Thinking About Getting Into is a newsletter about cultivating interests.
Kenny Lloyd did not like running. Even though he’d always played sports, running was his least favorite part of practice. He saw his grandpa and his dad run when he was growing up, but it wasn’t until fairly recently that a competitive spark got him to run his first marathon. And he didn’t stop there.
As Director of Culture and Innovation at the advertising agency VCCP, Kenny focuses on fostering the culture of the agency—whether that’s by creating new initiatives or putting on panels—and amplifying its work. On the side, he’s building his own apparel brand, Never Ready. But he still finds the time in his week to hit the pavement, and he says that his passion for running has driven a sense of creativity that’s benefited all areas of his life and given him a greater sense of community. Here, he shares how he got into it.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
How’d you get into running?
I grew up playing basketball, football, baseball, soccer—all the sports. And I hated running. That was the worst part of practice—I just didn’t enjoy it. But as I got older, I was playing fewer team sports, and I wanted to remain healthy. I got a call back to seeing my grandpa run when I was younger, but it was still not something I was truly into at the time.
Then, a few years ago, my dad got off a plane and ran the New York City Marathon without telling anyone and without training. Naturally, I’m pretty competitive—so that sparked the bug. But as I got into the training, I started really reflecting and thinking about it, and it brought me closer to my dad and my grandpa.
I always struggled with running—when I played tennis in high school, running around the courts as a warm-up was the worst thing ever. I can’t imagine going from that kind of mindset to literally running a marathon! What were the first steps you took to have that kind of shift?
It was grueling to get into the running process until I really understood what running is to me. It’s become a meditative act. I think as an adult, the most important thing is to find hobbies as you get older. We work so hard during the day, and it’s easy to just go out with friends and chill and hang out. But when you find something you’re passionate about, you have a different approach to life. With running, I’m able to take an hour or two out of my day and just lock in. Some of my most creative moments occur when I’m running, which I can then either bring back to work or bring to something outside of work. For me, it’s been a transformative experience in physical and mental health.
How long did it take you to get to that point? And did you have to get to a certain level of running before you started to see those benefits?
It was actually pretty immediate for me. Outside of my work at VCCP, I have an apparel brand called Never Ready. I have a very deep reverence and obsession for denim. So, while I’m running, I’m always thinking about some clothes that I might have seen, a design that I want to create, or the latest campaign that I saw that I thought was inspiring. So I think that mind-body connection happened instantaneously for me, and it’s only gotten stronger as I’ve gotten better at running.
How do you set yourself up for success on a run? Did you find that you needed specific sneakers, a specific playlist, a route that you like to run down? What was your formula that you eventually cracked?
I’m a podcast listener during my runs, although recently, I found that listening to nothing is the best thing for me.
Wow, that sounds like the most challenging thing to me!
I learned this in my last marathon, which was two weeks ago. I am also obsessive about certain shoes that I wear—I like to do all of the research into the different technologies in the shoes and everything. I am a sponsored Adidas athlete—so I run in Adidas, but I was running in them prior to being sponsored. I think they have some of the best running shoes out right now.
I started off just wanting to run. Then, I overcame the obstacles of what it meant to be a runner. And then once I felt comfortable, I felt like I needed community. So I joined Adidas Runners, and I’m a crew runner on Adidas’s New York City team. In that, I’m not only able to help myself [by having a] community, but I’m able to help people start or continue their running journeys.
I can see some parallels between that and your job—in both, you’re helping others in a sense. Do you find that similarity yourself?
That’s actually a good point. I pride myself on helping others. Before I got into advertising, I worked in the music industry, managing artists, and that also involved helping others. So I think that’s innate in me. I’m very proud to give back to the community, whether through charity or in the smallest instance of helping people run and remain healthy. That excites me for sure.
How long did it take you to train for your first marathon? Were there any ups and downs on that journey?
I was supposed to train for at least 18 weeks. Very similar to my dad, I didn’t train properly for the first one. So the New York City Marathon was my very first marathon, which was the hardest one. And it was brutal. It was a very grueling race. They ran out of water, so it was very challenging. My goal is always just to finish the race and get better each race.
I also ran Berlin, and I broke my foot a few months prior, so I wasn’t able to train properly. I got out of the boot with three weeks to spare but I ran the race complete. I ran Tokyo [recently], and got my best time. I took the full 18 weeks to train and I was happy with the result. And now I have London next. [Note: You can donate to Kenny’s fundraiser for the London marathon, benefitting Whizz Kids, a children’s wheelchair charity, here.] So the process has been about getting better and completing races. If my time gets better while doing it, that’s just a cherry on top. For me, it’s about making sure I’m enjoying it and always reflecting on why I’m doing it. I think it’s easy to get caught up in the race. But for me, it’s not really about racing. It’s about the experience.
Since you started running marathons, what’s changed in your life? Other than the fact that you’re now running multiple hours a week, I’d imagine.
It really is some of the times when I do some of my best work in my head. And outside of the traveling aspect of races, the best part of it for me is I’ve run some of these races with my dad and my girlfriend. Running is something that’s so easy to do by yourself, but there is a switch that occurs when you start including others. I think in general, my process has been about sharing that and trying to find ways to invite people into this experience that I’ve had.
Is there any advice you give running newbies? Or anything that was a total unlock for you as you started running longer distances?
Slow is relative. I think a lot of runners get into running, and they’re like, “I need to run fast. How do I get faster? I feel so slow, you know?” And I learned that the more you run, the faster you naturally get. Sometimes it’s not as fun to go fast—I consider myself a cruiser.
Every five months, when I decide to go for a run, I make the mistake of trying to run along with my music. Then I’m running too fast because my music’s too fast, and then I’m like, “I’m tired. I can’t do this anymore.”
That’s what I learned in Tokyo—not to listen to music or podcasts. Once you run to your own cadence, you’re better.
Do you have any pre-race rituals?
Just typical stretching. For me, it’s honestly about remaining grateful and taking a second to appreciate the moment and understand that, especially being an African American male in the space—there is a very small percentage of us. So you go to these races, and you’re one of 20 out of 50,000 people. Sometimes I take a moment just to look around and appreciate the journey that it took me to get there.
What does your running routine look like? How do you find the time to prioritize running?
Luckily, now that I run with Adidas, I have a set schedule. On Tuesdays I run hill repeats, Thursday’s a big community run, Saturdays I do my own long run that I typically do in Central Park. I’ll also go to the gym and try to lift when I get a chance. Initially though, I was running during the day, running at night—I didn’t have a set routine. It was just about getting out there.
You mentioned before one of the most important things for adults is to have hobbies, which I couldn’t agree with more. I’m curious what running has given you emotionally or mentally—what do you feel is the biggest thing you’ve gained from it?
I've gained friends. The running community, especially here in New York City, is very strong and tight-knit, so it’s cool to be a part of that.
Outside of running, the point about hobbies—it’s always about learning and finding something new or some type of knowledge that I can add to my resume. Running has become a catalyst for me to experience new things, new foods, new people.
What would you tell people who are thinking about getting into running?
I think there’s a fear around it. It’s very easy to have excuses about why you don’t want to run. It’s too hard. It hurts my knees. I’ve gone through that. But there’s no limitation to running. It could be a jog, it can be a fast walk, it could be just about movement. I think we live very sedentary lifestyles as a society and that if we get around and move more naturally, we’ll feel better. Your work or whatever it is that you’re working on will probably still be there afterward. It’ll be okay—you can step out for 30 minutes and just move around a little bit. It might actually make you more productive when you get back. So I think the advice is just to get moving. ▲