Chicago’s Keegan Kok on Finding the Run Community, Brooks Running Collective, and Advice for New Runners

In his third year running the recreational mile race at Chicago’s Shamrock Shuffle, Keegan Kok toed the start line, hoping to improve his previous time. Halfway through the race, he realized he was the lead runner.

He pushed his pace — while questioning whether he was dreaming — and was first to cross the finish line.

What made the win such a surprise is that Keegan had only recently started his running journey in 2021, at the age of 41.

“It just goes to show, just don’t count yourself out. You never know what opportunities are out there,” Keegan shares. “You could be in the right moment or right race.”

A collegiate fencer but never a runner, Keegan hit a point in adulthood when he realized he needed to start making healthier decisions. He began posting his workouts on Instagram for accountability during the pandemic. A winter running challenge convinced him to give running a try. After completing his first 5K, he was hooked.

Less than a year into his running journey, Keegan began running with Chicago-area run clubs and posting about his experiences on Instagram. He quickly became involved in the running community, helping to lead runs with Family Style RC.

“I sort of jumped in the deep end,” as he puts it.

Keegan also grew focused on improving his marathon training and race times. He started meeting a few friends at a local track on Tuesday mornings for speed workouts. The group organically grew into a community track club for Chicago runners called 2SDAY, filling a gap by providing a track workout space for newer and average-paced runners.

All the while, Keegan continued to post about his running endeavors with lighthearted training Reels, community-oriented posts, and a bit of humor. When Brooks accepted him into the Brooks Running Collective ambassador program, it expanded his run community outside Chicago’s boundaries.

Less than four years since starting his journey, Keegan is training for his fourth Chicago Marathon and is now a certified run coach. He says he pursued the certification equally for personal benefit and to become a more-informed volunteer cross-country and track coach at the school his daughters attend.

“It really came from wanting to learn more, but then also now knowing that I could use this to help somebody else,” Keegan says.

Below, Keegan shares more on what kick-started his running journey, the run club community in Chicago, how his online presence and Brooks Running Collective have expanded his running network, and his advice for new runners on getting involved in their local running community.

How did your running journey begin?

Keegan Kok: There was a point in my life, this is a little bit pre-pandemic, where, post-marriage, post-kids, I just got really sedentary. I was driving a lot as well, and then sitting in front of a computer a lot. Next thing I knew, I probably gained about 50-something pounds. My story really started when I decided, hey, I think I needed to do something about this.

This was during the pandemic, so I was finding workout videos, pushing play, and just working out at home. But then, really diving into nutrition…certainly trying to avoid fad diets, but really learn a lot about portion control, macros, calorie deficit. I just started consuming a lot of content to better myself.

The next thing you know, in about six, seven months, I had lost about 50 pounds or so. That gave me a newfound confidence to try new things. I had a little online community, and running came up. I live in Chicago, and part of the challenge was, ‘Hey, what is it like to run in the winter?’

I started running in the winter as a challenge.

I found myself in a program similar to a couch-to-5K program, called 30 Day Breakaway, created by Idalis Velazquez. It was a combination of strength workouts and guided runs that promised that I’ll run a 5K in 30 days.

I scoffed at it and said, ‘There’s just no way, but let’s do it. Let’s sign myself up for a 5K race, even before I start the program.’ It was New Year’s Eve 2021. It was my first 5K, and I really enjoyed it, and ended up signing up for another one, another race, and caught the bug.

It wasn’t until maybe about eight months, nine months in when I found the Chicago running community through a run club that had reached out, and that sort of opened up my world.

What was your experience getting involved in Chicago’s running community?

Keegan Kok: I started sharing some of my running journey online, and I signed up for a race called Dim Sum 5K. This run club [Family Style RC], I think they were partnered with the event. They had reached out and said, ‘Hey, love your content. We’d love to invite you to some of our runs.’

Not knowing the running community, that came with some level of skepticism. I’m like, ‘Well, how does this work, really? Am I committing to a run club? Is this like a team?’

Come to find out that, no, they just wanted me to come join. The founder of that club wanted to really bring more diversity to the sport as well. She’s also a minority herself, a female runner as well as a Vietnamese runner. She wanted to see more of herself in the sport, too, and so that was part of the mission of the run club.

After joining Family Style, I spent about a year and a half being really involved with Family Style, helping lead runs, helping with some other feature projects that we have done. I think that was the gateway to the Chicago community for me.

[Family Style] also did a good job in sharing and promoting what other events people are doing …. I eventually started, based on my schedule, just going to multiple run clubs, and just making friends at different groups. In Chicago, there’s also a lot of cross-pollination, folks just going to different run clubs. So after a while, you start building a community of friends.

It gets to a point where, as I’m running just on my own, on the popular run trails, I’m just seeing friends along the street. This morning, I think I saw about seven people…who said ‘good morning’ to me and encouraged me on the run.

What motivated you to share your workout content on Instagram?

Keegan Kok: The original purpose was to just share my workouts for accountability, and really wasn’t any thoughts about building a community. I think the word ‘influencer,’ it didn’t even cross my stratosphere at that point.

Right around the time I was laid off for the first time in my life, I just started saying ‘yes’ to more things, more opportunities. I’m like, ‘Well, I do have more time now in my hands, and I’m training’ — at that point, I was training for a 10K — ‘so let me share my 10K journey. Let me share my daily strength workouts, my run workouts.’

I spent more time in it because I had the time. That eventually led to meeting up with Family Style. What I really enjoyed about the running community was just how much I got out of it — the vibe, and how welcoming it felt to me. I wanted to capture some of that as well. So, some of my early content was capturing when I go for group runs.

That then led to the Brooks Running Collective.

How has the Brooks Running Collective expanded your running community, and has it changed your approach to the content you post?

Keegan Kok: [When I applied] I think I had 900 followers, perhaps, and then I had only been running for about a year and a half at that point, so I didn’t think too much of it …. Little did I know, they saw something in me. They saw some potential.

[I] credit Brooks and what they’ve done in terms of creating a team of ambassadors that really felt like a group of really supportive and diverse, like-minded individuals. I think my creativity and sharing content really got up-leveled just from being friends and being in the presence of other ambassadors.

But I still see my online account as a bit of a digital journal, a scrapbook of my own training and also adventures in running …. If it brings a little bit of a smile to somebody’s face, or relatable running humor, or if it helps inspire, that’s a little bit where I cater my content towards.

Through the Brooks team right now, I feel like I also have a network of runners outside of Chicago. There are times where I do travel, and I’ll hit up other runners and folks, ‘Hey, let’s meet up for a run or coffee or something like that.’ And I know they’ll do the same when they come to Chicago. Or if I were to do a destination race, it’s also really nice to then meet folks that I’ve met through online…or sometimes race together.

That online presence has also just enhanced my own running because I’ve been able to connect with so many more people outside of Chicago.

What advice would you give runners who are interested in getting involved in their local running community but feel hesitant?

Keegan Kok: Coming from the fencing world in the past, if you’re committing to a team, you’re almost like, ‘Alright, well, I’m going to fence for your team and score points for your team and so forth.’

I think, coming from other sports, there’s always a fear of, ‘Hey, I don’t really know you guys. I’ll come, but I’m not sure if I’m committing to you yet.’

For folks who are considering running clubs, I think the greatest lesson that I’ve learned is that, in the running community, at least to my knowledge, the majority of run clubs are not exclusive. You’re not joining a team…unless, of course, you’re joining a racing team or some elite team.

Don’t be afraid to just put yourself out there and visit run groups. You will find that folks are friendly. But [at] the same time, especially for newer runners, it’s probably also helpful to do a little bit of research. It’s okay to ask questions. Don’t feel discouraged to reach out to run groups and ask questions because there are cases where, yeah, everybody’s friendly, everybody wants to be there, but not every run group might be right for you. The time’s not right, or maybe the pace range.

That doesn’t mean you can’t revisit it in the future. But maybe that’s one that’s not the first run group that you join. And I think the only way to get to learn that is to just ask questions, and don’t be afraid. Don’t feel shy about asking, ‘What is the pace range?’

You’re trying to collect data so you can find the run group that makes the most sense for you.

Follow Keegan on Instagram @keegan_breaksaway.

“Don’t be afraid to just put yourself out there and visit run groups. You will find that folks are friendly. But [at] the same time, especially for newer runners, it’s probably also helpful to do a little bit of research. It’s okay to ask questions.” - Keegan Kok