Allow me to introduce myself – I’m little miss socialite. I’m not kidding. That’s actually how I introduce myself to new groups of people followed by the phrase “once you get me talking, I won’t stop.”
I began my running journey about 3 years ago when I joined Fusion Cross Training’s (now Unite Fitness) summer bootcamp. During the first night, while running circles around a football field at an elementary school, I remember asking myself – and the people plodding along with me – what the heck we’d gotten ourselves into. Even gasping for air, I would still talk. After a few weeks, I no longer wanted to cry while running and finally found out about that elusive endorphin high! I began forming friendships with my fellow boot campers and soon, those Tuesday night sessions became a highlight of my week – I said a highlight, not the highlight… just to clarify!
Once boot camp was done, my new friends and I had caught the running bug and we weren’t ready to stop, so we registered for and completed a couple of races together – the Maguire Mud Run and the Norcross Run the Bridge. We trained, encouraged, and cheered on each other. Those marines who chanted behind us through Camden didn’t hurt either!
The following year buzz about the Broad Street Run began. Who was going to do it? Should we do it? Can we do it? But by the time we decided we wanted to, the race was sold out. My friend (who you may hear me later reference as Bubba, as in Bubba from Forrest Gump… Forrest always needs a Bubba) and I heard about Team Philly through Fusion and that we could train with this group and be registered to run. YES! So, we registered for Team Philly and prepared to tackle this Broad Street Beast!
Now, I can honestly say that some of my favorite memories of training for the run are those spent on Saturday or Sunday mornings hoofing it down Kelly Drive talking to Bubba. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard. Sure, not every run was great. It usually worked out that if one of us was having a great run, the other was not, but we made the best of it and pushed each other through those runs – the coffee at the diner afterwards didn’t hurt either. Countless ailments – black toenails (me), side cramps (mine), blisters (both of us), shin splints (hers), bye bye hands (hers) – would also hit with no regard of how long we had to run that day.
Then race day came. A group of us made a pact beforehand that if anyone was having a crappy run, the others would go so no one got held back. Unfortunately for Bubba, Forrest felt amazing that day and took off around mile 3.
Without anyone to talk to and unable to find anyone else in my group, it wasn’t long before I got bored listening to my Ipod playlist. So, I did what any chatty – albeit winded – runner would do. I cheered on my fellow runners! I looked through the crowds and if I saw someone who looked like they were struggling, I told them they were doing great and to keep going, we were almost there! I high-fived people, asked them how they felt, anything to keep us all motivated and moving. As we neared the finish line, I was looking at the crowds cheering us on, thinking how amazing it felt to be completing a race like this, and how many friends I made along the way.
After the race, several people I cheered on came up to me to say thank you. You know what I did? I thanked them because they are the ones who kept me going too. That’s what we do – we motivate each other.
As runners, we all have stories about how we grew to love the sport. Some of us love how running makes us feel while others love how running relieves stress (yes to both for me, please). If you’re new to the sport and haven’t found your sweet spot yet, be patient, you’ll get there and when you do, it’ll change the way you run forever.
Although I haven’t raced since that day, I still run quite a bit and I’m eagerly waiting for spring – Kelly Drive and I have some dates lined up. Hope to see you out there!
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