Project Description

My name is Emily Labutta. I’m a lawyer turned therapist, road runner turned trail/ultra runner.
When I started running, it was because someone told me about forefoot striking as opposed to
heel striking. Suddenly running made sense! I took to it, enjoying what my body could do, but it
quickly became a way of measuring up. If I ran 60mpw, the next week I had to run 65mpw. I
was never doing enough. I thought I needed to run more and eat less, and I shrunk myself down
to fit a mold. Through law school and my job as a prosecutor, running was my way with coping
with the stress and horrors that I saw.
To turn a long story short, in 2020 I realized how bad my own mental health had gotten as a
prosecutor, quit my job, and decided to pursue a career as a therapist. While getting my
master’s degree, I took up work at Big Peach Running Company, and I dove headfirst into
ultrarunning. I liked the idea of trail running, where walking was okay, where runs were not
measured in terms of pace or BQs but measured in terms of wildflowers and views and joy. I
healed, out there on the trail and in community. As I saw more and more of the ultrarunning
community and how giving and beautiful it is, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. I spent my first
two years diving into every experience I could get, running 6 hundreds and a handful of shorter
races.
I’m currently rehabbing a bad IT injury that was the byproduct of lots of good runs and good
races this past year, including winning Bootlegger 100 and Merrill’s Mile 48 hour. I’m hoping to
be able to build back this spring, and race hard this fall. For quantifiable goals, I’d like to run a
sub-24 hour 100 at Stinger this fall and start doing more self-supported long mountain
adventures. For the deeper goals – I want to use my feet to explore outside trails and my inner
world. I want to pursue challenge and growth with my trail community and Revolution Running
as we grow together towards bright tomorrows.