Frieda Edgette Is Giving Women Everywhere the Courage to Run

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My guest today is active in her community in much more then just running.

She is the founder of Courage To Run, which is a nonpartisan race that celebrates women becoming more civically active and running for political office.

I am looking forward to a few easy miles with Frieda Edgette.

The Bigger Picture

Frieda ran cross country while in high school, but beyond that she never ran on a team.

Running’s presence in her life has ebbed and flowed.

For a period, Frieda lived in London, England and while there battled with exercise bulimia.

Around 2011 Frieda got back into running.

Even with all the abuse she had done to her body, she was still able to run.

The runs she did were therapeutic and helped her to heal.

Frieda loves having goals and often these goals parallel whatever is going on in her life at the time.

Diverse Goal Setting

Frieda suggests setting both long and short term goals.

Knowing the why behind each goal is critical.

Life happens and you must be able to adapt and adjust goals when/if needed.

Goals must be looked at objectively and require introspection.

When setting a goal ask yourself to:

• Identify the situation
• Determine the reason for it
• Analyze your behaviors and emotions
• Establish what is at stake if you don’t proceed forward
• Pinpoint what external and internal obstacles you might encounter
• Finally determine what the next right action is

Goals are always changing and Frieda encourages reflecting back over the course of the year.

The reflections will often lead to expansions of the original goal.

Courage To Run

Frieda first came up with the idea for Courage to Run in 2012 while she was living in London.

Frieda had always been active in the political world in some capacity.

That particular year was the first in over a decade where she wasn’t involved in politics due to her living overseas.

In training for her first marathon it hit her that it takes a lot of courage to run- both in races and for office.

Studies have proven that exercise increases productivity and mental health.

When Frieda returned to the U.S. in January of 2013 she began making her dream a reality.

Over the course of the next few years her weekly meet ups began growing and gaining popularity.

Her meet ups included some sort of exercise (running, walking, yoga) and leadership topics.

Empowering Women

It was during the start of 2018 that Frieda took notice at the increasing number of women entering politics.

This realization was positive, empowering, and inspiring, not all that different from crossing over a finish line.

Courage to Run is based on the premise that when people connect in apolitical activities it reduces partisanship.

The inaugural 5k for Courage to Run took place in 2018 in Washington, D.C.

Women in office, women candidates, and supporters of women running for office participated in the #couragetorun5k from their communities in more than 25 states.

Each community run may vary in style but has the same mission:

• Celebrate women running.
• Emphasizing the importance of being healthy to lead effectively.

Frieda has big goals for 2019 and beyond which include having runs in all 50 states.

As runners there is plenty we can do to affect change including:

• Practice unconditional kindness to self and others.
• Spread optimism because it is contagious.
• Register to vote and DO IT.

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Mentioned In This Episode:

• Courage To Run

Stay connected with Frieda by following her on Instagram and Twitter.

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Frieda Edgette is the founder of Courage to Run, which celebrates women getting civically active and running for office. #runchat Click To Tweet

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As Always, I’d Love to Know What Stood Out to You From this Episode! Let Me Know Your Takeaway in the Comments Below!

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