Meet Five Women Leading the St. Louis Running Scene

Not long ago, running simply wasn’t an option for many women. Girls’ track teams were rare or nonexistent, and it wasn’t until 1984 that the Olympics included a women’s marathon.

Much has changed since then. In St. Louis, women are now central to shaping the local running community, leading nonprofit organizations, building grassroots programs, producing races, and launching businesses and products designed by and for runners.

Together, they are creating a more vibrant and inclusive running culture.

Meet a few of the women making it happen.

 

Anna Zelinske of Saint Louis Track Club
Anna Zelinske may be a prominent member of the local running scene now, but she wasn’t always logging miles or chasing PRs.
Like many busy parents, she found herself struggling to keep up with her two young kids. What started out as a walking challenge with friends ended with Zelinske running. Soon, she was hooked. When a family member introduced her to trail running in 2016, she fell in love with the sport.

Her trail-running buddy Matt, then a board member of Saint Louis Track Club, invited her to volunteer. Soon after, she began helping organize volunteers and designing trail races like the Weldon Spring Trail Series. In 2020, she joined the club’s board, bringing with her valuable skills from a career in nonprofit management.

The following year, Zelinske stepped into the role of president. Through her tenure, she added new trail races while keeping intact the friendly, accessible, and community-focused spirit of the club, a 501(c)(3) organization that’s been part of the region’s running culture since 1970.

“One of the reasons our races are popular is that low-key, grassroots feel,” she explains. Nearly everyone involved with the track club volunteers their time, and the club works hard to provide a welcoming atmosphere for all runners.

Among Zelinske’s accomplishments is the creation of the DeClue Loops Trail Race, Saint Louis Track Club’s first ultramarathon that takes place in October in Greensfelder County Park in Wildwood. Built around an eight-mile loop, the race is intentionally simple to manage, with only one aid station. Runners can choose to tackle anything from a single loop to multiple loops for a full ultra. Zelinske says she loves marking the course, setting up at dawn and sweeping the trail afterward. “It’s really become my race,” she says.

Zelinske also initiated the club’s participation in Give STL Day to launch the Saint Louis Track Club Scholarship Fund, which seeks to reduce financial barriers for runners.

Zelinske stepped down as president at the end of 2025, but she remains an active board member and trail race director. On the personal front, she’s almost always training for something, and she’s recently discovered a passion for pacing friends.

What drives her as a runner and as a leader is simple: “I just find so much joy in seeing other people reach their goals.”

 

Anastasia Harris of Run it Back.
Anastasia Harris has always found a lot of joy in being active. A lifelong athlete, she found that sprinting was her passion in high school and college. She loved everything about it: the running itself, the community she found around the track, and the mental health boost from pushing her body hard. But after college, opportunities to run track simply didn’t exist.

So in 2024, Harris created that community for herself, founding Run it Back., a free track and field club for adults to sprint, jump, throw, compete, and make friends.

Approaching its third season in May, the group practices twice weekly at the Saint Louis University Medical Center track and holds three annual meets throughout the summer. (Practices are free, but there is a small fee to participate in meets.) Events range from the 100 to 1,500 meters, plus relays and field events like shot put, discus, javelin, long jump, and triple jump. At practices, volunteer coaches guide athletes through proper mechanics, form, and pacing. “Sprinting is intense and pulls a lot out of your body,” Harris says. “Having coaching and community makes a huge difference.”

The club has a simple motto: “For the Trackheads. For the Community.” Its success, Harris says, is due in part to its focus on track and field. “We’re part of the larger running ecosystem,” she says, “but we’re one-of-one in St. Louis in terms of offering adults a free space to compete in track and field.”

Run it Back. welcomes seasoned track athletes and newcomers alike. That inclusivity is intentional, echoing Harris’ belief that strength and ambition don’t have an age limit. She hopes more people give sprinting and other track workouts a chance. “It’s definitely an intense, powerful workout,” she says. “But when I got back into it, it was really reaffirming that I can do anything I set my mind to. I can still push myself and be the best version of myself, no matter my age.”

Run it Back. has become a joyful, meaningful space beyond giving people an opportunity to sweat. Harris says she’s watched athletes heal old emotional wounds and return after injuries sidelined them years ago. “It’s more than working out,” she says. “It’s emotional. It builds community. We are a small, tight-knit family that loves showing up for each other.”

 

Jenifer Schaller of RunWell
Jenifer Schaller had decades of running experience when a seven-car pileup left her with lingering pain. Suddenly, sitting at a desk for hours at a time was no longer feasible. So she left her career as a CPA behind and opened RunWell, a full-service running and walking specialty store in Edwardsville, Illinois, in 2013.

It was a smart move for Schaller, whose running resume includes over 50 marathons, several ultras, and an Ironman — not to mention tons of medals. As a certified running coach, she had already trained hundreds of runners before she launched RunWell. Many of those runners became her first customers.

She had also identified a market gap. At the time, Madison County didn’t have a specialty running store focused on education, injury prevention, and personalized shoe fitting. Drawing from her years of experience watching runners move and understanding biomechanics, Schaller developed what RunWell calls its “perfect fit” process.

“I love the reaction people have when they finally get the right shoe on their foot,” she says.

During Covid, Schaller quickly reimagined the business, turning the store into a fulfillment center and launching virtual shoe fittings. The model worked so well that virtual fittings will return in 2026, expanding RunWell’s reach beyond Edwardsville.

Business is growing: Schaller recently opened a second Metro East location, just a few miles away from the original, and is considering a third. She also says she’d like to organize a signature event that highlights Edwardsville’s paths and paved trails.

What Schaller is most proud of, though, is the community she’s built. RunWell hosts group runs, in-store events, and an annual 1,000-mile challenge. It’s become a go-to place in the community to get inspiration and find friends to log miles with.

These days, Schaller no longer coaches regularly, pouring her energy instead into RunWell. “I’m a natural-born cheerleader,” she says. “The best part is celebrating people as they reach their goals. People have made friends at our store, and then I’ll see them out running together. That’s really the magic — all the people we’ve met and helped and played some part in their fitness journey.”

 

Constance Young of Constantia Gear
When training for a race, Constance Young faced a problem familiar to most runners: how to comfortably store all the necessary gear without feeling overly burdened while logging miles. “I thought a training run didn’t need to be this complicated,” she says.

So, she got to work and designed her own solution. In 2017, not long after graduating from college, Young founded Constantia Gear, a St. Louis-based brand of women’s running gear known for thoughtful design and serious functionality. Bestsellers like the 50 Mile Shorts, PR Crop, and Journey Tank are beloved for their multiple discreet pockets — no uncomfortable armbands or clunky belts needed.

For years, Young ran Constantia Gear as a side hustle, fulfilling orders out of her home and learning everything she could, from fabric sourcing and supply chains to pricing and marketing.

She describes her early approach as highly analytical, but over time, she’s come to love the creative side just as much. Her father, Jerry, who built a career in the footwear and outdoor industry, has been a huge help since the beginning.

With Constantia Gear, Young has built a career that combines two passions. She grew up in a running family — running was just part of life — and says movement has always helped her mentally. She also loves clothing, from design to how it moves and functions. Even in college, she knew she wanted to work in apparel, though she didn’t expect to launch a brand so quickly.

Despite steady growth, the company’s mission has remained steadfast. “You can run in anything, but if we can make someone’s run a little easier, then we’ve done our job,” says Young, who now focuses full-time on Constantia Gear. The brand is intentionally inclusive, designed for everyone from PR-chasers to more casual runners squeezing in a few morning miles.

Customer feedback continues to inspire new products and shape what comes next. Looking ahead, Young hopes to expand thoughtfully while staying rooted in what made Constantia Gear work in the first place: practical design, perseverance, and a deep understanding of what runners actually need.

 

Sally Drake of MSE Racing
You show up at dawn to a race, follow perfectly marked course arrows, and cross the finish line, all focused solely on your performance.

Delivering that seamless race experience, however, is no simple feat. And if you’ve raced around St. Louis, there’s a chance Sally Drake had something to do with it.

Drake, a seasoned triathlete, was coaching triathletes full-time in 2019 when the owner of MSE (Multi-Sport Experience) Racing asked a simple question: Did she want to take over the business? After a night to think it through, she said yes. She immediately dove into producing the St. Louis Triathlon and the Carlisle Lake Triathlon.

Since then, MSE Racing has grown to more than 20 annual endurance events supported by a small but dedicated team of part-time employees.

Drake’s background made her uniquely prepared to hit the ground running with MSE Racing. She spent more than a decade in accounting and opened the Swim Bike Run triathlon shop in 2011, which she ran until 2016 (now SBR Bikes & Brews). Alongside that, she built a successful coaching business, helping athletes reach their goals.

In addition to organizing races, MSE provides timing services for 50 to 60 races each year and offers everything from basic finish-line timing to full race production, including fencing, bike racks, course setup, and logistics. The Rookies & Rock Stars Triathlon in St. Peters and the Sunset Hills Triathlon are just two of the local races in which MSE Racing is involved.

At the heart of it all is Drake’s belief in triathlon as a life-altering sport. “You see people do their first triathlon, and it changes everything,” she says. “We’ve seen so many incredible stories of people improving their health, improving their life.”

A self-described perfectionist, Drake often arrives at race sites before dawn, triple-checking course markings. There’s little room for error, and she’s determined for things to be as close to perfect as possible.

In addition to her work with MSE Racing, Drake also hosts women’s retreats through She Dreams Bigger Retreats and Adventures. “That started with just one little adventure retreat at Camp Manitoba [in Southern Illinois],” she says. “I couldn’t find the retreat I wanted to do, so I created it myself.”

What keeps her going is the people she meets and the experiences she makes through her work. “I feel like I’m providing the playground for adults to be big kids again,” she says, “for serious athletes to chase goals, and for everyone to have fun.”

Author: Stephanie Zeilenga is a contributor to Terrain.

Top image: Anastasia Harris of Run it Back.