Hannah Pangilinan Is The Women Of Influence 2026 Game Changer

For Hannah Pangilinan, it all comes back to a simple idea: start anyway. Not when you feel ready, not when you're motivated—but now. "There's no need for motivation to act," she says, a mindset she's built through years of showing up for herself, even on the days it felt hardest.

That perspective didn't materialize overnight. After growing up in a household where movement and fitness were a given, Hannah admits she lost that rhythm when she moved out for college. It wasn't until 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, that she found her way back—this time, on her own terms.

What began as 6 a.m. runs with a friend soon turned into something more: a habit, a lifestyle, and eventually, a marathon finish. But Hannah didn't stop there. Inspired by how one person helped her begin, she created Just One, a run club rooted in the belief that big changes start small. "Everything begins with just one… just one step," she says—a philosophy that has since brought together thousands of runners, from beginners to seasoned athletes, all choosing to start where they are.

As a Cosmopolitan Philippines Women of Influence 2026 awardee and this year's The Game Changer, Hannah is proving that fitness doesn’t have to be intimidating to be transformative—it just has to begin.

Hannah: One of my dad's favorite lines is, "What the mind conceives, the body achieves." And sometimes I think we feel lazy, but we can commit to it in our minds. That even though I feel this way, I will act how I want to feel, and so even in moments of feeling lazy and discouraged, I know that if my mind can conceive the great feeling of what it feels to work out afterwards, my body will follow.

For my mom, the thing about her is that she's always been our support crew in any sport that we wanted to do. It wasn't about winning—it was about showing up. Even if we weren't the best athletes on the team, she'll be there. So I think that was just a visual reminder that no matter what, as long as you're trying and you’re putting yourself out there, I'm gonna be here. And that undeniable support, whether or not I win, whether or not I'm the best, encouraged me that the intention of fitness is just continuing to show up. 

Hannah: Yeah, I was surprised, actually—I still am to this day, because I don't think I've earned it, really. I think I just so happen to share more than others. It doesn't necessarily mean I'm the fittest person out there. I think my role is not telling people what to do, but more like telling people that, "We're all here trying, so try with me. Start with me, and let's get out of our beds and let's move together, whatever that looks like."

The moment that I realized there was a little bit of pressure was when I started my run club. I realized that, "Oh, if I'm telling people to come join me, I can't not show up."

At the same time, if they're gonna put in the effort to come and show up and to commit to the workout even if it's challenging… It was also like positive reinforcement: I invited them, they came, so because they came because of my invite, I wanna make them proud, too. We're gonna do this with each other, for each other. 

Hannah: I started my fitness journey in 2021 because my best friend, Abby, was my accountability partner over the pandemic. She and I committed to meeting each other in the mornings at 6 a.m. to get moving. That led to us doing our first marathon together. I was just so inspired by how one person, one invite, made me able to do something like a marathon.

So I started a run club with my friends, then my friends shared it with their friends, and it grew. I noticed my followers saw that I was starting a run club, so I thought I could make it public. We did a public run with around 200 people. From there, I realized more people were catching on, and I was so happy because we saw runners from all walks of life—elite [athletes] and beginners who never ran a fun run before showed up just to start.

Eventually, it became a fun run because I couldn't keep up with the number of people who wanted to join. So I said, let's make this into an event and available to everybody. Our first fun run had a 5K, 10K, and 21K, and around 2,000 people showed up. It was overwhelming, but amazing. It was like my ideal fun run. 

I wanted to make it non-intimidating and pace-inclusive. We had a lot of pace groups like "Lakwatsa," "Sakto lang," "Banat," and "Hataw." So you can choose from the different pace groups; you didn't have to be the fastest. I also worked hard on making the shirts and the bibs super cute, because when you're accomplishing something great, you wanna share it with friends. I wanted to make everything Instagrammable, something that they'll be happy to share.

Hannah: I think everything begins with just one: just one step, just one friend, just one goal, just one dream, just one idea. And sometimes, we're daunted by the big things in life, the finish lines of life, the dreams that we have, but if we just condense our thoughts into the first step that we need to do, into the smallest doable action, then the finish line will take care of itself.

In running, it's the same thing. If you keep on thinking about, "Oh, there's 10 more kilometers left," you're never gonna pass this "first." The whole essence of the run club is if one person was able to invite me and bring me to the finish line of a marathon, what if I can encourage other people to start with me? What types of endings, what types of finish lines can they accomplish?

And the verse that I go back to time and time again is, "Do not despise the small beginnings." 'Cause they seem so small, so miniature, but they're the ones that ignite the future finish lines of our lives.

Hannah: There's no need for motivation to act. It's a lie—that you have to wait for motivation, that you have to wait for the inspiration, because that's not required in order to act. And the more you build the muscle to say, "Even though I feel this way, I'll still continue," the more you realize that motivation is a myth. I mean, yeah, it's helpful sometimes, but it's not always going to be there. So if you don't rely on it, then the consistency comes time and time again.

Another thing I've learned is that sport and movement replicate life so much. So many of the metaphors I've learned through running also reflect life. Like how you just have to get on the starting line, then one step at a time. So I feel as if just by focusing on my fitness, it's making me a better and happier person, and it's putting intangible feelings into something I can actually see happening in front of me.

Hannah: Well, I'm not gonna lie, it was definitely an aesthetic goal at first. We all wanna look fit, we all wanna look our best. But I think that what I'm realizing now is that looking my best is a by-product of feeling my best. It’s not the other way around.

Because if I look thin and fit, but I have no sleep, no downtime, and I'm always in a rush and always stressed, sooner or later it will show on my body. It will reflect in bloating, it will reflect in dark circles, my skin's gonna flare up. I don't think there's a way to shortcut the looking good part if you don't feel good.

Hannah: The first thing I would say is close your eyes. We cannot look to other people for how to do things, because everybody has a different story, and everybody has a different starting point. So first and foremost, recognize that your journey is gonna look different from everybody else's, so just put the blinders on, you know?

Once you look at yourself in the mirror and recognize where you are, that's really the only chance you have to start taking steps to be better. Let's not lie to ourselves—we know what we need to do, we know the things we're neglecting, we know the things we're putting off. So just quiet the noise and be completely honest with yourself. Ask yourself, "Where am I and where do I want to go, and what is the closest, most accessible step to get closer to where I want to be?"

For me, go on a walk. You don't have to jog, you don't have to run. Just go for a walk, and build the habit of making space to move, whether that's five or 10 minutes, then whatever movement means for you, it will change over time. Let's say, 10 minutes of walking today could be 10 minutes of jogging in the next month, then it could be 10 minutes of running in the next six months… but just carve out that time. Make it a sacred moment. 

Hannah: "To each her own" can sometimes come across as sarcastic. Like we think, "Ugh, okay, to each her own," but we really don't mean that. But I think we can kinda flip the narrative on that and say, "No, to each her own." Let her explore herself, let her do what she wants to do, let her be her own unique self. I feel like we need to empower other people to be like, “Yeah, go girl. Do it!” Instead of letting her do that, but then also giving her a side-eye. You're still judging the person.

So for me, "to each her own" means allowing people to be fully themselves and embracing that—not shunning it, not judging it. Because that's the same energy we want for ourselves, too. That's what we want our fellow women to do; to look at us and just be like, "You go, girl, you are killing it. You're forging your own path, and I'm here to see it."

Executive Editor: Ida Aldana

Art Director: Ica Del Mundo

Photographer: Lem Atienza, assisted by Yani Espiel, Yuan David, Nicole Evans, and Rafi Lopez

Makeup Artist: Anton Patdu
Hairstylist: Boggy Diaz
Stylist: Quayn Pedroso

Story: Cheska Santiago

Producer: Alyana Olivar
Video: Cherrie Julian and Jino Del Mundo, assisted by Alfred Locsin & George Tuliao

Social Media: Aina Lizarondo, assisted by Margaux Bataclan