In a world where every new endurance challenge seems to be designed to push the physical limits of athletes like never before, Austin, Texas’s Summer Willis, a survivor of sexual assault, took on an unprecedented feat during the Austin Marathon in February. Her goal was clear: to crawl 26.2 miles as a powerful symbol of the strength it takes to recover from trauma. While her plan didn’t exactly play out by the book, her journey to the finish was more meaningful than she could have imagined.
The meaning behind the crawl
Willis, a mom to two boys, published author, and dedicated advocate and endurance athlete, had already completed several remarkable challenges to raise awareness—including completing 29 marathons in one year, and running a marathon with a mattress on her back.
Crawling the marathon was about more than logging miles in weird way—it was about confronting years of silence, pain and stigma. “This crawl is the most meaningful of all my challenges because it’s my first time admitting to myself that it was okay that I wasn’t okay,” she shared with Canadian Running. Her marathon endeavour, something she titled The Last Time We Crawl, was intended to be a raw and physical representation of the trauma many survivors face. For her, the process of crawling was symbolic of the long, painful journey to reclaim her life. “I found my strength through crawling for years—through pain, through trauma, through silence.”
The marathon also had the aim of forcing uncomfortable conversations. “I want people to ask why—why would someone do something so extreme?” Willis explained. Her goal was simple: to raise awareness about sexual violence and start the conversation that so many avoid. “The more people ask, the more we talk about the reality of sexual violence. I refuse to let this issue remain invisible.”
The harsh reality of training
Training for this marathon was unlike anything Willis had done before. Crawling for hours on end required building up not only her physical and mental strength but also her tolerance to pain. “It’s brutal on my knees, my hands, my back,” she said. Despite the agony, Willis pushed through because, as she put it, “survivors don’t get a choice in their pain. They endure it every day.”
Willis crawled for 17 hours, explaining that her physical pain grew as the miles passed. As she neared the halfway mark, the spot where she had been raped, her body reached its breaking point. “I felt helpless; I didn’t know how to take another step,” she reflected. Standing at the site of her assault, she allowed herself to rise, and finished the race on her feet. “I gave myself permission to stand tall,” she said.
Looking ahead: fighting for change
While Willis didn’t complete the full marathon on her knees, the significance of her journey remains powerful, and her message of strength and survival is far from over. For the last 0.3 miles, Willis was joined by members of the Texas House of Representatives, and this spring, Willis will testify before the Texas House of Representatives and Senate, advocating for laws to protect survivors.”I will stand tall and fight for what survivors deserve,” she says.
Willis’s work continues beyond just her own healing. She is working on a Denim Day 5K series to raise funds for survivors, as well as an animated film aimed at helping others cope with trauma; she says her fight for change is just beginning.
To learn more about Summer Willis and her work, head here.
If you or someone you know needs immediate support, call or text 1-866-403-8000 to reach the confidential Alberta’s One-Line for Sexual Violence; for elsewhere in Canada, find a list of resources here. In the U.S., you can call the RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
