Our club was created simply by the competitive nature of a few retired D1 T&F and Cross Country athletes, but flourished from the fun culture that we bring when we run together. Our origin story starts back to when we originally formed the first Good Guys relay team who would compete in the 2022 Texas Independence Relay. The relay race is a challenging ultra marathon relay that spans approximately 200~ miles across the state of Texas between Gonzales and Houston, and is completed by a team of up to 12 runners. For our debut of the race we would rally together a group of daring washed up runners that would mark as the very first Good Guys Run Club team! Still to our surprise, the team would fall short of making the podium that year. Overall we all enjoyed the experience of racing together again, but we didn’t want to settle with the disappointment of not winning the race entirely! So for the next year the 12 good guys pledged to hold each other accountable in preparations for next year’s TIR race.

That next week Wednesday evenings were marked on all of our calendars to meet up routinely along the white oak bayou for our weekly run together. Our routine was designed to help maintain consistency in our training through out the year, but in this process something even bigger started to happen. Our small team of only 12 athletes quickly started to grow into a community of over 100+ runners by the end of that summer! The white oak bayou was buzzing with runners who all had similar training goals and loved to hang out for a couple of post run beers after the run!

The Good Guys team had officially became a run club that year, and our home base was settled at Highline Park in the M K T Plaza. Before we knew it, March had rolled back around and it was time to take on the Texas Independence Relay Race for our redemption year. We can proudly say that the Good Guys performed well in the 2023 TIR Relay Race, placing 1st overall and earning the course record time of 17:42:22 over 187 miles (5:40/mile pace). That year we had not only fulfilled our pledge to train consistently together and win the TIR, but we had also helped prepare other runners accomplish their own race goals along the way! Whether if it was for a personal record or even just running a race in general the Good Guys were there for those who just consistently showed up. In the second year of our run club taking on the TIR we also debuted 2 more Good Guys teams, including a co-ed squad! And our presence on the course continues to grow to this day.

In reality we all know that there can only be one winner in a race, but we also believe that there is still victory that can found in doing your best to achieve your goals. Even when you’re not awarded a trophy, you can still be proud of trusting the process and pushing yourself past the limit. That is why we can confidently say that the “Good Guys always win”.