Dr. Lauren Puretz is a gynecologic surgeon, mother of two, and one of the world’s best ultrarunners. In 2025, she finished eighth at UTMB Mont Blanc and was the first American woman across the line. She is also a voracious audiobook listener who relies on stories for far more than entertainment. They accompany her through solo training runs, technical mountain trails, and races that continue through the night, giving her mind somewhere else to go when fatigue builds and doubt becomes difficult to ignore.
Lauren first recognized the power of audiobooks during a race that nearly unraveled in its opening miles. “Within the first three miles, negative self talk had already made me want to give up,” she remembers. “I’d always listened to audiobooks, back when they were still on CD, so I had one loaded on my library app. Figuring it was going to be a long slog, I turned on the book.”
As Lauren became absorbed in the story, she began to feel better and gradually fought her way back to a podium finish. The experience showed her that an audiobook could serve as a practical strategy for quieting negative thoughts before they took control of her race.
Lauren often runs with friends during training, but when she is alone, she is almost always listening to a book. During races, audiobooks are part of her strategy from beginning to end. She experimented with podcasts for a while, but choosing a new episode every hour or digging out her phone in the middle of a run became frustrating. An audiobook can unfold uninterrupted for eight, ten, or even twenty hours. As Lauren puts it, “You just set it and go.”
When she is deep in the pain cave, a compelling story gives her brain enough background input to soften the internal chatter without distracting her from the task at hand. It allows her to continue pushing her body forward without becoming consumed by every uncomfortable sensation or doubtful thought. Lauren recently learned that there are terms for this phenomenon, including auditory anchoring and cognitive scaffolding, but she had already experienced its impact long before she knew what to call it.
The stories also become inseparable from the places where she hears them. Returning to a familiar section of trail can instantly transport her back into the plot of the book that accompanied her there. At the 2025 UTMB Mont Blanc, she listened to the second and third books in Freida McFadden’s The Housemaid series. She may have started another book before reaching Chamonix, but by that stage of the race, the details were understandably hazy.
“I honestly couldn’t tell you which one,” she says. “But I definitely connect races and trails to the books I was listening to at the time. It’s not uncommon for me to run a trail again and have it instantly bring back the book I had on during that stretch.”
Lauren spends much of her professional life listening to women’s stories, often during some of their most vulnerable moments. “As a gynecologic surgeon, I’m in the room with women during pain, fear, loss, and decisions no one prepares you for,” she says. “Over and over, I see that strength isn’t the absence of struggle. It’s showing up anyway, scared and unsure, and doing the next thing.”
It is a definition of strength that feels equally true in ultrarunning. Lauren does not believe strength requires feeling powerful throughout an entire race. More often, it means continuing to move when both the mind and body are asking you to stop. It is a lesson she has learned from running, but also from the women she cares for every day.
Motherhood has deepened that understanding of endurance. Running teaches an athlete to push through fatigue, but motherhood has taught Lauren that exhaustion does not always arrive with a finish line. “Being mentally and physically exhausted doesn’t mean you’re done. It just means you’re tired, and you keep going anyway,” she says. “Running teaches you to push through fatigue, but motherhood teaches you there’s no finish line to cross before the next thing needs you.”
Motherhood has also made Lauren fiercely efficient. When time is limited, every hour needs a purpose, and she has learned to organize what matters, be intentional about what truly needs to be done, and release what does not. That ability has made her better at everything she does, including the way she trains.
There is one familiar story about motherhood that Lauren would like to challenge: the idea that being a good mother requires a woman to surrender every other part of herself.
“If dedicating 100 percent of your time and identity to your children is your choice, it’s yours to live,” she says. “But the idea that anything less makes you selfish or means you’re falling short, I don’t think that actually raises good future humans. Kids learn by watching us. If kids only ever see a mother who has disappeared into their needs, they don’t learn what it looks like to have your own goals, take up space, and go after something hard.”
Lauren’s children see the daily work behind her accomplishments. They see a run completed before a soccer game, physical therapy fitted into whatever time is available, and training balanced alongside surgery, school schedules, and family life. They also see their mother stand on the starting line of one of the most competitive races in the world.
“To them, I’m Mom,” Lauren says. “They see the daily stuff, a run before a soccer game, physical therapy squeezed into whatever minutes I have, juggling work and their own activities. Then they see me toe the line at a huge competitive event. I hope what they take from that is that doing big things isn’t reserved for professionals. It’s for anyone willing to do the small, unglamorous stuff, day after day, in whatever time they’ve got.”
For years, Lauren carried a private fear that her success was a fluke and that the next race would finally expose it. She has not completely silenced that story, but she has learned to recognize it for what it is.
“I still hear it,” she says. “I’ve just learned to recognize it as intrusive thinking rather than truth, and to talk back with logic. Luck might open a door, but it doesn’t run 100 miles for you, and it definitely doesn’t get you through medical school or a surgical residency.”
The evidence reminds her that she did not arrive here by chance. Her success was built through years of showing up, training when she did not feel like it, and completing the unglamorous work that no one else sees. At the same time, Lauren does not take her life or opportunities for granted. She feels profoundly lucky for her health, her family, and the opportunities she has had. Gratitude and hard work can exist together, and acknowledging one does not diminish the other.
Lauren describes her twenties and thirties as the opening chapters of her life, a period spent finding her way in medicine, becoming a mother, discovering running almost by accident, and eventually finding running again. The chapter she is in now is about proving that a woman does not have to shrink one part of herself in order to be excellent at the others.
UTMB was an important part of that realization. Finishing eighth and becoming the first American woman across the line showed Lauren what was possible when she stopped apologizing for wanting all of it. Her next chapter is about longevity and demonstrating that a woman can continue getting better in her forties. She can grow as an athlete, physician, and mother without treating those identities as competitors, and she can pursue ambitious goals while raising children who understand that meaningful achievements are built through consistent, ordinary effort.
A gripping murder mystery is Lauren’s first choice. Her favorite authors include Lisa Jewell, David Ellis, Jennifer Hillier, Alice Feeney, Lucy Foley, Freida McFadden, and Riley Sager. The key is choosing something suspenseful enough to pull you out of your own head and keep you wondering what will happen next.
Lauren recommends A Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon or another mystery or drama with characters you genuinely care about. When the miles become difficult, feeling emotionally invested in the story can carry you beyond the discomfort.
Lauren’s pick is Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, an immersive and fast moving escape that makes the hours pass quickly.
Lauren does not have one specific favorite, but she does have a preference: “Anyone with an accent.”
Lauren’s recent favorites include Shady Hollow by Juneau Black, Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai. There have been too many good listens for her to choose only one.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. The series may be beloved by many listeners, but it was not the one for Lauren.
The Beartown series by Fredrik Backman, which offers the kind of story and characters that stay with you long after the final chapter.
Blood Over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang.
Lauren has chosen to run alone because she wanted time with her audiobook, but she has not added extra miles simply to finish a chapter. “I have an issue with overtraining or going over prescribed mileage, so I’m trying to be better about listening to my coach,” she says.
If the suspense becomes unbearable, she has another solution. She keeps listening on the drive home.
