That adidas Runners Feeling: One of Community and Support
Learn how our adidas Runners came together to push themselves to the brink while feeling like one big family.
If you’re new to running, it can feel intimidating. Especially when you’re surrounded by the fast ones – those runners who are two to three kilometers per minute faster than you. Though, if you’ve ever joined an adidas Runners event, you would attest this isn’t the case because these get-togethers feel more like a warm hug instead of a competition. And like all warm hugs, you just want to savor the moment.
Catch the running bug
After attending a few events, the weekly runs, or even after your first race, you get bit by the runner’s bug. It can be a bittersweet bug. Some runners experience a sense of fulfillment from smashing their personal bests, despite feeling immobile for a couple of hours after all that gasping for air. Then there are other runners who succumb to a much more pleasant bug; they find genuine joy in the simplicity of time on their feet, no matter the distance.
What the two types of runners have in common with adidas Runners, is that they almost always come back to the community because of how it made them feel. It’s the adidas Runners feeling. One of warmth and true camaraderie.
You can do anything with the adidas Runners community behind you
Before running clubs became the popular trend that’s known to us today, our global community of runners were already circling the track around eight years ago when the first few groups formed. Since then, we’ve grown our global footprint to 76 communities worldwide. And anyone who has witnessed an adidas Runners cheer zone or more in a race or two, understands the electrifying and life changing feeling of being part of this community.
This past April, we hosted the third edition of the adidas Runners Week at the World of Sport in Herzogenaurach, Germany, featuring 160 participants, which included our captains and coaches who come from 49 countries. The week-long event was designed and co-created with partners and experts to bring the following topics to the surface: sustainability, breaking down our adidas Runners holistic training program to make everyone feel comfortable, digital and content creation upskilling, and championing our running allies with our With Women We Run initiative. The festivities culminated with the ADIZERO: Road to Records event, where we witnessed the world’s best runners race across the The World of Sport to break their own personal bests.
Bringing diverse cultures together to run as one
It was a week of sublime fun with runners boasting a variety of cultures, fueled with positive energy and leadership. Everyone felt a tangible sense of community and love for one another. After runners pushed themselves to the limit at the Road to Records, everyone left depleted but filled with a sense of inspiration and gratitude.
“Growth happens when someone believes in you and gives you the chance and opportunity to succeed,” shared Nikilee Truoung, the adidas Runners captain for Los Angeles.
Not everyone is blessed with the gift of speed, but we stand by our ethos of “every pace has a place.” This ethos, and the sense of belonging and inclusion, is why runners show up and lace up week after week with us.
When everyone comes together, the puzzle becomes complete
“Seeing the big picture made everything make more sense. Running by yourself is like a puzzle, and I felt like a very small piece of the puzzle. But after participating in the adidas Runners week, I felt like I helped complete the puzzle; and it made me realize how big our role is in changing people’s lives through this running community,” added Mariz Doss, our adidas Runners coach for Cairo .
Our 200+ captains and coaches around the globe are the driving force of what we do, and the hundreds of people they meet every single week. It’s important that through our community, we’re constantly reminded of the power of our adidas Runners community. It makes people feel like they belong, and are a part of something bigger.
In retrospect, it becomes easier to wake up every morning when you realize that somewhere across the ocean, in a different time zone, we are responsible for someone making the best decision they could have made for the day: simply going out for a run, and joining the community.
Run with us and find an adidas Runners community near you!
