Every runner has their own unique mindset. In partnership with Brooks, Runner’s World is highlighting the different ways that running influences how we experience the world around us and view our place within it. Below, NYC-based runner Hema Lochan shares how they view running as a mountain climb toward a beautiful summit worth sharing. Wherever you want your mind to go—whether it’s a headspace, a feeling, or a finish line—let’s run there.
Hema Lochan, a New York-based ultramarathon runner, running coach, and environmental-justice lawyer, sees every run as a mountain. You’re sweating, your calves ache, your heart pounds, and you might want to turn back…but you’re not alone. “If my running mindset were a physical place, it would be an uphill trail leading to a beautiful viewpoint on a mountain surrounded by all the folks I’ve met through running,” Lochan says. “It isn’t always easy, and there are moments when I’ve wanted to give up on it. But in those moments I’ve relied on my running community to push me forward to reach the top of the climb.”
First drawn to the sport for the community it provided, Lochan now makes it their mission to foster inclusive running spaces for runners from all backgrounds with Game Changers, an organization that, with support from Brooks, brings women of color together to become certified running coaches. And through this, Lochan nurtures their own well-being and maintains the energy they need to take each step further up that mountain, one run at a time.
First Steps of the Climb
“I think I fell in love with the community aspect of running before I fell in love with running itself,” Lochan says. They recall wanting to be part of their high school cross-country team, but the idea of running more than 100 miles in a single race—an act that would later become a foundational part of their life as an ultramarathoner—seemed patently impossible. “The tryout was literally just to walk or run a mile. Like, a singular mile,” they say with a laugh. “I couldn’t do it.”
But even then Lochan demonstrated the persistence they’d later come to rely on as an ultramarathon runner. “I got home and I emailed the cross-country coach,” they say. “I was like, ‘Listen, if you take me on, I will be super-committed. I will come to every practice. I just really want to be part of the team.’” The coach gave them a chance, and eventually Lochan fell in love with the sport of long-distance running. “Along with being my connection to a community, running became my connection to my own body and story,” they say.
The Moment Running Was Defined
By the time they were in college, Lochan was frequently running marathons (they have now tallied 32 completed races to date). Wanting to push themselves even further, they began signing up for ultra marathons. During one of their first ultras, they had an experience that altered their mindset about both running and their career. This epiphanic moment occurred, as is so often the case, in the middle of a grueling race.
“My ankles were killing me,” Lochan says of their experience on that 2018 ultra, which spanned six days and 120 miles. They were alone, trekking up the steep slope of a mountain trail. “I just remember seeing the clearing ahead, and the viewpoint. Once I got up, it was just me and the mountain, and I felt this beautiful sense of peace and gratitude.” In this meditative moment, Lochan’s love for community was brought into focus—and directed toward action. “Things connected,” they say. “I thought, Wow, this makes me love running and love the trails, and makes me want to make sure that the trails are protected for a long time, so other people get to do this.”
Coming Full Circle
Their realization on top of that mountain led them to specializing in environmental justice in their career as a lawyer, but that wasn’t all. They wanted to commit more deeply to the running community that they had cultivated through their daily runs by building and supporting inclusive spaces for runners. “I always associated running with feeling safe and feeling seen and being welcomed into a space, because I had that experience in high school, which was primarily people of color,” they say. “I never felt out of place on my team.” But in the years after high school, they began to realize that this wasn’t always the case.
“I remember there were moments where I’d look around the starting line and see not a lot of diversity,” they say. “I could count the number of folks who were BIPOC on my hand.” Especially given the importance that community had taken on for them, they felt something had to change. Seeking to embrace a leadership role, Hema joined Game Changers, which mentors potential coaches from BIPOC communities and provides funding for the coaching certification process. In 2022, Lochan became a coach themselves—a transformative moment on their running journey.
“Now that I’m leading and organizing runs, my mindset is about checking in on everyone else,” Lochan says. “Whether I’m leading trail runs or teaching fundamentals of running, making sure everyone feels welcome in this space is always my center.” They glow as they discuss not only their own achievements, but the feeling of shared success in showing others that there’s an inclusive community where they can run and feel supported.
“That’s what remains beautiful to me, even when I can’t pull myself out of my negative thoughts. I remember what this person got through or that person got through through running. And that reminds me that I can get through today,” they say—another step up the mountain.
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