Today we’d like to introduce you to Sidney Baptista.
Sidney, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started running in 2014 with Nike Run Club down on Newbury Street. It was a way to stay in shape and meet new people. I’ve always been a sprinter and could not comprehend why anyone would run more than 1 lap on a track. Distance running was hard and I got competitive. As I cultivated more friendships through running, I quickly fell into training for my first Marathon in 2015. I was really enjoying my new routine and learned that running/training helped me build a level of discipline I had yet to experience. I grew to love running and I naturally wanted EVERYONE to join me.
In early 2016 I became a Nike Pacer and met Coach Dan Fitzgerald, co-founder of Heartbreak Hill Running Company and founder of The Heartbreakers. Coach Dan took me under his wing, helped me become a better runner, pacer and brought me on as a running coach at Heartbreak Studio in Cambridge.
For a multitude of reasons, it was difficult to get friends and family to meet me at Downtown or in Cambridge for a run. And so in 2017, I decided it was time to bring running to my neighborhood of Dorchester. I was joined by Brennan Bonner who became our Head Coach and Frances Ramirez who leads our Captain team.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The challenges that exist today are the same ones that existed when we first started: convincing people that they too CAN run! People are so hesitant to show up to our runs because they do not want to be the last runner, or they think that we are professional runners. We want everyone to know that our crew welcomes all paces are and our captains make sure that no runner is left behind!
Both Savin Bar & Kitchen and Blarney Stone have welcomed us with open arms and continue to support us with space to meet weekly.
Our community of local supporters have been great to us!
Please tell us about PIONEERS Run Crew.
We RUN Dorchester.
PIONEERS Run Crew is a PUMA sponsored running team that meets twice a week in two different Dorchester neighborhoods: Savin Hill and Fields Corner. It is free to join and no running experience is required. Just show-up!
Unlike other running clubs in Boston where speed and skill matter, we’ve created a diverse and welcoming running community where running is secondary. PIONEERS is a lifestyle. We explore our city through running and inspire our community to be more health conscious. We own our streets, we motivate our youth, we embrace our culture and most importantly we have FUN. We create training plans and send weekly emails. We train together, race together, clean our neighborhood together and celebrate together.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
We’ve organically created an exceptional community and I wouldn’t change a thing.
Pricing:
- Free to join
Contact Info:
- Email: sid@pioneersrc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pioneersrc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pioneersrc/
Image Credit:
Main photo: Justin Keefe, https://www.
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