Richmond Team is Growing

Our list of Richmond runners appears to be growing already. Here are the names that are at least considering joining the Richmond training team: 1 Elaine, 2 Misty, 3 Scott, 4 Tracy P, 5 Ryan, 6 Michael, 7 Frank, 8 Russ, 9 Tim, 10 Arthur, 11 Matt, 12 Cliff, and 13 Larry.

The official SportsBackers plan starts next week. We will have a group run scheduled for Saturday morning, but I have a prior engagement that will keep me out of town. I need to check with the YMCA, but I would like to have our official Rocky Mount kick-off the following weekend. I will be able to explain the program to anyone who is new, pass out brochures and applications, and layout the training plan.

I would still like to add new members to our group, so please try to encourage anyone you know to join us. I hope to pull together an informational meeting this week and/or next to see if any others are interested. I will let you know what I find out.

For those that are new, the SportsBackers program includes the following:

• 23 week training program
• Training notebook with week-by-week plans
• A training team t-shirt
• A training team technical race shirt (for race day)
• A message board with 800+ runners to ask questions and help give answers
• Supported weekend runs with planned routes, and fluids/gels (when needed)
• Running Clinics: Shoe/Gear purchase, Stretching, and potentially more
• Optional road trip to run the last 20 miler on the race course with the full team
• Race entry (which includes 30th anniversary hat and technical shirt)
• 80+ coaches on the race course to help and motivate you to a great finish

The total fee is $135, but again this includes you race entry fee. I will do everything possible to ensure you get real value from your fee. If you ask those who ran last year, I think you will find out it is money well spent.

We are a miniature version of the full program in Richmond. We do not have the luxury of a state of the art stadium, 80 coaches, paid employees, volunteers, etc. so we need to work a little harder to pull it off. I will be looking to our team for help whenever possible. Setting out fluids, writing directions to our routes, helping to arrange speakers for our clinics (we would still love a speaker on proper eating for example).

Bottom line, is that training for a marathon with a team bring amazing benefits. 23 weeks is a long time to train. Doing it with friends makes it an enjoyable experience.