The Running Group

Kathryn Crawford Saxer Self Care

I had a random idea awhile back. What if I started a running group and invited people who had never run before to come with me?
Running is all well and good, but I only do it for that clear, calm, washed clean feeling afterwards. There’s a lot of spaciousness in that feeling. A lot of power.
What if I invited other people to experience that feeling? What would they do with it?
Once I wrote the invitation email, I was oddly reluctant to hit the send button. What if no one responded? What if it seemed condescending or too enthusiastic or too something. A lot easier to do nothing instead.
I hit that send button, but it made me sweat.
It needn’t have. I received an immediate and warm response. One respondent wistfully wrote, “I’ve always wanted to be a runner.”
Several days later, seven of us gathered in the misty rain to run/walk. Afterwards, one beginner runner texted me: “Today was so much fun. I would do it 5 times a week.” Another wrote, “I felt GREAT afterwards.”
I know that feeling exactly.