I’m a Mother. Runner. Author. PhD. Host. RRCA Running Coach. NASM CPT & CNC. Founder of Mile Marker Matriarch, and most importantly, your running buddy, cheering you along your running journey!
I created Mile Marker Matriarch, an exciting new podcast and platform that centers women’s embodied experiences in running and empowers runners at all levels, to help women run for purpose, not just pace. In a sport that places an emphasis on speed--corrals, minimum pace requirements, qualifying times, and sweepers--I wanted to create a safe space for women who run to find, re-claim, or dive deeper into our purpose through embodied movement.
Our strong community is comprised of women, Matriarchs, who lace up not just for the miles, but for meaning. Marker Matriarch is more than a podcast—it’s a movement and a multimedia platform where stories of strength, survival, and self-discovery meet the pavement. Through this platform, I provide coaching, mentorship, and build upon and expand embodied rhetorical practices that subvert patriarchal norms and assert identity beyond the male gaze.
I have spent more than a decade analyzing how women runners construct identity, claim agency, and renegotiate gendered space through movement, dress, and digital discourse. No other scholar combines this depth of theoretical insight with personal, lived expertise. I don’t just study this—I live it. And I teach others how to run toward liberation.
I am a leading expert on gendered rhetorics and embodiment among women runners—uniquely positioned at the intersection of academic scholarship and lived experience. I have my PhD in rhetorics, communications, and information design from Clemson University, where I developed the theoretical framework: Running Rhetorics. Through my Ph.D. dissertation: Princesses, Divas, and Mother Runners: Gendered Institutional and Vernacular Rhetorics in Running Events (free to download on TigerPrints) (Clemson University, 2021) and my dissertation defense (awarded distinction), I began to study running from a phenomenological approach, in other words, as a rich site of rhetorical meaning-making, performativity, and feminist resistance. My bricolage approach bridges vernacular rhetorics—the language, dress, and embodied practices of everyday women runners—with institutional rhetorics like fitness industry messaging, race regulations, and gendered expectations. Through this lens, I reveal how women negotiate, resist, and reimagine hegemonic norms through movement.
I created the theoretical framework and terminology “running rhetorics” to describe the embodied phenomenology of women’s lived experiences as runners. Running rhetorics is the study and practice of how meaning, identity, and agency are created through the embodied act of running. It names the two-way communication between mind and body that emerges in motion: the body “speaks” through sensation, rhythm, and endurance, while the runner interprets, negotiates, and responds. I
My research approach brings interdisciplinary scholars in conversation with each other, including those in feminist rhetorical theory, intersectionality, material rhetorics, corporeal feminism, space & place, embodiment & trauma, and gender in sport. I center the lived experiences of trans and cis women runners, foregrounding running as a feminist rhetorical strategy—one that affirms agency, embodiment, and resistance through motion. This work creates space for voices often silenced in both sport and scholarship, building a radically inclusive framework where all women can be seen, heard, and empowered through movement.
Core tenants of my philosophical approach are:
- Running is a metaphor for life and can be studied as a microcosm for understanding broader concepts
- Every 'body' can run: There is no place for body-shaming or fatphobia in women's running.
- I support ALL women runners and I'm an Athlete Ally; I encourage you to sign the Athlete Ally Pledge, which supports equal access, opportunity, and experience in sports — regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
- Running can serve as a place of Quiet Activism
Coaching
I am a Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) and Certified Nutrition Consultant through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and a Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) certified running coach. With more than 150 road races completed—from 5Ks to marathons—I bring both professional expertise and personal passion to every runner I coach. My favorite race is the Chicago Marathon, which I’ve proudly run every year since 2017.
Writing
I'm the author of five books, including Cacciatore College Cookbook, Candy Around the World, Guilt-Free Cupcakes, Lunch, by me!, A Pet for Emberly and Culinary Duct Tape: Greek Yogurt: Just as versatile, not as tacky.
I write content, shoot promotional videos, and contribute to a variety of social media channels for Disney through my appointment on the planDisney panel.
I primarily write on health, fitness, and wellness topics and have been published in a variety of publications, including Family Fun Magazine, Orbitz, The Charlotte Observer, The Right Bite, Greenwise, Charlotte Parent, Modern Parentand Suburban Woman. I wrote the Fit Family of Foodies blog for Working Mother Magazine and the health and fitness column, Ask Stacy, for My Carolina Town.
Review my piece "Bleeding Borders and Enemies Within: How Newsmagazine Covers Portrayed Drugs of Abuse, 1979–2019" in The Contemporary Drug Problems journal .
Managing Editor
I was the Managing Editor for the WAC Journal, a national peer-reviewed journal on writing across the curriculum. Published by Clemson University, Parlor Press, and the WAC Clearinghouse, The WAC Journal is an annual collection of articles by educators about their WAC ideas and WAC experiences. Previously, I was a Contributing Editor at QU-Queens University Literary Magazine.
Please note, my work, publications, degrees, and certifications are under the name Stacy Cacciatore. You may view my portfolio of work, writing, and publications on StacyCacciatore.com.