These two met in the back of a van at the start of a race neither of them should have been running. No, literally.
It was less than a week before the Tuna Relay – a 36 hour, 200 mile relay race from Raleigh to Atlantic Beach, NC. Tabitha was still recovering from qualifying for her second Boston Marathon in a row. Brian had just completed his first Half Ironman that got delayed 5 weeks due to a hurricane. She was recruited to run when another team member had to drop out. Brian had the phone in hand to make the call to drop out himself, but chose to go through with it. The morning of the race, he found the only empty spot next to Tab in the van. And they went on to run (and sometimes limp) 29 and 21 miles respectively for their 12-person team. Why does this matter? Because we all do some crazy shit for the love of pushing beyond our limits.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” No, genius, it begins with coffee and a shower. Maybe even at the same time.
We know that, even when we’re running against each other, we’re all runners—we all know what the burn feels like, or what burn-out feels like. We understand that to be a runner is to embrace the suck, to even love the suck. The dirt, the puke, the turtleheading. Let’s laugh about it! We take the running seriously, not ourselves.
So if our language is a little unpolished from time to time, it’s done deliberately, strategically, and with good humor. We’re just here to be honest about how running is work—grueling, unglamorous work—with a big-ass payoff that we should all be pushing each other to experience.
Just because you suck at running doesn't mean you have to LOOK like you suck at running.”
If our product is doing its job right, a runner shouldn’t notice it at all. No one completes the Boston Marathon by the power of their shorts, so let’s not say that our shorts will get you across the finish line. Let’s just say that our shorts will still be there—aesthetically hugging your exhausted, sweaty, nasty ass—when you do.
Thanks for reading all this,
Tab & Brian
P.S. Tell your friends. Seriously. All of them.
