TAKE FIVE!

June 15, 2021

Samantha Mango:
Hi, I’m Samantha Mango. Welcome to Sullivan180 Presents… Take Five! Our guest today is Meaghan Malually-Gorr, the Director of Health and Wellness for Sullivan 180. Welcome, Megan, thanks for being here!

Meaghan Mullally-Gorr:
Hi, Samantha. Thank you for having me.

Samantha Mango:
Can you please introduce yourself, your job title, and give us a brief description of your role with Sullivan 180?

Meaghan Mullally-Gorr:
My name is Meaghan Mullally-Gorr, and I am the Director of Health and Wellness at Sullivan 180. I oversee several programs, including the “Empowering A Healthier Generation” program, which is in our public schools. I oversee the “Community Health Champion” program club, the “SUllivan Club 180” program, and I help come up with other programs like “Coach to 5k”.

Samantha Mango:
Great. Can you tell us a little bit about the “Coach to 5k”, the virtual walk run, which is now in its second year?

Meaghan Mullally-Gorr:
Last year was our inaugural year. The exciting thing about this “Coach to 5k” is that it comes with an eight week training program and a coach. So when you register, you have the option of registering as an individual and you’ll be sent the eight week training guide, which you could follow yourself, OR, you could choose a coach. You’ll get that training guide to follow along with, but also the coach will communicate with you each week, either on ZOOM or another social media platform, OR, you could create your own team and become a coach. You don’t have to have any experience because we will send you a training guide that teaches you how to coach week to week. We’ll tell you how to get in touch with all of your teammates. And on that ninth week, everyone is prepared to run their race. You have a solid week for ‘race week’ to take care of your race. Your coach will also help you with mapping out that race.

Samantha Mango:
And what’s involved in becoming a coach or starting your own team?

Meaghan Mullally-Gorr:
As you register on our ‘race roster platform’, you choose the ‘create your own team’ option. You name your team, and that will trigger an email to go directly to you that has your Coaching Guide, but also I’ll reach out to you directly to see if you’d like to participate in a weekly info session for coaches. So I have the sessions every Wednesday throughout the month of June. We talk about tips for coaching, how to get your team’s landing page, all up to date with a photo and a bio. We also talk about fundraising possibilities, really everything that you need to know!

Samantha Mango:
And when does the eight week training start?

Meaghan Mullally-Gorr:
The eight week training begins on July 4th. That is a Sunday. So your coach will have reached out to you leading up to that first training day, and then it will run for those those eight weeks. And then race week is August 29th through September 4th.

Samantha Mango:
And how can people register?

Meaghan Mullally-Gorr:
People can register by visiting “Sullivan180.org”. There will be an event that pops up right in front of you. It says “Coach to 5k”. You’re going to click that and it’ll send you to our landing page. You’ll find all the information that you need to know on that landing page, but there are several buttons that are clickable for registration. And then you just go through the registration process.

Samantha Mango:
And is there anything else that you’d like to share about “Coach to 5k”?

Meaghan Mullally-Gorr:
The only thing else I think is, “Grab your coworkers or family members!”. This is a really great opportunity to get outside, to get in shape. This is a super easy program. You could follow the walking program or the running program. You do have that choice between the two. It’s a really good excuse to get moving. Great fundraiser too, though you could also sign up for free. It is a fundraiser for SALT (Sullivan Allies Leading Together). You could find more information on SALT at www.saltcares.com. They serve all of Sullivan County, so we’re thrilled to be able to support them. If you need any other information, please reach out to me directly at my email, or contact Sullivan 180.

Samantha Mango:
And all those the proceeds go to SALT, correct? So even if people don’t want to participate, they could still make a donation and every single dollar goes to SALT.

Meaghan Mullally-Gorr:
That is right. So if, if you’re not up for movement or you’re already doing your own sort of fitness plan, we’re still accepting donations. So we’ll accept those through the end of race week. Every bit of it goes to SALT, including your registration fee.

Samantha Mango:
Great. Well, thank you joining us, Meaghan. And we’re looking forward to participating in “Coach to 5k” and getting Sullivan County moving!

Meaghan Mullally-Gorr:
Yes. Thank you!