Heading into the home stretch of a race, whether it is a local 5K or the Boston Marathon, with crowds cheering, music playing and an announcer calling athletes in, is exhilarating and uplifting. The thrill of crossing the finish line of a race is an experience that should be accessible to everyone. For the able-bodied the limitation is the will to complete the race, for the impaired it is a challenge to get to the start line.
Ridgefield Running Company opened in 2014 inviting people of all abilities, pace, or running and walking to be properly fitted for gear, participate in community events and runs, or simply to come by and learn about moving. “Forward Together” has been our motto, something that is included in all that we do.
In 2023, we partnered with The Prospector Theater, to introduce running to their Prospects. Ridgefield Running hosted training runs in Ballard Park throughout the summer culminating in The Reel Run, a fun one-mile race in which Prospects experienced the thrill of the finish line with cheering, a finish line arch and finisher’s medals.
Now in our 10th year, we have chosen to celebrate our anniversary with community events that reach the runner, the “not a runner”, and encourage those that haven’t yet considered walking or running. We want to share that with forward movement, a sound mind and sound body is there for everyone.
In January, we started with the Frozen Feet Challenge, in which 2,000 participants were challenged to walk or run at least one mile every day for six weeks. Together they completed nearly 100,000 miles, enough to circle the earth four times!
In April, we “plogged” together, picking up 100 pounds of trash to clean up areas around Darien and Ridgefield.
Now in May, we have taken another step forward in bringing “Forward Together” to our community, and The Prospector Theater. We have partnered with Asics, the brand whose acronym, is derived from the Latin phrase, “Anima Sana In Corpore Sano” which translates to “a sound mind in a sound body.”
Join us at The Prospector Theater on Saturday, May 11th at 10 am, as we reveal our next commitment to making running an inclusive sport. We hope to see you there for the big SURPRISE!