Leading the Way at Love Where You Live 

“As race time approached, downtown came alive. Music echoed through the streets, volunteers rushed through last-minute preparations and runners and their supporters lined the sidewalks. Once the race began, the excitement only grew — and somewhere along the way, my nerves disappeared too.” – Claire Billingsley, James22

The sun was just beginning to rise over a chilly May morning as Jacob and I set out on a test ride along the course for Spartanburg’s annual Love Where You Live races. Hosted by Run GSP, the event brought more than 1,500 runners to downtown Spartanburg for a half marathon, 10K, 5K and Kids Fun Run.

For James22, the morning marked an exciting first: serving as the official lead bikes for a race. We were incredibly honored to be chosen. But if I’m being honest, I was nervous. While Jacob has done lead bike work before, this was my first experience helping guide runners through an active race course, and I worried about getting in someone’s way or throwing off a runner’s pace.

The race start

As race time approached, downtown came alive. Music echoed through the streets, volunteers rushed through last-minute preparations and runners and their supporters lined the sidewalks. Once the race began, the excitement only grew — and somewhere along the way, my nerves disappeared too.

The best part of the morning was seeing the encouragement between participants. Some runners were chasing personal records while others were simply there for the experience, but the sense of community was the same across the board.

Riding ahead of the pack gave us a front-row seat to all of it — and reminded me why James22 exists in the first place. Much like Love Where You Live, we want to help connect people to their communities, the outdoors and experiences they may not otherwise have.

Being thankful

We’re incredibly thankful to Chad and the entire Love Where You Live team for trusting James22 to be part of such a meaningful event. After our first experience leading a race, I can already say we hope it’s the first of many.