Thank You

Four weeks ago this past Saturday a little idea struck me and began to germinate: why not build a website for the local area that included links to running resources around the Lehigh Valley? By Monday I found myself at my computer, purchasing a domain name and server space. For the next three days I spent practically every waking hour glued to my computer screen, excitedly adding pages, links and content as well as creating Facebook and Twitter accounts to compliment the website.

Everything went “live” on Thursday morning. One of my very first posts on Twitter read: “If you build it they will come. Hoping that’s true.” Within two hours I had my first handful of followers and the Facebook page began to see activity as well. The website was receiving hits. The internet never ceases to amaze me.

In this past month I have learned something about runners in the Lehigh Valley. They are friendly and generous and there is a lot more going on out there than I originally thought. As I began to compile a listing of local races what immediately struck me was how many there actually are out there. The Lehigh Valley is quite a happening place! My race list currently includes Lehigh Valley races through mid-September. I will certainly add more to the list as I receive notice of them, this is a just a start for those months, but wow! Have you seen the number of races to choose from?

There are a number of running groups around the Valley of which I was not previously aware of until I started this site. I look forward to meeting up for some of these group runs and meeting new people. I hope that others out there feel the same. Head over to the Where To Run section of the website to see a listing of area Group Runs. More group runs are starting up soon. Beginning later in March there will be weekly group runs led by our dear friends over at The Finish Line so stay tuned for upcoming details. What would be great is if some of you joining in those group runs would send in some photos of your fun get-togethers on the roads and trails.

Many of you have reached out to me and for that I am grateful. From comments left on the website and over on Facebook to meetings with different people around town, the response has been incredible and more than I originally imagined. I’ve been asked what my motivation is for this website. An excellent question to which I’d like to respond with one simple word: community. My main motivation and goal is to help foster a greater sense of community amongst runners throughout the Lehigh Valley. By creating links to local resources such as places to run, groups to run with and services and businesses that cater to runners I hope to make it easier for you to find the information that you’re looking for.

How better to begin facilitating this idea of community than to highlight a different runner each week. Get them to answer a couple easy questions, throw up a photo of them and bam! This whole idea of community becomes less of an idea and more of a reality. As I’ve met and spoken with different runners lately, they all end up mentioning the Runner Spotlight. One person knows our first featured runner, Bob Dainauski. Another person has seen Kim Hellwig, our second featured runner, running in the Parkway. Well, the next time you come across one of our featured runners why not take an extra second to use that as a conversation starter? Hey! I saw you on LV Running Scene last week.

I, myself, normally a little shy at times, have taken to breaking out of my shell and approaching runners in the parking lot at Lehigh Parkway. Yes, to plug my site and spread the word, but mostly because I truly enjoy meeting new people. One of my New Year’s Resolutions this year was to get to know my local running community. At the time when I made that resolution I had no idea how I would go about doing that, all I knew was that it was time for me to make some changes in my life and get to know some new people. Funny how things work out sometimes.

Another way to build a community is by encouraging participation and sharing information. Soon the site will have regular nutrition articles contributed by local nutritionists, training tips sent in from local running coaches and I will continue to highlight local races by either including a personal recap of an event or asking others to send in their own race reports.

I am really excited about the direction things seem to be going and I have so many people to thank for that. Those “people” are you, all of you who read the articles and visit Lehigh Valley Running Scene, all of you who have taken the time to leave comments or email me privately, all of you who have shared this website with others by passing the URL on to your friends. To all of you I say Thank You. I am looking forward to meeting all of you at some point, at a race, on the trail, in the park … until then, don’t hesitate to leave your comments or send an email with your input. I’m only one small piece in a much bigger picture of this running community of ours.

- Jill Forsythe