Alumni Spotlight: Blazing a Trail

“I love challenging myself and working toward a difficult, but achievable goal. It's like a very long set of stairs … one step at a time to the top,” said Ms. Richman, whose dedication and goal-setting have led to numerous achievements over the years. In 2020, she set the fastest known women’s time in the Capitol Trail and Back race (Richmond to Williamsburg and back): an astonishing 102.4 miles in 17 hours, 32 minutes. In addition, she was selected for the 2021 United States 24 Hour National Team, and in 2025, she recorded the second-fastest female time in the 47-year course history of the Old Dominion 100 Mile race.

Ms. Richman, who holds the record for the tenth-fastest female 100-mile time in the United States for 2025, laced up her first pair of running shoes in 2005 when she was living in Chicago.

“My best friend from college (Syracuse University) came to run the Chicago marathon,” she recalled. “She inspired me to run the race the following year, and I found that I loved training and the running community.” Since that time, she has run hundreds of races and broken countless records. In early 2025, she launched Richman Run Coaching, an independently owned and operated personalized ultrarunning coaching company. 

The mother of two children (ages 7 and 11), Ms. Richman gets in most of her training while her kids are in school. Favorite training spots include Shenandoah National Park and the many trails in and around Richmond. 

 

“I love putting in the work every day and pushing myself because I want to see what I can do,” she said. “I run mostly by myself except when I’m coaching the Richmond Marathon Training Team on Saturdays each fall, and I truly enjoy the solitude. Running is the time I feel grounded, and I reconnect with myself.”

 

Ms. Richman, who joined the Steward community as a tenth grader, was a member of the cheerleading squad and played on the tennis team. She is the daughter of Bonny Hajek, who for many years taught PE at Steward. Asked if she keeps in touch with fellow alumni, Ms. Richman quipped, “I stay in touch with one specific alumna because she's my twin sister … Meg (Hajek) Swenck ’98!” She also attends alumni gatherings in the summer and reads the Colonnade magazine, and her children have attended Summer Experience camps for several years. 

“Going to Steward was a pivotal choice in my life,” she said. “I'm an introvert, and in Middle School, I lacked self-confidence. At Steward, I had opportunities to try new activities and take classes I may not have otherwise tried, which gave me more confidence in myself. Being on the cheerleading squad also helped me believe in myself, which in turn led me to competitive cheer and then cheerleading at Syracuse University. I’m proud to be a Spartan!”