Listen to the interview here!
Sorita Averill Fitzgerald
Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece. Welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living Magazine. Today I am with Sorita Averill Fitzgerald. Welcome to the Project, Sorita.
Sorita Averill Fitzgerald: Thank you.
Toni: Sorita, take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Sorita: I own A Running Start, which is a local business in West Reading that helps encourage people to get into working out. What we do there is custom fit our customers in running shoes, walking shoes, anything for the gym, and we also have all the apparel and accessories. I also teach some classes around 5K and half marathon, and we also do speed work out of the store as well.
Toni: Oh my goodness! I probably should walk into your store. I might be a little intimidated, but I think might need to walk in. Let’s go into the first question of the Project. What does inspiration mean to you?
Sorita: Doing something that you love and showing others the joy so that they want to get involved.
Toni: How do you do that? How do you show people the love and joy you have for something?
Sorita: I think you do that by example. For instance, with running, when I’m running, I try to smile at people and show people that it’s a happy sport, that you can have fun doing it. I do that with other things that I do like triathloning, and again, just showing people that it can be fun. I take it a step further and try to recruit people into doing those activities, and get them started.
Toni: So inspiration for you, whether it’s athletics or something that brings you love and joy that you can share with others?
Sorita: Yes; and that you obviously have a great passion around. Again, it doesn’t have to be athletics – that just happens to be my thing.
Toni: You know, a lot of people have trouble with that passion piece. “I don’t really know what I’m passionate about.” How did you know what you were passionate about or what inspired you?
Sorita: I’m not sure. I started running years ago, and was not a very good runner. I shouldn’t say not a very good runner – I started out very slow, like most people do, meaning running a minute, and that was super hard. Then, I had a friend whose mom had died of breast cancer, and she was doing a 5K and wanted me to do it with her, and she wasn’t really a runner either. We both trained to do the 5K, and the 5K was in May in Philadelphia. My training was literally running a minute, walking a minute, and I just built up.
I found I really liked it, and it was a nice little escape from my day-to-day work. Once I got to liking it more, I was running with other people, and it just became something that I really loved, and that’s what I mean around passion.
Toni: Therefore, it inspired you.
Sorita: Yes.
Toni: How do you put that type of inspiration into practice here in Berks County?
Sorita: I have fun training for triathlons and running events like I was saying. I started a Saturday running group to help keep runners motivated and to have a nonthreatening, safe place for people to meet with like goals. That group has grown from 10 to about 40 people on Saturdays. It’s just an informal running club. I teach 5Ks and half marathon classes; those are primarily for new runners.
Every day in the store, we’re always sharing our stories. I have a great staff, and all of them are into working out, obviously, and sharing what we do at local races. I also battled with breast cancer two years ago and have ongoing asthma, so I share my stories around that as well, and show people that they can overcome some physical things and still work out and make themselves healthier.
Toni: So you really provide opportunities on so many levels the way that you’re talking about this, not only with running, but then how to run a race and how that impacts your health, and how you can love it and find joy in exercising in that way. That’s what I’m hearing. You provide multiple opportunities here.
Sorita: Correct. If somebody hates running, there are so many other sports. I tell them, “Don’t do that sport – find something that you do like.” We do try to help a lot of people get into running as well.
Toni: Who in Berks County inspires you?
Sorita: Oh my gosh – that is the hardest question to answer! If you hang out at my store for a few hours, you’ll see there are so many people in Berks County that inspire me – hundreds. The Saturday running group, they keep me going. My weekly training partners that balance households and family and work. My colleagues, and their struggles and their stories.
It’s the person diagnosed with a life-threatening disease that starts running to improve his health through the process of his surgeries and treatments. He inspired his surgeon to start running. They ran their first marathon together last year. He stops in regularly and shows me how great he’s doing, and he’s always grinning ear-to-ear and just happy to be alive and healthy.
It’s the guy that stopped smoking and replaced it with running – we’ve got several of those. There’s one in particular who two years ago stopped smoking, and he’s now fitter than ever and doesn’t have the urge to light up with cigarettes anymore – he lights up by running.
Toni: Oh my gosh!
Sorita: It’s the lady who was in a car accident and was told she would never be able to run again, and just ran a marathon this year.
It’s the woman that has had breast cancer, has gone through all the treatments, decided to do a three-day walk, a race, a triathlon.
It’s the customer that lost a child to illnesses or an accident that keeps running and living a healthy lifestyle to encourage others to do the same. I just have about five or six more.
Toni: It’s okay. These are great stories!
Sorita: It’s the couple that comes in the store and sings to me.
It’s the lady that stops in and tells us how we changed her life, and she’s jumping up and down with joy.
It’s the woman that has children, career, family, and continues to run and encourage others.
It’s the teenager that just discovered running and is super shy when they first come in, and then they come back later and they’re so passionate about running and jumping up and down and talking to us about it.
It’s the runner that comes in very last at the race or the high school meet, and is smiling.
This is a really encouraging one too – it’s the coach who comes in for his athlete and their parents and says he is paying, but to tell them that the school booster club is paying, and after they leave, he pulls out his credit card.
It’s the athlete that’s been running for 40 or more years and still enjoys it.
Like I said, I could go on and on. There are hundreds of inspirational people in Berks County, and I feel so privileged to share their journeys. I’m inspired by their dedication, perseverance and joy.
Toni: You should have a race called “Inspiration on the Run.”
Sorita: Exactly!
Toni: My goodness – and have all of these people run the race!
Sorita: Right. I do direct three races, and you can hear pretty much all these stories at every race that you’re at, and more.
Toni: What do you want your legacy to be?
Sorita: I think that’s pretty simple – that I’ve helped people gain a positive outlook on life, and helped bring them more happiness through staying active.
Toni: And you’re spreading that joy and that passion and that love. Who knew that a storefront could have so many inspirational stories inside of it? That’s pretty cool.
Sorita: Yes, I’m very proud. Thanks.
Toni: Thank you so much for being part of the Get Inspired! Project.
Sorita: Thank you.
