Sole2Soul Sisters is a running club, but at its core, the club aims to generate encouragement and community among its participants. Katrina Hanks said the idea for Sole2Soul came to her last year while she was in a Bible study called “If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat.”
“A couple of friends and I were running together at the time, and we had lots of women at our church coming up to us saying they wished they could run,” said Hanks, a member of Jubliee Baptist Church, Daphne. “And I kept thinking, ‘You can run!’ We felt God calling us to start a running ministry.”
So, in the spring of 2010, Hanks established a plan for a Couch to 5K program in which participants spent nine weeks training before running a 5K. She spread the word at local churches and put up fliers at gyms and the YMCA, and the idea caught on quickly. The women met once a week for a group run and were encouraged to run at least two additional times per week on their own.
At the first Sole2Soul Sisters 5K, there were 60 runners. Group members have gone on to run 10K races, and one woman completed a half-marathon. For Hanks, though, the main success lies in the way Sole2Soul makes women feel.
“The most positive response we’ve gotten is the atmosphere, that women don’t feel intimidated in our group,” she said. “We’re at different phases in our lives and have different physical abilities, but this is a chance to be there for other women, and it really opens the door to new friendships.”
According to 58-year-old Marcy Barnhart, Sole2Soul offered the motivation and encouragement she needed to start running.
“There was a stack of Sole2Soul fliers in one of our churches and I picked one up,” said Barnhart, who works for Baldwin Baptist Association. “I’d been needing to get into an aerobic exercise program, and my cardiologist had been fussing at me, so I thought this might work.”
And before she knew it, she had completed a 5K.
“There’s something about a group of women, most of whom are equally out of shape, being encouraged by enthusiastic and generous young ladies that really makes this work,” Barnhart said. “You can’t not do it, and you don’t want to let them down.”
That feeling of being encouraged and accepted has obviously resonated with women, judging from Sole2Soul’s popularity and fast growth. More than 500 women have been a part of Sole2Soul, the Facebook page has 519 fans and groups now exist in five states.
One such group was started by Leah Moore, of Pace, Fla. When her husband/running buddy was injured, Moore wanted to find a new way to plug in with fellow runners. She stumbled upon a Sole2Soul runner’s blog, and soon she connected with Hanks and, in February, started a group in her area.
“I used word-of-mouth to tell people about it, and people kept coming and coming! One friend said it reminded her of the movie ‘Field of Dreams’ — ‘If you build it, they will come,’” Moore said. “The women felt encouraged and didn’t feel like people were judging them. We had more and more join every week, and women of all shapes and sizes joined in.”
For Moore, seeing women accomplish their goals alongside other women offering genuine support has been life changing.
“The greatest success stories are the people who truly have not exercised and can barely run when the program starts, and in nine to 10 weeks, they’re running a 5K,” she said.
“I feel like Philippians 4:13 truly applies with Sole2Soul Sisters: ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’”
For more information, visit www.sole2soulsisters.com or search for “Sole2Soul Sisters” on Facebook.
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