Support Piper Atnip's Olympic Marathon Dream

Hello my name is Piper Atnip. I am a 28 year old elite distance runner and full time teacher. This November, I am racing in the elite field at the CNO Financial Indianapolis Monumental Marathon with my goal to achieve the qualifying time for the 2028 Olympic marathon trials( 2 hours and 37 minutes.) My marathon goal time is 2 hours, 35 minutes.

Running has always been my outlet. At 28 years old, I am proud to have overcome a number of serious events in my life. Thankfully, I’m always moving forward, which is why I call these events “speed bumps”.

I am looking for support to reach my goal of competing at the 2028 Olympic Trials Marathon( top 3 women represent USA at the Olympic Games)!

This past December I debuted in my first elite start at the CIM marathon, where I ran 2:38:36 (6:03 pace) placing 23rd/44th in the professional field! So far in 2025, I raced at the USATF Half Marathon Championship, Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8k, Crazylegs Classic 8k (I WON), USATF 25km Championships( I placed 7th in the elite field; my first top 10 national championships placing!!), and I have one more race this spring!

Training and racing at the elite level while working full time as a teacher is a lot! I wake up at 4:30am in order to work out before my students get to school. Then, I work all day and do my second workout after my students go home. Most of my competitors are able to run full time, which allows them to train at a higher level (this is my long term goal). Right now, a little support would go a long way for me. My high weekly running mileage means that my running shoes break down at an accelerated pace. Right now, it’s been hard to buy training and racing shoes when they need to be replaced (my shoes are about $180 each!). I would ideally be replacing my shoes every 3 months, given the amount of miles I put on them. I currently can’t afford to do that, so instead I buy a new pair every 6 months (usually my shoes have holes in them and the support is long gone). I am also looking for support to cover my travel expenses to races, as well as recovery needs. In my ideal marathon “build phase” I would be able to live and train at altitude for a few weeks late this summer to get the unique benefit that training at altitude can provide distance runners. I think that this would give me the edge that my competition has.

I would be so grateful for any donation or other support in my pursuit of the 2028 Olympic Marathon Trials. While running is an individual sport, the people who have supported me to get to this point in my career play such an important role in my success. I will be posting details of my marathon build on my instagram, and you can also see my running journey and success so far! Find me at: @piperatnip

As always, RUN HAPPY :)