Last week and this week, Still I Run helped to host five group run in North America (Four in the U.S. and one in Canada). The purpose was to raise awareness for World Mental Health Day on October 10 and to also celebrate the two year anniversary of Still I Run. The idea came from SIR community member, Megan Jaromin, who offered to host a group run in Holland, Michigan. I figured that if one person wanted to host a run, maybe others would too! After doing a call for hosts on the Still I Run Facebook page, some amazing individuals stepped up.
As I started planning logistics for everything, I started getting nervous. What if this whole thing is a flop? What if the people that host runs for SIR only have one person show up? They’re going to think this whole thing is dumb and they’ll feel horribly inconvenienced. I was so incredibly nervous and almost didn’t go through with it all. Turns out I didn’t need to be nervous at all.
The first photo I received from one of the group runs was from 2018 Still I Run ambassador, Michael Camilleri, in Livonia, Michigan. Not only did they have 30 or so people show up, but a drum crew volunteered to play along the route of the run!
Get Involved
Because these runs were so successful, I’d love to host more around the country (or world). What that involves is you just agreeing to map the course, show up the day of, and share a bit about Still I Run and what it means to you. I’ll then share the event via Facebook and send you some SIR swag to share with your runners! If you’re interested, please reach out and we can work together to promote the benefits of running for mental health while defeating the BS stigma!
