This month marks 10 years since Run Fast. Eat Slow. first landed on bookshelves. What started as two former teammates with a shared belief about food has grown into three New York Times bestselling cookbooks, a community we never could have imagined, and eventually, Superhero Muffin Mixes. Here’s how we got here.
2016: Where It All Began
Ten years ago, Run Fast. Eat Slow. hit bookshelves for the first time.
We were two former college teammates and best friends (photo above is from the year 2000 when we became fast friends at UNC) who shared a simple belief: healthy eating should be indulgent, satisfying, and deeply nourishing.
At the time, the conversation around nutrition (especially for runners and female athletes) was filled with restriction. Eat less. Choose low-fat. Count calories. Avoid this. Cut out that.
We wanted to change that conversation.
Our message was a little different:
Eat more butter.
Ignore the endless diet trends and simply cook your way to better health. Don’t fear fat: it adds flavor, nutrition and is essential for energy and nutrition. Don’t obsess over macros. And most importantly, make food you actually look forward to eating.
Then You Started Cooking With Us
We hoped runners would connect with the recipes, but we never could have imagined the community that would grow around our books.
You cooked the recipes to fuel your runs and your families. You brought them to races, shared them with teammates, and made Run Fast. Eat Slow. part of your everyday routines.
Our little cookbook became something much bigger.
And one recipe in particular stole the limelight.
Superhero Muffins
The original Superhero Muffin recipe quickly became one of the most beloved recipes from Run Fast. Eat Slow.
Made with nourishing ingredients like almond flour, oats, eggs, butter, fruits and veggies, and warming spices, these weren’t your typical bakery muffins. They were designed with balanced macros and easy-to-digest ingredients to provide lasting energy for a run, a busy morning, or whatever adventure the day had in store.
Soon, we started hearing Superhero Muffin stories from runners everywhere.
Superhero Muffins transformed the way you fueled your training and became part of your daily routines: no more side stitches, better energy, an easy grab-and-go breakfast, pregnancy stories, PR stories, marathon stories, and so much more. Beginners made them. Olympians made them. Parents made them for their kids.
The love for Superhero Muffins ultimately inspired our third cookbook, Rise & Run, dedicated entirely to breakfast and morning nourishment for runners including 24 Superhero Muffin recipes!
Three New York Times Bestsellers, One Philosophy
Over the past decade, Run Fast. Eat Slow. grew into three New York Times bestselling cookbooks:
Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow.
Each book is different, but the philosophy behind them has never changed:
Real food > diet rules.
We believe athletes perform and feel their best when they’re well nourished—not when they’re restricting themselves or chasing the latest diet trend.
Food should provide energy, but it should also provide joy.
Taking Run Fast. Eat Slow. on the Road
Over the years, the community moved beyond the pages of our cookbooks.
We’ve hosted running retreats around the world, organized community runs, taught live cooking classes, spoken at events, shared recipes on Good Morning America, watched Run Fast. Eat Slow. appear as an answer on Jeopardy!, and celebrated some unforgettable running moments along the way: including Shalane’s historic NYC Marathon win.
But some of our favorite moments have been much quieter.
At nearly every event, retreat, race, or community gathering, someone pulls us aside to tell us their personal health journey and the impact our cookbooks have had on their lives.
From Cookbook Recipe to Superhero Muffin Mix
After years of hearing your Superhero Muffin transformation stories, we started wondering:
What if we could make it easier for more people to experience the magic of Superhero Muffins?
We knew people wanted to cook and eat real food, but we also knew how busy life could get.
That’s what inspired the launch of Superhero Muffin Mixes.
We wanted to take the philosophy behind our cookbooks and put it into an easy baking mix: wholesome ingredients, satisfying nutrition, incredible flavor, and none of the stuff we didn’t think you needed.
In other words, something that could make real-food fueling possible even on the busiest mornings.
What began as one recipe in a cookbook had officially become its own food brand.
500,000+ Cookbooks Later, the Mission Hasn’t Changed
Today, more than 500,000 Run Fast. Eat Slow. cookbooks have made their way into kitchens.
There are Superhero Muffins packed into running vests, school backpacks, ski bags, gym bags, and freezers all over the country.
A lot has changed since 2016.
But our mission hasn’t.
We want to inspire athletes to cook more, nourish themselves well, and fuel a life they love.
We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who has cooked a recipe, baked a batch of muffins, shared a cookbook with a friend, joined us for a run or retreat, or sent us a story about what Run Fast. Eat Slow. or Superhero Muffins has meant to you.
You turned a cookbook into a community and eventually helped inspire an entirely new chapter.
Thank you for cooking, running, and growing with us for the past decade.
Here’s to the next 10.
💛 Elyse
