Four football coaches in North Carolina started running together last summer, and they have inspired people all over the state.
Want to read about more inspirational running stories? Join us at Runner’s World+“I always justified my weight [thinking that] 300 pounds isn’t bad, and then 310. And then, I was afraid to weigh myself,” Keener told. “When I saw 345, I realized it’s not going to get an easier to get the weight off later, so I better do something.”by running to the straights and walking the curves.
The four coaches wrote their weights on a whiteboard in the field house by the stadium, and they weighed in every Friday starting on August 24. Instead of competing against one another to see who could individually lose the most weight, they decided to work together and collectively“Myself and coach Oliphant had been involved in weight-loss competitions before against people, and we wanted to do something different,” Fitzgerald told. “Everyone wanted to pull their own weight.
The first to hit the century mark was Johnson, who has lost nearly 120 pounds. Chasing him for second place is Keener who has lost over 80 pounds to get below 200 followed by Oliphant who has lost just under 80 pounds, and Fitzgerald who has lost over 70 pounds. The four runners said they have received letters of support from people in the community, and notes from coaches around the state. And their families have been supportive, and appreciated the“My mom came and ate lunch with us a while back and she made the comment that we sounded like a bunch of housewives sharing recipes,” Fitzgerald said.