An unusual tribe has been living among the Madison community for two years.
Originating in Boston in 2012, the group made its way to Madison less than a year later.
This tribe is known as the November Project, a grassroots fitness movement started by two retired Northwestern University rowers as the brisk November air began to infiltrate the Boston area.
In an effort to remain active as the weather turned uninviting, the athletes, Brogan Graham and Bojan Mandaric, made a pact to workout together every morning during the month of November.
Two grew to 10 and 10 grew to 20 and as the months wore on, word got out and November Projects started popping up elsewhere: first in Madison, then San Francisco, and now people are waking up early and exercising for free in 16 cities across the United States and Canada.
Led by Pat Bauch and, until recently, Ted Gurman, the Madison chapter meets on Wednesdays at 6:28 a.m. at the top of Bascom Hill and Fridays at 6:27 a.m. at Lady Forward on the Capitol steps.
The workouts are primarily running-based and designed to build endurance and strength in an inclusive and motivated environment.
“Nobody wants to run the hill. That’s why we show up and do it together. We turn this vicious, fierce workout into something that’s fun and has an element of camaraderie,” said Bauch, a UW alumni and West High School history teacher.
He continued, “You look around at 6:47 or 6:50 and you see the sun coming up over the Capitol on top of Bascom, and you’re like … I can’t imagine that I wanted to miss this.”
The workouts are “scalable” to all fitness levels because the group doesn’t technically travel anywhere or move at a specific pace.
“We have people show up who run a 2:40 marathon … they’re laughing side-by-side with somebody that is recovering from knee surgery,” said Bauch.
Representatives from each city came to Madison Sept. 12 and 13 for the NP Summit: a two-day gathering that allowed the tribe to meet and workout with their counterparts from across the country.
The crowd met to tackle the Capitol steps Friday. After an epic workout, the leaders spent the rest of the day discussing world takeover. Then Saturday, the tribe ran the North Face Endurance Challenge at Kettle Moraine State Forest.
Afterward, they came back to Madison for a rendezvous at the Memorial Union Terrace, where the leaders announced the first step in their plan for world takeover: a goal to have 3,014 people working out at the same time one Wednesday morning before the end of 2014.
Based on this number, each city was given a lofty but attainable goal number: Madison’s is 150.
Dan Graham said in a speech at the Terrace, “You need to be the ambassador to that next group … we need them to come to the workout and we need them to realize how great this is.”
The tribe is recruiting friends, family, roommates and pets to join this movement. While many campaigns rely on propaganda for increased exposure, Bauch says the November Project benefits most from word-of-mouth advertisement.
“You can go around and you can blast November Project everywhere and you can chalk sidewalks and put it up into social media all you want, but it really comes down to the members sharing their experiences with the people that they know.”
Growth of the November Project isn’t about personal gain for leaders or even a sense of pride for the tribe. It’s about providing accessible and inviting fitness for people regardless of age, fitness level and socioeconomic status.
“I’d like for it to be seen as one of the turning points in the way we view fitness in our society,” concluded Bauch.
