Running with Purpose

It’s that time of year again, when you get seduced by the warm June weather and feel like you have all of the time in the world to run on lazy summer mornings. So you start to read the texts coming in from your friends about the half marathon or marathon in November, and you take the plunge to sign up for one of the events of the Philadelphia Marathon weekend. You think about the November marathon as a day far off in the distance, and you imagine a day with perfect cool temperatures and a beautiful blue-bird sky. But you’ve somehow forgotten that the Philadelphia Marathon is a few weeks later in November than the NYC Marathon, so it can be a bit chillier and a tad windier. Then somewhere along the marathon training journey, the reality sets in -- the training is hard and time-consuming, and the fall is colder than July and August, and a bit busier, as well.

But here’s the thing; when you sign up to run for an affiliate Philadelphia Marathon Charity, like B Inspired Philadelphia, you are not only running for the sheer personal accomplishment of training for and completing a half or full marathon, you are running on a team and with a community to advance a mission to improve the conditions for our youth in Philadelphia. To provide opportunities and hope in the most under-resourced neighborhoods in our city.

The Philadelphia Marathon has a different meaning and purpose than any other run or event for which Amy and I train. The non-profit, B Inspired Philadelphia, which we co-created during training runs for various events throughout the years, was a first- time affiliate charity for the Philadelphia Marathon 2022. And we were selected, once again, for November 2023! Amy and I, and our incredible community, are no strangers to training hard for events and races. In just the past few years we have completed a Ragnar trail race in Zion, Utah, 2 spartan races in Florida and New Jersey, a trail race in Texas, and epic hikes and a snowshoe trek in Colorado, Utah, Maine, Switzerland and Vermont.

On each training run, for every event, we honed our vision of building community and bringing wellness opportunities and resources to North Philadelphia, which is just 6 miles from the Chestnut Hill area of Philadelphia and our favorite place to run, the Wissahickon, and Amy’s Gym, Balance. As our running community has grown, our non-profit team has taken form and each run signifies time spent together discussing ideas for programs, partnerships and possibilities.

In 2020, B Inspired Philadelphia became an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit and our mission was clear - B Inspired Philadelphia seeks to empower Philadelphia's most under-resourced middle school students to become champions of their own well-being. Through partnerships with many of Philadelphia's cultural, health and creative institutions, complemented by our own wellness program, we provide students with exciting and innovative out-of-school time (OST) programs to enrich their educational journey. Recognizing that food scarcity has a profound impact on our students, we provide a healthy snack during our after-school programs and a full lunch during our 6 week summer camp.

Today, we have 7 personal trainers from Balance Gym in Chestnut Hill providing unique after school programs, like Fitness and Finance, and Fitness and Leadership, for students in 5 Schools in North and West Philadelphia. We partner with more than 10 organizations and nonprofits, like the Philadelphia Phillies, The Eagles, Philadelphia Ballet, The Barnes Foundation, Woodmere Art museum and many others, to bring over 19 programs to the 5 schools we serve. We co- host two summer camps in North Philadelphia and provide a healthy lunch and snack for 250 campers each day for 6 weeks.

This year I won’t attempt to conjure perfect November weather for the Philadelphia Marathon, and I won’t forget that the training is arduous and challenging. I will, however, remember the feeling of lining up with Amy on that blustery November day to run 26.2 miles for B Inspired Philadelphia. I will also remember our teammates and community running and cheering and collectively competing for a better Philadelphia through enhanced pathways to future success for our B Inspired Philadelphia students.

So when the texts come in - take the plunge and join our team. We will have over 150 teammates and training partners for the 2023 Philadelphia Marathon events, and we have an amazing and deserving Philadelphia youth community who will benefit greatly from your commitment.

To join our team or inquire about B Inspired Philadelphia contact Schuyler Nunn at snunn@binspiredphiladelphia.org.