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For the Love of Here is a podcast about Dalton, Georgia and life across Northwest Georgia—from local businesses and entrepreneurship to community leadership and hometown pride.
Hosts Erika Mosteller and Lauren Sneary sit down with founders, civic leaders, creatives, and neighbors from Dalton, Chatsworth, Ringgold, and Calhoun to talk about the ideas, challenges, and opportunities shaping our region.
If you care about small-town business, local culture, economic growth, and building a life where you live, this podcast is for you.
Because you don’t need a bigger city. You just need a better lens.
Produced by Here Local Media.
Ep04
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[00:00:00]
Lauren Sneary: welcome to the next episode of For the Love of Here Erika. How are we doing today?
Erika Mosteller: Hey, I'm good. I'm ready for some rain.
Lauren Sneary: Okay.
Erika Mosteller: If you are too,
Lauren Sneary: I mean, this weather is so beautiful. I am honestly okay if we true, have a little bit more pollen on the ground, but
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Lauren Sneary: We have some. Exciting guest today I know who probably do care a lot about there being pollen on the ground, right?
'cause they run around outside on the ground a lot. So today in our little podcast studio here we have Geovanni Villa and Jorge Hurtado, who are the founders of Soal Running Club. It started in [00:01:00] 2023. Geovanni works at Dalton Box as a packaging engineer, and Jorge is at Premise Health as a medical receptionist.
They both grew up playing soccer. They didn't reconnect until about four years ago and it was because of running, which is good 'cause we're gonna talk a lot about that topic today. So Geovanni and Jorge, welcome.
Geovanni Villa: Hey, what's up guys?
Lauren Sneary: Okay. Now do
Erika Mosteller: y'all,
Lauren Sneary: do y'all go by Geo and Jorgey? Yeah. Is that right?
Mm-hmm. Yes. Okay. Geo and Jorgey. Okay. Sorry. I was being
Erika Mosteller: very formal with that.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah, I know.
Erika Mosteller: Well, I mean, you know, geo and Jorgey.
Geovanni Villa: Closer, I think when you have nicknames, so,
Erika Mosteller: yeah.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah. And it's easier,
Erika Mosteller: yeah, geo.
Geovanni Villa: But
Erika Mosteller: y'all are also kind of like Dalton celebrities now because of this running club, or, that's kind of how I found out about y'all.
Geovanni Villa: Well that's, that's a first for me here, so that, you know, that's awesome.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: We
Lauren Sneary: are what,
Geovanni Villa: right.
Erika Mosteller: No, but I do love what you guys have created in this community and I think. I mean celebrity in a good way because I think people are like, oh, those are the running guys. [00:02:00] And you have such this open invitation for everybody to come, and so everybody just thinks of you as like the friendly running guys, you can help me run, which I love that.
I think it's great.
Soccer Roots Reunite
---
Lauren Sneary: Yeah, and I mean, we wanna hear a lot about the running club itself and how it started, but we also wanna hear about you guys and your Dalton story, how you got to Dalton, and why you stay in Dalton and all of those things. So Erika, where do you wanna start?
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, I wanna hear about how you guys.
Connected originally and then how you came back together to found this incredible community asset.
Jorge Hurtado: Okay. Yeah. Uh, so, so track back man, it had to be like, I was probably like eight or nine years or so, very young. And we connected through playing for, there was a travel soccer team. In Chattanooga called Express.
So um, we were kind of, I guess, recruited during that time and then
Lauren Sneary: at eight years old.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah.
Lauren Sneary: Wow. Yeah, we were good at soccer.
Geovanni Villa: That's that's a, that's a whole nother podcast.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah. I was like, say that. [00:03:00] I was like, we, I was like, I had fun. It was fun. It was a good time. But but yeah, so it was, it was a travel ball team, and then our coach at that time had the little team and then the bigger team, so.
Of course I differentiated because of the ages. So I was the li and the little team, and Geo wasn't the bigger team. So anyway, and then we played, had to be together for like a decade.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, wow.
Jorge Hurtado: Like it was
Erika Mosteller: Y'all are childhood friends.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah,
Geovanni Villa: yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, I didn't know that.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah, it was
Erika Mosteller: Geo was like
Jorge Hurtado: sure.
Erika Mosteller: Eyeballs, frenemies. No, just
Geovanni Villa: we played against each other, so Yeah. I mean, eh, yeah. Enemies maybe.
Lauren Sneary: Okay. So you guys were playing on the same soccer team. May, maybe enemies, may be friends. We haven't quite decided yet. Could you tell us a little bit more about that time period?
Jorge Hurtado: So we played together, of course, these tournaments and really we got a lot of traveling done during that time.
Mm-hmm. So we played together. I know at, at some point there was it was like a combo [00:04:00] team, so it was like, okay. We grabbed older people, younger people, and formed one team. So I guess we played together then. But here locally in the leagues and, and in schools, we played against each other.
Erika Mosteller: Now where did y'all play in high school?
Jorge Hurtado: I played at Southeast
Geovanni Villa: and I played for Northwest.
Erika Mosteller: Ah, yes.
Geovanni Villa: Rivals even that was a rival. Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: No, frenemies. That's the, yeah,
Geovanni Villa: there you go. But I guess we're more friends since we ended up. You know, making the club together. So Yeah, it's working out. Yeah. So,
Erika Mosteller: yeah.
High School Rivalries
---
Erika Mosteller: How did that happen?
Lauren Sneary: How
Erika Mosteller: did you guys come back together and, and, and say, wait, I have a question about high school.
Oh, sorry,
Lauren Sneary: sorry.
Erika Mosteller: I wanna know what it was like, and not that y'all are that old, but like, it's been a while since you were in high school, right?
Geovanni Villa: Mm-hmm.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. So what was like the OG soccer culture in Dalton?
Geovanni Villa: I feel like now there's a lot more diversity.
Erika Mosteller: Mm-hmm.
Geovanni Villa: At, at least at Northwest, it was like we would be recruiting basketball players, football players, and really anybody who was athletic.
So our team, you know, it had a few that [00:05:00] actually knew how to play soccer and maybe a few that started playing soccer a few years back. And then a few that were like basically new, oh, they were, were fast. You know, so, right. So that at least that's how it was during the time I was there. So, you know, and then I feel like the, like more towards like the Dalton area, that there was more the Hispanic was already here.
The, I guess the population, you would say people who
Lauren Sneary: grew up playing
Geovanni Villa: soccer, they just grew up playing, which, I mean, I, I would recognize all of them. And I was like, oh man, here we go. Yeah. You know, we we're about to either get our butts kicked or you know, a miracle is gonna happen. Right? Like the movies under, at least that, that was underdog, my perspective.
Yeah. From like living. I guess up north.
Erika Mosteller: Right. So I guess maybe soccer was more prominent at Dalton High School than it was at Northwest
Geovanni Villa: or Southeast. And I would, I would, I would even say so too. Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, in Southeast too? Yeah, we were, okay. Okay. So Northwest was a little bit later to the,
Geovanni Villa: yeah, like now I'm seeing the teams and I'm like, oh man, they're stacked.
Erika Mosteller: I was about to say, now I feel like [00:06:00] obviously all three have won multiple championships and
Geovanni Villa: Yeah. Which, I mean, and I think it's that it's credit to it what it's become, you know? Mm-hmm. That is what you do. Locally, like you play soccer. Mm-hmm. Or you do something that is gonna entertain you.
Erika Mosteller: Right.
Geovanni Villa: Which, you know, I, for me, I feel like that's what kept me outta trouble.
Erika Mosteller: Right. Nice. That's probably like story for a lot of kids that athletics kept them outta trouble. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Jorge Hurtado: yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. And so what was it like at Southeast?
Jorge Hurtado: It was, it was good. I mean, like I said, we were pretty high population of Hispanics, so it was, it was nice. I'm trying to think like early high school I felt like it was really, really competitive.
Really competitive. And of course I go see some games now for high school. Not too much like I did before, but, but yeah. I think later on it, I mean, it was, it was just it was good. You were very immersed in, in it in high school, so it was like, oh yeah. Soccer, it was, it was big then.
Geovanni Villa: Mm-hmm.
Jorge Hurtado: I like to take credit for the streak of the state championships, you [00:07:00] know?
'cause we got whooped by Dalton in my senior year, and that was like the start of the championships for them. So is that No, no, no. For, for Dalton. For
Lauren Sneary: Dalton. So,
Jorge Hurtado: so yeah, we, we took, we took the, the L, you know.
Lauren Sneary: I'm gonna date, I'm gonna date myself a little bit. Okay. Because I remember when all of the that was happening was when I was in high school.
So 2002 to 2006.
Jorge Hurtado: Oh man. Okay.
Lauren Sneary: And yeah, I know.
Jorge Hurtado: No, not like that
Lauren Sneary: time ago.
Jorge Hurtado: I was all like, dang, no.
Lauren Sneary: Like, wow. Yikes. But you know, we were all like, oh, soccer, this is like, we, we had been such a big football school for so long and then the soccer team is just killing it. Way better record than the football team.
No offense, you know, 2002, 2003, cat mounts. But it was so exciting to see that emerge and to see everybody, regardless of background, regardless if they had known anything about soccer before, we're all in the stands yelling csap. Boy they, yeah. You know, it was just an awesome time. Mm-hmm.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah. I think [00:08:00] that that goes a long way where like the school kind of pushes you to support all the other sports.
You know, I remember doing that for basketball and I didn't know what I was watching, but we were in there yelling and it's just the atmosphere. Yeah, it just feels awesome. Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Ugh, I just got chills. I love, okay, so I'm not super athletic, but I love cheering. For sports and because it brings people together around a common goal, which is an excellent segue.
We didn't even plan that into bringing people together around a common goal of health and wellness and community. So I guess back to your question about how they started the running club.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah. I'm just interested to kind of hear. What that transition was like. Like you guys had played together for a long time.
I'm assuming you had kind of gone your separate ways after soccer, and so coming back together and instead of being like, let's create like a soccer club or something around the sport that had originally connected you. Mm-hmm. Why was it running and then how did that, you know, emerge from there?
From Soccer to Running
---
Geovanni Villa: I think we did kind of part ways mainly because of school.
Lauren Sneary: Mm-hmm.
Geovanni Villa: I did go to college I went to. It's now called [00:09:00] Point University. It used to be Atlanta Christian College. Mm-hmm. And they moved down to West Point, Georgia.
Erika Mosteller: Okay.
Geovanni Villa: But I went over there, sorry. I went over there to play soccer with a scholarship. And actually my sophomore year I ended up breaking my right ankle.
So it just, it just broke. And I think from there is where. I kind of wanted to keep pursuing soccer, but it wasn't the same, like, you know, you run or you like just the impact on the ball. Your, your ankle just starts like throbbing.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: So, you know, like that pain at night and I guess like anything I would do after that, like it would, it would impact me personally.
So I kind of pursued, like hitting the gym.
Lauren Sneary: Are you right legged, like
Geovanni Villa: you kick
Lauren Sneary: the ball with? Mm-hmm. Is that the right term?
Geovanni Villa: Yeah.
Lauren Sneary: Okay.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah. I'm right footed.
Lauren Sneary: Right footed right. Yeah. Right footed. Right footed. Yep.
Geovanni Villa: So I feel like for me, that was my turning point of like, what should I do? Because I've always liked to stay active or do something to kind of keep my head busy.
Erika Mosteller: Mm-hmm.
Geovanni Villa: So that was my kind of like what [00:10:00] I did and. I actually saw Jorgey and another close friend, Ben Benji. Mm-hmm.
Erika Mosteller: I mean, I met him he's pretty involved in the running
Geovanni Villa: club, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I, I saw them two and I was like, why are they running six miles? Why are they running eight miles?
Erika Mosteller: That's my question. Anytime I see someone running long distance,
Geovanni Villa: and it was, it was random because it was, I'm pretty sure they just posted it on their story or something like that, and I was like, I can't run five, I mean three miles. It was a 5K.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: Because the, I think the last one I had done was either lap for Louise, or it was one of the local ones and I was dying.
Erika Mosteller: Right?
Geovanni Villa: Like I was like, yeah, like three is my thing. But then I actually ended up joining Jorgey and Benji
Erika Mosteller: Okay.
Geovanni Villa: For my first six miler and, and I hated it.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: I was dying. And then I ended up going again. We did nine, which was a new PR for me. Wow. And that day I felt like my knees were gonna fall off.
Erika Mosteller: Wow.
Geovanni Villa: So I told ge Relatable. Ge. That's
Erika Mosteller: right.
Geovanni Villa: I told Jorgey, I was like, it's, [00:11:00] it was either I stopped that and kind of like go a separate way or I'm like. Okay. If I did six and now I can do nine, what else can I do?
Erika Mosteller: Mm.
Geovanni Villa: Because, you know, you do recover. Yeah. Like, you know, like that either you kind of stop and kind of go a different direction or you kind of keep pursuing that.
And I think I ended up pursuing it and I mean, here we are, you know?
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: Miles later and, right. Yeah. That's just kind of how we re reconnected back.
Erika Mosteller: Okay. Mm-hmm.
Geovanni Villa: I don't. Jordy. You wanna
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. Tell us about the 'cause I think, was it during COVID that you started posting these, or close to COVID when you started doing your stories and your runs on Instagram?
I believe it was,
Jorge Hurtado: yeah, it was
Geovanni Villa: post COVID I think.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah. It, it was, it was a bit post COVID. Yeah. And then same thing, it's like I had well, you know, we brought him up Benjamin, he was actually, him and his wife were the ones that kind of. Where a huge impact on like, pushing me towards running or or I, I guess expanding my mind to, to like, oh man, you know, running and this and that.
But I was always, you know, soccer, soccer, soccer and, which was great, but so they, they helped me throughout that transition. And then [00:12:00] so yeah, my, I wanna say my first. Time of my exposure of like, oh man, like what is this running thing was whenever it was actually the Bill Gregory race. Like, that was my first one that like, I was like, you know, during that time I was running, you run to stay in shape for soccer.
And then I was thinking, oh yeah, like they're signing up for, you know, 10 k, six miles. Oh yeah. That's nothing. You know, like I was already thinking like, oh man, like, that's it. It, it'll, it'll be a breeze. But I went out there and I was like. Dying. Mm-hmm. I died, I was six miles. I was like, what is this dude?
Like, I thought I was in shave. but anyway, that was kind of like the start for me. And then after that I started kind of exploring and like, dude, like, you know, heart rate zones and, and paces and, you know, just really dove deep into like, trying to figure out this sport. and so then slowly, I like transitioned out of soccer into, into running then, and that's whenever that summer actually is, whenever geo.
I remember him hitting me up on Instagram. Yeah. And like, you know, like, Hey yo, bro, [00:13:00] like how often do y'all run? Or, you know, it's kind of like the interest kind of there. Yeah. And I was like, dude, just come out, like come out and this and that. So,
Finding the Running Hook
---
Lauren Sneary: so both of you have talked about like, oh man, when I was out there it was just like the worst and I was dying.
And so what was the hook? Was it the idea that you, something that was hard and then you. You're incrementally better at it or that, I mean, it sounds like you like the data aspect of it, looking at, you know, heart rate and how far you can get. What was the hook that made you say, I like running and dying?
Geovanni Villa: Yeah. I mean, I feel like for me it's, it's the going out there and like, not knowing what you're capable of.
Lauren Sneary: Mm.
Geovanni Villa: And then after you do it, I mean, yeah, you're gonna hurt 'cause it's the first time you're doing something like that. And also if you don't, if you don't know, like Jorgey's saying, like the whole heart rate thing, the whole pacing yourself, you know, if you don't really know a lot about, I guess like the data
Lauren Sneary: mm-hmm.
Geovanni Villa: Part of things, you're gonna die because you're, probably trying to keep up with that person that's been doing it for so [00:14:00] long. So you have to figure out what your pace and stick to it. You know, don't like, just kind of, I guess for me, I was trying to keep up with him, so I was dying.
Lauren Sneary: Mm-hmm.
Geovanni Villa: But like me knowing that I actually did it, I feel like that's what I was like, man, like I doubted myself, but clearly I can do it
Lauren Sneary: and now I
Geovanni Villa: wanna do it again.
Like, what else can I do?
Erika: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: And then I feel like that just creates a self-confidence for me. Oh,
Lauren Sneary: nice.
Erika Mosteller: That was something.
Beginner Friendly Mission
---
Erika Mosteller: So for our listeners. We interviewed both of you guys for our very first issue of here magazine for our faces of here, and you guys can find that on our website at here, local media.com, on our blog.
But one thing that stood out to me was first of all, I got to come to one of your meetups on a Saturday morning. It was at Casa de Cafe, which was amazing, and the thing that. I kept hearing from people was, I hated this when I first started, but they gave me permission to pace myself to be slow and to see how I could progress.
So kind of this idea of, well, what else can I do? I just did this. What else can I do? [00:15:00] And, and I love that you all have created, it's almost like you're in competition with yourself, not each other. Yeah. And so you're just pushing people to be a better version of themselves. So talk to me about how you came to that mission and that kind of creed for your running club.
Jorge Hurtado: Man, I, I wanna say it just comes down to like trying to put yourself in their shoes as well, like how it felt like when you started off. You know, it's kind of like we talk about like at the beginning when we first did, dang, I feel like I'm dying. You know? And it's just kind of like you start to realize, like, I feel like as a beginner runner, you have this mentality of like, oh, I.
I need to go out there and run as fast as I can and get in as further as I can. And it's like, that's gonna push you away from it. But if you kind of like slow down and like, you know, you realize that it's, it's not about the speed and it's about the, you know, pacing yourself. And, and so I feel like I have, I, [00:16:00] I try to be mindful of like, putting myself in, in, in the shoes of, of how I first started, you know, and it's like.
So it's like we get new runners that go out there, they got questions and I'm like, I'm excited. 'cause I'm like, I wish I had somebody to kind of help me and guide me during that time. And given I, I did, you know? And I was like, man, but I wanted to know more about it and this and that.
But it's like when we have these. Gatherings. We have people come out here and, you know, they look at us and they look at people who've been doing it for longer. And it's like we got people in the group that have been doing it decades as well. You know, I'm kinda like, dude, like here is about a place of just, if you're curious, if you're willing to learn, if you're willing to put in the work, then it's like you'll find personal growth and satisfaction with yourself and with the people that just surround yourself around.
So,
Erika Mosteller: yeah,
Jorge Hurtado: I don't know. I think just the beginner's mindset really helps. Yeah. So yeah,
Geovanni Villa: I would like to add like also like if you're going out there and you're running three miles, it doesn't matter how long it takes you, you're still [00:17:00] running three miles. You know, the distance is the same.
So it's like Jorgey's saying like in the beginning it is a lot of, especially 'cause I've seen where a lot of people are shy, you know, including myself.
So I feel like kind of stepping out of that comfort zone and then you doing something like that. Yeah. After the run, like your, your endorphins are going crazy and you're getting that natural high that I feel like you just kind of come outta your shell and then you kind of keep pursuing that. The more you keep coming out and the more you like hit a new personal record.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, and that's something that's really cool.
Weekly Runs and Coffee
---
Erika Mosteller: If, for our listeners, I would love for y'all to tell them. Where you run and where they can come join you. But first, let's, lemme give a caveat. Y'all are super welcoming to everybody there. In fact, when I came to interview, y'all were like, oh, are you running with us?
And I was like, Nope, not today. But secondly, to your point, like I, you have all these people who come out and maybe, maybe they're experienced, maybe they're new, but you're creating a shared experience. And then I love how you've, [00:18:00] the way that you've created.
You come and you have the shared experience of running, and then you grab coffee and you support a local business and you get to know one another. So you have shared experience together in something that's hard and that you've accomplished, but then you also create time for community and connection which is just a really cool thing that you've created.
So tell our listeners how they can come and be a part of this.
Geovanni Villa: So we have, on Wednesdays, we have track night. Which I feel like if you come to that one first, you might not come back just because it is track, its speed, you know? Right.
Erika Mosteller: Speed and agility.
Geovanni Villa: If you come out of that and you're gonna, you're gonna hate it like we did in the beginning.
So, and, and actually we've had some that have come out and they still come back. So maybe not, maybe I'm wrong, but that we have that Wednesday nights at Dalton High School. If the track is taken for an event or something that they're having there, we go to Lakeshore we go to the track there. We, so we have that at 6:00 PM The time may change, but we're, we're pretty good at posting it on our stories.
We have a [00:19:00] newsletter that goes out through email. And then we have our website where we also posted there. And like right now that. It's getting pretty hot already. We might bump it up a little bit up so that way we get some shade.
Erika Mosteller: Right.
Geovanni Villa: And then the other run would be Saturdays and that one it's different locations.
So it, you know, like you mentioned, it is local coffee shops right now. It's lofi, it's Highland Bake Shop. It's Cadel Cafe and Common Ground Coffee Shop. Okay. And really we go based off of, you know, the first thing is whether they're local or not. And then the next thing is the route. You know, we wanna keep everybody safe, so we have to have a, a pretty safe route where we know that, you know, there's not too many intersections where, you know, we wanna finish together.
And then like you mentioned, we wanna like go in the coffee shop and actually talk about your experience. Maybe that day wasn't. You know, your best day, but that's part of it, you know? Mm-hmm. Do you have ups and downs? And then maybe the next one will be awesome and you'll be encouraging somebody that had [00:20:00] a rough one, you know?
So that's that. That's the two schedules that that we have so far. And the only reason that any of that would change is if there's an event. So for the, the one that's coming up, the Bill Gregory, that weekend, we won't have a run.
Erika Mosteller: Because you'll be at Bill Gregory,
Geovanni Villa: because we'll be at Bill Gregory. So we'll encourage everybody to go there and if, you know, they can do their run before the race, you know, or they can come out and cheer.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah. So that's
Lauren Sneary: great.
Club Growth and Training
---
Lauren Sneary: So how many people do you guys typically have on those Saturday runs now, and where did it start? So I'd love, I'd love to hear, you know, kind of how many people were showing up in the very beginning when you were getting it going in 2023 and now when you look around on a Saturday morning, you know, how many people do you see?
Man,
Jorge Hurtado: we, at the beginning we definitely had just probably like, what, four or five of us.
Geovanni Villa: It was like, it was me and my wife, Jorgey Betty uh, Ana Juan Assu.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah. Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: And I'm thi I want to say maybe like two more maybe Adrian and my
Jorge Hurtado: brother,
Geovanni Villa: [00:21:00] Chips and. Marcos.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah.
Lauren Sneary: Juan is so dedicated. I see him out there running all the time.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Jorge Hurtado: yeah. But it was, it was, yeah, just a little group and it's like, we made a little chat and it's like, yeah, let's just go out and run. You know, it was, so, it started off with that and then just slowly like, but that's the thing. It's like the power of just, you know, word of mouth. You know, it's like pe like these individuals, like they really, you know, that we call 'em the OGs, right?
It's like the OGs that ones that first kind of started and they really do a lot to like, support and like just voice it out. So I feel like just slowly over time, like they just started, you know, more and more people started coming out and then of course, you know, Geo doing his thing does amazing with like logos and, and design and marketing.
And so of course he. He did, he did all of that from the get go and just, you just start to like symbolize the running club with the logo. Right? And it's like you start making gear and more and more people come out. But anyway, fast [00:22:00] forward it, it started kind of growing for more in 20 24, 20 25. I feel like we probably didn't see the big jump until, I wanna say maybe mid 20, 25.
Mm-hmm. Maybe it was kind of like, I don't know. And I felt like there was just some. Something bigger. You know, it wasn't just us, it was just something bigger that was going on around health
Geovanni Villa: and
Jorge Hurtado: wellness and, and wellbeing and taking care of yourself and movement that really kind of. Allowed us to grow and now it's like, yeah, we get, I wanna say Saturdays for sure, anywhere between 25 to, to 30, 35 people.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah. And it's hard to tell really, because we have different laps. We call 'em laps. Yeah. 'cause we do like a lap within an hour, which, you know, right now it's six miles in that hour. And then we come back to the start. And then from there we do the next lab, which the last one is usually three miles.
And that's, it's there to encourage people to come out and just give it a try.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: Mm-hmm. [00:23:00] So we call it laps. Mentally, it helps if you have three laps, that would be six. Six and three.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: So 15 miles. So it makes me
Erika Mosteller: tired just hearing y'all say that
Geovanni Villa: that would be during training. It's not as often.
Erika Mosteller: Right.
Geovanni Villa: So there is a time period where we. Throw a a, like an event like, Hey, we're, we're trying to go to this one. That way multiple people hop on a training plan, right? And then multiple people are running. 12, 15 miles together. Yeah. And that makes it a lot.
Erika Mosteller: It does make it better. Way more. I have done one half marathon in my life.
Actually, Dalton used to do a half marathon. Yes. The red carpet. Mm-hmm. Can we bring that back? It was actually really fun. Yeah. People would line the streets of the historic district, like you'd run down valley and there'd be all these people in their yards with posters for you and like cheering for you.
And then they had this giant red carpet that you would finish on. Yeah,
Lauren Sneary: I remember that.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. Did you ever run it?
Lauren Sneary: No. No. No,
Erika Mosteller: but I, my friend Chris, ran it.
Geovanni Villa: Well, there you go.
Races and Big Wins
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Erika Mosteller: But it was just really, you know, talk to me about the atmosphere of doing a race together and when you have people in [00:24:00] your club who maybe they've never done a race and then they complete one because you guys have helped them, and what's that like?
Geovanni Villa: I think the, the race itself, it's, it sounds cliche, but that is kind of like the celebration part of things that is like the, you know, like. Yeah, I mean, I, I would say celebration because the cool part is the process, which is kind of like the, seeing them go from walking to jogging to jogging, to running, to, you know, seeing that improvement in weeks.
I think for me, that's personally what I enjoy seeing, especially someone who is like, oh, it's 'cause I'm a mom, I have. Three kids, two kids, and I can't make it. Or you can tell they're, they like it, or, or they're trying, because they'll, they'll message us like, Hey, I can't make it this Saturday, but if I have time, I'll, I'll run.
And then next thing you know, they'll share their story where they hit three miles or something.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, that's so cool.
Geovanni Villa: So then making that time, like, for me, that's what makes it worth it. And the day of the event, like, I know they're ready. It's just up to like the person to [00:25:00] feel it or be confident about it.
Lauren Sneary: That's cool.
Geovanni Villa: So that day for us is more of like just kind of seeing them, the excitement of seeing the results of after they, they complete it and kind of like, I guess seeing that reflection of how we felt. Yeah. You know, when we first did our our first half because when we actually linked up with running.
He had already signed up for his first half, and I just signed up for one and we ended up signing up for the same one without really knowing.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, that's so cool.
Geovanni Villa: So we both did our first half together and that, that just made it that much more special for me. Yeah. And, and then from there, that's kind of where the whole club kind of started rolling.
Yeah. It was like, man, like more people need to feel this. Like, this is, this is such an awesome feeling. That
Lauren Sneary: is so nice. And I really, I mean, I just commend you guys because having an experience that you find really powerful and, and important and positive in your life. Is one thing, but then wanting to help create that for other people is a total another thing.
And so thank you for that. I mean, I feel like as a complete [00:26:00] running beginner, this is the type of place and the type of environment you would wanna start. I'm, I'm curious, do you have like total beginners who come in and they're like, I literally don't even know if I can run, but I wanna try.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah. Well I would say like the other thing would be seeing family members come out.
And kind of seeing their routine change, especially like on Friday nights you have to sleep early because you are going to wake up early to run if you're gonna come out with us. So seeing that change in their lives. It's, it's also pretty awesome for me to witness. Yeah. I mean, my dad comes out and he's pushing my brother's uh, younger boy, so, I mean, and he's jogging, walking, so he's doing his thing.
He don't, he doesn't care about the route that we pose. He just, he knows where Dalton is. He's probably loose around here and comes back to where, you know, where we're gonna finish.
Lauren Sneary: He's out there and he is doing it. That's
Geovanni Villa: part, that's right. That's the point. And, I like to use him as a reference, like if you're new and.
You get lost, like you're in Dalton,
Lauren Sneary: right?
Geovanni Villa: Like, just go back to where [00:27:00] we're, where we started. Yeah. And we'll be there. Right. You know, and
Erika Mosteller: yeah.
Geovanni Villa: Oh man. What, you know, the whole route is just for reference really.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: The distance, like I said, will be the same if you end up going a whole different way.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: But seeing that from like, people that come out and start, like I mentioned walking, running anything, and just kind of seeing that. Change over time. I think that's awesome.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. That's so cool.
Why Dalton Feels Home
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Erika Mosteller: Okay, so I know at some point y'all told me one of y'all moved to Chattanooga briefly, right?
Jorge Hurtado: Mm-hmm.
Erika Mosteller: Was that you
Jorge Hurtado: myself?
Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Okay. But then you were like, oh, I just missed Dalton. So that's Jorgey for our listeners. Yes. Thank you.
Jorge Hurtado: Oh, yeah.
Erika Mosteller: But yeah, so tell me what pulled you back to Dalton?
Jorge Hurtado: Ah, man. I mean, truthfully it was. You know, you, you're at a place for, I, I mean, I was born and raised here, you know, so it was like, there's definitely a connection there.
So, um, I, you know, recently I took that leap. I was like, you know what, let me, lemme experience, you know, Chattanooga, I've always had, I've always gone over there frequently. It's close by, you know, just get a little feel of the city. [00:28:00] So went there, but but it just felt like I, I mean, I was here. Six days a week, you know, so it was kinda like, I was like, what am I doing, man?
but uh, I mean, it's
Geovanni Villa: probably my fault 'cause I, I would, Hey, are you making it Saturday or
Erika: right
Erika Mosteller: today. So really doing today is the one who was like, come back.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Come home.
Jorge Hurtado: What you doing, bro? We gonna work out today. I'm just, but, it was, I mean, I just found out that like the people that I. I cared about the most that I enjoyed spending my time with.
Were here, you know, I mean, it, it served me well. You know, don't get me wrong. I, I took that chance and, and I learned. I learned, I learned a lot. Within the short span that I was over there. But I was like, man, like there, there is a special feeling about Dawn and it's like, like this is, this is, this is home, you know?
Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: clip it. That's right. I know, right? Yeah.
College Drives Home
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Erika Mosteller: And then did you ever move away or if you've been other than college?
Geovanni Villa: Whenever I went to college I mean, it was. Two and a half, three hour drive. It was close to Auburn, so it's somewhere, you know, pretty much [00:29:00] at the border of Right. Georgia and Alabama.
But I do remember every drive, 'cause I would drive back every weekend. So, and, and even when I broke my ankle, I would drive with my life, my left foot. So I, I don't know if that's legal, so I just gonna take it off, but it's
Erika Mosteller: legal. It's in the past
Lauren Sneary: maybe
Geovanni Villa: restaurant. And I remember the worst one was, it, it snowed that year, and I was driving like that back this way.
I remember they kind of gave the green light where like, just be cautious.
Erika Mosteller: Right.
Geovanni Villa: And I, I, I didn't even think about it. I just came, but I remember every ti every drive back, just as soon as you see the mountains, kind of like show up from highway coming north. Mm-hmm. On the highway on 75. That was my son, that I was close and then I don't know what they are, but there's like a, they look kind of like lines and they have like big
Erika Mosteller: Yes.
For the airplanes? Yeah. Is
Geovanni Villa: that what it is? Suppose Okay. Okay.
Erika Mosteller: Uhhuh.
Geovanni Villa: Well, I remember seeing those all the time. Right? Okay. I'm getting closer, you know, and then you kind of start recognizing little things here and there. So.
Dalton Pulls You Back
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Geovanni Villa: For me, I've always said it like, you can [00:30:00] criticize Dalton it being small there, there's nothing to do or whatever you want to say about it, but you'll come back.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: There's something about it that I think that will pull you back and, you know, like for me, after college I was glad to be back in Dalton. And even now that I have my daughter and my wife raising my daughter here, I feel like it's, that's where I would want to be.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah. Well, and to your point about.
People who say, oh, there's nothing to do here. Or, you know, it's too small town. Dalton's terrible.
Creating Local Positivity
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Lauren Sneary: I mean, we see all those comments, and honestly, Erika and I, one of the biggest, you know, premises that we have about the magazine and the podcast and the things that we wanna do here is to help mm-hmm. Shift that narrative because it's easy to focus on the negative.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah. Yeah.
Lauren Sneary: So to look intentionally for the positive and in your guys' case, to create the positive. So if there's something that Dalton doesn't have. That you want it to have, you can create it. I mean, that's exactly what you guys did. And so I think that's an important message.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah, I would agree. And, and that was probably [00:31:00] my mentality before college.
You know, like if I wanted to do something, it would be a go up to Chattanooga or even down south to Kennesaw. I mean, either, either way. Mm-hmm. But I feel like now it's, it really depends on the individual and how they wanna see things locally. There's a lot of things to do here and I feel like be here has been doing a great job with their website and sharing all the events happening.
I feel like there's just so many now that mm-hmm. You kind of don't even see some of them. 'cause there's just so many.
Jorge Hurtado: I
Geovanni Villa: know. I mean, you have Bird Park, the creative arts has many events that they have. And all
Erika: the
Lauren Sneary: restaurants, like the food scene
Geovanni Villa: here is crazy. I can't stop talking about
Lauren Sneary: it.
Erika Mosteller: Okay.
Dalton Food Favorites
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Erika Mosteller: So we have to ask like, tell us your favorite place to eat in Dalton and it can be multiple.
Geovanni Villa: I like home food, like, I'm sorry. And my wife, I'm sorry that I make her cook all the time, but I'm, she, she, she's always asking, what do we eat? So she's a good cook. She is. Okay. And it's, it's traditional Mexican food. Mm-hmm. So, and this is, no, [00:32:00] actually there is some that. Kind of make Mexican food the, the traditional way, but I know everything has to be more fast paced.
Jorge Hurtado: Mm-hmm.
Geovanni Villa: So there's just some things that you have to wait to actually like enjoy it. Yeah. So I like when she cooks. That's cool. Even if it's something simple, like, I just prefer that than going, that's cool. Restaurant wise, I mean, I don't know. There's just so many it come around.
Erika Mosteller: Mm-hmm.
Geovanni Villa: their bowl. Yes, the shrimp bowl.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, their shrimp.
Geovanni Villa: So good. I mean, that's all you need right there. Yeah. It has the shrimp, it has the veggies, it has everything. Right. Rice, they did
Erika Mosteller: tamales on like
Geovanni Villa: Wednesday
Erika Mosteller: Tamal. I haven't had their tamales. So good. I'm gonna try their ceviche.
Geovanni Villa: We've had him actually have like a, they hosted a, a run for us and Don Lupe he, he made tamales for the group, so.
Oh,
Erika Mosteller: cool.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah, he, they're awesome. They're awesome people. Cool. Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: So, I mean, for me it would be elca.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. I
Geovanni Villa: think, yeah,
Jorge Hurtado: yeah, definitely. Definitely. Yeah. That's on the list. Yeah. Elca. I really like Cafe Ostro too. Cafe
Geovanni Villa: Ostro
Jorge Hurtado: Cafe
Erika Mosteller: or
Jorge Hurtado: Ostro
Erika Mosteller: Sauce.
Jorge Hurtado: Oh my man, that's, that's spicy you
Erika Mosteller: Oh yeah. The spicy one.
Jorge Hurtado: Spicy The spicy one. I, I am like, yeah, gimme two.
Erika Mosteller: But it is pretty, [00:33:00] it's pretty spicy though. I can only do one.
I have to pace myself, but No, agreed. Stro is amazing.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah. A native kitchen.
Erika Mosteller: Mm-hmm.
Jorge Hurtado: I really like Native kitchen too, so. Yeah, a little, a little blend of it all. But, but yeah, it's, it's good stuff and it's grown a lot. Mm-hmm.
Downtown Growth Vibes
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Jorge Hurtado: Like here, here in Dalton, you know, it's like you're talking about how much more there is to do here in Dolton now, and it's like, yeah.
Before you would go, oh yeah, Chattanooga or Atlanta, or, you know, just, but now it's like, I mean, I remember when I first started driving, like I drive through downtown, there was, you know, nothing really. That's
Geovanni Villa: true.
Jorge Hurtado: A lot of empty storefronts. That's probably about a decade ago.
Lauren Sneary: Mm-hmm.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah. Well over, like down
Lauren Sneary: back in the 18 hundreds, right?
When I was growing up to Dalton, there was really nothing to do.
Jorge Hurtado: No. But but yeah, so like when I first started driving, it was like there was really not much going on, is what I'm getting at basic. And it's like now I'm like, yeah, you, you left and right. There's always something, restaurant people, places to [00:34:00] hang out.
Parks to run at, you know, wherever. I like it though. I feel like the one going,
Lauren Sneary: it's the pride community. I mean, like that if you're, that's true. If you wanna do something, but you're like shy to your point. Mm-hmm. Or you don't know, like who to connect with, like. Honestly, on weekends in the summer, you can just walk downtown and you'll find people to hang out with.
You can go to Bur Park and listen to live music. You can come down and at a coffee shop and go running with 30 people. I mean, it's really awesome.
Erika Mosteller: And the cool thing I love about y'all's group is, like you said, it's all levels. So you're not gonna show up and it's like these, you know, marathoners that you can't keep up with.
It's really, anybody can show up and yeah, and pick their pace and then enjoy a coffee with. A friend or new friends. Yeah. And I just love the space that y'all have created. Okay.
How to Join SOAL
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Erika Mosteller: Tell us where we can follow you on social media. Tell our listeners.
Geovanni Villa: Instagram, it's, it's so running club.
Erika Mosteller: S-O-A-L-S-O-A-L.
Geovanni Villa: Mm-hmm. And then running club. And then Facebook is the same thing. I mean, really we. Post everything on our Instagram and share it to Facebook. So if, if I haven't [00:35:00] replied to you on Facebook, I'm sorry. And I'm always on Instagram and that's kind of where I post everything. And then our website if you just type in, so SOAL, it'll be the first thing that pumps up.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Support and Celebration
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Erika Mosteller: And I just wanna say thank you to you guys. You guys have been so supportive of everything that we've done. When I asked if I could interview you guys for faces of Here, you were like, yes. When I asked if you would come help with the picture that was on our cover in January, the yoga on the dam, you were like, yeah, let me find some people in our group.
And I think we had two people from your group that came and posed with us and like, I just love how you guys are like, is it for Dalton, is it for wellness? Is it to help people love their community and feel connected? Yeah, we're in. I just love that it's, it's, we feel very inspired by your mission.
Mm-hmm. And we're very thankful for what you're doing in our community.
Geovanni Villa: I want to let you know that the first time I read the article that you guys wrote for us, that it was awesome seeing that. I don't think we had seen any, anybody, right. Anything or say anything about the club.
Erika Mosteller: Mm-hmm.
Geovanni Villa: So that kind of hit home and it kind of reminded me, I'm like, man, like this is why we're doing [00:36:00] this. This is not, this isn't about me. This isn't about. Even the club, this is about like, like the people that, that's in there and kind of like reading that I don't know. It just, it made me feel pretty emotional, so.
Erika Mosteller: That's awesome. Well, sometimes we need other people to tell us that what we're doing matters. Yeah. Because if we're so in the moment and we're so like building and building and serving, and it's like we forget to take time and look at Oh, like look where we are
Lauren Sneary: Celebration. Like
Geovanni Villa: once you
Erika Mosteller: get through.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah. I feel like that celebration for me might be like. Later on in the years, but I'm trying to remind myself to like enjoy like right now, right? Because this is, this is when we're. Impacting people,
Erika Mosteller: right.
Geovanni Villa: So
Erika Mosteller: yeah. Take time to celebrate.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah,
Erika Mosteller: I'm working on that too. I feel you.
Jorge Hurtado: These, these are the good old days that we're gonna, we're gonna look back on.
Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. But more to come too. I mean, that's right. You guys are only gonna get bigger and better from here. Yeah. Yeah. Hopefully. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
Upcoming Races Calendar
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Erika Mosteller: So tell y'all have the Bill Gregory coming up. You're gonna have a, a booth there you said, which is exciting. But tell us where, like, are y'all prepping for anything [00:37:00] else for races this, you know, late spring or summer that, that our listeners could potentially join you guys for if they've ever thought, oh, I really wanna do a race, but I don't wanna do it alone.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah.
Jorge Hurtado: Chattanooga. Chase.
Geovanni Villa: The Chattanooga. Chase. Yeah. That one's in May.
Jorge Hurtado: And Memorial Day.
Geovanni Villa: Memorial Day. Okay. So May 15th, maybe
Jorge Hurtado: 20. 25th. 25th.
Geovanni Villa: Whenever. May, sometime
Jorge Hurtado: in May, Monday. Okay. Yeah. End of May. End of May.
Erika Mosteller: Sometime in May. Unity run in Calhoun. I think that's in the fall is
Geovanni Villa: a good
Erika Mosteller: one.
Geovanni Villa: That one's coming up.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Jorge Hurtado: That that is coming
Geovanni Villa: up. Yeah. In the fall.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Jorge Hurtado: That those two
Erika Mosteller: is lapse for Luis. When is that one? Did it already happen?
Geovanni Villa: I think that one already happened, but I wanna say it's close to the end of the year as well.
Erika Mosteller: Okay. Yeah,
Geovanni Villa: December. I mean, really in the summer there's not,
Erika Mosteller: it's so hot.
Geovanni Villa: Many races 'cause of the heat.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: So a lot of people will start their training around. July.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: And then it'll go July, August, September, and then you hit something in like maybe October, November.
Erika Mosteller: Okay.
Geovanni Villa: And that would be either the, you know, half marathon or. Anything passed. 10
Erika Mosteller: K or something.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Erika Mosteller: yeah.
Jorge Hurtado: Which some of the comment [00:38:00] ones for us during that time is like the seven Chattanooga, seven bridges.
Mm-hmm. They have, they have their marathon weekend that goes on in
Geovanni Villa: Chickamauga
Jorge Hurtado: late October, and then Chickamauga Battlefield in early November.
Erika Mosteller: Okay.
Jorge Hurtado: Those are pretty. Common staple races for the past year or two for us. So yeah, we'll probably be involved with those. And
Lauren Sneary: so Lauren, we have time if we wanna run.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah,
Beginner Running Tips
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Lauren Sneary: I, I have a lot of questions. I, I would, I would consider myself a beginner. You know, I played sports in high school and college, but I, was never great at running. Mm-hmm. I, we had to make a mile in under eight minutes to make the volleyball team. Mm-hmm. And I truly killed myself to make it happen.
You know, I think I got seven minutes and 50 seconds and, but I. Like, I'm 38 years old now. I can't, I don't think I could run it in 15 minutes if I tried. So I'm very interested in coming out on a Saturday and saying, any other beginners here who wanna run with me?
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah, please, please do though, honestly.
Yeah. Yeah. Come out and, and honestly, like, I'm like, [00:39:00] we tell everybody if you have any questions, you know, you and I, but then I, but truly like. It's the people there that make the difference. So I really, we where we have trust in the people, our members, and it's like if you talk to any of 'em, any of them, I can guarantee you they're gonna be more than willing to help them
Lauren Sneary: to be honest.
You have people who come who are literally like a 15 minute miler.
Geovanni Villa: Mm-hmm.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah. Okay.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah, for sure.
Lauren Sneary: You can do it. I believe in you
Jorge Hurtado: like, yeah, I mean really and, and right now on if my personal opinion, oh, look at that. My personal opinion, like right now, like training in the heat. It's probably the best.
Mm, the be the best in the aspect of like, if you're, say you want to do a race or commit to something in the, in the fall, you know, by that time it'll be a little bit cooler. So if you expose your body during training to intense heat, you know, where you're having to, you know, supplement and, and hydrate, and hydrate properly and, and just putting your body through exhaustion in the heat [00:40:00] when it comes to cooler weather in the fall, you're already built.
Two withstand and resist far beyond your, you know, your endurance capacity. So
Erika Mosteller: then you can knock it outta the park. Yeah.
Jorge Hurtado: So then, yeah. Yeah. So then you go, you, I, I don't know. That's what I think. So it's like, yeah. Train in the hot running cold.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. But you almost have me convinced you can do it, Lauren,
Geovanni Villa: believe.
And naturally, I think, if I'm not mistaken, your heart rate stays lower in the cold. In the cold. So I mean, yeah. Right now you might feel like, oh man, like my heart rate's crazy. But later on you start noticing. How low it is at the same pace. And you're like, okay, there's, there's something here. You know?
And I think that's where you kind of, the
Lauren Sneary: improvement is
Geovanni Villa: addictive. Yeah,
Lauren Sneary: yeah, for
Geovanni Villa: sure.
Jorge Hurtado: Beautiful. That, that is great when you look at it that way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But right now, I guarantee you, everybody's gonna be running out right now and think they're outta shape. It is just, it's just a given like, and, and it's like people are like, man, dude, like I was running at this pace, or I was doing this and that a few months ago.
Yeah. But it's not as hot as it is now. [00:41:00] So anyway,
Erika Mosteller: yeah,
Jorge Hurtado: that's that.
Lauren Sneary: Okay.
Best Local Trails
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Lauren Sneary: I have one more question for you guys. I know we've talked a lot about the routes that you run downtown on a Saturday, but do you ever do any trail running? And if so, what are your favorite trails around Dalton in the surrounding area?
Jorge Hurtado: Oh, man, there's, there's, there's a good bit and it has definitely grown. Like, you know, there's the the hag mill. Hag mill's, you know, staple my favorite. Yeah. It, I mean, it really is like it. It's perfect, you know you get the, you get the pavement, you get the, you know, nature exposure. So they have that, and it's great that they added that male line.
You know, I've, I've heard that there's a phase two coming sometime soon,
Erika Mosteller: but
Jorge Hurtado: yes, we're
Erika Mosteller: excited about that
Jorge Hurtado: too. Yeah. So I'm like, yeah, I was like, that's gonna be a huge, huge plus. but if I had to say my favorite, it would have to be the Rocky Phase Ridge. That one is? Yeah. 'cause that one you can, you could either, if you wanna run it, you know, there's a zigzag route, there's, I mean, there's a ton of routes and in distance you can, you can run as little as three if you'd like, or up to.
2020 plus [00:42:00] if you really wanted to. So it has that,
Lauren Sneary: it goes behind the mountain's, trails back behind the mountain. That one's intimidating. 'cause it looks when you get to the parking lot, like it's straight up hill. Mm-hmm. South Crow Valley Road. And I So it's not too bad or is it, that's a challenging one.
Jorge Hurtado: No, there's, there's a, there's a 5K that you can do on the grass area and yet you get into the, the mountain a little bit. But then it kind of comes back down. But, or if you just wanted to All Mountain, you can do that too. So it has that option. But there Is like a straight hike as well that you could do.
It's about a mile and a half all the way up to the peak. And there's, there's one of our favorite spots that we, we go to pretty often, and that's probably why it's my favorite because it's you, you're literally right at, for like the peak of the mountain. One side, and you can see the sunrise if you'd like.
And on the other side you can see the sunset.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, that's cool.
Jorge Hurtado: So, so your your choice, whatever time you want to go. And, and if you really want to get that, and maybe not everybody's into nature and mountains, but it does something for me and I really enjoy.
Erika Mosteller: [00:43:00] Yeah. Awesome.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah. I think we did uh, it was a Christmas Eve hike.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: And we went at five in the morning. So it was dark pitch black. That was different. Yeah. Did anybody fall? Especially the first time. But it, I think it's the fact that. You know, we did it as a group,
Erika Mosteller: right.
Geovanni Villa: We all had something. We all carried hot water up there. We all carried, I, I had took sweet bread.
Mexican sweet bread. Yeah. So,
Erika Mosteller: yeah.
Geovanni Villa: And did y'all
Erika Mosteller: watch the sunrise?
Geovanni Villa: We watched sunrise. It was a sunrise hike for Christmas Eve. And I mean, imagine that starting your day like that. And that was, that was amazing. Like we had coffee up there, we had bread. It's
Erika Mosteller: wholesome, right?
Geovanni Villa: We just kind of sat there.
There is a video on our Instagram. Yeah. I mean, I might have to reshare it so that way people are, can see that because I don't think they know that. How awesome it is up there.
Erika Mosteller: Right?
Geovanni Villa: Yeah. It just feels like you're not in Dalton.
Erika Mosteller: It is beautiful. Mm-hmm. We love going over there too. And part of it is 'cause it's dog friendly.
Mm-hmm. So, you know, you can't take dogs on Hag Mill, but you can take 'em over to Rocky Face Ridge, which
Jorge Hurtado: is nice. Yeah. They need to change that. I'm just saying. [00:44:00] I was like, I'm gonna get in
Erika Mosteller: trouble, take 'em on the mill line. But you can't take 'em in Hague. That's right.
Jorge Hurtado: Well, yeah. I was like, yeah, because I've, I've heard that that's a huge, you know, everybody's like, man, heck mail doesn't have that.
Right. You know, pet friendly, but.
Geovanni Villa: Right now we are exploring more trails just because we're kind of getting into that
Erika Mosteller: more.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah, man,
Geovanni Villa: that's, I don't know,
Erika Mosteller: raisin Woods Trail. It's
Jorge Hurtado: a whole Oh, RAI Woods Sprint.
Erika Mosteller: Raisin Woods is fun to run.
Geovanni Villa: That is true. The Dalton State,
Erika Mosteller: yes. Their trails are great. Such a good
Geovanni Villa: one.
That was our training trail. It's close to where I live.
Erika Mosteller: It's hilly.
Geovanni Villa: It's hilly.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: So if you're gonna suffer. If you wanna suffer quick, go there. But it'll prep you. Right. Suffer in a good way. Yeah. Yeah. Like it'll humble you, you could be running for years, but trails are a complete different beast.
And that's the thing though, about running, like it'll hit your ego, so you have to learn how to control it.
I think that's the key.
Like learning how to control that ego and understanding that. You're starting, you know, especially if you're hopping into
Erika Mosteller: Well, and we all have room to grow.[00:45:00]
Regardless of what we're doing, there's always room to improve
Geovanni Villa: and running through nature is just different.
Erika Mosteller: It is therapy,
Geovanni Villa: like you're dying, but then it's quiet and then you hear birds and then you hear noises in the leaves somewhere and you're like over here like,
Erika Mosteller: yeah.
Wildlife and Trail Resources
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Erika Mosteller: That was my question. Have you ever encountered snakes on any of these round?
Geovanni Villa: I have it. I've seen there's a lot of
Lauren Sneary: black bearers
Erika Mosteller: around here. Yes.
Lauren Sneary: We used to go into the katas to do, my husband and I used to do some ultralight. Backpacking,
Geovanni Villa: oh,
Lauren Sneary: back in the day before children. And the katas has a bunch of great trails. Yeah. There's one that you can do where you cross the river like 40 times during the, it's like a, you can do 14 miles or you can do seven miles one way, but it is packed with bears.
So many bears.
Geovanni Villa: Oh my God. Yeah.
Erika: Y'all
Lauren Sneary: can look
Erika Mosteller: at that for running.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah. That was a scary part of trails. The snakes, the bears. But I feel like they're just. Scared of us. I was
Erika Mosteller: gonna say,
Geovanni Villa: most of the time they run away Think you're noise. They're just gonna try to avoid us.
Erika Mosteller: Right.
Geovanni Villa: At least that's what I wanna believe.
Erika Mosteller: Right. So I do have to give a plug. If anybody is wanting to know more about trails, there is the hike and bike pass from Believe Greater Dalton. So you can go to believe greater [00:46:00] dalton.org and grab their Discover Dalton Pass. And you can see all the different trails that are available around Dalton.
There's like 19 of them. Such
Lauren Sneary: a good resource.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. It's cool. I didn't know there were that many until I saw that pass.
Geovanni Villa: Yeah. And if you feel like there's nothing to do in Dalton, I would. Link them to that. Yeah, the passes. 'cause there's disc golf everywhere now.
Erika Mosteller: Mm-hmm.
Geovanni Villa: Mm-hmm. There's pickleball.
So I live by Brookwood.
Erika Mosteller: Yes.
Geovanni Villa: People play pickleball at 7:00 AM and then I go to bed listening to people playing pickleball.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: They're there all day.
Lauren Sneary: Right.
Geovanni Villa: But it's funny because in the morning it's like the older people where there retired.
Lauren Sneary: Easy
Geovanni Villa: And then
Lauren Sneary: you're not retired yet, Lauren.
Geovanni Villa: Hold up. Hold up.
What'd you say? That's not a bad thing, but, and then in that like late in the afternoon, it's a lot of like the younger, Yeah. People out there, you just hear them smacking. Yeah. Yeah. Pickle. Awesome.
Erika Mosteller: That's cool. So we have enjoyed this so much. Is there anything else that you want our listeners to know about Soal or about you guys or about Dalton that we haven't covered?
Local Sponsors Shoutout
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Geovanni Villa: I would wanna add that I have [00:47:00] noticed since we started the club that Dalton has always, like the local businesses, they have always supported us just from the coffee shops.
We just messaged them and they were so welcoming. So, you know, I wanna say thank you to all of them. We do like a, like a yearly sponsorship thing, and that's kind of how we've been getting our, basically our uniforms. And a lot of local business have been our sponsors the past two years, because I think that's when we started it.
Jorge Hurtado: Mm-hmm.
Geovanni Villa: And that just kind of helps us, have something where it has who we are, where we come from, and then, having their logos on our shirts and, we're always running. So it's, I like to say we're a running billboard.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: So, and you might see people, I don't know, like you, like you mentioned in Calhoun.
In Chattanooga one of our guys is actually gonna run his first marathon in San Francisco, so I'm sure he's gonna wear something. Oh, that's cool. That's awesome.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Geovanni Villa: Like, you know, seeing that I feel like I, I mean. It, it's awesome to see all the local businesses support us and, you know, [00:48:00] be so passionate about it, like we are.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah,
Geovanni Villa: I, I think they can see the reward on their investment. For sure. Yeah. So, I mean, I just wanna say thank, thank you to all of them.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. Oh, we love hearing that. It, I do feel like this is a very supportive community for entrepreneurs, for people who have innovative ideas and who are building something that connects others, which you guys fit that bill for sure.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah. Huge, huge shout out to them. Yeah, I would say definitely. And it's like, yeah, it's like they're helping us out and it's like. What we receive. We literally put it right back into the, into the community. You know, it's like, it's just, I don't know. I look at it that way. Just helping to keep
Lauren Sneary: it going.
Jorge Hurtado: Yeah, definitely. So
Geovanni Villa: it means a lot. That is a big part of why it's, it's still going. Yeah, for sure.
Final Thanks and Wrap
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Lauren Sneary: Well guys, thank you so much for joining us today. You know, everybody listening, please figure out how you can get involved, visit their Instagram. So shout out to you guys. Shout out to the local businesses supporting you.
Shout out to G'S wife for being an amazing cook. And hopefully we'll be able to talk to you guys again soon. This was awesome. Thank
Jorge Hurtado: you guys. Thank you. Thanks for
Lauren Sneary: being here.
Jorge Hurtado: Thank you, Erika.
[00:49:00]