Way back in 2004, I was sedentary and I knew I needed exercise. I heard about a group of five or six people, mostly mothers, who met once a week for a run. They were friendly and helpful and my first 5 mile run with them was slow and I stopped three times and I was sore for about a week. Having the group support was critical to me overcoming those initial weeks of discomfort before I became self-motivated with my running. That group mostly disbanded, but I put out fliers and got an email list and website going, and slowly saw a running community building up around me -- the Coastside Running Club. Fast-forward to 2020 and we have about 150 members, and I've run 31 road marathons (including the Boston Marathon seven times) and about the same number of ultra-marathons (including five 100 milers). Running is definitely a major hobby! But each time I meet a beginning runner, I think back to my first club run and empathize with them. I'm super grateful to be a part of this community and I still feel astonished at how many accomplished runners are in our small club and how much we have done together.