The Running Wife: Skaggs & Champlin Named Regional Leaders

The running part is not always the most important, said The Running Wife Founder Ashleigh Freda this week as she announced local residents Rebekah Skaggs and Megan Champlin are now serving as Regional Leaders for the grassroots organization dedicated to helping women live better lives.

Freda, who lives in Lexington, developed her own training programs largely in response to hearing other runners speak of setting goals and their frustrations when they failed to reach them.

"I did a lot of research and built my own running program and asked a couple of my friends to be guinea pigs. Rebekah and Megan were right there from the start. They started following the plans and hitting their goals," she said.

In their new roles, Skaggs and Champlin will coordinate events and member services in Ashland, Grayson, Mount Sterling and Morehead, Freda said. The new regional leaders will arrange for runs and other gatherings, as well as providing nutrition and focusing on assisting members to reach their goals. "These girls make sure nobody is left behind," she later added.

Freda said The Running Wife was born from her efforts to write about her own ambitions to run a marathon. The name, "The Running Wife," was derived in response to a negative comment from a family member. "They said, 'You're just a wife.' And, I said, 'I am not just a wife. I am The Running Wife. I run my home, my family and my business," she said.

Early events by The Running Wife attracted only a handful of participants, Freda said, but "now we're seeing 8-10-12 girls show up," she said, explaining routes are kept private for security reasons. "We really preach group safety," Freda said. "We want our members to feel safe."

While running is a fundamental part of The Running Wife, Freda said it is not just a group for people who have a passion for hitting the pavement at the crack of dawn. Some members are battling cancer, or have lost a husband or child, she explained, while others have their own reasons for running and focusing on their own well being.

"I think running is therapy," she said. "And sometimes it is about the people you meet. We have stay-at-home moms, engineers and lawyers. We have a couple of older ladies who joined to walk and meet friends, and they liked our T-shirts!"

"We share our troubles too. It lights a fire in some people. We don't care if you are running or you are walking or how fast you go. We care about the person." (CCPost: check out a FANTASTIC success story HERE)

Anyone interested in joining The Running Wife, which is a comprehensive online resource in addition to serving as a hub for members, will find more information at www.therunningwife.com as well as The Running Wife page on Facebook.

"We are running a Back-To-School special for $100 and that is only open until Monday (August 19) and that will be the last bundle of the year," Freda said, noting the Back-To-School special allows access until January 3, 2020. Click HERE to learn more about the benefits of the club.