From One Reality to the Next (Bklyn)

by Jairo Martinez

Growing up, I had to learn how to protect myself from a young age. I came from a humble background in what would be considered a bad neighborhood. Early on, I had to be taught what streets it was safe to walk on and which areas you wouldn’t want to walk alone. Look around for anything that could potentially be used as a weapon when you see a group of people walking towards you. Getting from point A to point B without stopping in between. Majority of you reading this may not have been taught this or gone through this at a young age but that was my reality. This was common in my area and I thought it was going to be my whole life. 
However, I decided to take another approach. I had some major adversities growing up and I lived an unhealthy lifestyle when it came to health and people I hung out with. I had it in my head that everyone was out to get you, that you couldn’t show fear and you always had to confront anyone who you felt looked at you the wrong way. I wouldn’t be the same person I am now though if I hadn’t found the world of running.  read more

A Peek Under The Hood

November Project Members embrace at Pre-Boston-Marathon workout

In the past few weeks, we’ve made an announcement about adding new sponsors to the global November Project family. We also stated that November Project will start accepting donations as we are now a non-profit organization. Since then we have received requests for more details regarding how we will allocate the funds donated. Hopefully, the following breakdown will help answer those questions:

Leadership Support and Training:

Our leaders are our most important assets. Their willingness to selflessly wake up before dawn and lead workouts is the only reason that this movement keeps growing and prospering. It’s vital to us that we continue to provide them with support and resources so they can continue to excel in leading their city. One way we do that is by connecting them with other leaders at our annual gathering we call the Meeting Of the Minds, or MOM for short. At MOM, the leaders have the opportunity to share stories, learn from each other’s successes and failures, and foster relationships that transcend geographical boundaries and time zones. We discuss everything under the leadership umbrella such as creative ways to recruit new members, how we can improve inclusivity, ways to plan an efficient workout, as well as addressing ‘Corporate’ topics with strategic decisions that we at NP HQ are working on. We also bring in specialists who have a unique perspective on diversity and inclusion to challenge us to shift paradigms. And even though the hashtag #safetythird has seen its fair share of usage on social media channels, we take the safety of our members very seriously and offer CPR certification classes to every co-leader interested.

Day-To-Day Operations:

November Project, Inc. has two full-time employees, Brogan Graham and Bojan Mandaric, and one part-time contributor, Laura Green. This trio is in charge of all non-workout leading operations including, but not limited to, designing and executing NP strategy, planning and operating an annual budget, communicating with leaders, growing the new and existing NP locations, and collaborating with our sponsors, partners, and local communities. As we move into this new space, the job description is now expanding into the growth of the non-profit/youth program and fundraising that may require bringing on more hands on deck.

Administrative Cost:

And finally, the not-so-sexy yet extremely valuable tools associated with administrative duties which include website hosting and maintenance, accounting, legal expertise and compliance, mailing, and printing, just to name a few.

We hope this gives you a more transparent view on how your donations are used to grow the movement we all love and appreciate. If you’re interested in supporting November Project, click here.

Brooks x November Project = Awesome

Today we’re proud to announce Brooks as the official footwear and apparel sponsor of November Project. Brooks has been woven into the fabric of NP Seattle since the early days. From the CEO down to the newest hires, they celebrate the culture of bettering the world through running and movement. Based on these shared core values, it didn’t take us long to get excited about the potential of our combined reach. The Brooks influence will be multifaceted, including financial support, access to new footwear and apparel, resources for our leadership training and the annual November Project Summit, entries into Brooks-sponsored running events, and activations on a local and global level. We’re ramping up to do some very cool things together and couldn’t be more excited.

#NPSUMMIT
This year’s annual gathering of all November Project members from around the world will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, November 15-18 at The Rock’n’Roll Las Vegas. The races on Saturday (5K) and Sunday (10K, 13.1M, 26.2M) actually shut down the iconic “Strip” and don’t start until the sun sets. There is so much more to come, but for now, plan to partake in various activities that will kick off with the workout on Saturday morning and conclude on Sunday night. We will be sharing NP-specific registration codes soon but if you’re so excited that you HAVE to register immediately, who are we to say no?

We’re stoked about all the incredible things that are ahead of us but for now, please join us in welcoming Brooks to the global November Project family!

Your Invitation to THE Bear Mountain Races

This is how excited we’ll be if you attend!

Listen up NP this is your official save the date for The North Face Endurance Challenge Series NY May 4th and May 5th (your actual invite was lost in the mail, condolences). This race series is hosted at Bear Mountain, on a picturesque spot on the Hudson River. For those who haven’t been or heard about this race series (*gasp*) here’s what you need to know. read more

THE NYC Half Marathon

For those of you who haven’t spent the last half hour Googling what St. Patrick’s Day REALLY is (no, just me?) I found a few really interesting fun facts. While I am no match for Rob’s Fun Fact Friday, here it is: 

While St. Patrick’s Day was originally and is customarily celebrated by a big feast and lifting the rules of Lent for one day (meaning allowing everyone to eat and drink to their hearts’ desire), North America began the tradition of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the 18th century (then spreading to Ireland in 1903).  read more

Any CLUE what’s going on?

This morning, we spun-off on the board-game Clue. The big mystery of the morning was that someone (suspect) at some November Project workout (destination) had somehow (gear) left a huge sweat stain. Outrageous (!)…we know. We absolutely had to get to the bottom of this sweaty mystery! 

Dun Dun DUN!! 

So we started at the very bottom of the stairs, at 6:28AM. Everyone got a detective notepad with clues–potential suspects, destinations, and gear. These clues were NP classics, if you will. Suspects included the NP co-founders, the very first Brooklyn tribe co-leader. Destinations included breakfast club, the North Face store, the whole wide world (#worldtakeover). Gear included Brooklyn’s peer-to-peer award, the NP book (#printmedialives), the buff. Basically, the elements that make up this free fitness movement. read more

NYC Marathon Weekend Comes to a Close

Hi All,

As I sit back and reflect on the crazy (yet amazingly fun) weekend, I just wanted to express how grateful we as leaders are, for all of you and how special you make it. Marathon weekend comes with a lot of anxiety for the leaders. There are a lot of events going on. We need to advertise a lot, we need to make sure that everything is awesome – especially because there are usually other leaders around, and it seems like nearly an endless stream of events from start to finish. People come out of the woodwork for the NYC Marathon, and it is both exciting and nerve wracking, energizing and exhausting; but through all the stress and planning, this is still our favorite weekend of the year thanks to all of you. read more

The Biggest Marathon Friday

Marathon Friday November 3, 2017

There is a nervous excitement that overcomes the city, as travelers from near, far, and VERY far have voyaged to the biggest city in the world, for the biggest marathon in the world. On Sunday over 50,000 runners will take to the streets of New York City. This city shuts down for very little. Even blizzards do not completely shut down the streets. But on Marathon Sunday, the streets are closed, navigating the city is next to impossible, and the only thing you can do is cheer on the runners. Some will complete the race in a matter of 2-3 hours, others it will take 8-12, but at the end, all who cross the finish line of the grueling 26.2 mile course will be champions. But today is Friday, most of those people haven’t even retrieved their race bibs yet, and the attitude of the athletes is still relatively light, as they prepare their bodies for Sunday.
read more

All the Things: NYC Marathon [NYC & Bklyn]

Running? Cheering? 
Coming in early? Staying a little longer? 
Here’s the scoop on the events going on for the NYC Marathon. 
Brought to you by the combined forces of the tribes of NYC and Brooklyn (because #bettertogether)

Wednesday, 10/31
Hot diggity dang, one city, two poppin’ places to workout. 
NP_NYC workout
 5:28AM & 6:28AM Carl Schurz Park
OR 
NP_Bklyn workout 6:28AM Fort Greene Park (Prison Ship Martyrs Monument)

Friday, 11/02
Pre-Marathon NP
 workout 6:28AM Bethesda Fountain
You don’t want to miss this. Your heart will be beating hard for the rest of the day. 

Happy Hour 6:00PM, 5th & Mad (7 East 36th St) 

Saturday, 11/03
Poster Party 3:00PM, Highline & 30th 
Put your creativity and wit onto paper. 

Sunday, 11/04
THE BIG RACE
 all through the five boroughs of New York flippin’ City.
If you’re racing, add yourself to this spreadsheet so we can cheer our faces off for you. read more