The world of sports is full of contrasts. While those on the surface might only see the glamour and chic maneuvers, those on the underbelly of the sport see how grisly it can get. From brutal physical training to sustained mental endurance needed to somehow go through the training, those who want to become something have it rough. But for one Texas-born athlete, she experienced it firsthand at the tender age of 19. Yet instead of living scared, she found a way to put the pain inside her as an inspiration for millions like her.

The woman in question is none other than endurance athlete Summer Willis. The tragedy happened while she was attending a fraternity party as part of the University of Texas, Austin, with her ‘friends’. The then-teenage girl was drugged and assaulted s*******. And the one responsible was someone the Texan addressed as her ‘friend’! What’s even more traumatizing about the incident was the fact the dreadful incident was shared among the group via a secret newspaper, leaving the woman mentally terrorized. 

Unfortunately, her trauma did not end there. Summer soon entered an abusive relationship where she was beaten, strangled, and even locked in a room with no sunlight. Eventually, after being kicked out of her house, the ex-girlfriend of the man she was in a relationship with saved her. But after trying to bury her trauma for a long time, she started to heal by finding solace in running.

Now, cut to 2025, Willis, who is a mother of two, has completed 29 races! Not only has she healed a lot, but she is now also advocating for the welfare of other survivors. She has her welfare group known as Strength Through Strides, a nonprofit supporting survivors. As part of this, she has helped countless souls. And her marathon was another defiance of that pain.

Summer Willis endures unimaginable pain to reclaim her body 

In the recently concluded Austin Marathon, Willis did something that instantly stood out from the rest. Gearing up for her race, Willis had everybody astonished when she crawled for 13.1 miles. Well, this was her way of raising awareness. Trying to reclaim her body, she decided to crawl to the exact spot where she was brutally assaulted all those years ago. 

Feeling a sensation of immense pain, Willis powered through as her knees bled. After continuing her grueling crawl for three hours, Willis successfully secured the 5K world record. Taking to her Instagram, Willis compared that long, tiring crawl with “how long it took to leave my dorm room, return to class, and answer my friends’ calls.” After crawling for 13.1 miles, Willis came to the place where she was supposed to be on her knees. 

The only difference was that she was not. “When I reached the half-marathon mark at the Austin Marathon, I looked across the street and there it was. The place where I was ra**d a decade ago. But this time, I wasn’t on my knees. I was standing beside my best friend, my biggest cheerleader, my husband,” wrote Willis on her Instagram. She then ran for another 13.1 miles to ultimately complete the full marathon and remind herself of the fact that she too was a fighter. 

Summer Willis’ incredible act touted to bring in ‘ripple effects’ in Texas

As she strode along the track, loud cheers greeted Willis, and her eyes became filled with tears. Willis also had an exciting bit of news being delivered to her by Ann Johnson. The bill she has been fighting for, which puts significant emphasis on consent, will be renamed after Summer Willis.

The few lines of her Instagram post aptly describe how badly Summer Willis wants to bring in a change to protect s***** assault survivors from the crime being repeated further. She wrote, “As much as I don’t like to acknowledge it, I felt the truth of that in my bones. The long, grueling journey of reclaiming my body, my voice, and myself. The difficulty of telling people. The way society tells us it’s our fault.”

Thankfully, all her hard work has finally come to fruition, it seems. Standing tall in the beaming sunlight, although Summer Willis had her knees bandaged and tears trickling down her eyes, back in her mind she knew she was a winner.

It was at this moment that one of the lawmakers took up the microphone and, much like a divine prophecy, echoed, “Not only did it complete Summer’s incredible mission, but it symbolized the beginning of a movement with the potential to inspire policy change that will have ripple effects across generations of Texans.”  This is a monumental moment and people from all walks of life can now look forward to the positive changes that will inspire many others.