Learning from Champions

"Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do."
~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

For the past 5 months I have been working with champions who have decided to take the plunge into the running world. I must say that I have been so impressed with the dedication that some of these people have shown. They are out there for every practice and won't let rain, heat, thunder and even lightning get in their way (although I do argue with them when I see lightning to go home!).

So what have I learned from these champions? Well let me first go back to why I created this group. For those of you who have never heard of the website meetup.com, I highly suggest you check it out if you are looking to meet new people and get active. I became an organizer and created a beginner runner's group (you can check it out at www.meetup.com/MichelleRuns). I wanted to start this group because I felt their weren't too many running groups out there that were geared towards people who have never run before or haven't run in a few years (basically people starting from scratch). I wanted people who had a desire to start running but were too scared to start either with a group or on their own to feel welcome and completely comfortable in my group and to learn something while they were out there. I think it actually worked! I have over 130 people in the group and it keeps growing every day!

So back to my initial question. What have I learned from these champions? At the beginning of every session the group does introductions and I ask them to tell the group why they decided to join this group. Here are the top 5 most common reasons:

1. To get fit
2. To become a better runner
3. To participate in a 5K, 10K or even a half marathon
4. Lose weight
5. Meet new people

Every one's reasons were pretty similar and what I had expected to hear. But what I did learn from these champions is the how dedicated they are!

There is Naseem, who was running 10 minutes late the other day and managed to catch up with us on the course. And I believe he has only missed one session!

There is Nicole who is always wanting to go out and run again after our session is over. She is also one of the ones who fights me when its lightning out! :)

There is Carol, who comes out to run with us usually after running with another group in the morning!

These are just some of people who are part of the group and I know there will be many more stories to come. I have really enjoyed working with these champions. The most wonderful part about this journey is that I did not expect to learn so much from them!

Do you have a hobby that you have always wanted to try but have been too nervous to dip your feet into it? I encourage you to break out of our comfort zone because the results could be bigger than you expected.

Happy Running!