Sneaker Impact News

The Obstacle is The Way: Ricky Hughes and the Rise of STL Run Crew

• Ricky Hughes, Bryan The Botanist • Season 1 • Episode 17

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Join host Bryan the Botanist on Sneaker Impact News as he sits down with Ricky Hughes from STL Run Crew. Ricky shares his inspiring journey of founding STL Run Crew during the pandemic as a means to tackle depression and promote community health in St. Louis. Discover Ricky's vision for a diverse and welcoming running community that moves across the city, engages local businesses, and champions mental, physical, and community health. Learn about Ricky's background, his personal experiences with running, and how stoicism shapes his approach to life and leadership. Get insights into the St. Louis running culture, the significance of relationships, and sustainability efforts in the running community. Tune in for an uplifting conversation that highlights resilience, community-building, and the transformative power of running.

Chapters/Timestamps

00:00 Introduction and Special Guest Announcement

00:17 Ricky Hughes' Journey to Founding STL Run Crew

01:22 Ricky's Background and Early Life

04:15 Discovering Running and Overcoming Challenges

08:23 The Growth and Impact of STL Run Crew

13:30 Community Engagement and Leadership

16:13 Sneaker Impact and Sustainability

20:11 Ricky's Favorites and Personal Insights

26:02 Closing Thoughts and Future Goals

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Bryan The Botanist:

Welcome back to Sneaker Impact News. I'm your host Bryan the Botanist, and today I have a very special guest, Ricky Hughes from the STL Run Crew. Ricky, what's

Ricky Hughes:

yeah, what's up? What's up, Bryan? I appreciate you. Third time's a charm. We are here. And then we're live and let's go. I'm excited, man. I appreciate

Bryan The Botanist:

Yeah, man, so guys, Ricky Hughes is a man on a mission to energize and inspire the city of St. Louis to move and connect. A community leader at heart, Ricky founded STL Run Crew with a vision to create a space that would be welcoming to everyone. Running was initially a mental health tool that Ricky discovered during the pandemic in order to empower through depression. At that time, he had no idea what a RunCrew was, but he soon discovered diverse RunCrews around the country and was inspired to create one in his hometown of St. Louis. A crew that would move all over St. Louis, activating community, businesses, and health. A crew that was diverse in every sense of the word. A crew that was built around movement and connection. A crew that is now STL RunCrew. Again, welcome Ricky, how are you feeling today, man? I'll keep you updated

Ricky Hughes:

I am feeling great, Bryan. I appreciate you. It's going to be a great conversation. I'm feeling very zen today, very present. I'm busy as hell, but otherwise, I'm feeling good.

Bryan The Botanist:

That's awesome. We love the high energy, and that's what I noticed when I met you in St. Louis a couple months ago. So tell us, who is Ricky from St. Louis? Where were you born and raised, and how has that influenced your life and identity?

Ricky Hughes:

Yes, Ricky from St. Louis, no pun intended. Quick backstory on how I got that name. I went to New York Marathon in November, and the running space of social media is it's hard to describe in words. I've met men and women off social media that are like my true friends in real life. And I went to New York, and actually my homie Jared he's from D. C. He works for ASICS. And he was just introducing me to everybody, saying, Hey, this Ricky from St. Louis. This is Ricky from St. Louis. I almost felt like I was wearing the city on my back and I changed my name on IG like that next day. That's how it happened. I felt like I was like Champion our city, and I wanted to like, wear that so yeah, that's I've only been Ricky from St. Louis, since November of 2023, but I'm from St. Louis, I love St. Louis, I've been a community builder for 10 plus years, I've been navigating like, from music, to media, to podcast. I into the arts and like I just been finding my way. Just essentially letting God just allow me to use my gifts and creativity and community building in different ways. Yeah, so that's who I am. Found running or running has found me and it has changed my life in all the best ways. It's just taking over. It has taken over my life in all the best ways. And,

Bryan The Botanist:

It's an addiction. It's a positive health illness.

Ricky Hughes:

For sure. Yeah,

Bryan The Botanist:

We're ill with love and with passion and with excitement and health.

Ricky Hughes:

indeed.

Bryan The Botanist:

So tell us about your family growing up. Did you have any brothers and sisters? What were you like as a kid

Ricky Hughes:

yeah, I have one younger sister, Leslie. We grew up super close. One of my best friends, she called my, she called me her best friend, so I'm her best friend. I grew up playing sports. I played basketball, football, track. I was super, Just into athletics. I actually played football in college. I was small, but I was like super fast, but like just like track fast, like 100, 200. The 400 was a punishment. Anything over 200 was a punishment. Grew up with my mama and dad to put me in different sports and things helped drive my interests. And I just always loved just sports and entertaining, too. I never was, like, a showboat, but I would get flags because, one time I got a flag playing football because I scored and did a Superman. I just love the entertaining aspect and the entertainment aspect of The intersection of sports and like entertainment. And I'm also just a natural entertainer. I used to like rap and do music and I love to be on the stage. Finding

Bryan The Botanist:

Yeah,

Ricky Hughes:

mesh between sports and like entertainment is how I'm finding my niche as well.

Bryan The Botanist:

That's really cool. So tell us how you got started in the running world. I met you at Run Summit recently in St. Louis with Sneaker Impact. And you were leading the run club there, the run group in the morning for the entire run summit. And that's how I met you. You were leading this massive run for the run industry as the ambassador of St. Louis. How did you get started in running?

Ricky Hughes:

yeah. That was actually wild how that happened. But relationships are worth more than gold. And I tell that to. Everyone I meet students or adults, like that's so important. Long story short, I started running in the pandemic, like 2021, because I was like in, working from home, remote, my kids, and I was finally realizing I was depressed. I probably have been, have suffered from some type of depression for like years, but until I sat down, I started to feel it, and I started to like, Just, I don't know, walk, run. I don't even remember what I was doing, but I know I needed to get out the house. And Ahmaud Arbery, when I saw the video of Ahmaud Arbery being killed, that was like the catalyst. That day I bought, it was terrible, and it, I remember I cried, I remember I bought an Apple Watch, and I bought some Asics gel nimbus, I think they're like 22s or something, and I went for jog, run, and I couldn't run half a mile, but that was the catalyst for me to start running, and I was running by myself, and I was running with different run crews in St. Louis, and I had some pretty bad experiences in fact, somewhere like I went to run crews and no one spoke to me, I got given, handed a route and got lost downtown, and downtown I got a rich area, had like GPS back to my car, and it just was a terrible feeling, and I knew I didn't want folks to feel like how I felt, and around the same time, I had went to Detroit. Well, rewind, a little bit. I went to L. A. and I was in Detroit before I had a run crew, and I met Butter from Keep It 100 in L. A., and then I met Joe and Lance in Detroit with We Run 313, and

Bryan The Botanist:

Nice. Joe Robinson.

Ricky Hughes:

he's my dog.

Bryan The Botanist:

He was on our podcast a couple of weeks

Ricky Hughes:

Yeah, I think that might have been the first place I before I met you in person, I do recall seeing something with Joe on y'all's maybe he did something with the,

Bryan The Botanist:

Yep. He did some at the Miami Marathon.

Ricky Hughes:

Yeah, so it was just a, it was just like a mix of a bunch of different things happening once and ultimately it was like God just I feel like honestly it was God just showing me like visions of what could be. And then when I came back to St. Louis, I had to remember like how I felt that day when I went to a run crew and no one spoke to me and just took off running. I wanted to create a space where no one felt like that and it was like diverse in terms of not just race. But ability, gender, orientation, just like a space for people to move and connect and health centered, but community health as well. So like mental, physical, spiritual, and like community health too is important. So this was like, we started Run Crew January 15th of 2023. So we're like a year and a half old. And it's just been blowing up, humbly said, the past few months. And I'm just super grateful. So the, you heard me say this probably about four or five times, Bryan, the obstacle is the way. The obstacle is the way is a stoic term. I read a lot of stoicism books, but the obstacle is the way, like depression and a racial, I feel like driven experience and depression. Was the obstacle, I could've said, man, forget running I don't wanna, I don't wanna run, I don't wanna run with any groups, but that obstacle would end up being a way, allowing me to run, and to start STL Run Crews,

Bryan The Botanist:

That's really powerful. Kudos to you for seeing that in other cities and also, just wanting to improve the experience of people when they visit your city which I recently did and I had a really good impression. And it's important that people have a good impression when they Go visit other places. And they have ambassadors like you, community leaders. Let's talk about the St. Louis running scene and culture. Tell us about that for people who live in different parts of the U. S.

Ricky Hughes:

Yeah I think what makes me unique, is that I didn't know nothing about running in St. Louis. So I wasn't like trying to be or like compete or create something. I literally didn't know. I had just found running, but the experience I did have weren't pleasant. I know that running is a thing here in St. Louis, but even in the sport of distance running, it's, driven by white males, and don't think it was like something that was done on purpose, it's just distance running for me is new none of my friends run I didn't know any black or brown runners in St. Louis, so I think that's just what it is. was right and it's also a space for everyone to like you know there can be different run crews which i think is helps the sport and helps the community grow.

Bryan The Botanist:

Tell us more about how you sought out to change that feeling.

Ricky Hughes:

Yeah, I just wanted to create a space where everyone was welcome despite if you're black, white Spanish speaking or you're a walker or a runner or a marathoner. We have folks on our run crew who are Boston Marathoners and we have folks that literally come and walk half a mile. That level of diversity I think is what makes us unique. Welcoming and also we're changing the landscape of St. Louis and what it means like to move and connect with one another so yeah

Bryan The Botanist:

That's cool. So tell people more about St. Louis, when you guys go running, cause I stayed in the downtown area, like within half a mile of the arch. I know you took people to the arch, I wasn't able to run with you that day, just so you know, because I was recovering from recent Achilles surgery, but I did run this morning. So I'm back on my, only my second run. And I started running Sunday again after three months off. But tell us about, the running spots in St. Louis, where you take people.

Ricky Hughes:

yeah so first of all I'm happy you're back running Bryan I'm glad you're feeling well and coming back around running but so we run all over St. Louis really I think this also makes us unique we're not just connected with one neighborhood we run downtown like Typically on a week, we run on Sunday mornings downtown. We meet at Kenner Plaza and run into the Arch Park, which is actually a national park now. So we run the loop around the Arch and then back. And then on Tuesdays, we run on a street called Cherokee. It's in South St. Louis, a really diverse, like up and coming a vibrant, artsy area in St. Louis. But we also bounce around to local. Coffee shops in the area because, mainly because because we want to also highlight and empower small businesses, but we also have I would say 60 percent of our run crew are like transplant, so it's also like a tour of St. Louis. So giving folks new spots they can go eat, hang out, have a coffee. So we killing like three birds with one stone cause we definitely Travel a lot with our run,

Bryan The Botanist:

that's great. Show them a tour, and don't just stay in one area. I love that. So tell us about the last year and a half, the growth and what type of events you've been involved with and some of the highlights.

Ricky Hughes:

Yeah we started last year, January 2023. We only ran on Sundays for the whole year. This year we implemented a Tuesday evening. And I think both just create a good harmony. And we've just been like, Just growing exponentially. We partnered,

Bryan The Botanist:

come out and how much have you guys grown?

Ricky Hughes:

Yeah, no, so when we first started so the first run, nobody came, right? Then the second, person came, then six, so then I'm like, okay but the first one I wasn't discouraged because I had a feeling that this was gonna be a big thing. Not only that I didn't care, nobody came, I ran with my phone, made my content the creativeness has really empowered me through this because I wasn't doing it, I'm not doing it to like, Get a bunch of followers or make the crew even grow. I wanted to just create the space and I knew that I had to be there for that to happen. So

Bryan The Botanist:

It's part of the process and the journey

Ricky Hughes:

It's part of the journey. It's a marathon. So over the past few months now on Sundays, we're averaging around a hundred and on Tuesday we're averaging around like 140, I think we had 150,

Bryan The Botanist:

wow, that's incredible.

Ricky Hughes:

It's just really, I know there's a

Bryan The Botanist:

one year, you get over 100, 150, that's incredible, Ricky.

Ricky Hughes:

yeah. It is. It is blowing me away. It really is. We ran a big a big marathon in St. Louis. Last year we had two runners. This year we had 24 runners. So that just shows you like our growth and I didn't really know what was going to transpire. I just knew that I had to just be consistent and I had to. To show up and do the work. And I think St. Louis is really really embracing and really tapped into what we're doing. Yeah.

Bryan The Botanist:

So what's the format of the of the meetups like? And you're the founder, do you have people helping you and how have the roles and the community grown? How does also the run look like?

Ricky Hughes:

Great question.

Bryan The Botanist:

do you run?

Ricky Hughes:

Yeah. Great question. So my number one goal this year was. to expand our leadership. Cause I was, I didn't, it was like, I felt like, cause I wanted the show to go on. If I'm not there, like I want the show to go on. So we do have leadership team now. We have captains. We are building out like community engagement, like administration, things like that. So typical run. So on Sundays and Tuesdays, we meet, We stretch there's a one mile route, and there's a two mile route, but they can be combined to do one, two, three, four, five, so it's at least a mile or two, but it's a loop, so you can do as many miles as you want to. I think last Tuesday some guy did eight miles, but I really just just want to keep it, because running and movement is so new in not only our culture, but in, in and our culture in St. Louis. I don't want to scare people away, like it's not a race, it's like

Bryan The Botanist:

not a long run necessarily, you're not trying to,

Ricky Hughes:

No, but we do have a long run on Saturdays, which one of our leaders Jordan was actually from Tampa. That's her baby. So we do have folks that, like I said, come walk a mile. And we have folks that are, I'm training for Chicago. She's training for New York. So we have the whole spectrum

Bryan The Botanist:

you want to make it welcoming. And I love, it sounds like you're keeping everyone fairly close together instead of sending them out 10 miles in that direction. You're doing these little loops in the St. Louis Arch Park. And if you haven't been to St. Louis, that's just an incredible, iconic, Monument similar to Washington DC. Do you have anything else you want to mention about the Sunday or Tuesday runs?

Ricky Hughes:

No, I just love it, man. I could tell, I'm a stalker. I could talk about this all day, Bryan. But if you're in St. Louis,

Bryan The Botanist:

group. You guys got jerseys now, I've seen.

Ricky Hughes:

free. We got a little

Bryan The Botanist:

community.

Ricky Hughes:

apparel, but it's free. Just sign a waiver. Of course we're trying to find ways to sustain and evolve because it's one thing when I'm buying water and ice for 10, 20 people, but buying water and ice for 150 people, like that adds up, we are, be connected with different

Bryan The Botanist:

I have a feeling you're going to be finding some partners soon.

Ricky Hughes:

Yeah, they're around and we're engaged

Bryan The Botanist:

going to find you. You're doing great stuff. I know in Miami, Nike's gotten behind a couple of clubs, Hoka's behind some, other brands get behind some, even local businesses get behind them.

Ricky Hughes:

Yeah, for sure. We're a free agent, so you might listen to this we got it all in one shebang, so come holla at us.

Bryan The Botanist:

Let's move into the sneaker impact section, and then we'll get into the fun run section too, which they're all fun. But I met you in St. Louis, fitting enough in May of this year, and you were introduced to us, and it was a bright, bushy tailed group of runners from all over the U. S. from the running industry at RunSummit, it's not open to the public. It's like an insider kind of thing, but it's, but it's also really like everyone's really humble and really like low key, but they're all like lifelong runners for the most part. And you were introduced as the person that's going to lead us throughout the city. So how did that all happen? And just tell us a little bit more about, RunSummit and then I want to chat about Sneaker Impact.

Ricky Hughes:

yeah, so to be fully transparent until Three days before I didn't even know what Run Summit was. Like I said, I'm like a baby I'm like the little bro in the run community. So I

Bryan The Botanist:

What's new to St. Louis, though, is a quick interjection. It was in Chicago last year. It was called RunCella.

Ricky Hughes:

and I had

Bryan The Botanist:

just moved it.

Ricky Hughes:

but I didn't know that it was such a big thing when Matt from ON, like I said, Relationships Are More Than Gold we did an event with Matt earlier this year and ON, It was like dope, and we

formed a good relationship,

Ricky Hughes:

so he was

like, hey, ON's hosting

Ricky Hughes:

this run, he reached out to me and asked me to lead it, and I'm like, hell yeah, of course, and then I popped up, and it was super early, like 7 or something, like 6 or 7, super early and it was just dope I met Matt, he was like, Ricky, we need your energy in the morning to be the run and I came and let the run met you know which was dope and the rest is history.

Bryan The Botanist:

That's incredible. Yeah, it was just really cool to meet you there. I think you heard through Joe Robinson and, other people that you've met, Sneaker Impact's all about sustainability, recycling shoes for the community. We've supported several big marathons in the U. S., a handful of them, from L. A. to Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Flying Pig we're always looking to partner up and help the run community recycle their shoes, and we provide a free option to the public through our bag. You can get through the mail, but we're in many running stores, and we're in a bunch of great ones in St. Louis, including Fleet Feet St. Louis which they were there as well, at RunSummit, and It was just, the minute we met you, I was just like this guy's got great energy. He's exactly what we need in the run community. Ricky tell us, about sustainability. How is that part of your mission of STL RunCrew and how do you personally live and run

Ricky Hughes:

So personally injury prevention is my number one goal when running. I want to be healthy because I need to show up not only for myself, but like for the community. And also,

meeting Sneaker Impact

Ricky Hughes:

honestly has completely changed how I view sustainability and we got the bags. We actually are, I didn't want to tell you, but we're collecting shoes and we're going to have a shipment out soon so it's just like education, like until I met you and you gave me the information and we formed a relationship, before that I had no idea what to do with an old pair of shoes, so

Bryan The Botanist:

Me

Ricky Hughes:

so I want to tell you, Bryan, what you all are doing, what your Sneaker Impact is doing, is literally not only educating me, but it completely gave me a shift of my vision of how we can, you Be more sustainable. So yeah, we're more sustainable because of Sneaker Impact. How about that?

Bryan The Botanist:

I love that. Thank you. But it sounds like even just your mindset is about sustainability, which is that this is a long term movement and community and when you come visit us, Ricky, in Miami, next time, there's a lot of great runs down here and races, and it's a great time to visit in the

Ricky Hughes:

Yeah, be there soon.

Bryan The Botanist:

come down and be, you'll be our guest and we'll show you the whole operation here and how a shoe gets recycled. You can also check it out on our Instagram, but they fix the shoes up. If the heel collar is destroyed, I saw a great video yesterday, we're working with local universities too, but fashion experts are teaching Haitian families and other, entrepreneurs how to repair a shoe, and also how to clean them really well. And they make them look so nice and then they resell them and it creates value. All right, let's talk favorites with Ricky Hughes. Ricky, favorite running

Ricky Hughes:

Hey Running Shoes. Duh, drum roll, boom! Right there. Asics Super Blast 1s. I ran my first marathon in these. I retired these at 314 miles. They could've easily went to 600. The 2s are coming out. Hopefully we should have those soon. But Asics Super Blast 1s are my favorite shoe of all time. As I look at my shoe collection, yes, this is my favorite. Yup.

Bryan The Botanist:

You're a man after my heart because my favorite training shoe is the Nova Blast and I just ran in it this morning, a brand new pair of fours and I'd never worn the fours, but I'd worn the three twos and ones. I've never worn the Super Blast. I've heard incredible things about it. I'm not partial to any brand, but with my Achilles being in the condition it is healing, I need a lot of cushioning and that's so cool that you and I. Run in a very similar

Ricky Hughes:

No, I love the Nova Blast. But what has been getting my heart recently is Mizuno. The Mizuno. I have a couple pair of Mizuno's. The Neo Vistas and the actually the Sky 8 that came out like a couple days ago. Like Mizuno is, I don't have any shoe brand deals, so I can say whatever I want to say, which is a great place to be. Maybe one day I can't be as candid, but for right now, Asics and Mizuno are my top.

Bryan The Botanist:

favorite running nutrition

I use Maurten gels

Ricky Hughes:

I take AG1 in the morning a lot of times coffee. A cup of coffee every day. So I don't have, that's probably my last running steps is my nutrition. I'm a pescatarian. I eat very little meat but I say nutrition wise, Oatmeal,

Water, and Maurten are my run

Ricky Hughes:

aesthetics of

Bryan The Botanist:

Yeah, great choices bananas are good to mix it in a little bit of ripe

banana, but Maurten Yeah,

Bryan The Botanist:

they don't cause any GI discomfort and that's what you're looking for

Ricky Hughes:

Yup. Only when I'm tried, and I just stuck with it

easy fuel sources.

Bryan The Botanist:

Yep. It's

important to fuel up so favorite

Bryan The Botanist:

running gear

Ricky Hughes:

Dang, that's, you know what? Actually, my favorite, this right here! Favorite from my

Bryan The Botanist:

you go. The STL Run thing.

Ricky Hughes:

say. My favorite running gear right there. My favorite running gear.

Bryan The Botanist:

I love it. Yeah, it's just so easy too. The STL Run crew. I love

Ricky Hughes:

Yeah, I like the logo, it's real clean, they got, the man, the woman, they're running together,

Bryan The Botanist:

Let's continue the favorites and I have a follow up question, but favorite food after you run?

Ricky Hughes:

Favorite food after I run? Bagel.

Bryan The Botanist:

But if you can order anything, like you can get the

Ricky Hughes:

snap, anything? I'ma do a pasta, oh, pasta like a broccoli, Okay.

Bryan The Botanist:

some sushi, we'll bring in some I'm just you know,

Ricky Hughes:

I want, I'm the most, I'm the least pickiest eater you'll ever meet, Bryan. I literally will eat anything.

Bryan The Botanist:

Peanut butter and bagels. You're happy.

Ricky Hughes:

peanut butter bagel, I like pasta, I like pizza. Pizza's probably my favorite food, I'mma say pizza.

Bryan The Botanist:

food or burger few people that's an acceptable. I mean whatever you

are you're pescatarian and I'm sorry

Ricky Hughes:

I do impossible vegetarian

Bryan The Botanist:

impossible burger. Cool Okay, favorite races you've been to

Ricky Hughes:

New York Marathon. By far. Changed my life. I cried. I met so many people. New York Marathon last year changed my life. I became Ricky from St. Louis in New York. This year I'm running Chicago. Maybe you gotta ask me after that. But I also plan on going to New York cause our captain, Jordan Stone, is running New York Marathon this year. I'll be in Chicago and New York this year.

Bryan The Botanist:

Those are amazing. I did Chicago last October. My sixth Chicago. So if you, it's a beautiful course. It's also one of the best courses for new runners. They actually rated it the best course in the U. S. because of the support. And it's also flat.

Ricky Hughes:

My favorite race that I've ran, though, is Detroit Free Press. That's my favorite. It was my first

Bryan The Botanist:

Tell us a little bit about that.

Ricky Hughes:

I ran International. I ran across Canada. This was before we had a run crew. I was just runner. I met Joe and Joe, man, and Lance. They gave me so much Insight and like wisdom before we even had our own crew. I really saw it's more than running. It's about the community, how people come together. So my experience in Detroit October of, I guess it was 2022. That really was a huge

catalyst in My running

Ricky Hughes:

journey, my very first half marathon, I saw what a run crew was, in terms of running and after the running aspect, like the community aspect, so Detroit Free Press is my favorite race that I've raced in.

Bryan The Botanist:

That's saying a lot, considering the New York City Marathon. I did that in 2010. It's something that everyone should do in their life. And that's incredible. Favorite thing to do in St. Louis?

Ricky Hughes:

Spend time with my family, my kids, my wife, we go to the park, we go to the zoo we go on trail hikes. We do it all. My favorite time is spending time with my family and we, we just do it all.

Bryan The Botanist:

How many kids do you have?

Ricky Hughes:

I have three kids. I have three kids. Boy girl.

Bryan The Botanist:

Two girls and a boy, that's incredible. What are their ages?

Ricky Hughes:

17, 8, and 6. So the whole spectrum.

Bryan The Botanist:

Wow. So the 17 year old is probably getting ready to, is he, that's a

Ricky Hughes:

actually going to college. He's actually, he's going Saturday. He's going to SIUE, it's a school in Southern Illinois. He's packing up. He'll be going

Bryan The Botanist:

does he think about running? He see, does

Ricky Hughes:

He, so he's, so I just, I'm just getting into running, so he is we're both late to the game, but he's, he played baseball for a long time, got burnt out, then he started playing volleyball, he was really good at volleyball, and he actually ran his first 5K two months ago, and He ran his, he hadn't run more than like a mile and he just hopped in a 5k and ran a 5k, blew my mind. I hope that, he continues to run, not only like competitively, but use it as like a resource to adjust to life for his mind and his body and his soul,

Bryan The Botanist:

that's a great segue. We're getting into the closing thoughts section. Tell us more about your mentality and the stoicism you mentioned before. What is your thoughts on what the future holds and, the meaning of hope and love in the

Ricky Hughes:

That's a good question, Bryan. I think my overall just vision and like how I treat life is just Control what you can control. Oftentimes, what I want, what I think should happen, my emotions can get in a way of just being open to what is meant to be and what is happening. And the obstacle is the way sometimes the bad things happen, you're so focused on that bad thing, you're not seeing how that is the way to something greater. But like everything, just like how I treat my body, how I treat my mind, how I, how we treat each other. But a huge stoic principle is the thought of only controlling what we can control and things that We can't control, we shouldn't spend any time on it. And there's also very few things that we can control. But one thing we can control is how we react to things. And controlling if something bad happens, am I going to get mad or upset? Or I'm like, okay, it happened, what next? So controlling how I react Has really helped me like be sustainable as a human being and not just go with the ebb and flows of the ups and downs of life and try to just stay present and in the moment.

Bryan The Botanist:

That's awesome. And that is reflected, I'm sure, in the STL Run crew, in the energy and in the organization itself. Have you noticed That mentality being spread in the community and how has also the organization affected you?

Ricky Hughes:

Yeah, I think how we were Birth through an obstacle of lack of diversity in terms of not only just like I said, race, but like ability where it's not about speed. It's not about how fast you can go. It's not about training for a marathon. We were birthed out of a obstacle or like a needed space, and I think that is who we are in our essence. Like we want everyone to feel comfortable, everyone to come and move and become healthier people. There's tons of like health disparities in my community specifically, but also just in America. Like how we eat, how we move what we do. The pandemic really showed us that we need each other and we need to move. And I think the pandemic, yes, it was terrible. And for some people it was Worse than worse, but it can also be an obstacle as the way, like if it wasn't for the pandemic, I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have known I was depressed as much. I wouldn't have started running. Other people wouldn't have been in these hot, in homes for months and years and say, Oh, now I got to get out my house and get with community. So the obstacle is the way, is is the essence of who, and what the wrong clue is too. So

Bryan The Botanist:

I've always thought stoicism is very beautiful and whether or not you subscribe to it, I think there's so much beauty in it. The simplicity and the releasing control and surrendering and just not reacting as much, trying to be more calm about

Ricky Hughes:

Yeah, that's it.

Bryan The Botanist:

very zenful Cool thing to be a part of. So thank you for representing that. How do people get involved with the STL Run Crew? Can you share links and how they can learn more?

Ricky Hughes:

Yeah.

STLRunCrew. com, STLRunCrew on IG, STLRunCrew on Facebook.

Ricky Hughes:

We have, all in our bio, we have all our weekly runs, but I would say Instagram is probably the main mode of communication for us, for sure.

Bryan The Botanist:

Cool. Yeah. We'll share all those in the description and yeah, we're excited to see the future with as you guys have had a tremendous last year just shows how much, when you're moving in the right direction and doing the right thing in the community, it really resonates with many people and you've created a welcoming space. So any future goals you want to share? Any closing thoughts about, STL run crew.

Ricky Hughes:

I just want us to continue to impact St. Louis in a positive way. Get folks up and moving, like whether that's running your first 5k or walking your first mile. I want to continue to impact community in St. Louis in a major way. So yeah,

Bryan The Botanist:

That's awesome. It's

Ricky Hughes:

and thank you, Bryan, for empowering me, empowering us getting sustainability on our radar and giving me a space to chat about something I love so dearly. So I appreciate you, brother. Yes.

Bryan The Botanist:

really fun hanging out with you today and just shows how also persistence is important in life because it took a little while for us to connect, but we both had the best intentions. And then your message has just come through so beautifully today, loud and clear. And it's a breath of fresh air. We love to see stories like this in the community. And as a podcast host and a running insider, when I was at Run St. Louis and I saw you, I really wanted to have you on the podcast. So it says something about

Ricky Hughes:

Thank you, Bryan. Even today, we have technical difficulties, but look, The Obstacle was the way our story is going to be.

Bryan The Botanist:

we both are patient. Yeah, we didn't mention it, but there was probably, what, about eight interruptions where the something happened in the software, but we weren't going to give up.

Ricky Hughes:

No, The Obstacle is the way, man.

Bryan The Botanist:

I love that message.

Ricky Hughes:

It's actually, it's a book. The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday where he gives historical stories of from Eisenhower to like Martin Luther King of like how an obstacle was. The way for so many great American and international leaders.

Bryan The Botanist:

an opportunity, right? So the obstacle is the way.

Ricky Hughes:

Yeah, the up

Bryan The Botanist:

Very Jedi, also cool in that sense. Ricky, you're an open invite to visit us here at Sneaker Impact in Miami. I'm sure we're going to see you on the future at all the awesome run stuff around the country. Guys, check out STL Run Crew on Instagram. Ricky, you have a personal Instagram you want to share?

Ricky Hughes:

Ricky from

Bryan The Botanist:

that's right. Ricky from St. Louis.

Ricky Hughes:

St. Louis. Ain't hard to forget, right? You think of St. Louis, think of Ricky, think of St. Louis.

Bryan The Botanist:

All right, Ricky. Thanks for joining us on Sneaker Impact News today. And we'll have you on again in the future. Best wishes. Have

Ricky Hughes:

you, Bryan. Can't

Bryan The Botanist:

a good day.

Ricky Hughes:

Can't wait.

People on this episode

Contributor

Bryan “The Botanist” Huberty

Host