The upcoming Spring Fever 5K/10K  in Altoona, Wisc. is a good reminder to me about the value of participating in run/walk events.

One benefit is that they help to keep us motivated in our training.

That is a point that was shared about at an ITC running club banquet a while back by former Spring Fever race director Mark Wise.

As a long-time runner, Mark said that he often gets asked how he stays motivated in his training.

“Sign up for a race,” Mark says.

Doing so helps to keep us motivated, he said, by giving us a goal to shoot for. It also gives us a financial incentive because most of us don’t want to see our money (entry fee) go to waste.

In addition to keeping us motivated, participating in run/walk events comes with a number of other benefits as well. One of these benefits is that they can be a great way to meet people.

I have made many good friends over the years in the hundreds of run/walk events that I have participated in. At the Spring Fever run a number of years ago, in fact, I met a guy named Jeff Miller who is now one of my best friends.

Jeff and I met in the same way that I’ve met many other folks through running events. After running near each other throughout much of the race, we chatted a bit after crossing the finish line.

I don’t remember much about our conversation, other than that Jeff asked about what I did for training.

When I told him that I did a weekly long on Saturday mornings, he asked if he could join me sometime. I said sure and gave him my phone number, not really expecting to hear from him.

Jeff followed up, though, and I will forever be glad that he did. Not only did we hit it off as training partners, a number of other good things came from our running together nearly every Saturday morning for over a decade.

One of the first good things to come of it was that we discovered we had a mutual friend who also was a runner. Pretty soon a wildlife biologist by the name of John Dunn was joining us on our Saturday morning long runs.

The three of us clicked and it wasn’t long before others joined us. Pretty soon our Saturday morning running group consisted of 10 to 15 runners.

We added a Tuesday night track workout to our weekly training regimen and that served to grow our group even further.

For a good 10 or 15 years, our Tuesday night and Saturday morning training groups were a great place to connect with friends and boost our fitness.

As we have aged, our Tuesday night track session has fallen by the wayside and our Saturday morning long-run group has dwindled in numbers. But one thing has remained the same—I have stayed close friends with many members of our Tuesday and Saturday groups, especially Jeff and John.

We get together most every 4^th of July and Christmastime to catch up with each other. We also meet up every few months to do the same over dinner.

For a number of years, Jeff, his wife Jeanne and I traveled to Jeff’s hometown of Peoria, IL to run a 4-mile and 15K race called the Steamboat Classic. One of our goals every year—besides having a fun time visiting with Jeff’s family—was to place in our age group because the prize for doing so was a nifty “wooden Illinois.”

While my friendship with Jeff and Jeanne was forged through running, it has blessed me in many other ways as well. None more so than a little over a decade ago when I went through a hard time in my life.

Next to my family, it was Jeff and Jeanne who did the most to get me back on my feet again.

Which is only fitting, I guess. Because it was through a running event—Spring Fever—where I first met them. A running event that I will forever be glad that I signed up for.

So if you’ve been thinking about signing for a run/walk event, I encourage you to do so. Not only will it help to keep you motivated in your training, it might just introduce you to a lifelong friend.