If necessity is the mother of invention, loneliness is the cause for affiliation.
At Leggggs—We tell the stories, provide first-person insights, and aim to create authentic and long-lasting connections with the sole intent to help anyone that may need it to feel less lonely through running.
Why focus on loneliness?
According to Frontiers in Psychiatry, “Loneliness is a preventable public health issue and has been linked to mental illness…characterized by a perceived lack of social support and a sense of social disconnection and is often stigmatized or trivialized.”
If you dig a bit around that same site, and others, you’ll see that loneliness itself has been an issue for a long time, and especially one that no one seemingly wanted to talk about. (Ahem, “a 2019 multi-national survey found that almost 50% of adult men felt they could not or would not talk to friends about their problems.” source)
The pandemic helped these numbers very, very little, with roughly 59% of people reporting feeling lonely (source). But what we may be able to thank the pandemic for, and this is pure speculation on my part, is the fact that we are now talking about all of this more freely. As stated here, “being lonely fucking sucks.”
This, in a certain way, is why Leggggs exists. We are not going to solve the widespread loneliness epidemic. But the hope is, through each story we tell, from runners in communities across the world, something may resonate with someone feeling alone, and change their outlook.
In this, we are building a community to help you feel less lonely through running.
What is A Conversational Pace?
Out of sheer necessity to connect with people and feel less alone after the outlet I had to the outside world was all but cut clean, I began to search for ways to feel a part of the running community here in Portland. I started small, interviewing people I knew, friendlies that I had a hope would say yes. From there, I got introduced to more people, and it just keeps spiraling out, all connecting back to this main idea of trying to feel less lonely through running. Everyone had such an interesting story to tell, especially about something they are passionate about, and all it takes is a nudge to get them talking. That in its essence is why The Conversational Pace exists.
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Meet the team
(pictured: Will (R) and JT Lehman of Alpenflo Trail Camp (L) discussing best routes and definitely not being lost. photo: Steven Mortinson)
Will Price – Founder & chief contributor, dad, runner, pizza chef
Will is a writer and runner originally from Denver, CO. His residences include NYC, LA, San Diego, and, currently, Portland, OR. Will’s appreciation of running comes by way of an older brother who constantly pushed him to “not just try hard, but do good,” a mom and dad who stuck to early morning and lunchtime running rituals during Will’s youth, one season of high school track out of sheer necessity, and an ongoing fear & motivation to maintain sobriety and healthy emotional and mental fortitude through logging miles.
leggggs 