 covers. “The process was brutal,” says Yasso. “There are no losers but we had to choose a winner.” Which awesome runners (one male, one female) will be on the cover of the December issue? Find out by tuning in to Today Published: Aug 24, 2015 3:35 PM EDT!
Here are the 11 finalists:
MICHAEL CATES, 35, Chicago, Illinois
Running hashtag: #CancerShmancer
Bio: In the months leading up to his first marathon, Michael Cates suffered stomach issues. Sometimes the pain was intense. But it wasn’t until after the Austin Livestrong Marathon in February 2012 that the young father got his shocking diagnosis: stage 4 lymphoma. Treatment followed (along with the birth of his second child), and in October 2014, he ran his second marathon, beating his previous time by nearly an hour. He also became a coach with the Cancer to 5K program, which trains survivors to run a race. “You want positive things to come out of the experience,” he says. “Cancer isn’t just a physical disease—it affects you mentally and spiritually too. Running is a way to impact all of those things. It’s recovery and therapy.”
See entry: JORGE GARCIA, 42, Glen Carbon, Illinois
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Running hashtag: #RunnersRock
Bio: You might be tempted to say Jorge Garcia is running away from the problems of his past. When he was 7, his father murdered his mother. Garcia and his little brother endured subsequent prison visits, custody battles, children's shelters, and even life on the streets, scrounging for food. Attending four high schools in four years, Garcia managed to graduate and enlisted in the Marines, where he learned to love running and, he says, “to lead by example.” And how! A father now of two daughters, the procurement analyst for Boeing has run more than 60 marathons, including one in all 50 states, and a series of five marathons in one week, all under 4 hours. He hopes especially to inspire kids who face challenging circumstances. “Every time I cross a finish line, my mom is watching me from heaven.”
See entry: More about Jorge
SAMANTHA GARDNER, 30, Daphne, Alabama
Running hashtag: #runtoovercome
Bio: When Sam Gardner won the Rock ’n’ Roll Louisiana Marathon in January, it meant more to her than first place and a personal record of 3:03. “Winning the marathon was a turning point,” she says. “It took a horrible situation that happened to me while running and turned it into something great.” Ten years earlier, while on a training run for a half-marathon, Gardner, 20 years old at the time, was attacked, held for over six hours, and raped repeatedly before being released. She was determined not to let her attacker ruin her life, so she completed the half-marathon, with a friend by her side every step of the way. (The perpetrator was caught in a subsequent crime, and he remains in prison.) To this day, she does not like to run outside alone. Now married—to a runner—she has slowly opened up about her experience, first to the congregation at her church and then, after her win, in a blog. The positive response, she says, has been overwhelming. “It was a victory over tragedy.”
See entry: Influencer Apologizes for E-Bikes on NYC Course
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Running hashtag: #imwithcupid
Bio: When Bobby Gill ran his first marathon, in 2008, he quickly discovered he had a gift for endurance. In the next two years, he would run 50 miles, run the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim-to-rim, and place second in a 100-miler. But today he’s more excited to run just over one mile in the dead of winter—in his underwear. All in the name of a charity that he cofounded with a friend whose little brother suffered from a rare genetic disorder. The young men wanted to raise money in an unconventional way and came up with the idea for a 1.5 (-ish)-mile run on Valentine’s Day. In only underwear. Why underwear? “It’s fun!” says the not-shy Gill with a laugh. The first year, 650 people signed up, and Gill is happy to report that his event attracts people who’ve never run before. In 2014, Cupid’s Undie Run raised $3.5 million for the Children’s Tumor Foundation, these events had spread to more than 35 cities around the world, and Gill quit his job as a biomedical engineer with the FDA to focus on raising funds full-time. And lots of fun is had by all.
See entry: More about Michelle
KIMBERLY GRINER HEINZ, 58, Arkdale, Wisconsin
Running hashtag: #overcomingbyrunning
More about Michael
Bio: When Kimberly Griner Heinz moved to the small town of Arkdale, Wisconsin, five years ago, she couldn’t find anyone to run with, so she started a running club. The community she fostered would later provide her with a network of safety when she suffered a mother’s worst nightmare. In February of last year, she lost her only child, Eric, 26, to a drug overdose. “My reasons for running have changed over the years from a desire for fitness, to compete in races, and to decompress from the mental weariness that came with being the mother of an addict,” she says. “Now I run to cope with despair.” A wellness and events coordinator for a local hospital, she is quick to say that she recognizes all kinds of people have all kinds of struggles, and she hopes to help them tap into the healing power of running. “It gives me a purpose,” she says. “It’s a positive part of life.” Her community continues to rally around her, giving her more votes than anyone else on the Runner’s World Cover Contest leaderboard.
See entry: A Renewed Relationship With Running
A Renewed Relationship With Running
Running hashtag: #runlikeahijabi
Bio: Rahaf Khatib, a practicing Muslim who was born in Syria and raised in the U.S., wants to clear up a few common misconceptions about her religion. First off, women are NOT discouraged from being active. “The Koran reminds us that we have a duty to take care of our health,” she says. Even so, when she lines up at races, she is usually the only woman in a hijab. The stay-at-home mother of three kids, ages 6 to 10, hopes her participation in 5Ks and marathons alike will inspire other Muslim women to start running. Since entering the contest, Khatib has been contacted by local and national groups asking her to start running clubs for Muslim women. “The running community is so positive, so welcoming, and so open-minded. I love it,” she says. “I preach to my fellow covered sisters that no matter how you look or what you wear, don’t let that stop you from running!”
See entry: ANDREW PETERSON, 22, Indianapolis, Indiana
ANDREW PETERSON, 22, Indianapolis, Indiana
Running hashtag: #NOlimitsAndrew
DESIREE RINCON, 34, Tampa, Florida
Bio: Born with permanent brain damage from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Andrew Peterson speaks slowly and haltingly. But he leaves all that behind when he runs: He ran his first 3K in 2002 at age 9. He earned four varsity letters at high school, overcoming some resistance to his participation due to his disability. In the 2014 Special Olympics, he took gold medals in the 1500, 3000, and 8000 meters. “Nothing in life has been easy,” he writes in his Cover Search entry. “Running gave me success—proving that I could compete with anyone.” Over the past two years in numerous high school gymnasiums, Peterson has delivered his powerful message of perseverance; part of the reason Special Olympics Indiana named him its 2014 Athlete of the Year. Peterson was one of the top ten finalists in the 2014 Cover Search, and his story appeared in our December 2014 issue. His resilience and determination inspired more than 8800 people to cast votes for him in the semi-finalist period of the Runner’s World Cover Search.
See entry: Top male vote getter overall
DESIREE RINCON, 34, Tampa, Florida
Running hashtag: #SHEnanigans
Bio: In 2011, after three deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq with the U.S. Army, Desiree Rincon was diagnosed with gastric cancer. Eight months of surgery, radiation, bed rest, extreme weight loss, and depression followed—not to mention a broken-off engagement—after which she was left diabetic, hypoglycemic, and prone to seizures. A therapist at the Veteran’s Administration suggested she get a service dog. Roxie, an Australian shepherd trained to recognize the onset of seizure, came to Rincon three years ago and has since run multiple marathons, Ragnar Relays, and Spartan Races alongside her person. “Everybody in our local running community knows Roxie,” says Rincon, who is currently working on getting a master’s degree in International Relations. “She’s more famous than I am.” Told she was a cover contest finalist, Roxie said “Woof!” and gave a high-five.
See entry: Running Supports This Marathoner’s Sobriety
MICHAEL SCOTT, 42, Greencastle, Indiana
Running hashtag: #runnerdsrock
MICHAEL SCOTT, 42, Greencastle, Indiana
Bio: In 2011, Michael Scott decided to get off the couch and start running, and within a year he had lost 60 pounds and run both a marathon and a 55-mile ultra. Two years later, he finished his first 100-miler. Motivated by the Boston bombings, he took 42 minutes off his marathon PR to run a 3:09 and qualify for the 2015 Boston Marathon. A stay-at-home dad, he became certified to coach in 2014. His wife has run marathons and ultras, his two older daughters run track, and his youngest rides her bike alongside her parents. He says he gets just as much satisfaction helping other people achieve their goals as he does notching his own. “I get a joy out of seeing my athletes succeed and improve.”
See entry: JORGE GARCIA, 42, Glen Carbon, Illinois
Top male vote getter overall
Running hashtag: #genuinelyencouraged
Bio: Michelle Hercules Walker weighed 307 pounds last October, and was feeling depressed about herself, her marriage, her life. Two things changed her outlook: the sight of her two daughters, Maya, age 9, and Maria, age 7, playing together on her bed; and a phone call from a girlfriend who had just worked out with a personal trainer. The trainer put Michelle Hercules (we love her name) on a walk-run program, and just eight months later, she had lost 112 pounds and gained the confidence to complete a 10K in 1:20. A phlebotomist who makes house calls, she gets lots of attention from clients who’ve witnessed up close her dramatic and quick transformation. “People say, ‘You look fabulous,’” she says, with an ebullient wide smile. “I tell them, ‘If I can do this, you can do anything you put your mind to.’”
See entry: More about Michelle
MICHAEL WARDIAN, 41, Arlington, Virginia
Running hashtag: #relentless
Bio: Michael Wardian calls himself “relentless,” and indeed his enduring pursuit of mile markers is remarkable. He ran in the 2004, 2008, and 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials. He has represented the U.S. in the 50K and 100K World Championships numerous times. When we spoke to him in August, he had just won a 100-miler and was on his way to a multi-day stage race in Peru. But we call his deadpan and self-deprecating sense of humor “hilarious.” Recalling how he asked for an application to his first marathon, Boston, in the 1990s, he said he was surprised to learn he’d have to qualify. “What? I don’t want to run anyone else’s marathon, I just want to run Boston!” An international shipbroker and a father of two young children, Wardian has also set records for treadmill, costume, and jog-stroller runs because, he says, “It’s important to keep it fun.”
See entry: JORGE GARCIA, 42, Glen Carbon, Illinois
