For Daryl Murphy, running is a vehicle for justice. Having been a runner throughout his teens, Daryl ran for several years at Ohio State University until the structure of the college sports system disenchanted him from running.
Then, years later at the start of 2020, Daryl’s coworker asked him to do a 5K with him. This was a catalyst for him to get back into running. Soon enough, Daryl ran a virtual half marathon until another friend gave him an idea for another challenge– 30 consecutive days of 5K’s. Initially he didn’t think he’d get to 30 days, but after his first consecutive seven days of 5K’s, they just became part of his daily routine. 
But after 30 days, he couldn’t stop. Daryl was just a few days shy of completing 50 consecutive days when George Floyd was killed, so the emotions and injustice around Floyd’s death fueled Daryl’s drive to push past 50 days. Soon friends begin getting inspired by Daryl’s runs, so he decided to take what he was already doing, running, and use it as a vehicle to spotlight racial injustices and raise money for Black Lives Matter.
His runs took the name, Miles for Justice when Daryl decided to create a Pledge It campaign. Supporters could pledge a dollar for every mile he’d run in one month. The first campaign benefited Black Lives Matter, and the second for justice for Breonna Taylor. So far he’s raised over $10,000 dollars and is planning a third campaign. Daryl hasn’t stopped running. He shows us we can transform small actions we already do every day, into impacts bigger than ourselves.

3 Lessons

  • You can take something simple you already do every day and turn it into something that benefits others
  • It’s ok to not know how to do something, such as raising money for a cause like Daryl did. But the important thing is to take a chance. There are so many resources around to help you, you just have to look around. 
  • When days get hard, remember why you started in the first place. For Daryl, on days he didn’t want to run, he remembered he was doing it for Breonna Taylor.

Highlights

“Anyone can add something like this into their daily life. I was already going on these runs, but now I’m going on these runs in the name of justice.”
I’m going to keep doing this every single day just to let you know we have a voice. Change is happening and will continue to happen. As slow as it may come, we will continue to be here every single day.”

Resources:

Shoutout to Aaron and Joshua Potts for connecting us with Daryl. You can also listen to the episode we did with them on growing diversity in running here

Listen to the Running for Real Podcast here:

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Thank you to my wonderful sponsor Momenteous, Tracksmith, and Tawa Threads for sponsoring this episode of the Running for Real Podcast.

 

Here is a brand new sponsor, Momentous and I’m excited to start this relationship with them. This week I want to highlight Momentous collagen. Use Momentous Collagen Peptides daily for long-term joint health, resilience against injury, and faster return to running. The most popular ways to use are in a smoothie or with your morning coffee! It mixes in super easily and is totally unflavored. Most products claim to be “unflavored” but still carry a strong scent of their source, be it bovine-hide or marine collagen. Ew.

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Tracksmith is a Boston based running clothing company that truly cares about the quality and care of their running clothes. Running can be a demanding lifestyle for our clothes, they definitely go through the wear and tear to where we may be purchasing new clothes constantly. Tracksmith designers truly work with the finest materials and think of you as a runner in mind with spots for your keys, phone, and fuel. Not to mention they have their fall collection out! You can also go here to check out my favorites!

You can get $15 off your purchase of $75 or more, click here and enter code FORREAL15.

Tawa Threads reflect the natural beauty, contours and silhouettes of the lands we love to wander. Tawa Threads’ styles and bold, exploratory colors seek to elevate underrepresented communities by giving proceeds back to organizations who implement inclusive outdoors experiences.Designs include an assortment of apparel and home decor that are uniquely hand printed providing each print with its own unique character.

Feel free to use discount code RUNWITHTAWA10 at checkout when purchasing your product.

Click here to learn more!Thanks for listening! I hope you enjoyed today’s episode.

 

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Thank you to Daryl, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the show.

Black Lives Matter, black runners, BLM, change, justice

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