Seeing DC in a new light

Dear Mr. Vogel,

I was born and raised in our Nations Capital. Before I started going to November Project, I thought I’d seen all of DC, this is where I was born, I was kind of over it and had every intention of trying to move away again. But then one evening I was flipping through the latest issue of Runners World and saw these really cool looking people jumping up and down with HUGE smiles on their faces. They called this group November Project. I quickly googled this group to see if there was a DC group. THERE WAS! I texted my friend and said, next Wednesday, we’re waking up at 5:30 and going to the Lincoln Memorial. Be ready.

The next Wednesday my alarm went off, it was dark, it was cold, but I was excited! My first November Project workout! I remember walking up to the Lincoln Memorial, and although I’d seen it a million times before as a child, this time it looked so much cooler than I remembered. The workout that morning was tough, but the scenery, the sunrise and Abe looking over us made me quickly forget how tough running the stairs was and made me even more excited to come back and do it all over again the next week. The positivity, the community, the iconic backdrop, the love for our city, the inclusion of tourists who come in the morning to watch the sunrise, who then join in on our fun… the list can go on for reasons why running these steps (which thousands of other runners across our city do on a daily basis, not just on Wednesdays) is so important to us. It has been 2.5 years of running these steps, and I just can’t imagine that ending. November Project DC and the Lincoln Memorial are synonymous.

All of this is to say that: Monday, Wednesday, Friday — waking up to go meet my friends at various places around the District, has become my routine. To explore my city with my friends, and visit places I’ve never seen before (even though I, again, grew up here) all before 7:30am. This is the group that finally made me feel like DC really actually was my home. A place that I fell back in love with. A place that I finally felt like I wanted to stay, and get to know a little bit more. November project took me around DC in ways I’d never seen it before. I now have new areas around the city that I love to go hang out in. So thank you November Project, thank you for making my home and my parks, really my home.

I’d love for you to come out with us one day to see if you too, might find a part of DC you’ve yet to discover! We’ve #foundourpark, please don’t take it away.

Wild Love,

Erin Brown