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Date: 12/21/2021
LUDLOW- Red Bridge Running Club, a running club based out of Ludlow, gives people in the area an opportunity to improve their running skills and become part of a larger community.
Ryan Devine, one of Red Bridge’s finding runners said he established the club with Teresa Czepiel of South Hadley after a marathon in Washington D.C. in 2015.
“It was Teresa’s second marathon and my first and we kind of wanted to keep running and do something with the running community, so we decided to start the club. Iron Duke Brewing had just opened up before that and we decided to meet on Thursdays and the first two or three months it was me and Teresa doing the runs by ourselves,” he said. “We made some signage for the brewery and slowly but surely it started growing.”
By founding the club, Czepiel said it was important to create a community.
“What was important to us was creating a community around a shared interest, running, not just for fitness but for the social aspect and the community aspect,” she said. “When you are around shared goals and a shared interest, you really make great relationships and become very close so that has been very rewarding.”
While she and Devine started the club, she said the people involved are what makes everything work.
“The club really exists because we have this crew that who is so dedicated and is on board with anything that is related to the club. Although we started it, it exists because we are all there,” she said.
Devine said he enjoys seeing a variety of people running in the club.
“We prefer to have a group of people that are different in styles of running, whether you are walking or running two or three miles, so it is all different people and all different ages, we love that about our club,” he said.
He added that he loves seeing club members achieve their goals.
Czepiel said the club’s youngest member is six years old.
“We truly welcome anyone, which was another big thing that was important to us, it was not to be exclusive or for elite runners or anything. People have gotten started running a mile and now running half marathons and marathons,” she said.
She added that the club is always looking for more members.
“We would love to see more people join us. We run every Thursday at 6 p.m., we run four miles, but folks do not have to do that, and if people want information, they can always reach out to us via our Facebook page,” Czepiel said.
By creating a community, Czepiel said the club wants to support the causes its members care about.
“One of the thoughts we had at the very beginning was events once or twice a year that would focus on different charities or a benefit that a person in the club felt strongly about, so it would not necessarily be the same event year to year but whatever the community needs,” she said. “Coming full circle this year and actually putting together an event that actually benefited the community was really satisfying.”
This year, Czepiel said the Ludlow Community Center/Randall’s Boys and Girls Club was the beneficiary of the club’s fourth annual Yule Jog and the first fundraiser it hosted for the community.
“This year was very successful. We actually partnered with the Ludlow Boys and Girls Club and did a fundraiser for a scholarship in honor of a member of the Ludlow Community, Darlene Ray, who was very active at the Ludlow Boys and Girls Club and had passed away this fall,” she said.
Devine said he was happy with the way the club’s first fundraiser turned out.
“It was a huge success and a little bit more work than we did in the past, but it was all worth it and it feels really good to be a part of something that was so beneficial to the Ludlow Boys and Girls Club,” he said.
Overall, Czepiel said the Yule Jog raised about $5,000 for the scholarship.
Red Bridge Running Club meets every Thursday at 6 p.m. at Iron Duke Brewery, which is located at 100 State St. in Ludlow.