GLP-1s: A Performance Play?

The weight-loss and diabetes medications have sparked a heated conversation in the running community.

- By Anna Medaris

Shannon Ford used to go to bed dreaming about what she'd eat for breakfast and finish her morning meal fixating on what she'd have for lunch. No matter how much she ate, she never felt satisfied. But after starting a non-FDA-approved GLP-1 agonist—an injectable drug similar to the diabetes drug Ozempic and the weight-loss drug Wegovy—in January of 2023, "the appetite absolutely vanished right away," she says.

Ford lost 80 pounds in just over a year and a half, and running—something she'd avoided since childhood—took on a new appeal.

“Once I realized I could run, I was like, ‘I'm going to run a marathon,’” says Ford, a 45-year-old child abuse detective in Medford, Oregon. She followed Peloton’s Road to Your 26.2 training program, and despite briefly developing anemia from underfueling thanks to the appetite-crushing medication, she completed her first marathon in September 2023. A new obsession was born.

Now, instead of feeling consumed with thoughts of food, Ford devours running podcasts, plans her weeks around her runs, and buys “a ridiculous amount” of running shoes. She recently completed her second marathon, and while she barely missed her mile pace goal of 8:30, she still beat her prior pace of about 12 minutes and busted her previous marathon PR by 30 minutes. Right now, she’s maintaining her weightloss on a less-frequent dose of the GLP-1 (taking it every two to three weeks) and occasionally running half-marathons.

Though she doesn’t know how her body will handle the drug longterm—and experts caution against non-FDA-approved varieties—Ford accepts that she may be on it for the rest of her life. (Research suggests that stopping the drug makes the weight come back.) “Sometimes istill wonder, 10 years from now, am I going to regret this?” she says. “I dontknow. Right now, I’m okay.”