New Trier has over 140 clubs, varying from the DJ Club, to the Shakespeare Club, to the Math team to ELS.  However, one new club has been brewing beneath surface and will soon burst onto the scene: the Winter Running Club.

There are a diminishing number of people who like the winter and running, so combining the two seems like a recipe for disaster.  In a poll I conducted in the halls of New Trier, 37 students did not want to spend their spare time running, 17 did not like Winter, and 28 found the combination devastating.  However, there still exist students who want to spend their time working their muscles and cardiovascular systems.

The Winter Running Club seems like an extremely obscure idea and perhaps prompted by the aspirations of a lone student, but this is not the case. Senior Nick Anaclerio, co-leader of the Winter Running Club alongside Barr Iserloth, made it their mission to provide an environment where casual and competitive track-runners could work out during their off-seasons. “We get a lot of participation from Cross-Country and Track runners who are training through the winter, but one of the big objectives for our club is to spread the joy of running to people who haven’t gotten into it yet,” said Anaclerio.

The club started in 2012, when Anaclerio, and two of his friends from Cross Country, Sam Heavenrich and Michael Hamburger, came up with the idea of runners meeting up during the Winter.  “It would be cool if runners could meet formally at least once a week to try to keep the Cross Country and Track folks on top of their winter training,” said Anaclerio.  The club is sponsored by A.J. Gomberg, a member of the Social Work Department, who agreed with the concept of winter training. With positive support and encouragement, the participants are able to utilize their time effectively and enhance their running skills throughout the calendar year.

The Winter Running Club is sometimes misunderstood or perceived to be a club where one simply runs on a treadmill for an hour, or jogs around a track field in negative degree weather, but this is far from the truth.  “We don’t just run around in circles on campus. Can you imagine?” said Anaclerio.  Commonly, a route that is taken starts from Essex to Sunset, and then onto the Green Bay Trail. The route allows for the group to decide when they would like to start running back.  These runs range from 2 to 10 miles, but the primary goal is to keep everyone in the group at a steady pace, and make sure no one falls behind.

With over 70 winter running clubs available around the Chicagoland and North suburb area, one may question why a club like this, so easy in its concept, needs to be offered at New Trier.  The answer is simple.  Community.  The members of this club are all from New Trier, and the concept of working together to better oneself fits perfectly with the goals of the Winter Running Club.  “One big objective for our club is to spread the joy of running to people who haven’t gotten into it yet.  People can run as far and as fast, or as short and as slow as they like, and meet some nice people in the process,” said Anaclerio.

The club meets at 3:45 every Wednesday starting in November, and openly accepts any participants regardless of running experience or fitness level. Anaclerio said, “We offer you the chance to meet some great people, enjoy the natural beauty of our area, and get in shape at your own speed.”