About

My writing combines my passion for athletics, communication, travel, and connecting with people. A few of the places I have been published include The New York Times, The Washington Post, Glamour, Elle, ESPN, AARP, Huffington Post, Outside, Men's Journal, Runner's World, Triathlete, and Women's Running. Pieces I wrote have landed me interviews with Katie Couric, Huffington Post radio, and BBC World News.

While I'm heavily involved in the outdoor industry, I also write about tech, medical research, and travel. I’ve written stories on a boat chasing an adventure swimmer across the Caribbean and from a London hotel room on deadline at the 2012 Olympics. I am comfortable interviewing people in their own homes about their fight against cancer, on a run with a two-time Olympian, in a Tokyo restaurant on the 25th floor with the Tokyo Marathon race director, or on a Quebec mountainside speaking with a downhill mountain bike world champion. Ask me to describe the décor of a luxurious Aspen hotel or the complex impact a female runner’s menstrual cycle has on her running. I can write in an impersonal tone for a research article on oxytocin or make you cry in an essay about my grandmother. I make mundane academia sound interesting and find the relatable aspects of running blind for the seeing.

In addition to freelance writing, I’m a part-time university instructor, massage therapist, triathlon coach, and competitive athlete. I love eating peanut butter by the spoonful, traveling on a train through France, running trails in the mountains, and swapping stories with my grandmas. I was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, but, after a trip around the world aboard the Peace Boat, I found my rhythm in Boulder, Colorado. 

Latest

abstract women's head with pony tail and red hard over brain

There’s a word for obsessive longing and rumination—‘limerence’—and it can ruin your productivity and relationships
CNBC, March 2024

abstract couple hugging, woman in pink and man in white

Is It a Crush or Have You Fallen Into Limerence?
The New York Times, January 2024

 

woman running along ocean on trail

What Travel Running Means to Me: A Personal Essay
Women's Running, November 2023

 

amanda on stage red dress tedx cu

How longing keeps us from healthy relationships
TedxCU, April 2023

 

bride and groom kissing on a ski lift

After a Fire, Rebuilding What Matters
The New York Times, September 2022

 

drawing of white abstract person holding a heart and holding the hand of a smaller person to help them cross to a mountain

Should You Alter Your Period to Perform Better?
Women's Running, September 2022

 

 

© AMANDA McCRACKEN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 

amanda mccracken


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