For the love of running

Every Wednesday evening, a group of women gather in a shady corner of Meadows Park. They tighten the laces of their neon-soled shoes and prepare to run. The group begins a run together at a leisurely pace. Despite the runners’ different ages and athletic abilities, they stay together and talk about their days at summer camp or at work.

The Gunni Girls Run Club invites women of all backgrounds to run 2 to 3 miles together each week. And the cherry on top? The group shares a sweet treat after each run. The club is the brainchild of Western Colorado University students and roommates Hannah Cryder, Emma Thomas and Zoe Camp, who wanted to create a place where women could run in a community setting.

“We wanted people to have confidence in their running, no matter how fast they run or how far they run,” Thomas said. “That’s all that matters.”

Thomas moved to Gunnison in 2020 to run for Western’s NCAA cross country team. Although she enjoyed the camaraderie of the team, the immense pressure of competitive running caused her love of the sport to wane, she said. Thomas decided to leave the collegiate sports scene and go her own way the following year.

Not long after, she met Cryder and Camp while attending Young Life church services. The trio soon became roommates and running partners, offering a “refreshing” return to the sport Thomas loved, she said.

“A lot of our friends said, ‘I wish I had more girls to run with, but I don’t know who to run with or where to start,'” Cryder said. “In January, I texted Zoe and Emma and suggested that when the snow melts, we start a running club.”

Cryder set up an Instagram account for the club to spread the word about where and when to meet, and the three brainstormed about what kind of atmosphere they wanted to create. The idea of ​​offering dessert after each run proved to be a key recruiting factor, Cryder said.

“There’s nothing better than finishing a run, no matter how long it is, and giving yourself a little treat afterward,” Cryder said. “And almost everyone I talked to said, ‘I’d love to run, but I’m just not in shape.’ So I said, ‘I have brownies.’ And there they were.”

The promise of a reward after each run is particularly touching for both Cryder and Thomas, as they began their running careers in an environment where food was seen as a reward that had to be earned through intense training.

But the Gunni Girls Run Club offers homemade treats to its members whether they ran that day or not, Cryder said. Members sometimes stop by after scheduled runs just to meet up with friends and enjoy dessert.

“Many of us grew up thinking that running was a punishment for exercising or just for losing weight, but it can actually be just fun,” said Cryder. “It doesn’t have to be all of those things. And a sweet treat is good for the body too.”

Only the trio and a few close friends attended the club’s first meeting earlier this summer. But Cryder, Thomas and Camp were pleasantly surprised when a gaggle of high school students showed up at the club’s second meeting. Over the next few weeks, the age range of runners in attendance grew. The hope is to eventually reach out to older women and young girls who aren’t as active on social media.

They plan to offer morning runs in addition to their regular Wednesday night runs and aim to offer free yoga events in the park later this summer – events that will help spread the word about the group offline as well.

At first, Cryder was worried that the big age difference would make social life difficult. But the opposite was true: younger members were always ready to share news of the latest dramas at school dances, and older members were happy to have a safe place to vent about long work days and married life.

The club has become more than just a running-focused group and is now a place where girls and women can feel safe and even turn to others for mentoring and advice, Cryder said.

“I missed the team atmosphere more than the competitive nature of the race,” said Thomas. “It was fun to feel that atmosphere again when we all run together and stay in a group.”

(Mariel Wiley can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or [email protected].)