Inhale. Exhale. One foot and then the other. The pounding of the pavement, the beat of the music—nothing else mattered. Out here on the trail, there was no judgment, no criticism. No demanding professors or annoying roommates. Out here, she could be herself, alone with her thoughts with nothing to worry about in the world.

Jasmin Brown ran the same four-mile stretch of Boxer’s Trail every evening. It gave her the opportunity to clear her mind and get ready for the next day. She ...