The Idea Friendly Running Club

I met Heidi Johnson (Tymko) at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference. After my presentation, she told me excitedly how she had been using Idea Friendly methods, even though she didn’t know it.

Heidi moved to a new small town, so she started a run club to meet other people. That was her big idea.

She just announced on Facebook that a running club was starting and used an ultra simple signup form online. That’s how she Gathered Her Crowd.

In her announcement, Heidi suggested, “Here’s a local route we could do.” Then she said she was open to figuring out a better route together since she’s new in town. She’s Building Connections.

Heidi is a very long distance runner, but this wasn’t about getting her intense workouts. She kept in mind that this was about building connections with her new community, and she described their first gathering as an easy run/walk. That’s Taking Small Steps.

It worked. Now Heidi has an active running club in her town and many new friends and connections. She counts those days as her easy workouts, and everyone gets to participate at their own level.

She told me that my story about the Idea Friendly group of moms who successfully updated the play equipment in their town park has inspired her to do even more.

There’s a school running track in her town that’s just dirt. Now she’s thinking about how she and her running buddies could take an Idea Friendly approach to upgrade that to a proper running track for students and the community.

I’m betting Heidi and her friends will be taking small steps all the way to a better running track.

Thank you to my nephew Colton Foote for the photo of me speaking at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference.