THE CHOICE to exercise can be quite daunting for any student amidst the academic grind and the apex of mobile technology that glue almost everyone to a sedentary lifestyle. Despite the benefits and the necessity of exercise being common knowledge, the Atenean often finds himself in an athletic dissonance, not exercising as frequently as desired because of a lack of motivation or the ease of stationary comfort.
Enter the Nike+ Run Club (NRC), an organization that aims to propel the community into an active and healthy lifestyle through running. The NRC has built a following on the grounds of the Loyola Heights, laying out the means for connecting and motivating students to join the literal and figurative movement.
A global platform
Nike Inc. piloted the club as a means to motivate consumers to lace up and break free from an inactive lifestyle and self-doubt, promoting effective exercise and community building through running. NRC branched into the Philippines in 2016, hauling in participants at Nike Park in Bonifacio Global City on two evenings a week to run the busy streets of Manila.
Aiming to breach a new target market, Nike Manila eventually sought to chart a new route for a different generation and expanded its reach from the city to the school. The company looked to collaborate with a younger audience and set up headquarters on university soil, establishing student-led organizations that would carry out the same philosophy that everyone can be an athlete.
“They understood that the millennial craze is such a big thing these days,” former Ateneo Track and Field team member and NRC President Enrique Gomez shares. “They realized how much potential there is in people that belong in our age group.”
Starting pistol
To spread the advocacy to the Ateneo student body, the NRC Loyola started out as a member of the League of Independent Organizations (LIONS) in 2017. “The whole production started last summer and we had been building up since then as an org in Ateneo,” FAST Ateneo Swimming Team member and NRC Loyola pacer, Bea Batungbacal explains. “The procedure to get it going was hard, but once got things on track, tuluyan na (it kept on going) from there.”
The club held its first major event on campus in January, launching operations with fitness-related activities and a three-kilometer run around campus as a fitting finale. Soon, the NRC executed its regular programs to begin the fulfillment of its vision of a universally athletic Ateneo, planning a particular activity for every session of the month, which they call the Just Do It (JDI) Hour.
“Our first JDI hour was the Home Run,” says Gomez. “[It is] a choice of different distances and different paces, which is adjustable to the different comfort zones and abilities of the participant.”
Catering to a diverse population of both experienced and novice athletes, weekly runs are designed to fit every participant’s background and willingness to improve physical health. But while the organization upholds personal fitness as one of its key goals, the NRC also reflects the mantra that one should enjoy getting in shape through a system of support among its members.
By uniting regular marathoners and first-time fitness freaks, the NRC assures runners plenty of interaction, motivation, and formation as checkpoints for community-building through love for exercise. Rather than having students complete training regimes on their own, the club offers coaching and moral support in surmounting the challenge of attaining a fitter and healthier version of oneself.
“We believe that everyone should be treated as an athlete, even if you haven’t necessarily been trained as an athlete,” Gomez says. “It’s all about being able to make you improve in the best way you know because with any sport, success is best achieved when you’re improving with other people.”
Making the finish line
Being an athlete is no walk in the park, nor is it an easy sprint to the finish line. At NRC Loyola, participants embrace weakness and eliminate them without having to sacrifice enjoyment and satisfaction in getting in shape. Beyond calorie counts and jogging routes, students are exposed to new opportunities and new experiences that allow runners to make progress together.
“Besides its fitness aspect, running has a social aspect,” surmises Gomez. “It literally moves you through space, and you appreciate your surroundings and the people you do it with.”
In the aftermath of a promising debut, the NRC now races on towards accreditation in the near future, hoping to expand its reach from students to faculty and even to employees. The premier run club will continue to advocate progressive fitness and community-building as participants traverse the pegged routes along campus to move forward as one.
