THE VALLEY – When Alexis Stamos started looking for a running club to join, the closest she could find was more than 20 minutes away from her Seymour home.
After Stamos posted about her search in a town community Facebook page, Jenn Gampel chimed in: Why don’t we just start one here?
Within a week, they had launched a Facebook group that attracted more than 75 people. On July 8, seven people showed up to the Derby Greenway trail on a hot Wednesday evening for the inaugural run of the Valley Run Club.
“I wanted to meet new people,” Stamos said. “I like to run, but none of my close friends run.”
Stamos runs a daycare in Seymour, and Gampel is a biology teacher in Monroe.
They knew each other because their children had previously played soccer together, but they hadn’t run together before last week. Both said while they enjoyed running and often do it on their own, they appreciate a friend to keep them motivated.
“It helps to hold people accountable,” Gampel said. “It definitely helps to have someone waiting for you.”
The five people who joined Gampel and Stamos for the first 3-mile run shared similar sentiments.
“I miss running, and I wanted to find places to run around here,” said Josh Silverman, who moved to Seymour about three years ago and said he hasn’t actively run since 2012. “I miss the fun of a group.”
Laurie Heller of Oxford said while she often runs the Seymour Pink 5K, she was looking to get back to more dedicated running.
“I used to run a lot. I used to do marathons,” Heller said. “Now I pretty much run at the gym.”
Liz White of Seymour runs a couple times a week, sometimes with friends. But “life takes over” and complicates consistent runs, she said. When she saw the Valley Run Club Facebook post, she decided to join the meet up.
“I was looking to network with some other fellow runners,” White said.
Gampel and Stamos plan to host one run each week and rotate the times and days to accommodate people’s schedules. The next run is Thursday, July 16. Details will be posted on their Facebook group.
They said they are looking to build a supportive network; All abilities and paces are welcome.
“I’m not trying to beat my time,” Stamos said. “Fifty percent of it is to meet people who have a similar mindset.”
The Derby Greenway was chosen because of its marked mileage and out-and-back nature, which will allow runners of different paces to run the same path and reconnect on the way back.
And it helps that it is centrally located for the Valley towns. Gampel and Stamos said they were interested in trying out different trails or routes in the area as well.
“We just want to be local. That’s the thing,” Gampel said.
To find out more about the Valley Run Club, visit their Facebook group.