Ed note: Just over one year ago, Ashley and Jackie set foot on the amphitheater stairs and laid the groundwork for what would become November Project Phoenix. To celebrate the occasion, we asked Ashley to write this week’s blog post. So here it is, raw and uncut. Words might not be able to fully express what We All have built, but this comes pretty damn close.
This is a love letter.
To my city, to my tribe, but mostly to Jackie.
It’s also an anniversary letter of sorts, if that’s a thing.
53 weeks ago Jackie and I ran the stairs at Papago Park for the very first time. You might have heard the story a few times: there were headlamps involved, a guy played a guitar at the base of the steps, and the both of us (it might have just been me) complained about it being kind of hard.
I think now is an appropriate time to admit that when I ran those stairs for the very first time that Wednesday morning, and every morning after that with a slow growing group of people, I didn’t do it in the interest of free fitness, or just showing up, or building a community. I did it because Jackie asked me to, and that’s really all it ever takes.
I’ve known Jackie since we were 11 or 12 and stationed on opposite sides of a soccer field. We weren’t quite mortal enemies, but to someone as competitive as I was (fine, as I am), it was pretty close. Within months we were sharing the same side of the field, and riding the same bench, and she had charmed me with that classic Jackie combo of the world’s driest sense of humor, and an uncanny ability to make you feel like you’re her closest friend in the world even though she literally knows everyone, everywhere.
It is not a surprise to anyone when I say that she is my favorite person in the world, save for my baby sister, and my niece, both of whom also claim Jackie as their favorite person in the world, and that’s because Jackie is fucking good.
Jackie has spent two decades laughing at my jokes, and eating dinners with my family, and splitting the incoming call list on my phone 50/50 with my mom. She has continuously nudged me further and further out of my comfort zone for the entire length of our friendship, and it’s not bullshit when I say that I am the person I am now in part because of that. I trust her implicitly, and I love her so damn much.
We’ve stayed friends for 19 years for a lot of reasons, but the most important one is this:
Jackie makes me brave.
I’ve had plenty of friends come and go because of distance, or growing up, or the gradual realization that spending my time with someone who didn’t let me feel like the best version of myself was no longer worth the effort. And what I’ve learned from all of those friendships, good and bad, is that we all deserve to spend a lifetime in relationships that lift us up, and constantly push us to be better.
That’s what Jackie does, and that’s what November Project is.
Wednesday mornings aren’t about the workout to me, it’s really just a bonus. It’s a hard as hell bonus that improves my lung capacity, and makes me fast af, but still, it’s a bonus.
I still show up every Wednesday morning because of Jackie, but I also show up for Karen and Amanda. And I show up for Rick, and Ahmad, and Annie, and JD, and Inga, and Jackie Price and Jesus. I show up because I need you, and maybe you need me. I show up for the people who know absolutely no one, but #justshowup anyway, hungry for that this community has to offer them. I also show up because I’m in charge of bringing Wyatt, and that dude has an attendance streak that’s even better than Nick’s.
Every Wednesday we high five. We hug with our hips in. We build tunnels of love on PR days and don’t drop those arms until the last person has run through it. Wednesdays are about furthering this love we’ve all built for each other and carrying that over into running groups, and happy hours, and Mountain Mondays, or Sunday morning yoga with Kali. It’s about believing in the friendships and the bonds that we’ve made that still feel too easy sometimes. We willingly give up our Sunday mornings for marathon cheer stations, or watching Kendra and Christine win their weight in beer after crushing Mountain to Fountain. And there’s nothing like seeing that familiar tag across the way when you’re toeing the start line at a race.
We took what Brogan and Bojan established for all of us, and we built a community in a city that I’ve loved my whole life out of dirt, and sweat, a decent amount of blood, and Trevor’s passion (for burpees). And at the core of who we are is Jackie, with that big heart, and those good vibes, and her relentless faith in all of us that we could build something good together.
And we did that, and it’s really fucking cool.
I’m proud of this tribe, and what it’s brought to my life. And I can’t wait to see what we do next.
So to my city, and to my tribe, and to Jackie:
Thank you.
I love you.
Happy anniversary.
