Sure there might be more achieved running communities out there regarding trail running. I’m thinking Boulder, Colorado; maybe Flagstaff, Arizona; somewhere near Seattle or Portland; Juneau, Alaska??? I dunno. But you’d be hard pressed to find a better trail running community than right here in Boise, Idaho. That’s largely thanks to the community. Set by one Holly Finch and Beth Ahrends of the Pulse Running Store Meridian.
I’ve shown up to their running club events, ran the races when they were sponsors and race directors, and volunteered for their aide stations. And also, like so many others, bought hordes of quality running good from the Pulse Running Store. And through it all, I haven’t ever been around a more enthusiastic non-threatening supportive group and advocate of the local running community then all the Soles. Seriously, there’s no way the store and the community they foster is just limited to shoes and accessories for the running lifestyle. It goes deeper than that. You spend any time talking to either one of these gals and you’ll realize they have this drive that comes from somewhere else than just keeping a business going. They love running and the people who run and the gear they use to enable that passion. They are the true deal.
So there’s so many ways to get involved and it doesn’t have to be a running group and it doesn’t have to be within 6 feet of each other and mask-less playing some kind of Russian Roulette with COVID-19 like Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death.
There is Meet Up and so many other local groups to go out and walk, hike, socialize out there that they are just waiting for you to show up with your mask and join along. You probably won’t get involved in a group as cool as the Dirty Souls but that’s just unrealistic. Every time I get out on the trails now outside our pre-COVID Saturday morning runs, I can count on seeing a Sole out there. It has helped me feel connected beyond the long and lonely solo runs of days of yore. Hell, I’ll even stop and talk to you for a bit. The Dirty Soles, a good thing.
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