The phrase "Mostly Heartbroken, Still Going" came in a marketing meeting on the topic of the Olympic Trials. While that race decides who will represent the US at the Olympics, it's also a rare gathering of all of the top American distance runners. Over the major and minor marathons of a normal year, this talent pool is spread across hundreds of road races. In contrast, come the trials, everybody shows up and most of them won't make the team or even come close but they still give it everything.
Using the lens of the trials is one framing and while it's elite, it also gives the elites and the aspirants the experience of the rest of us. Everyday runners enter race after race with no likelihood of ever getting a win and yet, we keep doing it - the training, the paying of race fees, the not winning. We'll never stop. We'll tune-in and give it our all over and over.
I also thought about relationships. We connect and relate, date for periods, marry, maybe divorce, and still keep an open heart ready and reaching for cosmic connection.
With all of these ideas swirling, I sharpened the campaign to this:
"Most Olympic trials competitors won't make the team, but they give everything anyway.
Most relationships don't work out, but here we are, you and me.
Most of us won't win a race. That never stops us.
Mostly Heartbroken. Still Going.
A collection for people who know what it means to Run Hard, Risk Heartbreak."
The "Mostly Heartbroken" part is intentionally cheeky. It's how one could see everything if not for optimism.
I asked each of the community members in our 2024 spring campaign some questions grounded in its ethos. Before I sent them off though, I answered them myself to shed some light on the themes. Check out that out below.
Thanks for reading and Run Hard, Risk Heartbreak! - Dan