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Building community through sport has always been important to everyone at Bivo. Whether it's through group rides that start and end at your stores, nordic ski races with our friends and family, or run clubs leaving from Bivo's office, sport truly builds community and it's a large motivating factor for so much of what we do at Bivo! To celebrate this, I started reflecting on one of my favorite sports: running, and what the running community has brought me over the years.

I realized running has been a way to strengthen and deepen my relationships with some of the people I’m closest to today - and have a ton of fun along the way!

I first started running one summer with my dad as a way to train up for high school volleyball tryouts. 

I really wanted to make the volleyball team, and I’d been told that tryouts would involve a lot of running, something I hadn’t really done before, outside of warm up jogs for volleyball and tennis practice. 

So, my dad and I made a commitment: we’d run every day we could, together, all summer, to help me get ready for tryouts and the volleyball season. 

This summer was the start of a routine for us that continued for the rest of high school and beyond. In the morning, we’d make a plan: meet at home after school and work and head out together on our regular neighborhood loop.

By the end of the summer, I was so proud to be able to run 3 miles for tryouts and the best part was that I had spent all of the hours training up with my dad!

As high school progressed, running together became our way to connect and debrief after our separate days. I’d tell my dad stories from school, working through the stressors of early high school, navigating friendships, classes, and growing up. He’d share stories from work, the ups and downs. 

We were able to start connecting differently than we did when I was younger. It was beautiful, we’d spend that quality time together daily and it was immensely formative. 

Eventually, I moved away to Vermont for college but I continued running. I never was on a team nor ran competitively, but running was still social and it was my way to connect with others.

In the first few weeks of college, running became my go-to way to meet friends. Whenever I wanted to get to know someone better, I’d ask: want to go for a run? I love connecting one-on-one with people and running together was my favorite way to do that. We’d speed by the fields of cows (classic rural Vermont!), loop through the forest and fields of solar panels, and finish off with a creemee in the dining hall. 

Whenever I go home now, runs with my dad have evolved into bike rides and long walks, but our pattern of staying connected through these moments together have stayed the same!

Over the last few months at Bivo, we’ve been hosting monthly run clubs, bringing together the community. Up until recently, these runs were always snowy, dark, and icy, but no one let the conditions stop them from smiling and laughing the entire time! I’ve loved meeting so many new people, and using the runs as opportunities to get even closer with everyone else on the Bivo team!

Cheers to running as an amazing way to connect with the people you love and to meet new people you become close to!