Ivette Duran has been interested in fitness for the past four years, but only started running a few months ago when she was selected in a lottery drawing to participate in the New York City Marathon in November. Not wanting to train solely by herself, and understanding the benefit of working out with others, she set the wheels in motion and formed the Cornwall Run Club, which met for the first time on Saturday.

For the last three years, Duran, a five-year resident of Cornwall, has been leading workout groups in New Windsor and Newburgh. She started Fit Camp, an outdoor fitness program, in front of the Newburgh Armory and it has since grown into a stable community.

“Fitness can be intimidating to those just starting out,” Duran said, “especially for females. I wanted to have a community that’s inclusive of all levels.”

Enjoying the group atmosphere and wanting to involve the Cornwall community, Duran to create the Cornwall Run Club. She said she observes many running solo, but never in a group.

At the time she wasn’t active on Facebook, but a friend showed her a post inquiring about nearby run clubs. Duran saw an opportunity and decided to post her own message indicating her interest in starting a club and asked if anyone would like to help her organize it.

Three individuals stepped forward and joined her for an initial meeting at the Cornwall Coffee Co. & Mercantile on Aug. 24. The quartet spent an hour getting to know each other and discussing a day, time, and place to launch the club, as well as discussing the distance for the first run. The ultimate goal was to create an atmosphere which includes runners from all levels -- those just beginning to get back into running, as well as the elite. The system which was created invites others to volunteer to help lead the pack either from the front, middle, or back for those who may be more comfortable walking.

The benefit of running in a group, Duran said, is sharing a physically and mentally challenging task with others.
“For me, it makes the time running easier and quicker. It’s easier knowing you have a support system all around you as you’re working on yourself.”

Once it was decided to hold the first run at 8 a.m. (7:45 warm-up) on Sept. 7, another Facebook post went out alerting those interested in the newly formed Cornwall Run Club group. Around 13 volunteered to help and nearly 40 signed up for the club’s Facebook page.

The four main organizers will rotate with the other volunteers, who can sign up for what pace they want to lead that day. The goal is to meet every Saturday morning unless there’s a holiday.

Come winter, sessions may be held every other week or even monthly, depending on the weather. Duran didn’t reject the idea of taking a break for a couple of months should Hudson Valley be hit with an aggressive winter.
In the future, the goal is to hold other events after the morning runs, such as meeting for coffee and pastries or even a drink, at local businesses in order for the participants to connect with each other.