If You Want to Go Fast, Go Alone. If You Want to Go Far, Go Together.

Snoa just after completing her
first Half Marathon-the OBX 

One of the best parts of being a running coach is seeing your runners grow not only as runners but as individuals. One such runner, Snoa (pronounced Snow-ā), has been on an amazing journey the past year. Weight loss was her original goal, but along the way she discovered her journey wasn't so much about losing something as it was finding something....herself.

Below is a recent Facebook post of Snoa's that really sums up her accomplishments. Snoa is one of the most driven and dedicated people I know. It's been amazing watching her grow as a runner and as a person.

If you could add titles to posts on Facebook I would call this one “How I Spent My Summer Vacation”.

Thad made this awesome video about all the fall race trainers but I don’t feel like I spent 3 months just training for a race because it really goes much deeper than that.

I spent 3 months forming friendships that I have no doubt will last a lifetime. I read a quote recently that said “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” When you spend 3-4 days a week with people running in extreme heat and humidity and all kinds of weather, you see them at their best and at their worst. You learn that runners are a dedicated, faithful group of people - you have to be to show up in some of the conditions we run in week after week. That dedication is not just to running - it spills over to real life too. You know you can count on these people when you need them.

Snoa and some of her fellow Dudes and Dudettes
sporting their OBX bling at Rooster's Southern Kitchen.

I spent 3 months figuring out life. When you’re out there all by yourself for hours, you have a lot of time to think. Runners often joke that running is cheaper than therapy but it’s true. I worked through so much in my head on those runs this summer and not everything I discovered was “pretty” but that’s life - it’s messy and complicated but there’s also a lot of beauty in it you just have to know where to look. I feel like this summer I rediscovered that beauty, found some truth and at the risk of sounding cheesy - somewhere out there on the greenway, I found myself again.

—Snoa Garrigan