New podcast Mother Runner explores postpartum identity and finding yourself again after childbirth through running

What’s harder than running a marathon? Motherhood.

That question sets the stage for Mother Runner, a new independent podcast from award-winning podcast and video producer Dana Wiker. Blending personal narrative, interviews and documentary-style storytelling, the show explores the often-overlooked emotional terrain of postpartum motherhood: identity loss, isolation and the search for a sense of self beyond caring for a child.

Hosted by Wiker, a mother and marathon runner, Mother Runner grew out of her own experience of becoming a parent. After giving birth to her son, Wiker struggled with the changes motherhood brought to her identity and mental well-being. Training for the Chicago Marathon a year after having her son became a turning point, helping her reconnect with a part of herself she felt she had lost.

The podcast uses running as a framework for exploring the journeys of other mothers, examining how movement can help women rediscover themselves after having children. Although running is a recurring theme, listeners don’t need to be runners to connect with the stories.

The debut episode, “What Running Brings to Motherhood with Kristin Stokes,” traces Wiker’s own postpartum experience, from sleepless nights and physical changes to the emotional toll early motherhood had on her. The episode also features Kristin Stokes, a marathon runner, mother of two and running coach who has built a community of mother runners on Instagram.

“As a mother myself, I know how easy it can be to lose sight of who you are when so much of your energy goes toward caring for someone else,” said Wiker. “I created Mother Runner to make space for the stories that I never heard about when it comes to the postpartum journey - the complicated feelings, the loss of identity and how we find our way back to ourselves. You don’t have to be a runner to relate to that.”

Wiker brings more than a decade of multimedia storytelling experience to the project. She currently produces The Fabricator Podcast, which recently surpassed 100 episodes, and The Next Gen Metal Fab Podcast for the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association. She also produces This Mama Is Lit!, the podcast from Literary Mama, which features conversations with mother writers about creativity, identity, and the experience of motherhood.

Wiker developed Mother Runner through the Stony Brook University Podcast Incubator Fellowship. Her work has earned multiple AVA Digital Awards, and her documentary short Becoming Parents, which explores the transition to new parenthood, has been selected and shown at six film festivals. She is a member of The Podcast Academy and has served as a Blue Ribbon Panel judge for The Ambies and as a judge for the Signal Awards, Communicator, w3, and Davey Awards.

Listeners interested in sharing their own postpartum stories can contact the show at motherrunnerpod@gmail.com.