GRANVILLE, Ohio — Aaron Olbur was in a running group in San Diego, and when he and his family moved to the Licking County village of Granville, he decided to start one of his own. So he reached out to fellow business owner Trent Beers to see if he’d be on board, and mind if the group met up at his cidery Seek No Further. The rest is history.
“I felt like it’s a cool thing to actually have as a community element. And we wanted to bring it here to Granville, and it kinda started off right before COVID and it shut down actually during COVID, but that’s actually when it grew,” says Olbur.
Each Wednesday, a group of a couple dozen or so runners of all ages meet in front of the cidery, take a full 10 minutes of stretch time, put on their nighttime gear and run a 5K, a little more than three miles at their own pace near downtown Granville.
Most folks taking part are from the local area, but word of mouth has brought in new faces from across central Ohio.
“I’m a runner and triathlete so I decided to come out and join the group tonight. It’s nice just to try and find another group outside of what I normally do and just to meet some new people,” says Westerville resident April Koukis.
The Granville Running Club has more than 200 followers on Instagram and even their own swag thanks to Beers’ own custom design.
“We’re pretty determined; we have run in the rain. We are committed to running in cold weather, and in the cold weather. My rule is if it’s twenty and below I won’t go,” says Olbur.
Olbur says he hopes to spread a positive message of health, wellness and camaraderie.
And the sky’s the limit for this group
“I really think it’s important for the community to come together, to get out one step at a time, to move, to get in shape, to meet new people to show that our community is really lively. And we actually do have folks who come up from Columbus and they run with us, people over in Newark they’re running with us, and they’re hearing about us and I think that’s just really inspiring,” says Olbur.
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