How do you create a running culture that’s truly inclusive?
- Text by Huck
- Photography by Robbie May
Nadeem Freeman was never a runner. Cardio just wasn’t his thing. But one day, during the throes of lockdown, his brother finally managed to drag him out on a quick lap. “I loved it,” he remembers. “It just made me feel incredible.”
Not only did Nadeem want to bottle that feeling – he wanted to share it, too. In response, he started a WhatsApp group made up of fellow first-timers in his hometown of Liverpool. The hope was to create a community that operated among the intersection of physical and mental health, where everyone felt welcome and represented. In short: Nadeem wanted to remix Liverpool’s running culture; to create something that was truly inclusive.
The result is the 2Step Collective, a group working to make running feel less daunting and more accessible. They don’t refer to themselves as a running club – they ‘step’ – preferring to focus on the fact that they’re simply a group of like-minded contemporaries working together to keep their minds and bodies healthy.
Things have snowballed quickly since their inception. But there’s always work to do. Collectivity is a new editorial series that sees Huck and Reebok collaborate with an organisation in order to help them amplify their message by connecting them with like-minded contemporaries. It’s about bringing people together, giving them the tools they require to collaborate, and using those subsequent collaborations as a vehicle for growth and progress.
In the first instalment, we’ll be working with Nadeem and his fellow 2Steppers in order to help them grow as a community and maximise their impact. Over the course of the partnership, we’ll be joining them as they learn about fitness, mental health, nutrition, and community, and how these core pillars can operate together for the collective moving forward.
Collectivity is an editorial series produced in collaboration with Reebok. Follow along for more stories from the series.
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