Mary Cates — Inner Circle

Inner Circle
Mary Cates

Ten records.
One night.


Two-time cancer survivor. Former news director. Running coach. Ten Tennessee state records in a single race. At 45, she ran 100 miles on a half-mile loop in downtown Knoxville in 17:35:27, with six and a half hours left on the clock. Then she stopped. Her coaching motto fits on a bib: brain before legs.

Home
Madisonville, TN
Coaching
Unrunning
Before
News director
Instagram
@un_running
Status
TN record holder
Shop her kit↓ Follow @un_running↗ Back to the Inner Circle→
TN state records · one race
10
100-mile PR
17:06:01
Yeti 100 · 2023
2nd overall
Racing ultras since
2011
Mary Cates
01 — The Origin

Fifteen years of long days.

Subject@un_runningCoachingUnrunning · since 2013BeforeNews directorHomeMadisonville, TNAge45At homeSenior dogs, on their final stretchRecords4 overall + 6 age-group Tennessee state recordsStatusTwo-time cancer survivor

Mary's first listed ultra is the North Country 50 in Michigan, 2011. Two years later she won the women's race at The Pistol 50K in Alcoa, fourth overall (UltraRunning results).

Then she went long and stayed there. Mountain 100s in Oregon, Virginia, and Vermont. A backyard. A 100K in the north Georgia hills where only one person beat her.

  • The Pistol 50K2013 · 1st woman · 4:36:00
  • Lookout Mountain 502014 · 5th woman · 9:53:30
  • Pine to Palm 1002016 · 4th woman
  • Grindstone 1002018 · 6th woman
  • Double Top 100K2019 · 2nd overall
  • Vermont 1002019 · 23:36:00
  • Yeti 1002021 · 2nd woman · 17:48:33
  • Yeti 1002023 · 1st woman · 17:06:01
  • Gone Loco2024 · 3rd overall · 4:33:32
  • Mid-State Mile backyard2024 · 1st woman · 46.2 mi
  • World’s Fair Ultras 24-hour2026 · 100.163 mi · 10 TN records
02 — The Long Game

Not the patient.

Mary is a two-time cancer survivor. The fight has run through most of her life, and included a rare form of brain cancer (The Passionate Runner).

Through treatment, she kept running. Some days that meant one mile. The mile still counted.

“I’m me and not ‘Mary the cancer patient.’”— Mary Cates, on what running gave her

She says looking back, it made her a better coach. It also changed how she sees her own body: less a problem to manage, more a thing that keeps doing remarkable work (The Adventure Jogger).

She doesn't run to prove she survived. She runs because it's hers.

03 — Yeti

Mile 85. A tree branch.

The Yeti 100 runs out of Abingdon, Virginia, over a rail-trail course with more than 120 trestle crossings (UltraRunning). Flat, fast, and long enough to hurt.

2021: second woman, sixth overall, 17:48:33.

2022: she was leading the race at mile 85 when a branch fell on her head and knocked her out. Hospital. DNF (The Adventure Jogger).

2023: she came back. First woman, second overall, 17:06:01. A 100-mile PR. One man finished ahead of her. Nobody else did (results).

  • Yeti 100 · 20212nd woman · 6th overall
  • Yeti 100 · 2022Leading · knocked out at mile 85
  • Yeti 100 · 20231st woman · 2nd overall · 17:06:01

The trail took a swing. She came back and ran faster.

04 — World’s Fair

Half-mile loop. Ten records.

April 18, 2026. The first World's Fair Ultras, under the Sunsphere in Knoxville. A 0.5724-mile loop of flat, USATF-certified asphalt. Repeat until the clock says stop.

Mary crossed 100 miles at 17:35:27, just past 1:35 a.m., with six and a half hours still on the clock. She was the second of 36 runners in the 24-hour to get there. Only Philip Sebastiani beat her to it (UltraRunning).

She finished at 100.163 miles. About 175 laps. Ten records.

  • Overall TN records3-hr · 12-hr · 50 mi · 100 mi
  • Age-group TN records3-hr · 50K · 50 mi · 6-hr · 12-hr · 100K
“Simple and easy are very different things.”— Mary Cates, to UltraRunning
// Disclosure

FRXN's founders co-direct this race. We didn't hand her the records. The clock did.

05 — The Coach

Brain before legs.

Mary runs her own coaching company, Unrunning, and has coached since 2013. First-timers to ultrarunners, plus sprint, Olympic, and Ironman triathletes (RunnerClick).

Her motto is short and takes years to absorb. Training the body gets you so far. The next level is inside.

  • CompanyUnrunning
  • Coaching since2013
  • RangeBeginner to 100 · triathlon
  • The ruleBrain before legs
Sticker Mary Cates hands out
// The sticker she hands out

She's also talked about how training and expectations shift for runners in their forties. Then she set ten state records at 45.

06 — Off the Clock

The final stretch.

Before coaching, Mary was a news director. A job built on deadlines and deciding what matters.

At home, she adopts old dogs on their final stretch and gives them a good life.

  • BeforeNews director
  • NowCoach · Unrunning
  • At homeSenior dogs

She knows what the last miles are worth. Hers and theirs.

07 — The Protocol

How she handles friction.

// Pending // In her words

Where she applies. Which format. How often she reapplies on a loop. What she learned the hard way. Mary is writing this part herself.

A loop repeats the same stride.

Half a mile, 175 times. The same seam hits the same spot every lap. Hour three is fine. Hour seventeen is where it decides.

Go Stick
Go Stick
$9.99
Everyday carry. Start here.
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Endurance Tin
Endurance Tin
$15.99
Lives on the lap table.
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Go Pouch
Go Pouch
$2.99
Pocket-size for the trail.
View product →
09 — Next

The records are on the course.

World's Fair Ultras returns April 17, 2027. Same loop. Same Sunsphere. Her numbers are the ones to beat, including hers.

// Follow the file

Training and racing at @un_running. Updates at @frictionprescription.

On the record.

Every podcast, profile, and result we could find. Newest first.

// Inner Circle

Meet the rest of the circle.

Nine athletes. One file at a time.

Back to the roster →
// Her coaching

Brain before legs.

Mary coaches runners and triathletes through Unrunning.

@un_running ↗
// The Line

Surface friction is solvable.

We make the balm. You handle the rest.

Shop the prescription →
// Embrace the friction. // FRXN // Inner Circle // File 04