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Remission Miles: From Crohn’s Diagnosis to a Cowtown Marathon Finish w/ Norah St Peter

  • Writer: Taylor Sayles
    Taylor Sayles
  • Feb 16
  • 4 min read

Growing up, Norah thought athletes were "a whole other category of human." She preferred music and theater to organized sports, and only did cross country in high school because a sport was required. She hated every second of it and put nothing into it.


A Difficult Diagnosis

In her mid-20s, Norah started to get very sick. For years, she slept 16 to 17 hours a day, in incredible pain and discomfort, without a diagnosis and without any answers. In 2020, she was finally diagnosed with Crohn's disease. As the treatment started to work, for the first time in her life, Norah felt motivated to move her body and celebrate having a body that could get out of bed and be active. She started rock climbing, and found she had fun with it, even though it didn't come to her naturally. It was a huge growth moment, and paved the way for her future running journey.


A Student of the Sport

Norah is a self-described nerd, and after starting off running with the "must run as fast as you can until you feel terrible" mindset, she luckily dug into the research and learned how to run further. She learned it was ok to keep it easy, that you shouldn't always run to your limits, and you can take breaks if you need to. It instantly improved her enjoyment of the sport, and after about eight months of running, she started training for a half marathon.


Her first half marathon was an incredible and empowering experience. She met friends at the start line, who prompted her to go to her first run club, and later start her own run club. Once she crossed the finish line, she knew she could do so much more than this. She started asking herself..."what if I ran a marathon?"


Training for Her First Marathon and Taper Tantrums

Norah signed up for the Cowtown Marathon, and built her own running plan based on free resources (there's no one way to run a marathon, after all). She was located in Texas, but it still gets cold in the winter. One of her 15-mile runs included running in three-degree wind chills. But she wanted to be prepared for anything on race day, so she powered through. A few 18-mile runs felt SO good, her confidence built for the big day.


The taper tantrums hit Norah hard, and she felt the race day anxiety building. Not to mention, the race day forecast showed the temperature rising steadily. It ended up being the hottest day since the previous fall, a far cry from the weather she had trained through. But she packed her electrolytes, got ready for the race, and hoped for the best.


At the start line, nerves were calmed by the unexpected joy of seeing friends from her first run club. They helped her realize that with the weather the way it was, she had to let go and "what will be, will be."


It's Not Always a Victory Lap

The first half of her marathon was fun, and she truly felt like it was a victory lap after a long and tiring training block. Her partner and a friend from work organized support groups that saw her at nine points throughout the race, boosting her spirits and keeping her motivated even when things got hard.


But mile 14 hit her harder than she expected - the furthest she had ever raced, with so much left to go.


At mile 18, she started to hit the wall, frustrated that she wasn't feeling well and that nothing seemed to pull her out of the mental funk. The heat was rising, and it no longer felt like a victory lap. Her frustration turned to rage at every runner who had ever described the marathon that way.


The last few miles were tough, but she managed through and crossed the finish line to become a marathoner. It took days for the finish line to sink in, initially eclipsed by the mental battle she fought on the course.


But in the following days, gratitude filled her heart. Successful treatment for Crohn's often doesn't work forever, and you never really know what will be your last good day for awhile. Getting through a full training block (and now three marathons), was truly something to be grateful for.


Lessons Learned

  • There are always going to be things you can’t control on race day.

  • Mental training and being able to let go of things outside of your control are important parts of the journey.

  • Every run is a gift.

  • Be a student of the sport. You can’t trust your training if you don’t know if your training is trustworthy.


Want to hear Norah tell the story herself? Listen to the full episode now: Remission Miles: From Crohn’s Diagnosis to a Cowtown Marathon Finish w/ Norah St Peter — available wherever you get your podcasts.


Check out this resource for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation


Listen to my most recent mini episode: Introducing The First Marathon Buddy Program



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Follow along with the show:

👣 Personal IG/TikTok: @tay.says / @taysays

🎙️ Podcast IG/TikTok: @myfirstmarathonpod

📺 YouTube: @MyFirstMarathonPodcast


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