Active Southern West Virginia takes great pride in its Community Captains. We strongly believe that without them our mission would be impossible. They are dedicated to making their communities a happier, healthier, and an altogether brighter place to live. We are forever grateful for their service and passion for creating free opportunities for their community members to participate in. This month we are highlighting one of our new Community Captains in 2016, Matthew Bailey, to both show appreciation for his service and to showcase a little bit of his story. We hope it will resonate with some of our readers and motivate them to start their journey toward a healthy and active lifestyle change.
Matthew began his journey into becoming an ultra-marathoner when he found himself putting on extra weight. He decided to start running one mile at a time and then continued to bump up his mileage everyday until he was up to running 5-10 miles at a time.
Matthew grew up an athlete, playing football but did not pick up running and boxing until the last 5 years.
When asked, “What motivated you to become a leader and mentor in your community, leading the way for a more physically active community?” Matthew replied,
“I love running, and I want more people in the community to find the rewards in living an active lifestyle. Since I’ve started running I’ve learned more about myself than I ever have. I’ve learned how to persevere through things I never thought I could do. I’ve won 2 boxing championships, ran a marathon, completed 3 ultra-marathons, and numerous half marathons.”
Matthew is also involved in the Mount Hope Boxing Club and the Mount Hope Youth Basketball League as a coach for his daughter.
With work, church, family, and coaching Matthew understands that sometimes it’s a challenge to maintain a physical fitness routine but he finds sticking to a schedule helps him overcome that challenge. And on the days when the challenge is harder to overcome he settles for a shorter run outside or an inside workout.
Matthew’s piece of advice for anyone who may be interested in volunteering whether as a Running Club Coach or Community Captain is, “Don’t wait around for that one day. Get involved, don’t try to find an excuse why you can’t.”
Matthew will be kicking off 2016 with an afternoon trail run on Friday January 1st at 1pm, meeting at the Park Loop Trailhead in Fayetteville Town Park; the entrance to the gravel parking lot at the trailhead is directly past the basketball courts. The Park Loop Trail is 1 mile, so it is beginner friendly for those just getting into trail running but a good challenge for those looking for a light day. This kick off will serve as a preview for Matthew’s Fayetteville Trail Running Group that will meet every Saturday morning at 8am in the same location. Keep up with the Active Southern West Virginia Bulletin Board for updates on possible time changes and cancellations.
We are so excited to have Matthew on our team and are still recruiting Community Captains in the communities of Smithers, Ansted, Gauley Bridge, Pax, Meadow Bridge and all points in between! As winter approaches we are specifically looking for indoor programming opportunities and are willing to help get that programming started whether it be Zumba, Yoga, seated exercise, aerobics, hoop dancing, you name it and we’ll help you get it started. Contact Program Assistant Courtney Roark at [email protected] or 304-254-8488.
