I was thinking about the fact that we were not in Elmhurst this weekend and I wasn't sure what I would write about. My blog is, after all, about shopping local and here we were - not local.
So, on Saturday we were waiting in the corral and had a long time to chat. For anyone who has done a large race with 10,000+ runners you know that you can wait a long time before you get to start. I brought up that we were not very local this weekend and Scott instantly disagreed with me.
He noted that we wouldn't even be at the race if it wasn't for Elmhurst. It was an interesting point and absolutely right. Here is why...
When we first moved to Elmhurst our daughter was only about 18 months old. We were in that stage of life with too little sleep and too little time to do much more than work and chasing a little toddler. Working out, running or doing anything for ourselves (or with each other) was not a priority. After we lived in Elmhurst a few months I noticed a few things. For one, when I parked at the parking garage, no one takes the elevator. I noticed that there were a lot of people running by our house each morning and in general everyone seemed very active.
For us it all started on the first Thanksgiving that we lived here. Scott brought up that there was a BIG turkey trot 5K on Thanksgiving morning. It was the Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot. I casually mentioned that it would be really fun to do a 5K one day. We ended up having a discussion about how unhealthy we felt and that we wanted to set a better example for our daughter. So..when spring came - we started running. We had not realized what the Prairie Path even was when we moved here, but the first time we went to it, I was amazed at how many people were out. (Although you can't tell from the picture below)
A year later we were 90 lbs lighter (collectively) and we did the Turkey Trot. It was awesome and it it led to many other race. It led up to our half marathon this past weekend.
So, not only did Elmhurst bring us to that half marathon, lots of businesses were part of it too (see....I am bringing it around to the shop local element!).
As we sat in the corral, we started to take inventory of all the gear and services that we used local businesses for in order to get to that race:
1. Runners Sole: We love this store and go there for a variety of things. For this race we both had shoes from Runners sole as well as socks, water bottles, Gu gels and body glide. The other thing Runners Sole has given us is advice. Their staff is very knowledgeable and they have given us advice on everything from running in the heat to pacing for a race. I love that they are more than just a store that sells running gear. They are a store that fosters running in our community.
2. Prairie Path Food and Ankle: When we trained for our first half marathon, I started having a lot of foot pain. I was worried so visited Dr. Saera Arain who not only did a through check up, but also taught me a lot about what happens to your feet when you run and introduced me to the Powerstep inserts (changed my life). They have been a great resource whenever I have had concerns.
It really made me think about the power of community. We would not have been sitting at the start line of a half marathon if we hadn't moved to a community that inspired us to get off the couch and be more active. On top of that, we had great resources available in our town to help us out and give us guidance.
I felt very lucky at that moment...at least until mile 10 (at that point I just felt like I wanted to sit down)
No comments:
Post a Comment