The Inspiration Behind The Name
Choosing a name for an effort that represents our passion and speaks to our community was no easy task. When discussing names, we knew we wanted something that could represent the app itself, something new, succinct and distinctive, but with a meaning that would represent the feeling of community that we experience when we run together, even though we’re miles, states or even countries apart. How to capture all that in a catchy name? CHALLENGE!
We were drawn to expressive words that represent groups and Parker, our lead developer, came up with Zeal. We weren’t immediately sold, but as we let it settle in, the appeal grew. ZEAL really seemed to capture our effort and excitement. Why? Coach Betsy said it best in her announcement post:
Zeal - /zēl/ - noun
Great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective.
Example: "She has zeal for running."
Similar: Passion, committedness, love, fervor, fire, gusto, vigor
Running and community are synonymous. I'm excited to share that our team has been hard at work to bring something special to life. A LIVE social running app made by runners for runners (walkers too).
But even BETTER, the word Zeal is polysemous, which means “multiple meanings” and while the most common definition of zeal is a feeling of strong eagerness and energy in pursuit of an objective, excessive fervor to do something or to accomplish an end (PR anyone?), Zeal has another meaning…it also describes a herd of running zebras. #mindblown
Zebras run faster together (up to 65km per hour!) and while their stripes help to camouflage them and keep them safe, their stripes are also unique, like fingerprints, and they have a social purpose, they help the zebras to recognize one another. Are you already looking for your unique Zebra print? We are!
A Zeal of Zebras.
Can you see it? A gorgeous zeal of zebras exhilarated by the energy of running with their pack. That vision made us feel the passion, the vigor, the fire and gusto of what we wanted to create for our runners. We want you to run with zeal.
We were HOOKED! We started dreaming in zebra stripes. Like the zebra’s stripes, you are unique and individual but familiar and recognizable in a group. We started to envision our runners at events in black and white and orange, running together while each uniquely showing their stripes!
You’ve already asked about Run With Zeal merchandise, and we promise it’s coming. In the meantime, we encourage creativity! How will you #showyourstripes ?
