Wellington Runners Club Helps Keep The Community In Shape Story by Jason Stromberg • Photos by Abner Pedraza
When you are running, you’re exercising, you’re moving, your heart is pumping, your blood is flowing and you’re relieving all that stress. Running makes you feel good, makes you look good and keeps you healthy. Those are some of the positive effects running can have on your mind and body, and that’s what it’s like being a part of the Wellington Runners Club. “We all want to feel good, so that we look good,” Wellington Runners Club coach Jon Pagalilauan said. “To look good and feel good, you’ve got to run. And at one point, instead of running
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being painful, it actually becomes pleasurable. It gives me more pleasure. If I don’t do it, if I don’t run, I feel worse.” The Wellington Runners Club was founded in 2004 and currently has about 140 active members, featuring runners “from top to bottom” — meaning from beginners to elite runners. There are two organized group club
runs and official club meetings on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. Those are Pagalilauan’s favorite days of the week. “Running is what I do. It defines me. It makes me look good; it makes me feel good, health wise and mental wise,” said Pagalilauan, who is in his fifth year as the club’s coach. “If you say running is the key to a happy life, then that’s what you want.” Running brings a smile to the face of Jennifer Leeds, who is in her fourth year as president of the Wellington Runners Club. She doesn’t just go for a club run