• Through running and GGR •
[2 MIN READ]
I don’t imagine I’m the only Growler who can testify to the catalytic role of running or the GGR club and crew in my life. Regarding the former, running entered my mid-life when it was time to develop myself physically a little: Midlife Crisis*. I could not have imagined how that would have led me to the latter when it also become time to develop myself socially and intellectually (among numerous ways) and even literarily and creatively.
* READ and COLLAPSE
Among these following areas of development is one that is not unequivocally positive that came out of my midlife crisis as it intersected with GGR. Let’s call it dietary: I Am Not a Drunk. Notice how I discretely minimize it? But hey, what’s a midlife crisis without a little negative?
I joined the club after I bought my first pair of running shoes at Jenkintown Running Company in 2011. Since then, I’ve run 25 marathons and a host of 5K’s, 10-milers, half marathons, and other races. That’s the physical.
Since then, I also became the anchor of GGR. Granted it’s partly because I was the one person who came consistently. (Indeed, there were weeks pre-pandemic when I was the only runner. None of the others I met when I first started have continued to run with the group: I’m pretty sure that’s not really my fault.). Consider that development organizational.
The next aspect of development moved into the literary when I started sending out weekly run messages and then began contributing these thought pieces: Cerebruns. This entry is my 300th piece since 2018. Between these Cerebruns and another—Ruminations (a version that I write for ShawmontRunningClub.com), the content has grown to nearly 500 total pieces. At about 250 words each, that’s 125,000 total. Every one of these little pieces the curious reader can find on my personal website iCandybyWangC.com. In fact, the site can boast its very existence to this feature. Before its creation, it was a blog by an academic librarian with dwindling contributions.
The discipline of running, the community of this club, and the discipline of writing have also helped me to develop intellectually. One particularly meaningful concept I’ve developed through my time with GGR is Communitizing; a mentality and strategy for building community, not just in running, but anywhere a body frequents.
GGR has also given me a creative and rewarding (albeit rather silly, admittedly) visual outlet that arose out of the tradition of using photos to capture weekly Attendance: Other Visual Expression.
As an academically trained information specialist, I appreciate learning as a lifelong pursuit. All this development has been at the core of this particular stage of my life. How it continues has always been in the hands of someone larger than myself. Perhaps this writing will continue to be a part of it so that you can benefit as well.
-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative split or positive splat” #dothedue
FINE PRINT ¶Likeness used with permission. ¶Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang (Wäng), CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. ¶Cross-posted: (1) Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run (2025’03’19’W Run Message), (2) GGR email list, (3) Cerebruns by CtCloser. ¶This website posting: Cerebrun only with added caption.
iCandybyWangC 