Girls Giving Back: Running Moms Rock Holds 1st Annual 5k Race Benefiting Charity

We recently connected with Erika and Michelle from Running Moms Rock and we love how they’re using their passion for running to help give back to their community.  We think you’ll love these rockin’ moms too!   ~Melanie

Michelle and I began working together in 2002. We weathered our first pregnancies together, with our sons being born four days apart, as well as all of the uncertainties that first-time motherhood brings.

Over the next few years, three more babies joined our collective brood. And so, to manage our stress of juggling the demands of motherhood and working part-time, we began running races together.

In mid-2009, Michelle and I ran a memorable 10K race. I left my headphones at home and so spent my race taking in the sights: observing mothers jogging with their strollers, listening to fellow runners cheering each other on, seeing motivational slogans on the backs of t-shirts.

During this period in my life, I felt that I wasn’t living with much passion. I felt that there was some type of void. And whether it was the electricity in the air, the ambiance of the race, or just being hyped up on endorphins, as I continued to run, I began to reflect on the things that I was truly passionate about.

After the race, Michelle and I had a meaningful conversation about the joys of running and motherhood and giving back to community. And as the ideas began to fly and the excitement began to build, we knew we had hit on something worthwhile.  The next day, Michelle posted a post-race picture of us on her Facebook account.  My sister, Nicole, made the comment “you ladies are so inspiring…you should start a race of your own.”

Realizing that we both shared a strong sense of community, a healthy respect of running, and a deep love of family, we said “hmmm…why not?”.  It was then that we began to form the seeds of Running Moms Rock, where our mission is to inspire moms to live passionately and fearlessly while improving themselves, their families, and their communities in the process.

Running Moms Rock will hold our first annual 5K race April, 2010. This race will benefit our local Children’s Advocacy Center. The mission of the Children’s Advocacy Center is to provide justice and healing for abused children through interagency collaboration.

The priorities of the Center are: 1.) To reduce the trauma to child victims when they must be involved in a criminal justice process which can add to that trauma and 2.) To promote emotional healing through comprehensive counseling services to victims and non-offending family members.

When we visited the Center, we were impressed with their professionalism and touched by the manner in which they went about helping the children.  It was a really emotional journey for us as women and as moms.

It is our deepest hope that this race will not only inspire those within our community to make physical fitness a part of our lives, but that it will also raise money for the Children’s Advocacy Center, a truly outstanding organization worthy of our resources.

Creating Running Moms Rock allowed us to live inspired. Michelle wakes up in the middle of the night thinking of ideas for the newsletter or designs for a new t-shirt or which charity we will focus on next.

I’ve always been a person who has a lot of ideas. But this was the first time that everything just seemed to come together. I’m so excited about this company and how it can inspire us as moms to be our best selves while allowing us to collectively give back to the community.

Before we started this company, I was living, but I wasn’t truly living passionately. Forming this company has allowed my spark to come back. To learn more about Running Moms Rock, visit www.runningmomsrock.com.

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