Pain Cave to Power
Welcome to Pain Cave to Power. A podcast about the intersection of endurance and healing. Hosted by Melissa Londry, trail runner, therapist, and race director, and Brandy Krisher, ultrarunner, massage therapist, coach and advocate, this show dives into the raw, unfiltered side of running where resilience meets reckoning.
From the miles we choose to suffer through to the pain we never asked for, we explore how endurance sports mirror the emotional journey of recovery, empowerment, and growth.
Each episode takes you beyond finish lines and race reports to the deeper stories confronting topics often left in the shadows of the trail and ultra world.
Through honest conversations, survivor stories, and expert insight, Pain Cave to Power challenges what strength really means and reminding us that the darkest miles often lead to the most powerful finish lines.
Tune in if you’ve ever found healing on a trail, courage in the climb, or connection in your own pain cave.
Pain Cave to Power
Advocacy, Identity & Inclusive Trails with Julianna Coughlin
In this episode of Pain Cave to Power, we sit down with runner, storyteller, and advocate Julianna Coughlin who is a marathoner and trail runner reshaping what strength, representation, and inclusivity look like in the running world.
Julianna brings a powerful blend of lived experience and professional insight as a registered dietitian, content creator, and host of the Runnah podcast. Living with chronic biomechanical and neurological challenges, she opens up about navigating the running world through a lens that often goes unseen, and the barriers, biases, and breakthroughs that come with it.
Together, we explore how identity intersects with movement, how athletes with disabilities and female-identifying runners experience both visible and invisible challenges, and what it means to build communities where all athletes feel safe, welcomed, and celebrated.
In this episode:
- Julianna’s journey into running and storytelling
- Advocacy for disabled athletes and female-identifying runners
- The emotional landscape of running with chronic conditions
- Inclusivity gaps in trail and ultra communities
- What true safety and representation should look like
- How community leaders can reshape running culture
This conversation is heartfelt, honest, and full of the kind of truth-telling that empowers endurance athletes everywhere. Julianna’s story is a reminder that the pain cave isn’t just physical and that power comes from claiming our whole selves, not just the miles we run.
Listen now and step into a deeper, more inclusive understanding of what it means to be an athlete.
Recorded December 20, 2025