Watching My Friend Run to a Healthier Lifestyle

A couple of weeks ago, I encountered something unexpected, original and thought-provoking. I was turning onto Fulton Industrial Parkway and I saw what seemed like 200 African American women, running in 28 degree weather. It looked like a road race, but I saw no officials, water stations or cones. These women were running, for fun?

I was raised in Jamaica where, due to the climate, outdoor training is communal. However, I have spent more than half of my life in the United States and one thing that I have witnessed is the lapse in physical activity within many communities.

As I waited for the massive crowd of women to pass, I recognized one of the women and shouted out to her, “What are you doing?” She smiled and screamed, “Running!” As she passed by, she motioned for me to call her later to catch up. As I drove away I felt an enormous since of pride in what I had witnessed.

About two hours later, just as I was beginning to worry and think, “Surely they are not still running,” my phone rang. It was my friend. We spent five minutes catching up on each other’s lives before I delved into a series of questions about her running. She explained that she had grown up in the south where unhealthy eating was common. Her diet of fried foods, bad carbohydrates and sugar led to her being 65 pounds overweight before the age of 30.

In her own words she explained, “As I examine my childhood, teenage years and adulthood I realized one thing. Running is not something I associated myself with because it is not a sport that I have seen my image represented. Runners did not live in my neighborhoods, attend my churches or reside within my social circles.”

Then she explained how she began running. Her parents suffer with obesity-related diseases like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes. After recognizing a pattern in their health, she decided to take control of her own. In October 2011, a friend introduced her to Black Girls RUN (BGR). BGR is a group started by two African American women that uses Facebook to link women together with a common interest, running. This group serves as a platform for women to share stories, ask questions and plan daily runs across the city. The Camp Creek chapter, my friend explained, runs four days a week and has a minimum of 100 devoted women at each run. These women encourage each other to push past perceived limitations and stereotypes.

My friend credits two bad habits to her obesity—unhealthy eating and lack of exercise. “My parents were raised poor,” she stated. “Although they climbed the corporate ladder to provide a middle-class upbringing for me and my sister, their eating habits were quite similar to many African American and southern families. Simply put, I was not exposed to healthy living.”

Today, she credits one thing to her healthy lifestyle: Black Girls RUN. Since joining BGR on October 16th, she is now running 13.5 to 20 miles per week. She has participated in two 5k’s, a 10k and is in training for a half marathon in March. Just that morning, she ran 8 miles. And by running and incorporating more fruits and vegetables in her diet, she had lost over 15 pound in five weeks. After talking to my friend, I felt like going outside and running myself. Her story was so candid and motivating. I remember her struggle with obesity and it warmed my heart to see that she was winning the battle against it.

“Today, I can proudly say thank you to the support of 100+ women of the Black Girls RUN Camp Creek chapter for adding years to my life,” she said. “As with anything positive, I like to spread the word.

If you are looking for a way to change your life, come join BGR. Since joining I have converted 8 walkers into runners. We don’t care about your race, age, size, or physical activity level. Once you try us, you’re hooked for life.”

You can find out more information about Black Girls RUN by visiting
www.blackgirlsrun.com  or http://www.facebook.com/groups/BlackGirlsRUNAtlanta

 
-Story by Sean Scott, DPH Communications

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