Ellen Hunter Gans

Ellen Hunter Gans is a 41-time marathon finisher, Ironman triathlete, ultramarathon champion, and 100-mile race finisher—all pretty surprising, given that her only formal running training was one year of JV track at age 14. She was so bad, the coach never bothered to learn her name.

It's also surprising because Ellen lives with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a genetic connective tissue disorder.

In 2024, Ellen became the first person with EDS to run seven marathons on seven continents in under a week. Her entire athletic career has been an exercise in leveraging stubbornness to compensate for what her body was supposedly never built to do.

A freelance writer based in the Twin Cities, Ellen has spent more than 15 years elevating brands and telling other people’s stories. She holds advanced degrees from the London School of Economics and the University of Southern California.

She wrote this book because she believes more people should dream big and then do something about it.