Running Home ― A Memoir

In the tradition of Wild and H Is for Hawk, a former Outside magazine writer tells her story—of fathers and daughters, grief and renewal, adventure and obsession, and the power of running to change your life.

I’m running to forget, and to remember.

Katie Arnold learned early how her legs had the ability to carry her away to where no one could catch her. Scrappy and adventurous as a child, Katie moved between suburban New Jersey, where she lived with her mother, and rural Virginia, which her elusive father, David, a National Geographic photographer, called home.

Later, Katie chased her dreams to Santa Fe, where she became a writer for Outside Magazine. By her mid-thirties she had the world on a string. Katie relished the life she and her husband built for their growing family among the rivers and mountains of New Mexico. But after welcoming her second daughter, Katie received shocking news: Her father had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Three months later, he was gone. 

In the aftermath, Katie slid into a dark hole of anxiety and panic, while a stream of if-onlys looped through her mind: If only I hadn’t waited to get married and have babies, if only I lived closer. She tried every means to stanch her fear, but the only remedy that worked was running long distances alone through the wilderness. Then on New Year’s Eve, a year after her father’s death, Katie found herself making a startling resolution: to train for and run a 50k trail race. 

Running Home traces Katie’s journey to outrun her grief over thirty-two miles of rugged terrain, mourning the father she lost and grieving for the man she never knew, while learning to let go. Clocking miles across mesas and mountains, from one side of the Grand Canyon to the other, Katie redefined her relationship to fear, motherhood, and running itself. This memoir is inspiring reading for anyone knocked over by life, who has struggled to put one foot in front of the other to find the right path forward.

Katie Arnold worked at Outside Magazine for twelve years. Her “Raising Rippers” column about bringing up adventurous, outdoor children appears weekly on Outside Online. She has written for The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, Sunset, Runner’s World, ESPN: The Magazine, Elle, and many others, and her narrative nonfiction has been featured in Best American Sports Writing. She is also a 2018 Leadville Trail 100 Run champion. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with her husband and two young daughters.