The Micro Community

If you are reading this, you belong in the endurance community family. It’s global in size, yet small; by location, it’s unified yet subdivided. Ultimately, our values consist of things that help drive people to be their best. These values can be used not only within the sport but carry forward into personal life. Some values can be very selfish in nature and others are very giving. The members have many roles and those roles seem to change from time to time. We are coaches, volunteers, spectators, fans, participants, racers, and more.

Our community is diverse and growing but not diverse nor growing enough. We as community members have a duty to our community. We have a duty to the members of it. We need to help it be stable and we need to help it grow. We at Slowtwitch talk about this responsibility a lot. We talk about what we can and should be doing within the community. We talk about our responsibilities not only to the community as a whole but our micro community here on Slowtwitch. Slowtwitch is a news organization. It’s also a community and our community is strong. But our community needs to grow. And for it to grow It needs to be inspired. We count on all of you to inspire us. And we hope that we can find things to inspire you.

Early in 2021, when the world was starting to shut down, Slowtwitch Media House had an opportunity to be a part of Team On Pace, formerly known as the Timex or Suunto Elite Team. We had done some work with them the year before and had a chance to briefly meet some of the amazing athletes that were a part of that larger group. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the loss of the title sponsor meant that the team would face possible dismantling. Team owner Tristan Brown was able to do some rearranging, and with some help of some long lasting partners, the team was able to move forward with all the necessary support for its team members. What really kept the team driving forward was the athletes. In the end they didn't really care if they had sponsors, a bike, or a kit. What they wanted was to be a team. They wanted that community to belong to. They wanted to represent something larger than themselves. It was this never give up attitude that ultimately helped them get to the first finish line of the year. It was at this point that I personally knew that I needed to be involved and that Slowtwitch could have a chance to share these stories.

Usually it’s the small things that count. It's the local movements that grow into something larger. Over the next 3 months we are going to share just a few of these stories.

Now let me state the obvious: while Team On Pace is the longest continuously running team in the sport, it is certainly not the only one. The team is one of many in our community with many amazing stories and we are excited to be able to share them with you. We hope to not only continue this trend but do it in a way that will give a little deeper insight into these team members and what they will choose to share. I hope we can find the things that we can not only relate to, but those that inspire us not just on the race course, but in life.

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