The Legacy of LRC’s 3rd President–Cole Schwartz

Cole Schwartz is the third President of Liberty Running Club. He joined the club his freshman year in the fall of 2022. He joined the leadership team his sophomore year. He was then voted into the position of President the spring of 2024, as second president Jacob Dryer was graduating, and began leading in the Fall of 2024.

As a new freshman, he was seeking a running community without the pressure and heavy commitment of a college team because he “loved to run.” He recalls: “I joined LRC…I think it was the 3rd week of school, because my mom saw a post on Instagram about Liberty Running Club and told me I should check it out.”

At the beginning of Schwartz’s Presidency, LRC began to change: “First of all, it is much bigger.” For his first two years in the club, meetings would always begin with high attendance then “as soon as winter months hit, you had your faithful few. It was like 7 or 8 people every week. And we had a good time; it just wasn't like it is now.” Since 2024, LRC now has “a much larger group of faithful attendees.”

Schwartz attributes the increase in run club attendance to the fact that “running club is a lot more social than it was.” Under his leadership, running club adopted an officer, Jadyn Talley “dedicated to organizing social events.” He believes “that's what draws people in and keeps them coming back.” Since its founding, running club has transformed from a group of people who meet up to run to a friend group who eats together, studies together, runs together, and walks through the college experience together.

Schwartz reflects on some favorite LRC memories: “I always really like the trail races,” but a specific memory he has is the “time trial. I forget which year it was, but I entered that time trial and” ended up running way faster than the seed time “so I was in the 2nd heat of three, so I won it, and having everybody crowd the track at the end. I just felt really special.”

He says “the time trial has always been a great time because people get to push each other and also be in an environment where there's a lot of people you can think to support and be supportive.”

Schwartz would suggest to new people joining the club that “it's been very evident to me that you're gonna get out in your time, whatever you put in. If you want to commit to running club, you're gonna have a blast. There's something so special about doing this exercise that we need to do to be healthy consistently with a group of people that have the same priorities.” In addition to official running club meeting times, the LRC women and men independently have started Bible studies and found other times to connect.” He wants newcomers to know that “if you want to commit to this community, it's gonna have what you're looking for. You can stay healthy. You can have fun socially. You can find people that you'll be friends with forever.”

Upon reflection, Schwartz hopes that “People can look back at the times and remember the environment that I, along with the other leadership, could help promote.” He believes “one of the greatest things about running club is how relaxed and low key and fun it is. And I think that in this kind of transition from a 10 person workout on a Tuesday night to meeting regularly 3 times a week with social events…I want people to remember the good times that they had, and I appreciate the ability to have been able to foster that.”

Under Cole’s leadership, Liberty Running Club has grown and changed to be so much more than its founders ever thought it could be. Cole will be missed but his legacy based around running and godly community will continue on.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21