Hello my name is Piper Atnip. I am a 29 year old elite distance runner and part-time teacher. On 11-8-2025 I raced the CNO Financial Indianapolis Monumental Marathon and achieved the qualifying time for the 2028 Olympic marathon trials running 2:36:18! I placed 7th female overall in a sold out marathon, broke the Wisconsin Runners Racing Team marathon record that had stood since 2004 set by Jenny Crain and I had the most fun the whole 26.2 miles. My current world ranking in the marathon is #784th place and #48th place in the 20km road distance!

At 29 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”. My speed bumps push me to be better and see the pain as fuel.

I am looking for support to continue my elite level of training while still teaching at my local high school part-time to support myself. My three year plan is to show up at the 2028 Olympic Trials Marathon and compete for a spot on Team USA( top 3 women represent USA at the Olympic Games)! I will continue to race against the best American distance runner at USATF National Championships as I look to improve on my top national championship finishes.

Training and racing at the elite level while working part 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 training shoes are about $190 each and my racing shoes are about $275 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.

Looking ahead to my next 3 years and my " build phase" for the 2028 olympic trials, I would be able to live and train at altitude for a few months out of the year 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.

Reflecting on this past year December 2024- present day I have raced all over the USA. I am so grateful to be able to race and financially it comes at cost.

I would be so grateful for any donation or other support in my pursuit of the 2028 Olympic Marathon Trials and National Championship road races. 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 :)