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HOKA fan Jared Goldman will embark on a challenging and personal journey this summer. On 10 August, Jared will start his 230km run across Belarus to learn about himself and the land of his ancestors. Read on to find out more about Jared and how he is is aiming to open doors to his past, present and future.

I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. My dad is from East St. Louis, which is just over the Mississippi River in Illinois. We are not really sure why or how his grandparents ended up there. His grandfather was a shoemaker, and his father was a pharmacist.

They were Jewish immigrants. My great-grandfather arrived in America in 1910, bringing his son (my grandfather – pictured below) and wife three years later. From what I understand, this was very normal at the time, with the Russian pogroms and antisemitism on the rise.

Family history

I remember a few Jewish holidays growing up, going to their house and celebrating with them. I can remember the layout of the house, the bedroom, dining room, office. The memories come back the more that I think about it, even as I write this.

I was once given a big bag of silver dollars from them. This is the only thing, that I can remember them giving me, and that I still have to this day. They are so important to me as a family heirloom that I have them locked up in my mother’s safety deposit box at the bank in the United States.

Rebellious youth

My mother converted to Judaism after she married my father. As you can imagine, for my father to marry a gentile must have a been a major family topic. I would say that my mother took on the religion head on. Growing up, she was very active in the Jewish community in St. Louis and is still to this day.

When I was younger [Jared pictured above with his family], I had to go to Sunday school and Hebrew school and to have a Bar Mitzvah. This is where my rebellion started. I was mean and nasty to my mother, particularly since my parents were divorced, and felt that, even at that age, I wanted to be able to make my own religious choices. I was never sure that this was the one that I identified with.

Going traveling

I left to go traveling in 1999. One year was my mission, while looking for work to extend the party. I ended up in Berlin, far from where I grew up and far from my parents. This is how I wanted it.

But over the years, I started to forget why I had been angry and went back once a year to visit. I developed a deeper bond with my parents, and a genuine interested in my family history. I started asking more and more questions. Every time I visited, I would ask my dad to show me all his pictures and tell me about what he knew about his family.

There was always a bit of an unknown as to where my grandfather’s parents were from. The more I looked into it, I discovered they are originally from Belarus.

Finding running

I found running some years ago. It changed my life, it sobered me up and it has taught me a lot about myself. Now I want to use this project to learn more about myself and my family by running through the birth country of my ancestors.

I want to pay respect to my family by doing something that I feel passionate about and to show them that I am not running away, but that I am running home.

I want to see and get a feel for where they are from. I want to discover Belarus by foot. I hope not to bring closure but to learn more about this land, and to find out more information about my family. I hope it does the opposite to closure. I hope that it opens up new doors to both the past, present and future.

Jared is wearing the Clifton 5. You can follow Jared’s journey this summer on Instagram @jareddanielgoldman and via his website www.jareddanielgoldman.com.

Photo credit: Jared Goldman and Sandra Wickert

Dancing in the spotlight of a burlesque stage taught Inga Poste that she could push limits elsewhere in her life too. Her journey is the latest in our Huck x HOKA series, looking at mavericks who found a new perspective through running.

A tiny stage in an intimate venue in Berlin. So tiny, in fact, the audience is within touching distance. The light is pink, not too white, not too red, exactly as Inga Poste told the technician it should be. Her act is about to start and she doesn’t know what she’ll get. If people are used to burlesque, or if they are first-timers who have no idea what to do and need to be encouraged.

“I love the first minute when you’re up on stage and you’re trying to see how people react, trying to engage them. It’s a very cool moment, because you need to open up completely but at the same time you’re playing a role. It’s a lot of fun to let go and be in that moment.”

Building up the courage

It also takes a lot of courage. Looking gracious, cool and mysterious on stage is one – pretty hard – thing, being brave enough to take your clothes off in front of an audience while still looking graceful is a special skill. But a very transferable one, according to Inga, whose second great passion is running. “Burlesque made me a lot more self confident, which transfers to running. You have to believe in yourself to be able to run a marathon. And the confidence that burlesque gave me made it possible for me to believe in myself.”

Inga, who has been running for a decade, has been focusing not so much on time, recently, but distance. She now runs marathons. Numerous medals dot her West Berlin apartment. They even adorn the dressmaking doll she uses to design her burlesque costumes. But she’s still reluctant to describe herself as a natural athlete.

In fact Inga hated phys-ed and always got picked last for schoolyard teams. But unlike other sporting Cinderellas, she didn’t use this common experience of childhood humiliation to push herself to be the hardest, the strongest and fastest. The opposite is true.

“I run for myself and I work very hard to keep it that way. When you train with other people you start comparing yourself very quickly, you see other times improving and want to improve your own time, all the time. I try to stop when I have pushed my body as far as it can go.”

Running as therapy

Running is therapy for Inga, a healthy outlet for feelings she used to suppress. She is a high achiever – she just finished her studies and works as a literary agent specialising in memoirs and in cinema. Growing up, she was always keen to meet the high expectations of others. Expressing her own desires and accepting things as they are was something she had to learn. “Through running and dancing I learnt that it can’t all be about perfection. That always makes you unhappy. After running 42 km you need to be able to be proud and say you did something amazing, even if you are somewhere near the bottom of the table.”

Inga doesn’t run to look good for others either. “I’m training my body to be fit, not for other people to like my body. It’s not about being thin, but about being strong for myself.”

A bit of extra strength obviously comes in handy for the highly athletic pole dancing she incorporates in her routines. But for Inga, dancing isn’t only about physical strength. It’s empowering for her to reclaim the rhinestones and the glitter; to take traditional notions of femininity and turn it all into something powerful by really owning it. “Burlesque taught me to be upfront with myself, when I’m on stage I’m in charge of everything.”

Powerful women

It doesn’t come as a massive surprise that a lot of Inga’s friends from the burlesque scene are also powerful women. They are strong “because they all went through something in their lives that they had to be strong for.” But there’s also a party side to burlesque, a “little girl side with sparkly things and makeup and hair.”

There is also a transgressive, challenging side to the scene. But Inga doesn’t get involved in blood, guts or gore — as do some of the more extreme artists out there. Her latest performance was all about chains. “I emerged from these chains as my act went on. I was freeing myself from something, becoming more myself. It’s like when you hit the wall in a marathon or longer run. You’re in pain; you feel trapped and as if you can’t go on. But you do go on and the feeling you get next is everything.”

Huck is a youth culture channel. It celebrates and explores independent culture — people and movements that paddle against the flow. Find out more about HUCK.

Check out the responsive and lightweight Hupana trainers Inga wears.

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HOKA fan Jared running across Belarus in search of family roots