Moving Forward: Running With Grief

When grief becomes a journey of endurance rather than recovery

In June of 2022, Josh Coleman's world shattered when his wife Erin, his partner of twenty years, his best friend, and the love of his life, died from injuries sustained in a tragic car accident. In an instant, the future they'd carefully built together vanished, leaving Josh to navigate a landscape he never imagined walking alone.

Society tells you to "move on" and "find closure." Grief counselors speak of stages to work through. Well-meaning friends offer timelines for healing. But Josh discovered something different: grief isn't a problem to solve, it's love with nowhere to go, and the goal isn't moving on but moving forward while carrying that love.

Moving Forward: Running With Grief is the raw, honest account of how an ultramarathon runner learned to apply the mental strategies of endurance sports to the hardest challenge of his life. From those first devastating days in the ICU to finding unexpected moments of happiness years later, Josh shares how he transformed his daily runs into conversations with Erin's memory, how the trail running community became an unlikely source of healing, and how living part-time in an RV van opened new paths to purpose.

This isn't a story about "getting over" loss, it's about integration, about learning to hold both profound sorrow and renewed hope. Through mountain climbs and desert crossings, theater tributes and quiet morning rituals, Josh shows us that healing doesn't mean leaving our loved ones behind but finding new ways to honor their impact on our lives.

For anyone who has experienced devastating loss, supports someone who is grieving, or wonders how we carry on when life as we know it ends, this memoir offers companionship on the journey and proof that love transcends even death itself.

A testament to the enduring power of love and the courage to keep moving forward when standing still feels impossible.