Karla Bruning

Karla Bruning is an award-winning journalist and writer. Her work—including print, photography and multimedia—has appeared in Newsweek, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, The Gazette in Montreal, the Orlando Sentinel and nearly two dozen other print and online publications. Karla is currently the sports editor for The Washington Times Communities. She is also author of Run, Karla, Run! on The Washington Times Communities and the The Sports Bank, and is a columnist for NYCRUNS.com. Fox Sports online has highlighted her work and she has appeared on “America’s Morning News” on the Talk Radio Network, “Good Morning San Diego” on KSUI TV, “Running” on the YES Network and “The Marathon Show” on BlogTalkRadio. In February 2010 she traveled to Vancouver to cover the 2010 Winter Olympics for The Washington Times.

As a former reporter and researcher for Newsweek, Karla contributed to cover stories for the International Edition and reported for every section of the magazine. She frequently sat in as head of research and as editor of the Periscope section as well. She won a Fulbright scholarship to Germany for young American journalists and also served as a fellow for News21. Her work has taken her from the shores of the Puget Sound in Washington state to the banks of the Ganges in India. She has received reporting grants from the Carnegie and Knight Foundations to cover religion in America and the Scripps Howard Foundation to report on religion in India.

Karla earned a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. While there, the Religion Newswriters Association named her one of 10 national finalists for Student Writer of the Year. Karla graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Amherst College. As a Religion major, she earned the honor of High Distinction and won a college prize for her thesis about contemporary American mysticism. Her fascination with religion continues, but she has covered a myriad of subjects including travel, trends, pop culture, style, science, sports, technology and other topics.

When not pounding the pavement as a reporter, Karla is often pounding the pavement as a runner. She trains with the New York Harriers and is an active member of New York Road Runners. She ran the New York City Marathon in 2007 and 2008, and the Chicago Marathon in 2009. She has also summited Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak.

Before becoming a journalist, Karla worked as an actor, model and singer in New York City. She continues to moonlight as lead singer of The Fades, an ’80s cover band. She also performs with The Dexter Lake Club Band, an event band named by New York Magazine as one of “The Top Ten Reasons to Get Married in New York.” She was also tapped to sing the national anthem at the 2009 Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile, merging her love of singing and running.