Brandon Williams began running with the Happy’s Running Club downtown on a whim after not running for six years because of an injury. Within a couple of months, in January 2011, he started a personal blog about running and training.
ClaimYourJourney.com soon blossomed into a website for all runners, hosting a calendar of running events in Louisiana and a blog roll of writers contributing their thoughts on improving speed and stamina to training for half- and full marathons.
By August 2011, Claim Your Journey was a full-fledged business, offering merchandise, accepting sponsorships and running advertisements. You may have seen Claim Your Journey’s slogan, “Run Louisiana,” scripted across the chest of blue T-shirts in town.
In April, Williams quit his job in information technology at LSU to run Claim Your Journey fulltime. The former high school cross country runner now employs two full-time workers and four interns.
“What we do is cover the culture” of running, Williams says.
The blog roll of about 25 writers and shared photos from 10Ks keep the hobby of running fresh for readers, while also providing suggestions for food and drink recipes and music playlists for runners to pump in their iPods and get an extra kick.
Williams says Claim Your Journey is also interested in helping promote the still-growing Rouge-Orleans Ultramarathon and Relay, a 126.2-mile race on the Mississippi River levee from downtown Baton Rouge to Audubon Park in New Orleans.
On Twitter, runners can chime in with Claim Your Journey on the latest in races and events every second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 8 p.m. by using the hashtag #runla.
Williams says by 2015 he hopes to bring a Claim Your Journey 10K to Baton Rouge—though he’s still working on a route.
Also, within five years, Williams says he hopes to expand Claim Your Journey to about 10 running clubs in the Gulf Coast region.
“I see Claim Your Journey bigger than what it is now,” Williams says.
Meanwhile, coverage of those running clubs will expand on the website as Williams forges more connections with runners throughout the region.
“My whole career is sort of centered around health and fitness,” Williams says.
I think I wanted to be a lawyer, or MC Hammer—I think I thought the Hammer pants and the patent leather shoes were cool.
I don’t have any dreams of working in entertainment,” so maybe another position in the realm of the health and wellness industry.
(Your business) should be something that you are passionate about,” and profitable. “You have to figure out how to make ends meet.
I think one of our greatest strengths are the new things coming about,” like Forum 35, the BR Walls Project, and health and fitness activities.
Doe’s Eat Place.
I think it would be a cool dream to have a huge track and field facility.
Focusing on what I can get done in a day—time seems to move a little bit faster than what I’d like.
I see Claim Your Journey bigger than what it is now,” with an expansion outside Louisiana and about 10 running clubs.
