Thank you
SloanEveryone loves a sense of community. That feeling where you walk into a room and more than just the person you’re meeting up with knows your name, the feeling were people understand and can relate to what is going on in your life, a feeling of acceptance. Runners are such a community that care. Since my last blog, a various FaceBook status updates, countless amounts of people have asked me about my foot and how my running/cross-training is going.
Some examples:
a friend that I used to ride bikes with FB chats me daily and wished me luck on my first run back.
Jenni, a regular at Gazelle and serial Gazoom member saw me while I was working and checked up on the status of my foot and how I was feeling.
My Dad, of course texts and calls me to see how my recovery is going.
A random friend I run with sometimes asked me if I was sure I wanted to go 8 on Friday.
A new friend that doesn’t know me very well continuously asked me all week how I was feeling.
Co-workers, random customers that have read the blog, my Dad’s friends…the list goes on and on.
It’s hard to get to the point with some people to have this community feeling. Often groups are hard to break into. Here’s a secret: your local running store is a perfect place to start. If you come into the store and are friendly, I may not remember your name right away but I will remember what race you’re training for, what shoe you love and probably the size. So come in and chat with us, we don’t bite! We’re runners too and are always looking to make our community grow in one way or another!
With all this being said, runners are such great people. I get concerned when a fellow runner friend of mine isn’t feeling great. But then I also get SO excited when one calls me, while at work to tell me she just “RAN SIX MILES” for the first time in her life, then comes directly to the store when I got out of work (still in her running clothes) to grab a…errr coffee, to celebrate! I love every second of being a runner because every runner loves every second of it.
So I guess the purpose of this blog is to say THANK YOU. Thank you to all the runners that care, ask, and support. I believe if you give support you will get amazing support back, and that’s what it’s all about—the support from the sidelines of a race is often what gets us through a race. Well, let’s all be cheerleaders for each other along the way and we can go even further.
Happy running. Happy cheering!
Tagged with: cheer • community • Gazelle • inspiration • motivation • running • Sloan • support • why i run
Hi Sloan,
I am a friend of your father’s living in Tucson, AZ. We were training partners when he lived in Phoenix in the early 80′s. There were many summer nights we would sit and wait for the sun to go down so we could get a run in even though the temperature was still 100 degrees. I remember one specific summer evening he decided to prepare a boxed pizza before our run. We still laugh about it that he didn’t quite cook the dough long enough and the dough was still rising in our stomachs during our run.
You dad sends me your articles and not only do I enjoy them but I am impressed with your depth and insight on life in general.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to go out on daily runs for several years now because of knee issues. I’m sure as a result of all the years of running and my body structure not really made for miles and miles of my feet hitting the pavement (I’m short and bowlegged-don’t tell your dad that I said I was short).
I have found alternatives for exercise, weight training, bike riding, and long brisk walks with my 3 greyhounds. Running will still always be number one in my heart.
Keep up the great work.
Chris!
Thanks so much for your comment! I love hearing when people are actually reading AND enjoying what I/and my fellow Gazelle bloggers write.
I’m glad you have such great memories of running with my Dad, he’s a great running buddy (and pizza eating buddy) I’m so happy I get to share a passion like running with him.
Keep moving, ultimately that’s what matters!