Comfort and Growth Can Never Coexist
“Comfort and growth can never co-exist. Running has transformed my view of putting myself in uncomfortable situations because growth follows difficulty. I also want to help other runners overcome adversity. That is how I lead.”
While running early in the morning on March 25 in Philadelphia, Shannon Connaghan was hit by a car that sped off rather than stopping to help her. An ambulance took Shannon to the trauma unit of the emergency room, where doctors put 60 stitches around her eye and cared for her concussion and high-level burns.
Some people might have given up on running and on humanity, but Shannon went in the opposite direction. Not only did she run a marathon by November of that year, but she also turned her terrible experience into action to help other runners.
Shannon published her first book, Grit Over Quit, detailing her running career, her accident, and the mindset that drives her to push through difficulty. Further, she took to the stage to give a TEDx talk on the mental attitude that guided her through running and through hardships, hoping to lead others to overcome hardships as well.
Image Curtesy of Shannon Connaghan
That same year, she joined the advisory board of Running Mate, an app designed to keep runners safe through buddy systems. In addition to her full-time career working as a finance transformation professional working for Haleon, one of the worlds leading consumer healthcare companies, Shannon supports the company’s founder with advice on business strategy, pricing, presentations to investors, and grants.
According to the company, 60 percent of female runners surveyed have experienced harassment while running. Founded by Dena Lewis, a survivor of assault, the app connects runners with background-checked running partners to make this healthy workout safer for participants, particularly women. While the app is in its early stages and only available in certain cities, they plan to eventually expand to reach runners across the country.
Shannon grew up knowing that challenges lead to growth. Her childhood home was filled with evidence of the athletic achievements of her parents, siblings, and cousins. For her family, sports challenges were an essential part of life.
When she was young, Shannon watched her mother, a dietician, take to the road in her running shoes almost daily. This routine supported both her personal and professional commitment to good health. Shannon first tried out for soccer, but when she was cut from the team, she decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps and joined the girls’ cross-country team.
In her junior year of college at Villanova University, Shannon’s goals expanded as she set her sights on her first marathon.
“I always craved a challenge and wanted to prove that I could do hard things,” she says.
Training for a 26.2-mile race in the Pennsylvania cold requires grit, but Shannon embraces obstacles. She cites training for this marathon and the many that followed as the inspiration for her physical and mental mindset: comfort and growth cannot coexist.
Image Curtesy of Shannon Connaghan
This ideal has carried her through six marathon races as well as a variety of professional challenges. What’s the connection? Shannon notes that marathon running, while undeniably taxing on the body, relies most heavily on mental toughness.
“You have to do really hard things, to get rewards and see success,” she says.
Shannon is a leader and a living model of perseverance, taking her accident not as an obstacle but as a challenge to uplift, encourage, and protect other people.Her mindset, which emphasizes perseverance in difficult challenges, is more important now than ever. “The world is changing so quickly – handling ambiguity and uncomfortable situations requires resilience and this skill is also transferable as it relates to helping teams and organizations navigate change.”
Captured Fall 2025