We are all busy. We all have commitments in our life; job responsibilities; family responsibilities. But, we need to make time for our friends. Our Watertown Area Run Club–WARC–has been a great avenue for this. We are just a group of people who meet weekly, sometimes twice a week, and just go for a run. But it is not just a run. It is a time to be social, unwind, do some “venting”, and be there for each other. We support each other, cheer each other on, and we also worry about each other when some of us may be having some personal issues going on, or injuries that we have to deal with, or just issues with life in general. There are always challenges we face.
Helping each other overcome those challenges is what is truly meaningful. Knowing that you can help somebody out when they may need make you feel good too. After all, we don’t know when we may be the one who needs support and encouragement from them either.
Often times in life you have to step out of your comfort zone, “go out on a limb”, or “step out to the edge of the dock”. You take chances. When you take chances, it is so much more helpful to know you have other people around you to “catch you”, and be there when you need them. The importance and benefit of this really does not have words to describe this. We all need a support system. This comes even more into play when we have upcoming our annual Suicide Awareness Run on Wednesday Sept 5. People who have committed suicide did not feel they had any kind of support system to fall back on, or be there to “catch them”, or they would not have done that.
We show strength in numbers! Here are a bunch of us getting ready this Summer for the Kampeska triathlon. We were each competing individually, but we were there for each other as well.
Close friendships get made. Here are Erika, Amanda, Jill, Sarah, and Jenn when they went up to Fargo for the All Women’s Half Marathon. It was an all girls run, but that was not really the point for going. They could have run a Half Marathon together around the lake here one day. They got to get away, have some quality time together, and just get away from all of the other stresses of life we all encounter every day. Quality time! Quality people! Quality memories!
Our friend Paticia Roth is getting ready to run her first marathon coming up in 2 weeks in SF. A bunch of us will be doing the half, but she is doing the full. We will be there to cheer her on to the finish. Many of us have been helping her to get through some of her long runs, or having water out for her, supporting her, helping her get a ride in when she was going to be going too far. That is what we do. We support each other, care for each other, and learn from each other. Nobody knows everything, and we all have something different to offer, whether about running, or just life in general. Support your friends!
How true, how true! Sometimes, it can mean the difference of not only participating in a race, or event, but finishing it. And not just a “race”, but life’s ups and downs!
2012 was the beginning of the Watertown Area Run Club. It started off as the Dan and Sarah club, and has built up to dozens of people, all with a common interest of running. I will be the first to admit, I don’t keep coming just because we are running. That may be the common denominator, but I find I am truly missing something if I am not there on Sundays. I will plan my schedule as much as possible not to miss these runs, especially the Sunday runs. I look forward to this every weekend!
So feel free to join us. It is not a race. It is a social time. It is a time to make new friends, and often times, lifelong friends. Come join us sometime. You don’t know what you are missing. Watertown Area Run Club rocks! The bigger our group is when we start, the bigger the smile I have on my face. Support your friends, and the favor will be returned! Guaranteed! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3973
