MANAYUNK

By Noel Bartocci

Photography By Stephanie Nolt Photography

Twenty minutes into meeting Kasey Manwaring, owner and coach at GoalsFit on Main Street, she says something honest and funny. However, she stops herself in fear of sounding like she doesn't take her work seriously or put maximum effort into every interaction. I egged her on to finish the thought, inherently knowing that there’s nothing damning about what she’s about to say – not about her or anyone that’s achieved success under her guidance. I mean, just hearing about the marathons, triathlons, and feats of strength that she's accomplished in the last decade or so, one would never assume that she’s ever taken the lazy route. I simply found it funny and rather telling that she never wants her colleagues or clients to think for a second that they don't get her all - even when she’s just candidly talking to me in a coffee shop.

This commitment to success and clarity is a standard that Kasey has applied to every aspect of her life. After this brief exchange, I immediately understood the appeal of her training style – Kasey lives it. She’s a teacher by example. What did she say exactly? I’ll get to that.

Kasey grew up in New York, proudly graduated from St. Joseph’s University in 2001, and quickly became a Manayunk resident thereafter. While continuing a career in sales, she would stay grounded in the community by taking serving shifts at Castle Roxx and conducting personal training sessions with friends, slyly trying to get them into running. Staying active in the area, even when work took her all over the place, allowed her to be the productive people-person she loved being.

“I loved the feeling of knowing everyone in town,” she said, also adding that all that time spent locally helped when she finally went into business for herself. “Being a resident, working and playing (in town) attracted great people from the start…the energy (of Manayunk) is my favorite thing.”

Of course, the start to which she’s referring is 2008, when she would leave her established career in sales and follow a dream. Fueled with the confidence of hometown familiarity and the clientele she had built on the side, she started GoalsFit’s and opened its first location off of Shurs Lane.

The first few months of GoalsFit’s official existence coincided with the Phillies winning the World Series. As a small business owner, Kasey had a slightly different perspective of this historic event. “I was so stressed out initially, because everyone kept cancelling on me,” she explained. As palpable as the buzz of victory was in the air, it resulted in a little too much local partying and a dip in her training appointments. I mean, we’ve all been there — when you’ve got that much celebrating to do, sometimes fitness takes a knee for a minute.

Regardless, it was a time in the city when anything felt possible. In hindsight, that must’ve been a magical time to start a new chapter, especially one so fitness-focused. This is just conjecture on my part, but I choose to believe that that kind of positivity floating around helped nudge people towards trying what they once considered impossible — like maybe, running a marathon.

Throughout her own passion for marathons, the Philadelphia and Boston marathons to be specific, Kasey would often take notice of the signs along a course. Not just loved ones holding them up in support for their runners, but also the runners wearing messages on their shirts. Whether it said their name, “I love you, Mom” or a foundation they’re supporting, it’s often a positive and/or inspiring message. Kasey, believing that running is arguably the easiest way to start getting fit (as well as the easiest activity to get hooked on) had an idea about what she would want her shirt to say. Her shirt would read - You should be running…

It was meant to provoke inspiration. If someone watching these athletes passing by, assuming that they can’t do it, sees her shirt and absorbs the declarative suggestion — then maybe, just maybe, they’ll give it a shot. What began as a simple message and point of contemplation, You Should Be Running became the award-winning program for all skill levels it is today, having grown in size and success over the last few years.

“I have to say it, sometimes it’s harder to train just one person versus a whole group — wait, maybe I shouldn’t say that,” Kasey blushes when she realizes we’re documenting this conversation. I encourage her to finish her thought, since I had an idea of where it was going — especially how it conveys the exact opposite of what she’s afraid of putting across.

When you’re one-on-one with someone, it’s your job to encourage and inspire him or her in real time — which can be a physically and emotionally exhausting endeavor. You have to give more than 100% simply by virtue of having to give extra to inspire more out of your client. That makes sense, even by the standards of my shaky math. With a group, however, some of that energy is spread across the team dynamic. When you share a goal with a group, you become accountable to every member of that group. It’s more akin to planting a seed of inspiration and letting it flourish as opposed to squeezing it out of someone, all on your own. Both are effective, but in a team situation, a lot of the coaching expertise comes in putting the right group together, and not just pushing them. If her and her trainers do it right –they’ll only have to push so much before the team starts pushing each other. The energy and encouragement is shared, like an orchestra of musicians as opposed to a single drummer.

You Should Be Running is a program that capitalizes on the team dynamic and meets weekly to practice and inspire one another. What makes You Should Be Running unique are the programs, which are built around specific goals. For example, by the time you read this article, there’s a group of runners who are either about to achieve (or just recently did achieve) a goal.

This past May, YSBR began the Marathon track, specifically designed as a 6-month training program for the Philadelphia Marathon on November 20. There was also a YSBR program that started at the beginning of September, designed towards the goal of completing the Philadelphia Half Marathon on November 19. Pictures of the runners are often on display at GoalsFit headquarters on Main Street, positively praising those bravely taking the challenge. There are also full season programs with which you can begin or hone your running skills, but it’s helping others conquer those illusive, specific dreams that keeps Kasey going. Witnessing someone begin at zero and reach one hundred is every bit as inspiring as you’d assume.

Encouragement is also a major part of Kasey’s training style. The validation and recognition of accomplishment is something that should never be undermined. We don’t exist in bubbles and neither should some of our loftier goals. In addition to the teams pushing and working with one another on the track, there is a Facebook group of current and former teammates. The group has become a wonderful space where members encourage one another as well as a share tips that work for them. Essentially, upon completing a program, your support system just gets bigger, helping you maintain your new fitness-positive lifestyle.

Maybe running isn’t your thing, but you’re digging the idea of being part of a team and pushing yourself forward. GoalsFit also offers personal training and bootcamp classes all week long, specifically designed to burn calories, increase strength, and build endurance. All the amazing guidance one can get towards a specific goal is not simply relegated to marathons. GoalsFit also wants you to be the best you can be – all the time.

Whether classes meet at Venice Island, the Roxborough Track, or GoalsFit’s location on Main Street, the one thing you can rely on is using the outdoors as your gym. Kasey is not content with a small, enclosed space and feels that the world can easily be your playground. These kinds of workouts in natural settings around town also teach members how they can stay fit by simply getting out there and being active. You don’t necessarily need a new fangled machine to climb when you’ve got bridges, hills, and staircases that seemingly reach the heavens in Manayunk.

When I ask Kasey about her relationship with Manayunk, what keeps her here, and her programs flourishing, she starts by reiterating that she loves the energy of our neighborhood. She adds, however, that, “it’s a manageable place…you can get your hands around it.”

The excited light in her eyes as she explains this to me informs many of the professional goals she’s accomplished and will accomplish. She didn’t stop at just enjoying her neighborhood and its people, but she merged her love for it with a love of staying active. She got her hands around every nook and cranny of Manayunk and made it her personal gym. Even better than that, she invited all of us to experience it with her. I honestly believe that this is why GoalsFit and its leader deserve every ounce of credit and praise levied their way.