#WeRunSocial: The Origin Story

Please enjoy the following guest post by Ambassador Brian Kelley at PavementRunner.com

What if there was a way to take that inspirational and motivational feeling runners get from social media and make happen in a real way: offline and in-person?

That was part of the foundation in forming an online running community made up of social media enthusiasts. The project had been a long-time coming and had been in the works as an idea long before 2015—when it was officially given a name.

I had been looking for something to be a part of in the running community. There were running groups all over social media, but they were specific to local communities. There were also online running groups, but many of them were centered around completing challenges. I was looking for something to be a part of, but just didn’t know what it was.

Then it happened.

At the Phoenix Marathon in 2015, a group of friends that had connected through social media descended upon a race weekend using the hashtag #ItsGoingDownAtPhx and everything just fell into place. Meetups were planned at the expo, post-race celebrations were coordinated, runners waited for each other at the finish line, and those that weren’t at the race were able to experience it vicariously through social media. The energy throughout the weekend was electric.

Inspired by the events and outcome from the weekend, what I was constantly looking for was created—it just needed a name.

#WeRunSocial

We call it a crew, but WRS at its heart is a community. It’s an all-inclusive group made up

of the entire spectrum of runners: middle-of-the-pack, Boston qualifiers, couch-to-5k-ers, first timers, run/walkers, age-group winners, trail runners, ultra runners, marathoners, half marathoners, you name it.

We celebrate, motivate, and inspire one another using social media as our platform and the hashtag #WeRunSocial as our call sign. Throughout the year we organize social meetups at race weekends to bring that online community feeling to life.

Our Logo

The Phoenix. “A mythical bird that never dies, the phoenix flies far ahead to the front, always scanning the landscape and distant space. It represents our capacity for vision, for collecting sensory information about our environment and the events unfolding within it. The phoenix, with its great beauty, creates intense excitement and deathless inspiration.”

The Feng Shui Handbook, feng shui Master Lam Kam Chuen

Be a Part of It

#WeRunSocial is open-invite. You want in? You’re in. By simply using the hashtag you are a part of the crew. Just remember our first and only guideline: be good people. We are all about raising up the running community as a whole, recognizing everyone’s journey, and celebrating each other’s accomplishments.

We have WRS gear, but it’s not a requirement. We have brands that we love to work with (like Garmin), but again, it’s not a requirement. We want you to be a part of it.

Remember that all-inclusive line above, yep, we meant it.

Connect

Twitter: @WeRunSocial

Instagram: @WeRunSocial

Facebook Page (think of it as a news feed): /WeRunSocial

Facebook Group (think of it as a chat room): groups/WeRunSocial

Use the hashtag #WeRunSocial to join the conversation.

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