Welcome to WOW

Monday night Women of the Wasatch (WOW) runs are the absolute highlight of my week!

I discovered WOW years ago but live too far away from their main chapter base in Salt Lake City for it to really feel feasible to join in. So I watched longingly from afar, wishing I could join what appeared to be exactly the kind of community I was longing for: outdoorsy women at a variety of fitness levels with a commitment to making sure that no one gets left behind. I had been wanting to return to running, but felt both intimidated to run with others and overwhelmed at the thought of running alone. WOW seemed like the way to tend to both fears.

After several years of wishing, I finally reached out to WOW to ask if they ever planned to open a chapter in Provo. They told me they’d love to—if I was willing to join as a co-lead. They had someone else in mind who’d be willing to share the responsibility as well, and with that, Provo WOW was born! We started in January, and the last 10 months of running in community with women have been an immense gift. They’ve brought me back to running in ways that I’ve never really been able to do on my own. Until these most recent weeks, the Monday 4-milers with WOW were the only running miles I did at all. But those 4 miles kept me connected to running with enough consistency that, eventually, my inner demons started to look stupid. I found myself believing that I could do more. And now I am! I’m doing it! I’m returning to running! I’m returning home.