Conversations

Q · Why Saturday at 8 AM?

Because nothing else competes with it. Work doesn't. Brunch doesn't. Hangovers do, briefly, until the people you'd be hung over with start running too. The time only works if it's protected, and protecting it is the whole job of being a founder.

Q · What did you get wrong in the first six months?

I worried about the wrong things. Logo, Instagram, branded socks. The thing that mattered was whether the same five people came back next week, and the answer to that was just: did we make them feel seen and did we run a route they could finish.

Q · What does GRYT look like in five years?

Same trailhead, same time, more people. If we have to add a second start time because the first one got too big, that's success. If we franchise into other cities, only with founders who would run alone in the rain on week one.

Q · How do you think about community vs. performance?

Performance is downstream of community for almost everyone. The people who PR with us aren't the ones training the hardest in isolation — they're the ones who keep showing up because they don't want to let the crew down.

Q · How do you run a club with a kid at home?

By being honest that some Saturdays I'm pushing a stroller and some Saturdays I'm not running at all. Modeling that the club is bigger than any one person's perfect attendance is part of the point.

Q · What's the one thing you'd tell a new runner joining us?

We are not faster than you think we are. We are just more consistent than you think you can be. That gap closes in about three months.