About Whitney Heins

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Hi! I’m Whitney Heins, the creator of this website and community. I’m a former award-winning TV journalist who found a void of information related to running as a mom when training for my first marathon after having a baby.

whitney and her family

I started this site in 2019 while working from home in public relations with a 5-year-old and 2-year-old. I soon let go of my PR gig to focus full-time on The Mother Runners and grow the community.

I then became certified in run coaching because I also found a lack of run coaches who understood “mom life”—and the key to flexibility in training to bend with it. It’s a pure joy for me to coach women around the world who are either new or getting back into running or chasing big goals such as a BQ.

As for me, I’ve been a runner since I was 6 years old. Despite people telling (pregnant) me I should “kiss my running goodbye” when I became a mom, I clung to it dearly. In the throes of new motherhood, it was the only time I felt like myself again.

At the same time as The Mother Runners was born, I also began chasing a goal to qualify for the Olympic Trials Marathon. Unfortunately, I learned that training intensely and not sleeping much wasn’t a good combination and I fell into an injury cycle. I was able to run a 2:54 marathon and a 1:20 half-marathon at the age of 41 in 2022-3. Competitive by nature, I continue to strive to be “faster as a master” while maintaining a healthy balance as a mother and runner.

I call Knoxville, Tennessee, home, where I live with my husband Jake (known to run a few ultras in his day); my two fiery children, Eleanor (10), and Cal (7); and our two furry children (pups), Riley (14) and Niki (1). I got my degree in Government from Georgetown University in Washington, DC and my master’s in public relations from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

I am so thankful you are here. I truly believe that when we do something that makes us feel good and feel good about ourselves, such as running, that spiderwebs out into all we do. The people in our lives including our children are positively impacted by our improved mood and health, healthy habits we are sharing, and life lessons they are learning through us.

It’s not easy being able to run as a mom, but it’s definitely worth it.

Learn more about The Mother Runners here.

whitney heins running a race

In the Media

It’s been an honor to have The Mother Runners and my expertise featured in media outlets such as Nike, Runner’s World, SELF, and Women’s Running. I was also a regular contributor to Marathon Handbook and Runner Click, and hosted RunnerClick’s podcast, The Passionate Runner.

See a complete list of my media interviews in my In the Media section.

Readers’ Favorites

I write about an array of topics for fellow mother runners! Here is a list of some fan favorites:

Connect with Me!

I love hearing from my readers about their running journeys and ideas for articles. If you have a problem or question, please let me get you the information to help you!

Send me an email at whitney@themotherrunners.com. You can also find me on: