First Marathon Story: Don’t Quit on a Bad Day: A Marathon Journey Through Pain and Persistence w/ Cass Robinson

Taylor Sayles
Mar 30
3 min read

Cass played sports a lot as a kid, but unexplained joint instability issues (which she now knows is from Ehlers-Danlos syndromes) prevented her from continuing movement long-term. She grew up thinking pain was normal. Cass gained a lot of weight, she had chronic dislocation and pain and she started to dislike herself. She moved to Texas in 2008 and went to a weight loss camp, where she started running.

She started processing emotions on her run, and fell in love with running the miles. She returned to the camp the next year, and was asked to become a mentor for the program, and that's when she says, a spark was lit.

After her second summer at the camp, Cass signed up for cross country in her senior year of high school. She as excited to be included in something, excited to be a "sports person," something she never thought she could be. The team was kind, inclusive, and that was the first time she saw a "running community."

Finding Her Way Back

When she went to college, Cass started struggling. She gained the weight she lost back as she fell out of love with movement and fell into a deep depression. It got to the point where she took a year off of school and moved back in with her parents, knowing she needed time to heal. It was at that point that she started running again.

She ran a 5K for cancer research in honor of her grandmother, and it was more than just a personal accomplishment - it held so much meaning.

More health problems crept up for Cass, leading to brain surgery, from a complication of her Ehlers-Danlos syndromes, and at that point she wasn't even sure she'd ever be able to walk normally again, let alone run. But after taking a break, recovering from her surgery, she gradually found her way back to running in 2023.

A Sign From The Universe

Cass describes running as feeling like you're flying. It helped her through so many of her struggles, from health to trauma. She found running as a way to take charge of her pain. She started with slow increments, and eventually realized that after all she had struggled through mentally, she knew she could get through the physical discomfort of the marathon.

The marathon came to her. She won an entry to the Austin Marathon. It was the universe sending her a sign. She had a whole year to decide whether or not she was going to run, and she decided to see if she could handle the half marathon distance. It was challenging, it was hilly, but she did it. After she finished the half, she decided she was going to move forward with the marathon. She knew she wouldn't be the fastest, but that was fine. This was a journey, a journey of healing.

Getting Up The Hills

Cass did a 32-week training plan. She has two kids, coaches soccer on the weekend, but she got up early to train and meet her goals. She found she loves to run in the dark and the silence of the early morning.

She ended up with an injury a month before the marathon. She was sure it was over. Cass took two weeks off, taped her knee when running long distances, and learned to give her body grace. She was able to heal and come back from the injury.

She went into her first marathon with two goals: don't stop running, and cross the finish line before the cutoff. On marathon morning, she was nervous and excited. Cass was able to run through the college campus she attended for a semester, feeling the full-circle moment and enjoying how far she had come and appreciating that she hadn't given up when she could have.

Lessons Learned