Any sport that starts with the prefix “ultra” can feel out of reach for most folks. It implies exceedingly long distances and an assumed amount of discomfort that can create mental barriers as well as physical ones for those looking to partake. But for runner and body positivity advocate, Callie Vinson, ultra-running proved to be the space that has allowed her to shed her worries about what other people think of her and helped her with her process of loving her body for what it can do.
Vinson, 38, didn’t always run. A little over a decade ago, her life looked very different—she’d grown up rowing and playing other organized sports but had prioritized work and climbing the corporate ladder, putting her health on the backburner. “I was told by doctors, if you continue down this route, it's not going to be, it's not going to be good for you.”
Then came an invite to go out to eat in 2013. Vinson explains, “It was the day that my friend asked me to go to brunch. I said, ‘Oh, we'll just walk there.’ And me being me, I looked where the restaurant was, and seeing that it was a mile away, it terrified me to know that I had to walk a mile to get there. I knew that would be painful and impossible and there was no way I could do it. And so that was the ultimate red flag where I realized that I really need to start making some changes, building some health habits.”
So Vinson started to slowly incorporate lifestyle changes into her routine, first with nutrition, then with a gym membership. These adjustments slowly built her confidence till one day, she decided to try running. She’d always hated the sport, but she was committed to conquering that fear. “I started with running around the block, then around two blocks, a mile, two miles, four miles. And one day I went out and ran 13.1 miles around the neighborhood by myself, in the dark, because I was afraid of anyone seeing what I looked like running,” she explains when asked about her progression to longer distances.
Fast forward to 2024 and she now has numerous ultra-running achievements under her belt, including the Cocodona 250, the Javelina Jundred 100 mile race, and her successful Maricopa Loop FKT in 2023.
However, following the ultrarunning competition circuit is only part of what Vinson spends her energy on these days. Her passion also extends to helping others understand that all bodies can achieve great things, especially in the world of running. Vinson knows first hand what it’s like to feel out of place in endurance sports, so she’s built a life of advocacy work communicating about body positivity for those who feel unwelcome or unworthy in athletic spaces because of their body types. “I see so many people concerned with what they look like or are nervous about showing up to a group run for the first time because of what they look like,” Vinson muses. “No one cares what you look like because you're out there doing this bad ass thing.”
As part of her own evolution, Vinson is now working on dialing in the details of her body's needs to maximize efficiency while she’s on the trail or road. When it comes to nutrition, she explains, “You want to practice that way ahead of time to get your stomach used to it because as much as you can train your legs, you can train your gut too. I realize I mostly do well on liquid calories. So a lot of my nutrition for training runs and races come from GU’s Roctane Energy Drink Mix which has 250 calories per serving. I did the Moab 240 Ultra marathon not having realized I prefer liquid calories and I had stomach problems the entire race. I pushed through it because I was very determined to finish, but for my subsequent race, the Maricopa FKT, which is about the same distance of about 247 miles, I figured all this stuff out.”
This process of learning what she needs to succeed in her running endeavors is, in part, what has inspired Vinson to start her own coaching program for aspiring running athletes. “This is something I've always thought I would get into. I wanted a way to use my running journey and life journey to help others. I don't want everything that I've gone through, everything that I've learned to go to waste. I want to use it for good or use it to help someone else realize what they're capable of.”
In this way, Vinson continues to use her own experiences, both the challenges and wins, to help others explore their potential. She has a lot on tap for the 2025 season, and so GU Energy Labs will continue to check in with her to learn more about what she’s up to and how she’s pushing the world of running forward through an inclusive message and her coaching work.