CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It all started with an Instagram post in 2019. The challenge was to run a mile a day.
“I needed a challenge for myself to get up and get active," Mad Miles Run Club Founder, Cornell Jones said.
And people noticed.
So much so, encouragement led to folks asking Cornell to meet and run alongside him.
“We got outside we got active and Mad Miles run club started," Jones said.
The group started with less than a dozen meetings at 1501 S Mint Street in Charlotte every Tuesday and Thursday.
Flash forward to now Cornell Jones has seen more than a hundred runners taking on the challenge.
“Even on rainy days in December we get 40 to 50 people out here so it’s a beautiful thing and in the summer we peaked at like 120," Jones said.
Now the goal is bigger.
Cornell wants to help more people who look like him get involved in races happening around the Queen City like "Around the Crown" and "Charlotte Marathon."
“There’s not a lot of African Americans out there so we want to try to change that a little bit and have fun while doing it," Jones said.
“I’ve been running since I was like 6-years-old and through high school and at Winston state university in college, I’ve always found a community in running,” one runner said.
A community for all walks of life ready to run the race towards a better lifestyle.
“Come on out you can walk you can skip you can jog you can do whatever you want to do we’ll make you feel like family," Jones said.
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