From the Forest Hills Runners Website:
The goal of the Franklin Park Mile is bigger than you can imagine. The aim is to transform the world, changing the essence of how people experience their lives. The world today is a global one; it is a multiracial, multiethnic, multilinguistic, multigender mosaic with more connectivity than anyone ever imagined possible. And though community is sometimes forgotten with the possibility of faraway connections, it is essential for everyone. A strong community can produce wellness in a way that almost nothing else can and yet many people are becoming less and less connected to those around them. Community running supports the natural development of communities that revolve around common activities, which creates a population that is both empowered and capable of empowering those they interact with.
Though Boston has many diverse communities within its boundaries, Boston is a unique community in and of itself – one that is exceptionally diverse and yet segregated and separated, not able to take advantage of all it has to offer. To truly empower Boston and bring out its strengths, the Boston community must find common ground – something simple and unifying. The Boston Marathon bombing brought Bostonians together in a way few have experienced, but that unification was short-lived because it occurred due to a single event people hope will never again occur. The Franklin Park Mile, on the other hand, will bring people together from both the running community and from the diverse neighborhoods surrounding Franklin Park. By bringing people together though an activity that is positive and that supports the development of free community running groups, the Franklin Park Mile will ideally help to spark the further development of Boston community and unification just as FHR believes Community Running for All will be able to do nationwide.
