Movement for Life
This month, in honor of Father's Day on June 21, New York Road Runners asked members of our community to tell us how running with their dads and father figures has bolstered their relationships. Sometimes it's the dads pushing the kids, sometimes it's the other way around! At New York Road Runners we value human connection and we encourage conversations about how movement helps us all be better.
A Love of Running Handed Down Through the Generations
I'd like to think that, as much as I hated it as a kid, my dad was simply planting a seed of fitness and running when he would make us go with him to Baisley Pond Park and run the loop with him. Nowadays, as a 41-year-old runner who has completed six marathons in five years, I get to be the planter. My kids were actually my first run group. They would come with me to Mount Morris Park and complete a few loops, faster than me. Then I progressed and they had to start riding bikes to keep up with me on loops through Central Park.
Not only am I a runner, I am a father to 16-year-old triplets and a 12-year-old. In 2013, I had gastric sleeve surgery because I [weighed] 355 pounds and was suffering from comorbidities that prevented me from being the father that I wanted to be. I couldn't run with my children at the playground without getting winded. I had struggled my whole life with my weight and health. I needed help, and I asked for it. After surgery, I started to realize that this was my chance to take charge. I started running the Brooklyn Bridge, well, run-walking the bridge. And I progressed and got better. Then I brought my kids out and we watched my friends running the [New York City] Marathon and I talked about how crazy they were. I signed up for the drawing. And the next year my kids were watching me run the marathon. Over the years I have run with so many people in the running community and so many different crews in all boroughs. It's been amazing but I always return to my original run crew. My home team.
During the pandemic, we have taken to the streets and parks a few times. I love running with them on their bikes, guiding me, forcing me to speed up or my youngest sticking right by my side the whole time. It's been an amazing journey.
My favorite memory running with my kids is when my son said, "You know, Dad, life is like the same subway surfer, you got all these paths and you gotta just choose the right path." There's something about movement that brings out vulnerable and heartfelt conversations and inner thoughts.
When I think of all of this, I think about how generationally, it was placed in me by my dad and I passed it on. My daughter says, "Dad, if I ever run a marathon..." and I light up.
On this Father's Day I will find a new path that they have never been on and take the kids with me on a run.
— Lawrence Washington
Motivating My Biggest Motivator
Growing up, my father, Julio G. Mendoza, who is 58 years young, as he’d like to say, instilled many important values into my brother, sister, and I through his love of sports. Coming from Cuba, he picked up a baseball bat at the ripe age of 5, and the rest was history. His athleticism and passion led him to a baseball scholarship at Queens College, where he was a standout outfielder and scholar.
Let's fast-forward to Julio having three kids. Trust me, if you ever have the pleasure of meeting my father, within minutes or maybe even seconds you’ll be well aware of his three kids and just how beautiful, intelligent, and, most of all, athletic they all are. I am so blessed to have had a father push me to become the best possible student-athlete I could be. Julio didn’t know much about soccer, but he did understand the commitment and discipline it took to be a college athlete. He constantly reinforced the time-management, perseverance, and dedication I needed to have in order to earn a scholarship, and without him, I never would have been able to attend St. John’s University and play collegiate women’s soccer.
Staying active is something he still tries to do as much as possible. “When I work out, I feel good and I have more energy to do the things that I need to do," he told me. "Believe it or not, working out helps with aches and pains as you get older because there is a noticeable difference for me when I am consistently working out versus when I am not. I feel all the aches and pains when I am not as active.”
In recent years, we’ve participated in the Father’s Day tradition of running the Father’s Day 1-Miler with my running club, Harlem Run. For the past few years my father, brother, sister, and I would participate. Being that we Mendozas are quite competitive, we would all try to beat our own mile time from the previous year. I very proudly say that all of us, including my father, have under 9:00 minute mile times!
Prior to the pandemic, my father would work out nearly every workday during his lunch break. I am a teacher, so whenever I would have a holiday or break, I would meet my dad for lunch at his gym, and we would attend a HIIT class together. More recently with the pandemic, I will share workouts with him that I find on YouTube or Pinterest. We both encourage and motivate each other to stay active during these new times that we are living in.
— Tara Mendoza
Running Is Our Time Together
I have been running with my dad probably for as long as I can remember. My dad was a really good cross-country runner in college, and so that is something my family has always done, run together. Running has been a huge part of who we are and how we spend our personal time together. My dad and I have probably been a little more competitive with our running, and we continue to push each other to this day to be better runners. He has been one of my main supporters in my running goals, by always showing up for me. We recently just did a virtual half-marathon (him) and marathon (me) and we paced each other on our bikes, and he continues to support me and my goal of being the best runner that I can be!
Running plays a huge role in our health, both mentally and physically. It's time we spend together pushing each other and separating from everything else in the world. He's been my biggest running partner for years. We definitely use it as an escape and when we run we are both pretty analytical about our pace, what we need to improve, etc. It's our time to connect about something we both feel very passionate about and we just want to continue to run for as long as we both can.
Running with my family, especially with my dad, has really been special to me. We have a great relationship and he is really excited to see how I improve in my ability and accomplish my goals. Running is something that we both could talk about nonstop if someone is willing to listen, but it truly is our passion and I am so glad that we are able to share that passion.
I spend a lot of time with my dad and know that I am truly lucky and grateful to have such an amazing father.
— Amanda Hardt
Our mission at NYRR is to help and inspire people through running. New York Road Runners Striders program helps adults keep moving - just because it’s later in life, it does not mean it’s too late. Our program is inclusive and can help improve the quality of your life through virtual and in-person offerings we provide tools and motivation to continue.
To find out more about how to keep a parent you love active during this pandemic and through the reopening, head to our Stay Active at Home website to learn more about how NYRR is providing you with tools to stay active for life.