Last week, 17 NB3FIT Run Club youth traveled to Shelbyville, Ind., to compete in the 2025 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Dec. 13. Representing their teammates and communities, the runners took on the national stage in one of the country’s premier youth cross-country events.
Our team mantra says it best:
Some might ask why we would take a group of youth halfway across the country to race in the freezing cold. Why invest so much time, energy, and care into youth sports, especially when it means early mornings, long travel days, and stepping outside of our comfort zones?
The answer looks different for everyone. Each runner shows up with their own reason. Some run for fun. Some run for their health. Some run for their families, their communities, or the people who believe in them. Those reasons can be personal, shared, or rooted in something bigger, but every one of them matters.
What becomes clear, every season, is that running gives back in powerful ways. It brings us together as a team and as a community. It teaches commitment and perseverance. It can quiet a busy mind or build confidence where it didn’t exist before. Through running, our youth learn that they are capable, supported, and never alone.
