Running?.. noooo walking?.. wait ..why can’t we do both?
Have you ever met one of those Families.. you know the ones who like to do 5ks on Holidays?..
.. I have..
..That’s my family. Well technically my Aunt can have the credit on this.. she sort of found a way to get us all to “be” the 5k type of family :).
the timeframe that I have participated in..id say 2012 til the month right before I moved to California.. so Dec 2019, my aunt some how convinced us all to start participating in monthly 5Ks together.
I mean the dedication to this has taken us to a few different states (Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, and Massachusetts). At first it was just her and a couple of my cousins, and then slowly a few more of us joined in.
We have the running crew and the walking crew. Each of us all paced out differently, and some of us similarly. At the beginning of this journey I honestly wasn’t a big fan of running. But being able to do these events with my family, and seeing new places was what got me hooked. Keeping track of my time and working on getting better each “race” competing with myself. Focused on learning and bettering myself in the running world.
I mean .. that was until that one time my Aunt fibbed and forgot to mention we were doing a 5 miler not a 3.. that day .. my body wasn’t a huge fan of the running world.
We all committed and made a plan to find a 5k each month and participate. The weather never stopped us either. We’ve run/walked in rain, snow, fog, sunshine, freezing cold and 100% humidity days.
When I moved all of this stopped, well on my end.. my participation did..
then COVID happened that same year.. and participation in events like this sort of took a pause.
Even with COVID, we all stayed active in our own ways, walking, running, hiking etc etc. I would text my aunt and cousins about how I missed running with them.
This past year, I have been brainstorming different ideas.
..Which leads me to when I moved back.. March 2022.
There was this scheduled annual 5K that none of us really wanted to participate in (honestly). (Mind you we have done this 5K every year for the most part)
Now telling my aunt you don’t want to participate in a run.. can be a little nerve wrecking.. and the funny thing is my Cousin and I both texted her, unknowingly and suggested maybe we just do our own thing this year.
Once she agreed with us.. that is where the ideas started coming to life.
On that first day we all got together we all started discussing and brainstorming places, and if weekly was good. Bouncing different ideas back and forth with each other
Now each of the last two months, once a week we all get together. Someone different in the group picks a new location for the week and we do either 3 miles.. or sometimes 4. We even still have our “two” groups.. runners and walkers.
I think the thing I enjoy the most about these weekly walk/runs is the sense of freedom.
You are able to choose if you want to run or walk. You are able to choose to participate or not participate.
Its low-key and stress free.
Once we pick a location, a few steps are taken.
I’ll post about it via social media and we will each reach out to a handful of individuals we think may want to join. Some weeks its been just our OG crew and other weeks we have had a few newbies join in.
Its crazy to think, this all started because of my aunts love for finding “the best 5ks “after parties” (haha).
This past weekend (and this upcoming one) I won’t be local with them and the best part is we are all still dedicated to our weekly run and walk that participation still continues.
Thats how you know it wasn’t just one person who came up with this. We all collectively put our brains together, thought of a good way to get together and get our bodies moving.
I am forever grateful for this group of humans and for whoever decides to join along the way.
I know speaking for myself, I am excited to see what some of the next few places we choose will be and who else may join us along the way.
We will see what we can come up with next.
support.gratitude.consistency.
|Love your Journey|
