People often ask runners what motivates them to train and compete over long distances, sometimes in grueling conditions.  For Penn State sophomore cross country standout Molly Landreth, that inspiration came from growing up in a family that was gifted in the sport.  However, in her senior year of high school Molly suffered a loss that challenged her both emotionally and athletically.

Landreth was destined to be a runner. Her father competed in college and her older brother, Travis, followed suit, running collegiately at Connecticut. Travis' running influence on the family first began when he joined track his sophomore year in high school. Travis, an avid skateboarder, wanted to win a bet with his mother that he would be able to earn a letter in a varsity sport. He discovered he had a true passion for running. In 1997, Travis was crowned the Big East cross country champion and was an All-American honoree. His success and attitude came to serve as the spark for Molly and older-sister Susannah's interest in running.

Being seven years younger than Travis, Molly often watched her brother run and compete. While Molly first started running in occasional road races, she did not formally get involved in the sport until 7th and 8th grade when her middle school started a cross country program. She continued running in high school, competing in the Footlocker Cross Country National Championships. In 2000, Molly became the Massachusetts State Champion. She went undefeated in cross country for three years in the Cape Ann League and was a four-time Boston Globe and Boston Herald All-Scholastic selection.  Molly also began spending her summers attending running camps across the country with her brother. She witnessed that he had a magnetism that drew aspiring athletes to him.

"He did a lot for many kids and he was an inspiration. From what I've heard from other campers, they really looked up to him as a counselor."

It was her brother's attendance at these summer camps, specifically one at Stanford, that planted the seeds of Molly's collegiate running career. Travis told Beth Alford-Sullivan (then a coach at Stanford) about his sister. After beginning her coaching position at Penn State, Coach Alford-Sullivan located Molly her senior year in high school. PSU started the recruiting process in the fall, resulting in Molly committing to run at Penn State during the early-signing period in November.

Just two months after committing to Penn State, Molly faced a loss that would likely be one of the biggest challenges in her life. On Jan 12, 2001 a heart condition took the life of her brother while running with the Nike Farm Team in Palo Alto, Calif., where he was training towards the U.S. Cross Country Championships.

Travis' death was a devastating shock, partly because his heart condition was previously undetected. Immediately, Molly and Susannah's own health became a concern. Molly had been diagnosed with a heart murmur as a child, and was immediately tested for the same condition that had affected Travis. The process consisted of a restriction of her running, as well as a prescription of inhalers. After the multitude of tests, the family was relieved to discover that she and her sister were negative for the condition.

After the physical hindrance, Molly was left to confront the emotional challenges of continuing the sport that took her brother from her.

"Afterwards I didn't run for a while. My coach and others came over numerous times to try to get me go running with them, but I think it had to be done on my own time."

"It kind of gave me doubts about if I really wanted to keep running because I had lost the one person that was truly proud of me and had a belief in me. It was hard to continue running when I had part of my belief taken away."

While she competed in the next track season, she realized that she didn't hold the same passion for running.

"I didn't have near as much heart as I used to. It took me at least a year to fully get back the feeling of running as being something special."

One event that helped improve Molly's outlook has been Trav's Trail Run, a 5-kilometer race held annually in Newburyport, Mass. on Memorial Day weekend. Held in memory of Molly's brother, the profits benefit the Travis Eliot Landreth Memorial Scholarship Fund, while also helping keep the memory of Travis alive.

"The past two years it has been a great turnout and it is so enjoyable having everybody come and show up for the support of keeping his memory alive. I love going to it. I love seeing all the people there. When Trav's Trail Run comes around it is like a reassurance that you know people still miss him and are thinking about him."

While Trav's Trail Run has helped in the healing process, Molly still reflects, "that summer it was so hard to go out on long runs. All I personally thought about how I used to go on summer runs with him, because we were at the camps and we'd be at the camps together and do the long runs together. And I missed the long runs, and that made it very hard to continue running. But I got through it and I'm running and I'm happy with it."

While Molly's commitment to continue running has been difficult, Coach Alford-Sullivan testifies that, "Under the circumstances Molly's progression for running has come back at a healthy manner. From a coach's perspective it was handled in a good manner at letting her come back to it at the level that she chose to come back to it."

"When she came to Penn State last year, I would say that her freshman year, she grew from the fall to the spring, in those nine months, she grew as an athlete significantly. Through each season I saw her progress to be the best athlete she could be in the season."  This included progressing into the top five by the end of the cross-country season. Molly then met a goal in track after she scored in the steeplechase at the Outdoor Big Ten Championships.

Reflecting on her personal experiences, as well as how they have affected her running, Molly emphasizes, "If you are going to believe in somebody, you are supposed to at least believe in yourself. If somebody says to you that you can't do something, don't believe them. If that's something that you want to do, set the goal and go after it. It doesn't matter what other people say. There is no doubt on my mind that you can do anything as long you work for it and put a lot of effort and drive into it."