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Dave Griffin On Running
The Carroll County Times – Sunday, March 15, 2009
It’s been nearly five years since I began the Flying Feet Running Programs. My motivation came in the form of my daughter, who was ready to prepare for her sophomore cross country season. Wanting her, her teammates, and other local high school runners to have a structured program for summer running, Flying Feet was formed.
It was a modest beginning to say the least. No one outside my daughter’s team, except for my 12 years old son, joined. That summer’s program was fun nonetheless and it translated into team success in the fall.
As the summers passed, the program began a transformation. Kids from different high schools joined and parents joined with them. Before I knew it, the program was no longer just for high school runners.
After the third year, I decided it was time to expand Flying Feet, and the fall, winter and spring programs were born. Since that time, hundreds of young and adult runners have come through the various programs and some have now been training with me for years.
You might think that those most likely to join a running program would be accomplished runners, but that’s not necessarily true. While many such runners participate, most become accomplished while in the program, not before they arrive.
It’s more typical for inexperienced runners to join. In fact, most people who are new to Flying Feet have been running less than a year and some are just getting started.
I’ve come to realize that it takes courage to join. Almost everyone is apprehensive, believing that they’ll somehow become embarrassed among the other runners.
I remember one runner who told me that she never left her car the first time she came to a run. She watched us gather and then run off before driving back home. It was only in her second visit that she found the courage to walk over to the group.
For most, the apprehension dissipates quickly. Runners are friendly people, and Flying Feet is gifted with a mix of personalities that make others feel welcomed and supported. Once new people get settled, they turn their attention towards what they came for in the first place. And, in working towards those goals, they come to realize that running offers more than they expected.
A few days ago, we started this year’s spring program. As I spoke in front of the group, I saw familiar faces, runners who share a common admiration for one another. Then, there were new faces with apprehensive eyes, people who will begin to learn how that mutual admiration was formed and soon become a part of it.
There’s nothing quite as satisfying as realizing that a passion you have is shared by someone else, except when you realize that it’s your own passion that ignites the spark in the other person. Flying Feet has become an opportunity for me to transfer the blessings that running has provided, and in so doing, multiply them enormously. What more could a runner ask for?