Sarah Lavender Smith is an author and longtime ultrarunner who writes about adventure in midlife.
Sarah Lavender Smith is an author and longtime ultrarunner who writes about adventure in midlife.
“Sarah Lavender Smith has long been one of trail running’s finest and most insightful writers, and her first book, The Trail Runner’s Companion, ties everything together for all trail runners, from newbies to veterans.”
– John Trent, award-winning sportswriter and author of Second Sunrise, a history of the Western States Endurance Run
Sarah competing in the 2024 Grand to Grand Ultra.
Photo credit: Anastasia Wilde for Grand to Grand Ultra
Memoir
Running Stages is Sarah’s memoir in progress about ultrarunning in midlife.
A restless empty-nester at 55, the author returns to the Southwest desert as a past champion to run a 170-mile weeklong self-supported ultramarathon, uncertain whether her older and slower body still can handle the extreme adventure.
As she runs and camps through the harsh, blistering landscape, each stage of this fringe footrace prompts emotional reflection on her upbringing, choices, and desires. Making peace with the past and with the runner she became may prove more challenging than reaching any finish line.
Her story of a wild week shows how running reveals character and how aging can be a surprise advantage.
Newsletter
Sarah writes Mountain Running & Living from her high-altitude home in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.
Her newsletter features personal essays with practical advice about trail running, mountain life & midlife grit.
Sarah’s Substack
“I read Sarah's writing because she writes like a runner, but also like a real person who runs (a lot). She's passionate and brings the wisdom of someone with decades of experience, but she never loses the perspective of an actual human being who's living a full life outside of the trails and race courses."
- Brendan Leonard, author and creator of semi-rad
Sarah competing in the 2024 Grand to Grand Ultra.
Photo credit: Anastasia Wilde for Grand to Grand Ultra.
Interview
Hear about Sarah’s writing and running—and how she finished one of North America’s most difficult 100-milers, the Hardrock Hundred—in this interview on The Trailhead Podcast called “Sarah Lavender Smith Finds Meaning in Midlife and the Midpack.”