RUNNING TOGETHER

HOW ONE COMMUNITY IS LEARNING, GROWING, AND STAYING ACTIVE

By Rosemary Fotheringham

When Chris Albertson first moved to the Tri-Cities from Portland, he didn’t know anyone. He saw a need for a community to facilitate more active and sustainable living, and thus, Runners of the Sage was born! Runners of the Sage is a running community that’s been active for over five years in the Tri-Cities. They do weekly group runs on Tuesday nights that are regularly joined by 20-40 people, and for some of the larger events, they might get 100.

People are able to make friendships here and find their people and that, for me, is the most important part about what we do.

Chris uses the group as a platform to educate people about sustainable living practices, like composting and recycling, with running at the center of everything. They’ve also done native plant landscaping events, Zero Waste Runs, an event called Transportation Transformation where they think about how to get from point A to point B without a car, a Mindful Living series, or Dig the Dirt, a twomile barefoot run.

Beyond sustainability education, “people are able to make friendships here and find their people,” Chris says. Moving to a new area is tough. The Tri-Cities is an area that’s experiencing rapid growth, and there are also people who have lived here for a while but haven’t yet found a community. Runners of the Sage can provide that. “And that, for me, is the most important part about what we do.”

Chris doesn’t want anyone to be intimidated about the word “runner”; for him, it’s all about building community, and everyone is welcome, no matter their pace. The Runners of the Sage group has all types of people, from total beginners to advanced runners and former college athletes. “We have people that are just getting into the sport, or just are out to be active with a group of people, from scientists to school teachers, all kinds of jobs and all ages, teenagers to 70 year olds.” He encourages anyone to come, since he believes that energy creates energy: “Our goal is to have everyone have someone at their own pace and ability that they can walk with, jog with, or run super hard with… It gives people that sense of belonging — and competition, if that’s what they want.”

“Everyone is welcome, no matter their pace.”

Group members have improved their fitness level, lost weight (one notable example being a man who lost over a hundred pounds), and kept up their running during winter, when it’s cold and dark and hard to train. It’s the sense of belonging and camaraderie that keeps the runners coming back again and again. One participant said of joining the group after going through a divorce, “It was so energizing and uplifting. It got me out of my comfort zone, pushing me to a higher fitness level. Sharing that love of running was super positive for me. It helped me at a time when I needed to learn how to dream again.”

For information about Runners of the Sage’s races, events, and weekly running group, check out their website at runnersofthesage.com.

This feature appears in our Community section which is generously sponsored by Bookwalter Winery.