When it comes to running, there’s only one person who can make your legs move. Only one person who can force you to wake up before the sun begins to rise on a Saturday morning for a long run. Only one person who can choose to keep going and dig deep, even when quitting seems like the better option. You know who I’m talking about. That person is YOU. Unlike many sports, success in long-distance running doesn’t depend on someone playing an error-free game or passing you the ball. But even though it may seem like an individual display of toughness, courage and strength; endurance running is actually a team sport.

The thing about running is that although you have to believe in yourself, want it for yourself and do the work yourself, your team – whether that’s simply your family and friends, the kids you push in a jogging stroller or a literal training group – makes you stronger.

Since 2009, I’ve been fortunate to run with an incredible marathon and triathlon training club. The first time I ever joined them for a training run, I’d never run more than 8 miles and knew nothing about proper hydration, fueling, pacing strategy – you name it. I ran track in middle school and high school, but this endurance thing was a whole new ball game. I decided to join the group to train for my first half-marathon. “I’m not interested in doing a marathon,” I told them. “I could never run that far.” The next thing I knew, I was signed up for the Chicago Marathon and have crossed the finish line at 4 marathons since.

That incredible group of people has changed my life. They’re people I probably never would have met if it wasn’t for running. People of all ages, backgrounds, shapes, sizes, and running histories. People who are single, people who are married. People with kids, people without kids. People who have run more than 20 marathons, people who are still counting their marathons on 1 hand like me.

People who have become my family. People who have made me a better person. People who have made me a better runner.

While we were running 14 miles together yesterday, it occurred to me how much more I can do when I’m with them than when I’m on my own. There was a moment toward the end of the run when I knew they couldn’t will me up what seemed like the 100^th hill, but I wanted to get up that hill for all of us.

This is why running is a team sport. And these are my team members:

• Someone who tells you you’re doing awesome, even when you feel like crap.
• Someone who is 2 minutes faster per mile than you but hangs back to talk you through the hard miles and make sure everyone safely crosses a busy intersection.
• Someone who’s willing to give you one of their GUs when they think you need it more than they do.
• Someone who brings extra ice for you to put down your shirt when it’s blazing hot.
• Someone who is so inspiring you want to push through to show them how strong they’ve helped make you.
• Someone who understands what “my stomach is upset” really means and stops their own run to wait for you to take a pit stop.
• Someone who encourages you every step of the way and reminds you how extraordinary you are.

For me, this is my team. (All of you “someones” know who you are.) I keep running for myself, but I also keep running for them. It’s about me, but it’s about everyone else who helps me run: My running pals who keep me going when I want to stop. My husband who supports the sacrifices I have to make to do what I do and tells me how proud he is. My parents who are the best spectators in the whole world and who introduced me to running way back when. To the people I don’t even know on Twitter, Facebook and through the blogosphere who teach me new things and encourage me every day. I run for myself. But I run for all of you. I can’t think of a better team or a better sport.

Here’s to us.

Do you run with a training group? If so, what’s your favorite part about it? What have you learned from your teammates that has been invaluable to you? If you run alone, who are your biggest supporters?