Copyright newsweek
A woman’s emotional journey to completing her first half marathon has brought the internet to tears, after she shared a series of touching voice notes from her husband and young daughters cheering her on to the finish line. Margret Rojas, 38, (@stylethegirl), posted a short clip of herself running on Instagram, followed by a screen recording of messages from her husband, Diego, 38, and their daughters, aged nine and five. They can be heard shouting “you’ve got this” and counting down the miles remaining in the race, earning 522,000 views. Rojas told Newsweek that hearing the first message made her “instantly emotional.” Running remains one of the world’s most popular forms of exercise, according to Statista, with about 50 million Americans regularly running or jogging for both physical and mental health benefits. Two screenshots from the viral Instagram post showing the mom running and her messages. Margret Rojas. Instagram/@stylethegirl Nearly 96 million U.S. adults set out to prioritize health and fitness in 2025, states the Health and Fitness Association—including Rojas, who lives in Houston, Texas. She told Newsweek: “My goal for the year was to run a half; I’ve never been a runner my whole life but wanted to challenge myself this year to do something I considered hard. “So, running those miles and hearing my family cheering me on gave me the extra push and hope to keep moving my legs past that finish line.” By the end of the race, she was crying. “I couldn’t believe I was so close to completing my goal and hugging my family at the very end,” she said, calling the experience “so emotional.” Rojas’s post quickly went viral, amassing more than 42,000 likes and over 830 comments. Viewers flooded the comments with messages of support and admiration. “I am CRYING, [the] most supportive [family]!!!!” one user wrote. Another added: “I actually just cried. You and Diego are doing such an incredible job raising your family and I am so inspired. I am so happy to see such an incredible woman like yourself be loved like this by her people. You are rich.” A third commenter said: “This would’ve given me tears down my face but a pep in my step.” Running today is as much about community as it is about endurance. A study of more than 13,000 runners—60 percent men and 40 percent women—found that while many still run alone, they do so while staying digitally connected. Social media now plays a central role in how runners experience and share their journeys. Platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, blogs, podcasts, and TikTok have transformed running culture, with preferences varying across generations. Among runners aged 24–34, TikTok usage for running-related content has skyrocketed from 5 percent last year to 56 percent. “Focus on the Major Running Survey of 2025.” Marathons, https://www.marathons.com/en/featured-stories/the-voice-of-runners-focus-on-the-major-running-survey-of-2025/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
