The sun dips below the 115 Greenough building, and the streets fill with an influx of students heading home or preparing for sports. Senior Avery Sutton-Rath and her group of five others are preparing for a run around Brookline.
Sutton-Rath founded a running club as part of her project for her Experiential, Project-based, Innovative Capstone (EPIC) class. She said the end goal of the project was to run a half-marathon, which she completed on Saturday, Dec. 6. The project not only helped Sutton-Rath reach her goals, but it also built a community that helped ease the process.
The EPIC class is a senior English class that involves student-driven projects, encouraging meaningful, community-based impacts outside the classroom. EPIC teacher Ben Berman said that the course acts as an alternative English class that promotes independence.
“Students spend the year designing their own learning experiences,” Berman said. “They have to think about what it means to challenge themselves in meaningful ways.”
Through the EPIC class, Sutton-Rath transformed an individual challenge into a collaborative project that prioritized internal motivation over external rewards. Recently, Berman said the EPIC program has been focusing on projects that foster self-determination and gear students away from the incentive of a grade.
Berman said that the project highlighted many aspects of Sutton-Rath’s intrinsic motivations, including bringing people together and staying accountable for her goals.
“Avery did a wonderful job thinking about all of the different ways that she might be tapping into her motivation,” Berman said. “Her project allowed a lot of different angles to think about.”
Sutton-Rath said that training with others helped keep her accountable.
“I definitely think that running with other people is a lot better than running alone.,” Sutton-Rath said. “As someone who’s run by myself often, I know I won’t push myself, and I’ll let myself stop.”
According to Sutton-Rath, other members of the club were able to show her new avenues she otherwise wouldn’t have known.
“We push each other to go faster and try different routes because people have different experiences running, so someone might know a different trail that they show everyone,” Sutton-Rath said.
A friend of Sutton-Rath’s and member of the run club, senior Zoe Zucar, said that running with others was a valuable experience.
“Running with people is more enjoyable,” Zucar said. “And I knew that [Avery] was training for this half-marathon, so I thought it’d be fun for me to do it with her.”
Sutton-Rath said that the club ended up being a really great way to meet others casually in a setting without structure.
“None of us are trying to beat any records. I just want to push myself to run further, and connect with other people through that,” Sutton-Rath said.
Zucar reflected on a recent trip to different parts of Brookline with the club, which she said opened her up to a new perspective of the area.
“A couple weeks ago, we explored Lars Anderson and parts of Dexter and the Arboretum,” Zucar said. “It was really cool because I hadn’t really seen those parts of Brookline.”
Sutton-Rath said a sense of community has helped the runners in the club hold themselves and others more accountable to their targets.
“I think this club has definitely taught me the importance of discipline and committing to something and joining others,” Sutton-Rath said. “I think that having someone to hold you accountable, to push you towards a goal, is so important.”
