More days than not, I’d come up with a workout, pack up all my equipment and signs, and drive out to the high school early to beat the soccer crowd—only to have one, maybe two, or, if I was lucky, three people show up. Some days, I’d spend an hour setting up and waiting, only to pack it all away again. I was embarrassed and frustrated about the effort and time I had poured into something the Club said they wanted. But actions speak louder.
Still, I reminded myself of what I always preach about training and building a community: consistency is key. Just keep showing up. That’s how we built the Group Run. So I kept posting the workouts. I kept improving the way I shared them and adding information to help people train smarter. I have a notebook to track everyone’s results so that those who showed up can see their progress. I shared photos, advertised on social media—doing everything I could to create the image of Track Thursday as I dreamed it could be, rather than what it was in that moment.
Today, the workout didn’t go exactly as planned, but I was happy about it. The width of the track couldn’t handle twelve runners at once. I couldn’t record everyone’s splits because my app required me to flip between too many names, and they were crossing the start and finish faster than my fingers could keep up. So instead, I stood on the top step of the track, taking photos and videos. I watched them push hard, curse my name, and just enjoy moving together.
In the end, they gathered, laughed, and supported each other. The warm-up started late, most of the time, because everyone was busy chatting about their week. Cooldown rarely happens because they’re already planning the weekend’s training.
This—this is the dream of what I want this program to be.
Maybe it was an anomaly—everyone’s schedules just happened to align. Maybe it’s the start of a trend. Either way, it was a reminder: just keep showing up.
