Mission Statement . . . a work in progress

Boo Run - October 2012
Sporting the Halloween Socks

First things first, you are probably wondering who we are and how much to join.  This is a women's group for runners, walker, joggers and wanna-be runners.  Any level of ability or inability is welcome.  We are FREE to join.  We don't take ourselves too seriously, unless you are Jennifer Murphy (this is said with LOVE).  Some of our members are mothers, and it has been very inspiring to see them bring their children with them and participate in the races.  They are being amazing role models to their children.

The original group started in the Marion / Herrin area. We were all best friends. A few were already runners; a few of us couldn’t run at all when we started. We call ourselves: "Sole Sistas" and “of the 618” was added to distinguish us from other teams with the same name if we were ever on a race roster. Some of the girls in our original group are from the Harrisburg area. We decided they needed some running buddies. So now the Sole Sistas have officially branched out to Saline County, as well as Gallatin County and White County.  On Facebook we have 128 members. 

What does it mean to join?
Being a part of the Sole Sistas of the 618, can mean many different things.  You can someone who is a quiet observer on Facebook, who finds the posts inspiring.  You can be someone who likes to walk and to come out for the social aspect, you can be someone who likes to run 5Ks or half marathons or marathons.  You can be someone like Beth Sutton who likes to see what fun things she can talk her friends into doing, example:  River to River Relay one weekend and a Half Marathon in Nashville, TN the next.   You may not know who you are, you may not know what you are capable of . . . but Sole Sistas of the 618 is a group who wants to see you succeed, who will cheer you on, lift you up and celebrate your successes.

Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend."

We have weekly runs.  When someone is headed out for a run and wants company, they go on our Facebook page and post the when and where.  If you would like to join, just comment on the post and show up.  Winter time is a slow time for the group. Some of us are fair weather runners. Some are not, they hit hard year round.  But in months with nicer weather, we like to have set days, times and places that we run.  We find this schedule makes for better attendance.  We also like to attend 5Ks/10Ks races in our area.  Those are usually held on Saturday mornins.  Most races will also have a "Kid-K".  This is a short, fun run that your children can participate in if they are too young to a longer distance. We post those on Facebok too.  The FB page is the main communication board for the group to stay connected.

Sole Sistas Apparel: We have made Sole Sistas shirts. We wear them at the races we do together. We also had jackets, tank tops, tshirts printed for special occasions:  first 10K, first R2R and first half marathon, etc. Any time we are ordering a new shirt, we will post it on the Facebook page. We encourage everyone who is interested in ordering anything to email: sole.sistas618@gmail.com 

Marley, daughter of Samantha Hathaway, is modeling our Race Day shirt

Here are some tools to get you started, they are some of our favorite phone apps and training programs.

SUGGESTED PHONE APPS
Runkeeper
Myfitnesspal
Couch to 5K

SUGGESTED WEBSITES
Hal Higdon - Trainings for 5K / 10K / Half Marathon / Full Marathon

Jeff Galloway - Trainings for 5K / 10K / Half Marathon / Full Marathon

If you are interested in joining our humble group of runners, walkers, joggers, please look us up on Facebook or email: sole.sistas618@gmail.com.

Look for our next blog, it is going to recap 2012.