For many people, seeking a change in their lives is not an easy decision, therefore, starting to run as a constant practice may be the experience they have always been waiting for to feel motivated and fully enjoy the daily challenges.
Dominican José Contreras started running to have a healthy and active lifestyle after dealing with overweight and stress for several years. And now, after reaching the finish line in 2021 and 2022 in the New York marathon, among his resolutions for 2023 is to run two triathlons.
Fortunately, initiatives exist to help inspire people to assimilate exercise into their daily routine and can, like José, become accomplished runners and marathoners.
In 2018 José joined Open Run, the free community program, which offers free weekly runs and walks.
A story of years…
José is originally from the town of Dajabón, a civil engineer by profession, he immigrated to New York in 2015, and currently resides in Brooklyn.
Since joining the program, he has made remarkable progress participating in many New York Road Runners (NYRR) races, including his first marathon, which he ran despite requiring gallbladder surgery a few months earlier and then repeated the event in November of this year.
And the love for running has not stopped there, José is now a volunteer at Shore Road Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park, he is the captain of a group of runners and runs one of the Open Run program sites.
José tells that his love for running began in his mid-teens, when he competed in the 12-13 year-old category in inter-school days, representing his school, Nuestra Señora de la Paz, where he won the third place trophy.
Once he moved to the United States, José acknowledges that he gained significant weight. About 70 pounds from stress and bad eating habits.
“It was through running that I gained a way to handle the emotional and mental load that the pace of life in New York places on you. My routine to date is to do at least three runs a week. Potentially up to a fourth depending on the career you have with the NYRR group.”
As a result of this experience, José says that his social interaction has increased, since he feels that he has found a wonderful group of emotional support and motivation in the runners of the Open Run program.
“Absolutely. My energy levels and overall health have completely improved. Mentally I feel much more relaxed and satisfied”, she answers when asked if running has helped her have a better quality of life.
According to José, he uses most of his time running as a period for meditation.
“It’s a space where I can think about all the things that might have plagued me, yet at the end of those miles or miles, I feel very relaxed.”
This 33-year-old Dominican who has three children: Camille, 9, José Armando, 10, and Amanda, 12, suggests that anyone who wants to start running should do it because it is born, with expectations of physical and emotional improvement, not because of obligation.
“You have to enjoy what you do. Your body will tell you when it needs those post-run endorphins. I suggest starting slowly by walking or running two to three times a week.”
transformative impact
Regarding his relationship with the NYRR, he recalls as an anecdote that it was at the insistence of his friend Chererzka “Cherry”, who frequently invited him to run with a group.
“Back then I had no interest in going. But, for her to leave me alone, I decided to perform at Brooklyn Bridge Park, on January 30, 2018. From my first visit, the support and motivation was great. To such an extent that I couldn’t resist coming back, each one of the members gave me an affectionate welcome.”
Remembering his beginnings, José does not hide his enthusiasm when talking about the program and the impact it has had on his life and how this initiative helps the community. He explains, it is a space from which he now seeks to motivate others to experience the same thing that he lived.
“Open Run facilitates and motivates all people, regardless of physical abilities, to go out and exercise their body and mind. Promotes social interaction and camaraderie inside and outside the communities. It is a way of unifying ourselves under the goal of leaving a positive impact on our lives.”
“Dreams do come true”
When addressing the meaning of running a marathon, José said that he saw it only as a distant dream. Something that would only happen in his head.
“When I finally ran the New York Marathon in 2021, I proved that dreams do come true. With the support of my community, partner, family and the discipline of exercise, we did it”.
He also recalled that during the preparation process for the first marathon he had a mishap, because at the end of July 2020, he underwent gallbladder surgery, which limited his training to only 8 weeks.
“Based on my experience with my triathlon training I decided to make up for the time I wasn’t running with cycling. I used the continuous combination of the two disciplines cycling and running. This guaranteed a cardiac effort similar to what I expected for the marathon”.
After finishing the marathon, he describes the experience as wonderful and a roller coaster of emotions.
“Describing that never-ending support of the entire city pouring out into the streets and corridors makes you feel like you’re part of something much bigger.”
In this coming 2023, José seeks to continue adding goals. The resolutions for this year are to run two triathlons, on June 11 in Eagleman, Maryland and on July 9, in Musselman, in Geneva, New York, and to crown the year, once again run the New York Marathon, the November 5th.
Towards healthier communities
Open Run is an initiative of the NYRR, the entity that in 1958 created the New York Marathon, considered one of the most important races in the world.
“With the NYRR Open Run we are encouraging people of all ages and abilities to get out in their communities and be active. It is inspiring to see the effort that our runners put into each day and together we are creating a healthier New York”, said Marissa Muñoz, vice president of the Community Impact division of this organization.
The program has been implemented in 15 parks across the city’s five boroughs with an additional park scheduled to open in 2023.
To date, some 18,000 participants, including new runners, seasoned athletes, families, and individuals of all ages, backgrounds, abilities, and speeds, have benefited from the program.
NYC Marathon Figures
The 2022 edition of the city marathon meant the return of this competition to its maximum capacity after the pause due to the pandemic.
- 47,839 runners crossed the finish line of the marathon
- 26,608 were men
- 21,186 women
- 15,933 international finalists
- 131 countries represented.
For more information, visit www.nyrr.org
Running as a multicultural experience
The health benefits of running exercise have become a trend among New Yorkers.
According to Census data, New York has a Hispanic population of 2,335,076 inhabitants, which represents 28% of the total population of the city. With these figures, this community is the first among minorities, which is also noticeable among the groups that have been organizing to stop sedentary lifestyle and opt for running, as a routine sports practice.
That enthusiasm led him to form the World’s Fair Run Crew three years ago, in Flushing, Queens, a group that in winter gets together to run five kilometers every Wednesday through the Flushing neighborhood, in summer they increase the number of kilometers and extend the route to other neighborhoods like Corona, Kew Gardens, and Forest Hills.
“We are a small group and our mission is to inspire the Queens community to run and to accept runners from all kinds of cultures, as is the meaning of our name,” said Jean-Paul Flores, a Colombian-born runner who , together with Bryan Velásquez, Verónica Velásquez and Omar Medjid, founded the group that is also supported by Alumni NY.
Flores highlighted the importance of exercising. In his opinion, people who keep doing physical activity improve their quality of life, obviously taking into account that the effort they make is according to the capacity of each individual.
“The goal of our group is to influence the community to be more active, especially in Queens where there aren’t as many actions to support the community to get involved in sports activities as there are in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Since there are not many resources, we offer it for free so that everyone can participate”, added Flores.
This year the World’s Fair Run Crew had eight runners from the group participate in the New York City Marathon and the goal for the year 2023 is to continue to motivate people of all ages and cultures to take the first step and run and stay active and healthy.