When I was in high school, I was a varsity distance runner. I got offers to run at the collegiate level, but I decided that BYU-Idaho was the best fit for me. Unfortunately, there are no official sports teams at this school. In the fall we have a cross country intramural program that I love, but during spring semester, there are no team running sports.
There are many benefits to running with a team, such as enhanced motivation, a sense of community, and increased accountability. So this year, my husband and I decided to start up a Track and Field running group that would give other runners an opportunity to compete in the many track events as well as build a community.
How did we do this?
We started with getting the green light on this project. We met with Trent Shippen, the sports activities advisor for the school, and got direction for the program we wanted to start. Once we were approved to start the Track and Field group, we had to give it structure.
Before we started on anything, we assigned responsibilities to different people to have a strong leadership that would make this a success. My husband and I were co-coordinators, and we found a distance running coach, as well as a sprinting coach that we knew from previous running activities.
As coordinators, we were responsible for getting the proper approvals for track usage, scheduling track meets, getting our group listed on the BYU-I sports website, coordinating advertising, hosting leadership meetings, coordinating equipment usage, and dissemination of information. The coaches were responsible for preparing a workout schedule every week, leading practices, and counseling with coordinators about how to improve the program.
When we had our leadership established, we started advertising to get participants. Over the course of the last 10 weeks, we advertised with a table and poster in the MC twice per week during forum hour. We also got a graphic approved for the school advertising TVs, and we promoted our program through our Instagram page, @rexburg.runners.
Our goal was to make this group an official intramural. To make that happen we had to get around 70 participants, or enough people to make teams. Through our advertising efforts, we got 52 people that participated throughout the semester. We hosted two successful track meets that had 30 participants running in 8 events. Although we did not get the participation up to the amount for an official intramural, we are well on the way to making it happen. Going from 5 friends that wanted to run together, to a school recognized running group that gave 52 people an opportunity to run and become part of a community was a huge success for us.
From this project, I hope to leave a legacy here at BYU-Idaho. We plan to pass this program on to the next dedicated runners to become the next coordinators. We hope that they continue with the momentum that we have created this year and grow it into the future Track and Field Intramural program. As a leadership, my peers and I came up with a list of responsibilities and bylaws.
Over this project, I was able to strengthen my organization skills, and my media advertising skills. Through strategically assigning responsibilities and leadership, together as a team we were able to build an organization from scratch that provided many students with an opportunity to be a part of a community and improve their health and running skills. I got to learn more how to be diligent and take all the correct steps to get the group approved and sanctioned by the school and have the group run efficiently.