My First City Fit Girls Run
By: Meg Carter
A few weeks ago, I ran with City Fit Girls for the first time. As a new runner preparing for the Broad Street Run, I was excited to find a group of women who were motivated to improve their fitness through running. After learning about City Fit Girls through the Dilworth Park Spring Training, I joined the group for one of their Wednesday night weekly runs.
Before I arrived, I was worried about how long I would be able to run. Would my pace be fast enough? Would we have to run any dreaded hills? But as soon as I joined the group, I was reassured by how friendly and welcoming the City Fit Girls were. Everyone in the group was motivated and ready to run, but I could tell that the women were there for wellness – not competition. Within a few minutes (and after a few photos) we took off down Market Street to the Schuylkill river trail.
The City Fit Girls motto is “No runner left behind” – something that I experienced after I realized I forgot my inhaler. I have exercise-induced asthma, and when I mentioned this to the girls that I was running with, they immediately offered to slow down to give me some time to breathe. These two girls had both run half- or full marathons, but were still willing to slow down with me on a 3-mile run. It felt great to feel welcomed and accepted no matter what my abilities were. Finding new friends in a city can be tough, but I knew that running with City Fit Girls would make it easy.
I’m new to Philly and new to running, but City Fit Girls made me feel like I fit right in. I’m can’t wait to keep running with them, to train for Broad Street and beyond!
Check out City Fit Girls at https://cityfitgirls.com/ and meet them for weekly runs at Dilworth Park, EVERY Wednesday night at 6:30 pm.
