Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive." - Van Wilder
My name is Steph Bruce. I'm a professional distance runner for HOKA NAZ Elite, a mom of 2 boys, born 15 months apart, and motivating and inspiring my journey as a mom and athlete. I have Celiac Disease which I discovered after years of injury and illness and it changed my running career. I co-own the energy bar company Picky Bars alongside Lauren Fleshman and Jesse Thomas. I live and train in Flagstaff, AZ with my husband Ben and we run a coaching business called Running with the Bruces. I have been running professionally for the past 12+ years with many setbacks, and many triumphant moments. I’ve been 10th, 11th, and 13th at the NYC Marathon, 10th at the London Marathon, 6th at Chicago, 12th at Boston. I won my first national title at the 2018 Peachtree Road Race and my 3rd title at 38 in 2022. But you know what else? I still have incontinence from 2 babies born so close together and a grade 4 tear/episiotomy. In 2022 my mom died of breast cancer after a long battle that metastasized to her liver. 20 years before that I lost my dad to prostate cancer that also metastasized to his liver. Last year I was diagnosed with BAVD, a congenital heart condition that I was born with. It was a rough year navigating loss and this new information about my health.
I'm a mom, a wife, a dreamer, a surviver, a griever and a believer. I have learned humor, perspective, empathy, and a positive outlook can go a long way. I’m a running nerd to the core, and love to be transparent as possible when it comes to my running career, parenting, and life. I used to believe making an Olympic Team was going to define my running career, until I didn't make one, 4 times. I wondered what more is there in running than simply success measured by a number or a place? It's who we become striving to be our best. For me it's sharing the journey from start to finish with all the messy in between. It means leaving a mark on the sport in wherever my passion lies. Even if it's a different path than how most people are doing it, my mom likes to say "Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything."
““Rocky” Sylvester Stallone says “if I can still be standing on my feet, you know what, then life isn’t so bad. And if you can say symbolically at the very end of our lives, we were never humbled, we were knocked down, but we got up. I can say I lived life with integrity. I took all the blows and I still prevailed, I think that’s a good epitaph for anyone. ”
