Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawn Barnett
Hi Shawn, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
When I was young my dad got me into running when I was 5 years old and I ran my first half marathon when I was just 8 years old, at the time it was the youngest to ever run the Austin and then San Antonio, Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon. Also, I grew up running in a similar running community to the one I have created, except they just had coaches who would go out and run with you but didn’t give you anything else, and it was for adults in Austin and there was never really any publicly known running groups for kids. Running with my dad and his running friends gave me something to do away from school and anything bad that was happening with and around my friends. I know it helped me become stronger and resilient both physically and mentally. What was different about me from many other kids, is that I had a parent who introduced me to running, something more than just a 1k or 5k distance, serious running. So, I learned about running, proper running technique, and all about running shoes and gear. I also played many sports growing up, baseball, basketball, football, etc. What I noticed as I was growing up is my parents starting to struggle to pay for mine and my sisters sports because they were so expensive. But when I got older, I realized, with running, all you need is a pair of running shoes. So I would never want a pair of shoes to keep a kid from being around the kinds of people I grew up around and just a mentor in general. I think a lot of people in life wished they had more people who would share with them how they got to where they are and someone to go to for advice and I love being that for people especially people younger than me.
Running with my dad and his running friends gave me something to do away from school and anything bad that was happening with and around my friends. I know it helped me become incredibly mentally stronger and resilient both physically and mentally. So I would never want a pair of shoes to keep a kid from being around the kinds of people I grew up around and just a mentor in general. I think a lot of people in life wished they had more people who would share with them how they got to where they are and someone to go to for advice and I love being that for people especially people younger than me
I completely stopped running for about 7 years from when I was 13-20 and I became that rebellious and not the best kid that I want to help build in my organization. I became super unhealthy and I just got into things I probably shouldn’t have and I know that if I had stuck with running I could’ve been a much stronger kid mentally and physically. Running can definitely be an escape and it will be for a lot of kids in my organization. Some days I would say it is for me and some days I just know I am doing it for my longterm health. I want to live FOREVER so I try to do things that will help me accomplish that.
When I turned 21, my dad promised me a trip to Las Vegas so I got a call when I was pretty overweight and unhealthy when I was 20 and he said, “hey I know I told you I would take you to Vegas, but would you want to run a marathon there together?” and at the time I told him there was no way I could do that after taking 7 years off of running, eating terribly, not working out, and just not being healthy. But I told him give me a few weeks, let me buy a pair of running shoes, and I will let you know if I think I can do it. I went to cheer on my roommate about 2 months later at the Austin marathon, and I was on the course, got FOMO and called my dad to tell him let’s do it. The rest is really history after that. I moved to San Antonio in 2021 for law school, started the nonprofit after my first year of law school, and have helped over 350 kids since starting it. Then, just this past June 2024, I wanted to make an even bigger impact here in San Antonio, so I formed what is now called, Dreamers Run Club, an open-aged running community that is focused on being a way for people to improve themselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and professionally. We want to be a running club where people don’t just come to run, they come to meet people, work on themselves, make new friends, set new personal goals, and introduce them to people around them in our community that can help them accomplish things in, and out of run club. What was so awesome, is that the club really took off very quickly. Week one we had 48 people show up after only starting the instagram and Facebook 8 days before our first run set to take place on June 24th. week 2 we had 52 people, week 3, we almost doubled and had 102 people, and by week 7 we had 350 people. Since then, nearly every run over the past 6 months has had over 300 people, with multiple runs over 400 people and our largest official number being over 460 people during November. I have just loved seeing the growth of these two communities in San Antonio, and I am eager for them to continue and eventually open them up in other cities around the US.
My academic background includes studying Political Communication, and Business & Public Policy at the University of Texas at Austin and I recently graduated law school at St. Mary’s School of Law in San Antonio, Texas in May 2024. Outside of my nonprofit, work and studies, I enjoy spending weekends running, biking, and exploring around Central Texas, lifting heavy things at the gym, floating and swimming around in water, playing uno with friends, and spending time with my family, usually at sporting events. I continuously remain inspired by the impact running has had on my life and continues to have and I want to find new ways to give that to others.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I think what I noticed most about Running Down A Dream for kids is that kids are dependent on their parents to get to the run club, so the ultimate person you have to convince to wake up on a Saturday morning is the kids parents. So brainstorming ways to get the parents involved has been key and we are currently working on a parents training program so that while the kids are working out with us, the parents can work out by themselves.
Another thing is that many kids are involved in multiple sports and often, running takes a back seat to more popular sports like football, basketball, volleyball, softball, and soccer. So, finding ways to incentivize the kids through prizes and even money sometimes has been ways to try and promote running as a sport and get kids excited to come improve their running skills, which also helps them in other sports that they might be playing.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about (1) Running Down A Dream & (2) Dreamers Run Club?
As I explained a lot in the first question, Both organizations are so special in their own ways and the way that people connect with others and learn to grow through their own personal journeys.
What sets Running Down A Dream apart from other run clubs is that it is centered arounds kids in 1st grade through 12th grade, where they can come learn from other adult runners in our community who volunteer their time on Saturday mornings to run with the kids, teach them about running, and mentor the kids through our programs. Additionally, we track kids times every week on their run, and if they improve their times, they actually earn $5 cash as an incentive for them to run faster and work on themselves, pushing to get better every week.
With dreamers run club, I said some things in the first question in the story about it, but also what set’s it apart from other run club organizations is that we move around every week, introducing people to new parts of town, new running courses, and allowing new runners to join our group because run club is closer to them. Because running is such a challenging sport, and many people are tormented/have PTSD from growing up playing sports and their coaches using running as a punishment, people have a bad idea of what running is and they don’t really want to do it, especially if run club is 15, 20, or 30+ minutes from them. So what we do is partner with a bar or restaurant around the town ever week, moving around to different areas, and set up run club so that we can hopefully attract new runners from different parts of town into our community. Our goal is to move around town 2-3 times a month so that we can achieve that mission. We also offer all of our runners free cold plunges and sauna’s after every run for them to get into to help them with recovery and also push them mentally and physically.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I am happy to talk more about any of my experience or even life things that I have gone through with my family, friends, or those who I thought were my friends and how those experiences shaped who I am today.
Pricing:
- Free
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rundownadream.org
- Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/dreamers_runclub/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-barnett/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/runningdownadreamtx/
