Tina Muir

Mother. Author. Sustainability Advocate. Running For Real Podcast. Former 🇬🇧 Elite Runner. Tina’s story resonates with people from all walks of life.

Tina Muir is the founder and CEO of Running for Real, a support network and community for runners; a mother of two; and a former elite runner turned sustainability advocate. She hosts the award winning Running For Real podcast, a collection of conversations about running, the climate emergency, and social justice. Running For Real’s episode with Jordan Marie Daniel was voted Best Podcast Episode o

f 2021 at the Outdoor Media Summit and Running For Real won Best Fitness Podcast at the 2021 Sports Podcast Awards. Tina also co-hosted Running Realized, a podcast that provides a space to explore difficult subjects and offers insights to create meaningful change in the running world and beyond. With an impressive athletic career, including representing Great Britain and Northern Ireland in a world championship, Tina enjoyed success in the world of competitive running. However, it was during this time that she realized the profound impact her lifestyle had on the environment. She made a commitment to embrace sustainable living and reduce her carbon footprint, and recognizing the power of her platform as a renowned athlete and influencer, leveraged her position to advocate for climate change action. Tina has worked with the United Nations on campaigns related to climate change and humanitarian affairs, and has written for the UN Chronicle. The presenters of the New York City Marathon, the Chicago Marathon, and the Peachtree Road Race have brought her onto their sustainability teams. Through her podcast and social media presence, she starts conversations and shares resources on sustainability, climate change, and how individuals can make a positive difference in their own lives. Her book, Becoming a Sustainable Runner, co-written with Zoë Rom, merges runners’ passion for their sport with their concern for their health, their community, and the environment. As the first elite athlete to openly discuss having amenorrhea, Tina’s story went viral and was featured in People Magazine, The Daily Mail, Runners World, Women’s Running, and on ESPN. Since then she has become an advocate and supporter for others suffering from RED-S / REDs (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport). Her relatable and accessible approach has empowered many to become sustainability advocates themselves, creating a ripple effect of positive change that extends far beyond the realm of athletics.

10/17/2025

Racing for Sustainability brings runners together to take climate action. Through races, awareness, and collective impact. Every mile tells a story of a small way we can change. Those small actions add up to big impact.

Be part of the team that’s running toward a sustainable future.

Sign up to run for us through the link in my bio to get race opportunities and updates. Tell us what races you want to run! And yes, there are opportunities you have been desperate to find a way into! Sharing this post, helps show me you are taking action, helping us grow awareness is, in itself, an action for positive change.

💚

10/16/2025

It’s hard to imagine when you see it like this.

In our daily lives, we get so used to stepping over trash, ignoring it, and ultimately (sad as it is), not even noticing it. And the thing is, it’s not just you, it’s all of us. I do it too. In fact, often my five year old is the one who hasn’t become used to it, and will pick up things I didn’t even see (or maybe tell myself I didn’t see, so I don’t feel like a bad human).

One of the biggest revelations runners often have after joining me plogging, is how much they see. After their eyes have spent some time scanning for items to pick up, it’s hard to unsee it as they go about their day. I hope they hold onto that and take small actions.

When we pile it together at the end, we see just how much waste was on the sidewalks, next to the curbs, and yes, unfortunately, in bushes, trees, and other natural items, that feel the most offensive of all.

bags and strong and sturdy (that’s why I have used them as my home trash bags for the last 5 years), and they can handle the volume, but it’s still sad to imagine that all of these items, would have otherwise been slowly being crushed down and broken into tiny pieces that end up in our oceans, our drinking water, our food.

One thing I always say, is that you never know who sees you, is inspired by you to take positive action in their own life that day. There is also something to be said about if there is trash already on the ground, we feel less guilty for dropping our own.

We do the best we can, and sure enough, by next Bank of America Chicago Marathon, there will be more there again to pick up. But it matters, I truly believe that in my heart.

We will be plogging again in NYC on October 31 if you want to join us (from the RUNCENTER).

For now, grateful for these humans who chose to come out, post race day, and do something positive. You inspire me to keep trying 💚

for (and if you were there and want your photos, marathon foto is generously giving them to you for free❤️, dm me!)

10/12/2025

Yay! Ran with so much love and joy for my team, for the chicago community, and for myself💚 to rewrite a memory of a time when I was too hard on myself, when I should have simply been proud of my best.

Ran 19.5 with and Alex, then pushed myself the final 6 to see what I could do (one week post 50k).

Oh body, you have been through so much this past 18 months , and I’m so proud of you ❤️❤️❤️

10/11/2025

I never could have dreamed of this turn 💚

Four years ago my career in sustainability began, with this race. I never imagined this is where it would take me. Founding a nonprofit that would become an official charity partner of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

And tomorrow, I get to run the 26.2 miles through this city I have come to love through my work with .event, alongside five teammates .rauhbieri .runs_ .u.n.i.e fundraising to help the running industry (especially small races) become more sustainable.

I suspect I’ll be standing there tomorrow morning with tears in my eyes, I’m proud of myself for the work and also for this opportunity, I am so so fortunate and lucky 💚

So if you are out there cheering, look out for us, shout extra loud (although please, no confetti cannons!!!). I can’t wait to celebrate with you 💚

10/09/2025

Eeeek! Time to rewrite my internal narrative with this race.

Last time I ran the Bank of America was 2014, and I had a horrible race. Of course, as someone who was fast, it wasn’t a bad time, I just was trying to be perfect and when the smallest thing went wrong, I spiraled and hated it. I felt so embarrassed that I had let everyone down (no one really cared, but I couldn’t see that).

So 11 years later, my 4th year of working with the race, I am back to run it. Not to go all out and stick my eyes to the ground, but to celebrate. This amazing city, the incredible community here, this intersection of my career, passion, and heart. Let’s make it a race to remember in the best way 💚

And after I finish, I can’t wait to grab my water bottle, and refill it over and over in the post race party area. This movement towards sustainable water solutions is gaining momentum (yay for announcing their partnership with today too!).

Let’s go!

10/08/2025

The freedom one simple thought gave me to show up how I wanted.

The Naturalist 50k involved back to back climbs I have not experienced before. For this former marathoner who chased the flattest and fastest courses, my running could not look more different.

About 8 miles in, my legs already feeling fatigued from the climbs, and thinking about how much further I had to go, I started to get stressed. I knew this feeling from my past, I had worked through many a mental freakout (that’s what I used to call them), but ultimately, while I calmed my system, it was strategic, I needed to get back on pace and continue the high intensity grind.

I found myself slipping into that mindset, was it time to grit my teeth and push ahead? Did I have the strength, the want to grind for another 20+ miles over another 5000ft of climbing?

Then a thought came through, it said, “Tina, this is your race, you can do whatever you want with it. You can stop and take in the view, the sounds and nature around you. You can slow down if you want to. Steve and the girls will love you no matter what, your loved ones won’t think any less of you. This is your race.”

I felt everything relax. Now it was a choice. Races of my past felt like there was no choice, once I committed, once I crossed that start line, the only question was, “are you going to give it EVERYTHING you have to get from a to b as quickly as you can?” Sure, I was good at starting off controlled and negative splitting, but there was never a choice in my mind whether I wanted to push myself or not. Races were for all out, that’s it.

Then I went through that period of running to give back. It was now the opposite, I was running comfortably, helping my friends achieve their goals, break down barriers. I liked that comfort, but I used it as a crux to avoid that question, do you want this?

On Saturday, 18 months post surgery, I gave myself the freedom to choose, and turned out, I did want to push myself, I did want to see what I was capable of, I did want to go. Not for fear of failure or what people would think if I didn’t run fast, but because I enjoy it.

When you trust yourself, you always win💚

📸 .photo

10/06/2025

It’s Bank of America race week! I have put it ALL here together, so you can absorb it now, and be focused on your race come Sunday. See you out there, I’ll be the one in the skirt made of trash, with my teammates

💚

10/05/2025

I said I wanted to go beyond my comfort zone and explore new limits. As I train for my hardest challenge yet (running 100k), I needed something intense. Lots of relentless steep climbs, and the opportunity to practice every element of race day. Yesterday’s Naturalist 50k definitely did that.

This race started with 3.5 miles of cement. Meaning the 22 miles in between fit in 7700ft of climbing, more than I have ever climbed in that kind of distance.

Pretty quickly, as we climbed, I found myself near the front. With runners completing 25k on the same course, I started to wonder if I was being smart. I had always excelled at trusting my instincts, knowing how much energy to exert and when, but this, this world of trail and ultra is so different, could I still rely on my instincts?

As I went over the most vert I have done since my surgery, my legs feeling the fatigue, I started to think about how much further I had to go. I hadn’t even hit the halfway mark distance wise, and my friend had told me to consider the climbs on the way back, it wasn’t going to be flat. I began to panic mentally, when a man in front of me (Matt) began to talk to me.

At first I felt annoyed, here we were on the toughest and longest climb of the day, and he was talking to me?! But then I realized this is what trail running is, and actually, it was working wonders to keep my mind off the fatigue. Matt and I talked for a while. As I neared the top, till I knew Steve and the girls were less than a mile away. I pressed ahead and saw the girls giddy faces as they ran beside me through halfway.

Back I went down the course, doing my best to trust myself on the downhills and push the ups. I did fall, but got right back up and calmed myself quickly.

Having the girls run into the finish with me, baileys face beaming happier than I have ever seen it, was a moment I’ll never forget. I showed them what it means to work hard for something for yourself, not for impressing anyone else.

A 25 minute course record was icing on the cake, but the real gift is being out there, post Achilles surgery, in nature, doing the best version of the sport I love 💚

02/19/2025

Unfathomable.
Every time I have been to Vail, I viscerally feel the previous visit, how my mental, emotional, spiritual, and of course, physical body experienced that moment. And each time, what felt unfathomable on the trip prior.

April 2024, my first visit ever to vail…for my Achilles surgery, not how I imagined I would visit this little ski town. Undergoing surgery, by choice, something I thought I would never do.

May 2024, two week checkup and stitches removal. On crutches, proud of the healing my body had done, the idea of walking on the beautiful trails all around, unfathomable.

June 2024, six week checkup, proud of a half mile hike, dreaming about walking a normal speed through Vail and being able to move without pain. On this day, unfathomable.

July 2024, final check in with surgeon, proud of a 1.5 mile walk through Vail, looking forward to running it instead, but told it is a month away. On this day, not happening.

August 2024, proud of a four mile hike in the mountains, the idea of a regular run through this small town I had come to care for, unfathomable.

February 2024, proud of a 6.2 mile run through a partly snow covered Vail💚

Having never been here before 2024, I have now been six times, yes, a few of them were planned (including driving my family out here for a vacation), but for the rest, the universe conspired to get me here, and through some miracle, it was all in network, so I could do it.

My foot isn’t perfect, I’m here to figure out what we are missing and how we get past this stage, but each of these visits show me the progress. It truly is about progress over perfection, and if you need that reminder to trust in your body, trust in yourself, and trust the process, this is it. I’m ten months post surgery and far from where I wanna be, but I’m on my way.

so all that’s left is to pick something that feels unfathomable right now, that next time, I will complete.

Trail community, help me out, how do I make my Vail story complete? (And yes, I would like snowboarding to be part of that story someday, just not yet!)

02/07/2025

When told me sustainability was going to be a topic for the main stage at , I knew what I wanted it to be; sustainability for small to medium sized races.

Because while I work with the biggest races, as with the races themselves, there are more participants overall when you combine the small races than when you combine the largest events. We need to speak to them, they matter.

Those small to medium races, they are the ones interacting with their communities, setting the standard for what racing in their city is going to be. They are a critical piece of the puzzle.

And so I invited an example of one of those race directors who is environmentally doing the work here in St Louis, not because he is “passionate” about it, but because he felt it was the right thing to do. has made small changes with a big impact in our area. If he could share why and how he made changes, others would see it wasn’t so scary.

Knowing everything about the inspiring humans living in Louisville, Michael suggested , Executive Director of , who had inspired me in my own work, yes please!

And of course I had to invite my bestie brand who make my favorite sustainability products. I speak about them almost daily. HydraPak has worked hard to make their resuable bottles, cups, and hydration carrying products the absolute best they can be. It shows. I loved that could join me on the panel to share how to transition races from thousands to millions of disposable cups to...well, none (or at least much less).

We had a wonderful conversation, and many race organizers came up to me during the rest of the conference to speak to how important it was to talk about this.

There was one other thing we announced, which brought my big smile in this photo, i’ll save that for another post. For now, celebrating an important and focused panel on sustainability to once again, bring people in, rather than leave them out.

01/20/2025

“Our streets are clean”

I hear that over and over about my neighborhood, and yes, compared to many other places, we are very fortunate.

And yet, I pick up trash every day on my walk to and from the girls schools.

It’s out there.

When suggested joining me for a trash pickup (and tree hug💚), I jumped at the chance.

I’m sure many people think I’m crazy, running, tree hugging lady who is always bending down to pick up newspapers that have left their driveways.

So having Erin offer to join me, yeah I jumped at the chance.

But even I was surprised how much trash we found in just two streets. It was a lot, but of course was up to the challenge!

There was even a bag of p**p (to which I told her, “nope, don’t pick that up”, p**p and needles are a no for plogging).

I guarantee the streets near you have some trash, headed toward a nearby drain.

You don’t have to “go plogging” with a bag, but could you pick up a few pieces of trash each day for the rest of the month? If nothing else, it gives us back a sense of control over our surroundings, and starting tomorrow, we might need that❤️

Ps. Code TINA20 Will give you 20% if you need more control, repurpose has you covered for the bags ;)

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http://runningforreal.com/

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Tina is a 2:36 marathoner and Great Britain runner who shocked the running world by taking a hiatus to focus on starting a family and overcoming amenorrhea. A few months later, she was pregnant, and had her first daughter, Bailey Grace in January 2018. Tina created the Running for Real Community to foster a healthy mindset around running. This is a space where runners can explore, embrace, and get better from setbacks through inspiring podcasts, videos, and blog posts, and most importantly, sharing thoughts and experiences. Behind every personal best, there are plenty of personal not-so-bests, from beating ourselves up about just-missed PRs to the injury blues to embarrassing falls. Running can really hurt, but we don’t have to go through it alone.