Jessica Payne is not only a runner with many running miles under her belt, she's also a published author!

Jessica grew up in Kansas City, later moving to the Pacific Northwest where the mountains and Puget Sound became home. Beyond writing, she loves to run, rock climb, and explore the great outdoors with her daughter and husband. She is an RN and recently finished her degree as a nurse practitioner. When holding still, which isn’t often, you’ll find a book in her hand and a cat or dog in her lap. Jessica writes suspense and thriller and is the host of #MomsWritersClub on Twitter and YouTube. Her debut novel, MAKE ME DISAPPEAR, is a twisty psychological thriller about a woman on the edge who is willing to do anything to escape her sociopathic—potentially dangerous—boyfriend, including arranging her own kidnapping. It releases May 16th.

Meet Sean Kachmarski, ultra-marathon runner, author, and devoted family man. Sean’s journey to running success is not typical, but it is undoubtedly inspirational. Diagnosed with kidney stones in his mid-40’s, Sean was moved to do something to correct his health and be a better father and husband to his family. Starting with the Couch to 5K program, he progressed to park runs in England and eventually 10k races.

He set his sights higher on one of England’s iconic races: the 2015 Great North Run, an emotional event for Sean that taught him an important lesson: you can always judge a race by how they treat their last place runners. Fueled by this crowning achievement, Sean once again set the bar higher as he fully embraced the mantle of “runner”: marathons and ultra-marathons soon were conquered, leading Sean to write a book on writing — Just Finish: Don’t Think You Can, Know You Can.

Hoping to inspire would-be runners with his story, Sean is living proof that you can move from the “back of the pack” and become a true runner in unconventional ways.