Weekend Warrior: Brian "Bubba" Crowder, Runner

37, Director at Fund the Nations, Director of Board for the Homerun for Habitat 5k in Southaven & for the Make-A-Wish Walk for Wishes

FAMILY: Wife: Whitney; Kids: Harper (10), Lucy (8), Callie (6), and Davis (2)

TEAM PLAYER: I lead an outdoor workout group (@outsiderworkout on Instagram) that meets at Snowden Grove MWF @ 5:15 am. And I’m on the North Mississippi Endurance team.

FAVORITE FITNESS ACCOMPLISHMENT: I won a local 5K a couple years ago that I had run 10 years earlier as my first 5K. Back then, I ended up having to talk most of the last mile because it was too hard!

MOST MEMORABLE RACE: In 2020, I was set to run a 50-mile race and it got canceled at the last second because of Covid…After putting in all of the training, I decided to run 50 miles anyway and set up a local route with aid stations. What I didn’t know is that my sweet wife had gotten the entire neighborhood to stand out in their driveways with signs to cheer me on as I finished the final mile!

I f RUNNING: I love that you can lose yourself in it. It’s like free therapy. If you need to think through stuff, you can do that while running. If you need to just forget for a little bit, you can do that as well.

INSPIRATION: My dad passed away from a heart attack in his late 40s. I saw myself going down the same path of being unhealthy. I exercise to be able to stay in shape so that I can play sports and run with our kids as they grow up!

SPEED BUMPS: I’ve been running since 2010, but I was fairly large and eating unhealthy back then. I enjoyed it and ran three marathons, but it was always a struggle. In 2013 when our 2nd daughter was born, I gave up altogether. I got up to 280+ pounds and was doing nothing active at all. In 2017, I knew I had to make a change, so I started eating differently and exercising. It was slow at first, but the more the weight came off, the more I fell back in love with running!

GO-TO GEAR: Backwards trucker hat, Garmin Fenix watch, Aftershockz Aeropex (love music while running!)

FAVE SONG: All This Power —War*HallBEST EATS: King Crab Tortugas & Sweet Tea at Las Tortugas

INDULGENCE: Kids’ Cereal

Photo by Tindall Stephens