Nutritional science freshman Nathaly Perez has resurrected the UTRGV Running Club in the hope of promoting health and wellness, not only on campus but also the Rio Grande Valley as a whole.
“I barely started running four months ago, so I’m just a beginner,” Perez said. “… The reason that I started was actually because I hated it.”
She said all throughout high school, running in physical education class was unbearable, but she decided over the summer that running was a good way to challenge and discipline herself.
“That’s how it started, and ever since then, I just fell in love,” Perez said. “When you are running, you kind of feel like you’re free … and it’s just so relaxing.”
The club, which relaunches at 7:20 p.m. Tuesday at the Bronc Trail near the Science Building on the Edinburg campus, consists of 11 members so far, but Perez hopes for it to expand into bigger numbers.
“‘Become a new you,’ that’s really my goal for this club,” she said. “Running has a lot of aspects to it; it makes a person more disciplined when they understand, you know, ‘I have to do something I don’t like,’ but at the end you feel so accomplished. You feel amazing and it’s good for your body.”
Juan Gonzalez, a health and human performance associate professor and the club’s adviser, said that running is something he uses as a way to vent and release tension.
“I’m an applied exercise physiologist, and my entire life is about wellness and training and research on wellness,” Gonzalez said. “I have specialized in training the female runner ever since 1994.”
His experience mostly includes training runners who have been injured or have “lost faith in themselves.”
“Historically, I’ve never gotten a female runner that says, ‘Hey, I’m one of the best in the Valley; can you train me?’” Gonzalez said. “No, I usually get the other kind and I’m OK with that because I’ve dedicated my entire profession to helping the young female runner improve.”
Perez and Gonzalez said the Valley is known for high obesity and diabetes rates.
“I think the running club is a very good venue … to learn a lifelong activity which young individuals in college and anybody else can do the rest of their lives to impact whatever wellness issues they have,” Gonzalez said.
Club members can buy uniforms in the future as something that can help them stand out.
“So, No. 1, that’s going to kind of, like, spread awareness to our running club,” Perez said. “… It also helps distinguish ourselves from the other clubs’ uniforms. When I designed them, I wanted them to look very exclusive … very original.
“You are not necessarily buying the uniform just to buy it, you know? It’s … symbolism; when you wear that uniform, you are a Vaquero runner.”
Daniel Martinez, a criminal justice junior and a member of the club, said a portion of the profit from the purchase of a uniform will be going to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Martinez said he joined the club to stay in shape.
“Since school started, I was like, ‘Yo, you know what? Let’s see if I can find something that can keep me up to date without having to lift the weights,’” he said. “And so, I found the running club.”
Perez said the club is open to everyone and it is not just about running, but also about discipline and accomplishment.
“My No. 1 goal is … to teach people to be … hard workers … to transform themselves into a better version of themselves,” she said.
