COMMUNITY
Breaking in
Longing for a running buddy/ company on your run? Here’s how to break into the running community BY SHEILA MULROONEY ELDRED
W
hen Hayley Russell moved to
Minneapolis to start a Ph.D. program, she knew no one in Minnesota. She’d been running consistently for several years, so she figured running would be a good way to meet people. But like many people new to running and/or Minnesota, she also worried that she wouldn’t be able to keep up on a group run or that everyone else would be more serious about competition. So, she did some research, looking at the values of various clubs before settling on one that professed to being accessible to all runners. She got up her nerve, laced up her shoes and wound up running with three other women who became some of her closest friends in Minneapolis. Now with her doctorate in kinesiology with an emphasis on sports psychology under her belt, she realizes even more fully the advantages of running with others: “There are lots of benefits to running with other people,” she says. Foremost among them? Accountability. “It’s really important for
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FALL 2018
Angie Voight of St. paul gets a high five after the victory day race in september. Photo by Wayne Kryduba
