RUN RSVP: Thanksgiving Weekend

This is an interesting week. Many of you are traveling, some of you have family in town, and some of you might just be looking for a weekend to rest. I am not planning a specific route, but want to use this post so people can comment, and plan some group runs. I have picked two times. Please post if you are interested in either time

Run Details:

• Where: Saturday, 8:00 am @ Harris Teeter OR Sunday, 1:30 pm @ Harris Teeter
• Supported: No - Unless Someone sets it up.
• Weather: Forecast
• Routes: You pick!

If neither time works for you, but you plan to run, let the group know. Please RSVP if you are coming with your day, pace and distance.

First Carolina State Bank Recap

Where do I begin? So many from the RMEC had great performances this weekend, that it might take me half a day to write a recap that does justice to your accomplishments. I could easily write a paragraph each about everyone, but to avoid having the longest blog entry ever written, I am going to try to sum it up quickly. . .

Right off the bat, we had three runners in the top ten for their gender. Ashley Bass finished 4th overall, and 1st in the Master's Division with a time of 1:25:08 in his half marathon debut. Jeff Miller was close behind in 8th place with a time of 1:28:45. This PR for Jeff earned him first place in his age group. The top female finisher for the club goes to Kinnie Pruden with a PR time of 1:52:16. This earned her 8th among all women, and third place in the Masters!

Jeff Hartney finished in 11th place with a time of 1:30:45, which was first in the 45-49 age group. This is easily the most competitive age category in the race (seriously, take a look) so taking first is impressive. Dave Lavely came in one minute behind for second place with a time of 1:31:57. Also in this age group was Tim Shea (1:40:21), Kevin Boudreau (1:44:17), and Larry McKeel (1:45:41). Kevin had been sick late in the week, so finishing alone was great, his strong time makes it even more impressive. Larry set a new PR, knocking almost two minutes off of last years time.

Also in the top 20 overall was Derek Hurdle. Like many others, Derek set a half marathon PR finishing in 1:33:38. This was a three minute improvement over 2007. Ironman, Cliff Amos came in just over the 1:40 mark with a time of 1:40:04 taking second in the 40-44 age group. Also placing in that group was Brent Brondyke with 1:44:18. Our other Ironman, Jason Irvin anchored his corporate team, and finished in 1:46:40.

Scott Wingfield place 37th overall, and had a time of 1:43:28. This was a PR by more than four minutes! Certainly a welcome site after some aggressive fall marathon training. Fellow "nooner" Gerry Felton finished in 1:47:39, only five seconds behind the 3rd place finisher in his age group! Eric Pate, another regular "nooner" just ran the OBX Half a few weeks ago and set a PR. This did not stop him from knocking another five minutes off his time on Saturday!

For the second year in a row, Bob Land impressed at the Half Marathon. This year he ran a 1:50:43, and showed that he is poised for even better racing during the winter. Ron Fleming was a little over two minutes behind Bob, when he finished in 1:53:06. This was Ron's half marathon debut, and he did outstanding! Also making their debut was Kelly Allen and Robin Johnson. This duo has been inseparable on training runs. It was only fitting to see them continue to motivate each other in the race. Both looked strong from start to finish, and smiled the entire way. Great job ladies (the Flying Pig is calling you).

Another inseparatable team was the duo of Misty Schmitt and Elaine Weisner. The two ran together the entire race and crossed the line in 2:30:54. For the second time this year, they tied for 3rd place in their age group! That is hard to do once. . . how do you pull that off twice? Also from the Wesiner family, was Brad Weisner, finishing in 1:58:23, three minutes better than 2007. Speaking of three minute improvements, Levi Moore seems to be fully recovered from his OBX marathon as he posted a 1:54:27 on Saturday (three minutes over last year).

Mary Whitwell continues to rack up age group awards in virtually everything she enters. This year her time 2:02:29 placed her second in her age group, and in the top 25 of all women. Mike Votava came in just a minute sooner with a time 2:01:01. I am not positive, but I feel pretty certain this is a PR for Mike. Amber Poole improved by 10 minutes over last year, and by one minute over her PR. Russ Hinesly also continues to impress, posting a time of 2:15:53, good enough for 6th in his age group.

For complete results, you can view them online. I can't put into words how impressed I am with everyone's performances this weekend. You have my true admiration. A half marathon is not an easy task, and you should all feel proud of your accomplishments! I will try to have some 5k updates very soon.

A few other non-RMEC times worthy of note is Richard Stotlar of Oriental, NC with a time of 1:30:37 (10th place), and Jackeitha Baker of Knightdale, NC with a time of 1:58:54. So, why did I single out these times? Richard is 67, and Jackeitha is 12. . . WOW!

Half Marathon Updates

I will be putting a recap our of the RMEC runners by tomorrow morning. This one will take a while considering the number of RMEC members who ran. In the mean time, here is some news coverage on the race:

• Runners bound for Rocky Mount
• Elementary students join big race
• Pair of race bring out avid and novice runners
• Race Photos: There are only a few with RMEC members

The first two are old stories, but some you may have missed. Congrats everyone!

Good Luck RMEC!

I normally do a "good luck" message to let everyone know who is racing this weekend. Truthfully, there are so many racing my fear is I would leave someone off this list mistakenly, and I don't want anyone to feel left out. So I will begin by saying good luck to everyone! I think this is going to be an exciting weekend for the RMEC. We are poised to see some great performances. Ron, Kelly, and Robin are all running their first half marathon, and are well prepared for a superb race! Others is our group will be competing for age group awards, and quite possibly some overall awards. I will not call you out by name on the blog, but there are four or five of you that I will be anxiously waiting to see emerge from the trails at the finish.

If you are "watch-watcher" don't get too concerned in the early miles. Unless you plan to run a good warm-up (some of you will), you need to use your first few miles to warm up your muscles. Don't expect to go from "cold and standing still" to "race pace" when the gun goes bang. You might even end up injured. If you have warmed up, that is a different story.

Be looking for Frank, Arthur, Patti, Tracy P., and myself out on the course. Not exactly sure where and when you will see us, but we are there to cheer you on. If you need to drop off some stuff, we will be glad to take. Frank will be at MLK waiting for you all. Just remember, once you leave Frank behind, you are on the home stretch. . . give it everything you got and push to the finish!

Dealing with the Cold

I went back in the blog archives to look for tips on cold weather running. Would you believe we have 720 posts. . . man I'm a dork. I found this information related to the Richmond Marathon and thought it would apply very well for tomorrow. So I made a few tweaks and am re-posting it. . .

The First Carolina State Bank Half Marathon is less than 24 hours away (admit it, some of you just got a little butterfly in your stomach reading that). As you can tell, it will be a very cold start to the race. This may cause concern for some of you, but I hope to put your minds at ease and give you some of my tips for a cold race.

#1 - Wear Layers - You can always take extra clothing off as you warm up. If you however start with just your base layer and a heavy jacket, you have no middle ground. You are likely too hot or too cold. If you have layers, you can peal them off little by little. Just make sure your layers are items you don’t mind throwing away (see the bottom of this post).

#2 - Be Technical - Be sure to keep technical clothing as your bottom layer. It is fine to throw an old cotton t-shirt on as a middle or top layer, or a sweatshirt. Just keep some wicking clothing on as a base layer.

#3 - Head and Hands - Do not forget to keep your head and hands warm. If you don't have one, go buy a cheap stocking hat. An ear warmer is fine too, but with temps predicted in the 30s to start, you will want to hold in the heat. As for gloves, go cheap. My recommendation is going to the kids department in Target. You can buy a two pack of kids gloves for $1.49. They are super stretchy, and you can put on both pair at once. If your hands get hot, peal off a single pair. These gloves fit my hands in case you are wondering how stretchy they are.

#4 - Trash Bags - Lots of runners will rip (or cut) a hole in a trash bag as a final external layer. It holds in the heat and is black so it warms up in the sun. You can throw it away when the race is about to start. Bottom line. . . dress warm but with layers. Once your body has warmed up, it will stay warm as long as you keep moving.

#5 - Band aides and Body Glide - Don't forget this! Guys, protect your chest. Cold weather can make you chafe badly. You do not want to finish your race with a bloody shirt.

#6 - Get Warm - When you finish (and you all will) get warm! Have something in your car to put on. Once you stop running, your body will very quickly get a chill. Don't take a chance at getting sick right before the holidays.

Dropping your layers. . .I plan to collect extra clothing at the start of the race from RMEC runners. I will most likely throw it all in a big box that you can rummage through at the finish. I would also like to arrange a person on the race course around mile three to get your extra layers. This may end up being me. It could be Patti, if I can talk her in to it (assuming she is going to be on the course). I will post a comment here once we decide.

Can you Volunteer Friday?

They are looking for 4-5 people to help volunteer the packet pickup tent tomorrow evening from 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm. It would be great to have some of the RMEC members there to do it. Yes, I know it will be cold, so dress warmly. It is only two hours. . . you can tough it out!

Please post a message here ASAP, if you can be there. Knowing that most of the RMEC is racing on Saturday, this is a chance for us to help out.

Shirt Payment

The shirt order has been placed. I do not have a delivery date yet, but I hope it will be within the next two weeks. Below is the amount everyone owes. I did order one extra medium women's. The first person who asks, gets it.

$ 6.00 - Carol
$16.00 - Cliff
$29.00 - Gerry
$29.00 - Jason
$16.00 - John
$16.00 - Larry (Mailed)
$16.00 - LARGE: Extra Female Shirt (Available)
$16.00 - MEDIUM: Extra Female Shirt (Available)

Please make checks payable to the Rocky Mount Endurance Club (or RMEC). Cash works as well. You can give the payment to Michael, Scott, Ursula, or Frank. This way we can get them deposited quickly before we are charge for the full amount. I would like to have all payments by December 1st at the latest. I will remove you from this list as payments are received. Thanks!