Pam Moore

For most of us, the idea of completing a 2.4-mile ocean swim, followed by a 112-mile bike ride through blazing-hot lava fields, then finally running a full marathon, sounds grueling.

But for 73-year-old Bobbe Greenberg, participating in the Ironman World Championship triathlon in Hawaii is a celebration.

“I am very, very, very lucky in my life,” said Greenberg, who lives in Highland Park, Ill., with her husband of 50 years.

While she’s arguably one of the fittest septuagenarians in the world,...

U.S. track star Alysia Montaño’s latest career move has been dictated by her most important job yet: motherhood. Since speaking out in May about former sponsor Nike’s lack of support for mothers, and sparking the #DreamMaternity movement, the seven-time U.S. champion and Olympian (who became known as “That Pregnant Runner”) has signed with a new sponsor. (After leaving Nike, Montaño went to Asics. The company reduced her pay during the year she was pregnant and eventually dropped her.)
Montañ...

Two years ago, Trina Peterson experienced a cycling accident that could have taken her life. Now, she’s about to embark on a two-day, 140-mile ride—and she’s convinced it wouldn’t be possible without the healing powers of community and nature.
This weekend, Peterson, 54, will join 200 cyclists in Petaluma, California, for the Green Fondo Weekend. The term is a playful spin on the Italian “Gran Fondo,” which loosely translated means “Big Ride.” It’s just one of many cycling and hiking events o...

I scan the sea of people, my eyes resting on each small blonde head before moving on to the next. I left my phone in the car, and I forgot my watch. I have no idea what time it is, but I am positive my daughter should be here by now. The last time I saw her she was running, her ponytail bouncing side to side with every step until she disappeared behind a copse of evergreens. How long can it possibly take a 6-year-old to run 400 meters?

I am at the finish line of her first triathlon. Or at lea...

correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly implied that Alysia Montaño was already pregnant when Nike suggested pausing her contract. She told them of her plans to become pregnant, and they suggested pausing the contract and not paying her while she was pregnant, but she had not yet become pregnant when the conversation took place. The story has been updated.
I remember scrolling through Alysia Montaño’s Instagram feed while nursing my younger daughter. We’d both given birth in ...

Culture

Here's how (and why) he does it.

If not for the numbers on his calf, you could easily mistake Mark Stecher’s Speedo-clad Adonis physique for that of a 25-year-old.

But Stecher is 70 and the most remarkable things about him are neither his age nor his figure.

When we spoke, the Aurora, Colorado healthcare consultant was preparing for his 366th triathlon. He believes there is only one age grouper in the U.S. who has completed more races than he has, but he’s not trying to set a record.

...

In this personal essay I explore the fact that although I hate mainstream sports, I am thrilled that my daughters are Red Sox fans.

“I NEED pizza!” my 6-year-old screams from our minivan’s back seat. I inhale slowly to avoid yelling back. A few hours earlier I was crouched over my 4-year-old, giving her a lifesaving shot of epinephrine before heading to the emergency room via ambulance. Now we’re driving home. I don’t want to stop for pizza, and my older daughter’s demands are driving me crazy.
My jaw softens, though, as I realize she’s as shaken as I am. But because she is so young, she conveys her feelings with rage, no...

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“More Goldfish!” my 5-year-old demands.

I summon all my patience. “Can you try that again?”

“I’m hungry!”

I take a long blink. “Honey? Can you—”

Her face is still beet red, but her body has relaxed. She takes a deep breath, then slowly blows the air through her pursed lips. This is the “birthday cake” breathing she learned in kindergarten.

“Mom, can I please have more Goldfish?”

My daughter attends public school in Boulder, Colo., where her teacher is one of a handful of educators in...

My five-year-old daughter and I tend to get into major power struggles in the morning. I make her the “wrong” breakfast. She wails like I’m torturing her as I attempt brush her tangled curls. Fresh snow covers the ground and her party shoes are the only shoes she’s willing to wear.
She’s on the floor, crying and flailing her arms before I can finish saying “snow boots.” We are running late (again) but I take a minute to lock the bathroom door, turn the vent on, and cry. Why is this is hard? W...

Pam Moore | Longreads | July 2017 | 16 minutes (4,065 words)
1. My face—and my life—split in half ten days after my second daughter was born.
In the grainy iPhone photos taken immediately after Lucy’s birth, I am looking at the ceiling, not at her. The gray-gold glow of dusk peeks through the bli...

Setting up rock climbs, backing up the trailer and navigating the trail are just a few of the tasks that need to be done at an outdoor education summer camp. At Women’s Wilderness, women do it all. And that’s huge, says executive director Emily Isaacs, as it’s key for girls to look up to their instructors and think: “That person looks like me.”

Women’s Wilderness summer camps provide girls ages 8 to 18 opportunities to learn outdoor skills like backpacking, rock climbing, navigation, backcoun...

My carefree life had already been obliterated with the birth of our first child. We'd barely notice the addition of a mere 8 to 10 pounds' worth of additional human in our household. This was what I told myself, along with a few other handy lies......

Before we found out our younger child had severe, life-threatening food allergies, we kept the kids’ emergency information on a crumpled piece of paper, shoved in a drawer between the vegetable peeler and the wine opener.

But when Ellie was 8 months old, we went to the allergist, hoping to figure out why she was chronically congested and why nothing we tried could touch her eczema. Going into the appointment, I was hopeful. Leaving the appointment, I was deflated. We learned our baby was alle...

© Shutterstock For many moms, the prospect of leaving the children with a babysitter is overwhelming. Not to worry. Finding a sitter is a lot like dating, which you have probably done before. Though you may have had freshly waxed lady-bits, a Friendster account, and a flip phone the last...