UPDATE – August 10, 2022.
A few months ago, we launched a campaign to offer financial assistance to November Project members from around the world to attend NPSUMMIT. We received a dozen applications and fundraised a few hundred dollars towards our $4500 goal to bring up to 3 members to Philadelphia. After the tragic passing of NP Malaysia Co-leader, Robert Ling, we pivoted fundraising efforts in order to support his family and to cover the cost of his repatriation. With 6 weeks to go before the event, the Committee in charge of the financial assistance program composed of Co-leaders and members has decided to halt the outreach until the end of the year and focus their efforts on the 2023 Summit. read more
It’s been a tough year for all of us feels like an understatement. Many of us have gone through some sort of change in the past 14 months since we’ve last met in person – financial, emotional, mental | location, relationships, health | ways of communication, habits, hobbies – or all of the above.read more
2020 started out with so much promise. In January and February, we had a special New Year’s Day workout, Alexa’s farewell celebration, Winnie’s announcement, US Olympic Marathon Trials weekend. We feel so lucky to have experienced these things. They all seem like forever ago.
It’s been over six months since we stopped meeting in person and moved to virtual workouts due to coronavirus. We hope everyone is faring as well as they can given the circumstances. Health, racial inequality, employment uncertainties, any of these by themselves can weigh heavily on a person and to experience all of them at once has been exhausting. Self-care is more important than ever so please take care of yourself. If you need to sleep in, then sleep in. No judgement. We completely understand.
Many of you have asked us when we’ll start in person workouts again. We realize it hasn’t been the same and understand the desire to come back. Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy answer. While most people may be asymptomatic or experience mild symptoms, for others, coronavirus can lead to severe health complications. We still don’t know what the lasting impacts will be and comfortability levels are different for everyone. As an organization that is committed to building the community, we take this decision very seriously. The health and wellbeing of our members and Atlantans as a whole is our biggest priority.
Our group is fortunate to be made up of Public Health and Healthcare professionals at almost every level of the response (CDC, testing sites, Hospital ICUs) and we are closely monitoring the available data and using our collective knowledge to guide us. When things were starting to reopen in May and June, we chose not to come back because we felt that it wasn’t the right time. New cases were about the same as they had been during the shutdown and more people were interacting. We would rather wait and see than risk coming back too early. We won’t give specific numbers that we will need to see for when we resume in person, but will say we need to see a prolonged decline in cases.
There are options! Although virtual workouts aren’t ideal, we encourage you to get together with your “core” groups of friends or family and do the workout together. Or invite some close friends and meet outside to do the workout together. Post in the social group and find people who might want to go for a run or walk with you. Or give back to the community and volunteer. For now, we will continue to meet virtually Wednesdays and Fridays at 6:27am. We will continue to find ways to make it as engaging and sweaty and possible: go on “field trips” to visit other NP Cities, collaboration workouts with NP groups and themed workouts. Speaking of which, October is a HUGE month for us: read more
Hi November Project, it’s been a while since we’ve all been together. As the world is figuring out how to come back from the pandemic and more places are going back to in-person workouts we’d like to share some things that every NP member will have to follow in order to maintain health and safety of our communities. There will be things that are very specific to your location and your co-leaders will be sharing those when the time comes, but these are directions that will apply to all November Project cities:
Personal Contact
I’m sure that many of you are longing for the days where you’ll be able to embrace your friends with a tight hug, high-five, or a fist bump. Unfortunately, there are still many uncertainties that are surrounding COVID-19 so until further notice, please make sure to refrain from engaging in physical contact with your fellow members before, during, and after the workout. Consequently, all workouts will be designed to follow this directive (no partner exercises, close encounters, etc.)
The Bounce
This is another NP staple that will have to take a back seat for a foreseeable future as having people in a tight space chanting and engaging in call-and-response is something that we don’t deem safe under the circumstances. We know that for some of you, the bounce is a great way to get into the mindset of the workout and we’re encouraging Co-leaders to come up with different creative ways to engage in introductions that will get you fired up to get going.
Wearing Masks
For those choosing to wear masks or a face covering while working out, we encourage you to participate at the level that is comfortable for you but please be aware that the mask can increase the workload and cause unnecessary strain on your body. If you are feeling light-headed, dizzy, or short of breath, please find a safe place to take a seated rest, slow your breathing, and hydrate. As always, locate a Co-leader and call your local emergency number if you are in need of medical attention.
Waivers
Before starting the workout, all members (new and old) will have to sign an online waiver that can be found by visiting this link or in the website top navigation as well as the footer, in the link named “Waiver”. Participation in November Project workout will not be allowed without a signed waiver.
Have Fun!
We understand that some of these things may not feel like the days of “old” November Project, but the beauty of this community is its willingness to adapt to the circumstances and make the best out of the situation in service of the greater good. We appreciate your help in making the re-opening of NP as seamless as possible.
It’s go time in ATL! Whether you are running or cheering, we got two days of going all out with November Project members from all over North America (Shout out to our Canadian friends visiting too). This weekend will have everything: World class athletes, TWO cheer stations, a Burpee Competition, Brooks giveaways, hugs, high-fives, The REAL BOJAN MANDARIC! read more
ATL, let’s get HYPE! On Saturday February 29th, U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials will be held in Atlanta. November Project has been selected to host an Official Cheer Station! The next day (Sunday March 1), we’ll be cheering on the even bigger Publix Atlanta Marathon, Half, & 5K. If you’ve never cheered for a race before, this is the weekend to start!read more
As we’re approaching the last minutes of 2019, it’s worth looking back at all the amazing things that we experienced at NP during the past 365 days. To capture EVERY moment would be impossible as this post would never end, so if there’s a story or an experience you’d like to share, please add it in the comments. We’d like to thank all NP members for another year filled with positivity, support, and fitness. This community is stronger with you as a part of it so please keep inspiring with your actions and kindness. And to our leaders, thank you for your selflessness, energy, and dedication. You are the bloodline of November Project and we’re eternally grateful for your devotion to this movement.
SPONSORSHIPS
Brooks
During the media event in New York this spring, we proudly announced Brooks as exclusive footwear and apparel of November Project. Brooks has been an integral part of November Project Seattle for years and we were incredibly proud to grow this local relationship and introduce it to the global NP family. And what a ride has been so far: We helped Brooks community, run millions of miles for an incredible cause. We earned some sweet swag during the Sunrise6k. Our leaders visited Seattle and Brooks HQ during the Meeting of the Minds. And in Las Vegas, we collectively put together one of the most memorable NPSUMMIT gatherings. And if this year was a taste of the things to come, 2020 will be incredible.
Knockaround
We’ve been friends and fans of Knockaround folks for many years but 2019 marked a designation of this brand as official sunglasses of November Project. Through NP Homework and a custom NP sunglasses that launched at the Summit in Vegas, it’s safe to say that the future is bright.
52 CITIES
This year we added three new cities to November Project family. We kicked things off with the addition of the first city in France – Toulouse. A week after Toulouse, Rochester, NY, put New York State in the lead for the state with the most NP locations (5). The last city to join the NP family in 2019 was Columbus, OH, the sole representative of the Buckeye State!
NP KIDS
When November Project became a non-profit organization, one of our long-term goals was to bring free fitness to youth. This year we partnered up with an organization called Playworks that provides structured recess in schools. In conjunction with Playworks, we launched a pilot program where NP members are volunteering in select Boston area schools and engaging students in physical activity and play. The learnings from this pilot that’s currently only available in Boston, will help us devise a plan for scaling and expansion.
SCIENCE
Dr. Evan Johnson at the University of Wyoming Division of Kinesiology and Health and his team have launched a study to understand, investigate, and quantify how participation with November Project translates to physical activity habits outside of our early morning workouts. If you’ve attended at least one November Project workout within the past three months please help out with the research and fill out this survey.
MEETING OF THE MINDS
2019 gifted us the second annual Meeting Of The Minds (MOM), a gathering of nearly all 120+ co-leaders from 52 NP cities around the globe. For 4 days in August, these co-leaders descended upon Seattle to discuss the future of NP, brainstorm new ideas for their workouts, build personal relationships with one another, connect with our new partner, Brooks, and tirelessly discuss how we can improve, as both leaders in our community and a global organization. Here are a few highlights from that weekend:
A Peak Behind The Curtain
We had the pleasure of spending an entire day at the Brooks HQ, rotating from one area of the enormous building to the next, to learn about everything from product development to marketing research. The morning was kicked off with the warmest welcome from Brooks CEO, Jim Weber, and CMO, Melanie Allen, who matched the excitement level of a room full of NP co-leaders – an impressive feat in itself. Earlier that morning, before the sun had risen, we were given the incredible opportunity run alongside Des Linden, 2 time Olympian and 2018 Boston Marathon champion. So you could say it was amazing the roof of Brooks HQ didn’t blow off with the cheers from the leaders after such an amazing way to start our day. To read more about the experience from the leader perspective, give this recap a read: https://november-project.com/npsf-mom-aka-leader-summit-recap/
Community Agreements
This year at MOM we were lucky enough to engage in a deeper discussion with D.A. Dirks and Soumya Palreddy, two experts in their respective fields in building more inclusive spaces through improved language and intentions. The co-leaders participated in activities which fully embraced our true identities, and revealed how we perceive ourselves and others. The exercises gave leaders a chance to dissect their daily patterns and language, finding new ways to invite people in without subconsciously excluding others. At the end of the day, we assembled into small groups to create the November Project Community Agreements; a list of understood agreements that all co-leaders and members are expected to follow if they would like to participate in November Project workouts. They are agreements that we have been quietly following for years, but have never had the chance to put down onto paper. That list has been brainstormed, edited, brainstormed, and edited multiple times and the final result is available here.
EDMONTON HITS 1000 WORKOUTS
Why is this a highlight when Boston and San Francisco hit 1000 workouts before them? Because while there have been leadership changes in both of those cities, the same two leaders, Jen Ference and Nadim Chin, have been at the helm of November Project Edmonton for all 1000 workouts. Yes, they have had co-leaders, including co-founder of NP Edmonton, Andrew Ference, and current co-leader, Rob McDougall, but Jen and Nadim have been at (nearly) every single workout for 1000 straight. Known as one of the more badass winter cities in the NP Universe, the willingness and ability to pull themselves out of their warm beds to go run around in -30 degree weather 3 mornings a week is mind-boggling.
NOVEMBER PROJECT SUMMIT, LAS VEGAS
The 8th Annual gathering known as #NPSUMMIT was hosted this year in Las Vegas, which was wacky for many reasons and gave us many firsts. The Rock N’ Roll race series filled both Saturday and Sunday night with races from 5K to 26.2M. Live music along the course, under the glowing lights of Vegas, it was perfect/odd, unlike the trail scene we’d become used to. But getting our summit celebration to a road race had more than a few upsides. First off,
If you scroll through the blog, it’s filled with nearly eight years of stories that illustrate how November Project transforms lives for the better. Thousands have joined workouts around the globe and discovered a community that is growth-minded, yet it meets you where you are at. Newbies, originals, and regulars inspire one another to show up, work hard, and challenge their limits. Whether your experience with November Project motivated you to get moving on frigid mornings, take on your first triathlon, or dive deeply into the world of stair running, we’re elated by your journey, and we’d like to hear from you. We know that it works, but the policy makers, bean counters, and exercise nerds of the world need data if we want to see our movement grow!
November Project is teaming up with Dr. Evan Johnson at the University of Wyoming Division of Kinesiology and Health to understand, investigate, and quantify how this free fitness movement translates to physical activity habits outside of our early morning workouts. Specifically, we’d like to measure NP participants’ feelings of fitness independence both within NP workouts and within your own workouts. We are looking for people who have attended at least one November Project workout within the past three months. This study will be conducted through online questionnaires and an optional phone interview, requiring a total of 25 to 60 minutes of your time. You can take the first step by clicking on this link. We (including the researchers) appreciate your time and can’t wait to share what you tell us!
If you have questions about your rights as a research subject, please contact the University of Wyoming Institutional Review Board Administrator at 307-766-5320.
I write this message with a heavy heart. I am sitting on a plane making my way back from travels, making my way back to my love, making my way back to ATL. I’ve been looking back through hundreds of NP photos, seeing how this group has grown over the past couple years.
I can recall back to when I embarked on this crazy idea to bring November Project to Atlanta. I remember telling myself that I would only lead until it no longer needed me. All I wanted to do was get it to a point where membership was deep, friendships strong, NP events dope, and making unforgettable memories.
It seems like that point has come. Probably for a while now NP-ATL has not needed me, but I’ve needed it/them. The idea of NP came into my life during a time when I felt solo, not knowing many people in the city and just running on my own. I’ve lived in many cities throughout my life. In every place that I’ve moved to there are certain qualities that I fall in love with. Every city has the good and the bad. You must chase the good, and once you find it, leave it better than you found it.
I remember the first time I got on the phone with Laura Green to talk about starting a pledge city. I was nervous. I definitely did not think I was qualified to lead an NP city. From the videos I’d seen about the movement, I thought you needed to have a larger than life personality, run a sub 3 hour marathon, and know a bunch of people. Even though I lacked those qualities, I was still willing to go for it, to just show up, and be persistent as fuck until I made it happen.
Unfortunately, word about an NP pledge group in ATL did not blow up over night. Sloooooowly, the good started coming together. The right positive human beings started showing up who believed what I believed that NP could do for our city.
As I looked back through all our photos since the very first workout, I’m simply amazed. All the fun we’ve had and the moments of joy bringing people together. I’ve seen members accomplish feats they never thought possible. I smile looking at individuals who have gone on to earn their degrees, snag their dream job, get engaged, married, and have babies. I’m grateful to have somehow played a small influence in them heading in a positive direction or at least make “adulting” more fun.
For the past 2 ½ years, NP-ATL has been my family. It always will be. I understand what Bojan & Brogan must have gone through when they stepped down from Boston. For any leader that co-founded a city, it’s so hard to let go because you were there from the very beginning. For many selfish reasons you want to hold on to the reigns and be the one that takes charge. However, you also LOVE IT sooooo much, that you understand that handing it off to the next passionate leader is what is best for the group/city/family. In my case it’s hard to be a good leader if I’m always away. Most of the newbies have no clue who I am.
A special thank you to Alexa and Stein for crushing it and keeping the movement strong while I’ve been gone for work. To Alexa, I could not have asked for a better co-leader. Thank you for putting up with my smartass ness these past couple years and being the calm voice of reason. You truly are a “mom” to our NP fam and give it that special touch of crazy giraffe and baby goat weirdness.
To Stein, I’m so fucking proud of you! To see how far you’ve come, from being that quiet dude at the workouts, to be now being “so chill, so popular, errrbody like you.” Thank you for being there during the early days of “Fitlanta” and continuing to show up. I could not be happier to pass the baton on to you.
To the countless beautiful people of ATL, so many to name… Thank you for all the support and helping us find the good in our city.
Thank you to all the November Project leaders around the world for what you are doing in your city every week, rain or shine, and for showing me love whenever I stop by.
To all the “retired” leaders around the world who still support and work behind the scenes, thank you for what you helped build and allowing me to add to it.
Thank you “Red,” Yoga Steve, Mel, Sierra, Nadim, Jen, Eugene, Tara, Saul, Rob, Gina, DG, ok this list could go on forever…..You are mentors and leaders I look up to. Some of you were an ear I could bend when I needed to bitch about “corporate” and get stuff off my chest.
To Laura Green, thank you for being the first person at NP to give me a shot, for being the bridge that connected us all, and for dealing with all the BS the co-leaders give you.
To Brogan, thank you for being the visionary and the hype man that makes us all believe free fitness world takeover is inevitable.
To Bojan, thank you for being the realist and making sure BG’s ass doesn’t float away. You were my “go to” and always came through on the clutch when I needed you.
I hope to see everyone in ATL at the workouts in my final week as a co-leader! Both my veterans who I have not seen in a while and the newbies I have not met; you all make this experience truly special and it’s not the same without you.
I might be stepping down, but never stepping away. Whenever I’m in town I would still like to lead a bounce, maybe a workout or two. I’m still giving traverbals, sweaty hugs, and fuck-yeahs. I will always be there to offer advice or just be an ear to listen.
Ok I better wrap this up! (The girl next to me on this plane is probably wondering why I keep rubbing my eyes as I write.) I’m off to the next phase of adulting and making “wise career choices,” that will hopefully make a positive impact on this world. As a wise man once said, “It’s not about chasing a paycheck, it’s about chasing the goodness…something something….”
I pray love, gratitude, and blessings over my entire worldwide November Project Family. I’m not dropping the MIC, just passing it on. (I’m not crying! You’re crying!)
Below you’ll find the information about our annual gathering of all members and Co-Leaders from all over the world – #NPSUMMIT in Las Vegas, November 15-18. Being less than one month away please keep visiting this link as we will update more and more until we see you. Also, follow the main Instagram & Twitter accounts throughout the weekend for reminders and updates.
THE FULL SCHEDULE
Friday – Travel day. Saturday Workout 6:29AM – Las Vegas City Hall – Please arrive between 6-6:20AM. Workout will begin at 6:29AM sharp – No shirts will be painted during the workout (see “Post Workout” right below). We understand you’re most likely racing at Rock N Roll, but please move your body with us. Standing around is NOT the way to kick off this weekend. There is a coffee shop with a bathroom within a block of the meeting place.
THE BUS Saturday Post Workout / 8AM Depart City Hallread more
