If you've never heard of the Ville to Ville Craft Brew Relay, you are missing out.
The relay runs from Asheville to Greenville, and it has become one of those days I look forward to every single year. You run with your best friends, spend the entire day leapfrogging each other through the mountains, and possibly, most importantly, there's always a theme.
This year's theme was Saturday morning cartoons.
We had a reputation to uphold because somehow, against all odds, we had won the team spirit competition the year before.
So obviously we needed to show out.
After some very serious research, we landed on the Bratz.
And YES, before anyone comes for us, Bratz did in fact have a television series.
More importantly, it gave us the perfect excuse to be runner girlies in BOLT while also being completely ridiculous.
Think waking up at 5 a.m. to do our hair. Purple eyeshadow. Tiny sunglasses. Outfits. Sass. An absolutely unnecessary level of commitment to the bit.
It was perfect.
And somewhere between running our legs, screaming for each other from the side of the road and passing boys left and right, I had one of those little moments where I realized:
This is exactly why I built Bolt.
I wanted running to feel like this.
A place where women uplift one another. Where we encourage each other to chase big goals and feel confident doing it.
Where you can be competitive and strong and serious about what you're capable of without having to take yourself seriously all the time.
Where you can kick butt and wear purple eyeshadow.
Where you can do the absolute most.
To me, that's Bolt Girl energy.
Showing up for yourself, but also showing up for everyone around you. Being the loudest person cheering on the side of the road. Believing your friends can do hard things. Wearing the ridiculous outfit. Bringing the energy. Passing the boys. Having FUN.
And getting to experience all of that while wearing something I dreamed up was incredibly special.
We did, in fact, win best costume again.
But that wasn't my favorite part.
My favorite part was looking around at my best friends wearing BOLT and realizing how lucky I am to have women in my life who don't just tolerate my crazy dreams—they show up for them.
They wear the clothes. They run the miles. They wake up at 5 a.m. and put on purple eyeshadow.
There really is no greater compliment than having the people you love believe in the thing you're building.
And if we happen to win best costume while we're at it?
Even better.
xoxo,
Georgie | Founder
