For all prospective runners, Fordham’s Running Club is a great way for students to get into the sport. Regardless of one’s physical fitness level, anyone can enjoy the group’s runs at their own pace. During the weekdays, there are runs scheduled in the morning and in the afternoon. The group always meets at Keating’s Steps, where they warm up and chat before breaking into a jog. 

The club president, Sean Power, and the club treasurer, Andy Rodriguez, are conscious of making the runs engaging for all runners, by modeling the runs to start slow and increase their intensity over time. During the runs, they frequently check in with students, making sure everyone is able to keep up with the pace. Runs are structured to begin with the basics: a two-mile loop around campus at a moderate pace that ends at Keating. Athletes can then choose to keep going for a longer distance, and pick up the pace if they wish. There are also excursions during the week to run at alternative locations, such as the beautiful Botanical Gardens right across the street, or for long runs at Van Cortlandt Park. The leaders also encourage runners to participate in extracurricular races together. Recently, the club raced in the Yankee Stadium 5K, where runners got to compete inside the stadium. Club members who participated met in front of Cosi and traveled to the stadium together. 

How did the Running Club leaders get their start? In an interview with the club president, Sean Power, he revealed that he started running around 11 years ago with his dad, who is a middle school cross country coach. When he came to Fordham, he hoped to walk-on to the varsity cross country/track and field teams here, but they were full. Although Power had hoped to continue his competitive running career at Fordham, COVID-19 and other things interrupted him, and he found himself running on his own time more often. He missed running with others, though, and joined the running club his freshman year. 

In an interview with Andy Rodriguez, the club treasurer, he shared his own inspiration to start running. When he was in high school, “they started their first-ever track team, and I wanted to try something new apart from soccer. So I decided to join the track team, which was my introduction to running. However, I didn’t fully get into running until last year, when I made an impulsive decision to sign up for the NYC Marathon. I haven’t stopped running since then.” 

When he came to Fordham, Rodriguez found his calling in leading the running club. “After I ran the marathon last fall, I had a lot of people approach me, saying how they were inspired by me to start running. Some of them went a step further and asked me if I could give them any advice or help them start running. So I took it upon myself to coach them for a half marathon, which I am proud to say they all successfully completed. That’s when I discovered that the one thing I’m more passionate about than running, is helping others to start running. The running club seemed like a perfect opportunity to reach new runners and have an impact in the running community, as well as the Fordham community.” 

Rodriguez hopes to make strides at Fordham by expanding beyond a group where people can freely run together. “The first thing I would like is if we can build a friendly and united running community on campus. That’s why I tend to talk to members of the club during our runs, so I can get to know them and potentially build friendships that will still exist outside of the club,” said Rodriguez.

He added that he would also like to offer coaching to the running club, “As I mentioned before, I started coaching a few people last year, and it has been a wonderful experience. This semester, I have had the privilege to help out four more people, in addition to the three from last year. This is why I am currently working towards becoming a certified level one USATF Coach, in order to have credentials for coaching and be more knowledgeable in what I am teaching.” 

Rodriquez would also like to host a race on campus, “It could even be a fundraiser partnered with another group at Fordham, like FDM hopefully. It probably won’t happen for a while though,” he said. 

If you want to start running but find it difficult to stay motivated, Rodriguez shared that “people underestimate the importance of the mental aspect of running a lot. The hardest part isn’t actually doing the runs … it’s getting out of your room to run, keep running even when you’re tempted to walk, or deciding to go that extra mile one day.” 

His advice to get into the sport at your own pace, “as someone who has run with a team, as well as trained alone, I can say that having people to run with helps a lot. Running becomes so much more enjoyable, as well as easier, if you run with a group that motivates you and keeps you accountable to run consistently.”

He added, “Even if you don’t actually run with these people, you could still benefit from having others talk about their running experience, and learn from their mistakes and advice. If there’s people here at Fordham who already like to run by themselves, or who maybe are considering starting to run, I would heavily think about joining the club as it can be extremely beneficial in the mental aspect of the sport.” 

One of Power’s biggest goals for the club is to gain more funding. He shared that the club is, “In the process of designing uniforms right now and we want club members to be able to compete in local races in New York or against other club teams. We have the membership and have proven the club’s prominence, now we just need to secure funding.” 

 Power added that anyone who enjoys running should come join. “We see people running on their own very frequently and always want to let them know that they are welcome to join the club. People often ask whether or not they will be removed from the club if they miss a run — this is not the case. Our main goal is to foster a fun and easygoing environment; we want to help Fordham runners reach their own goals and meet them without adding unnecessary stress or pressure.”

Power said, “A motto we have toyed with (it is present in our Strava bio) is ‘Run a few steps. Run a marathon. We don’t care. We’ll be with you every step of the way.’ We use this to emphasize that anyone and everyone is always welcome and we are always happy to see people show up to run with us.”