Fun Run for Charities This Weekend!

I wanted to remind all of you that the Fun Run for Charities is this Saturday. I expect a big crowd from all over Rocky Mount. This is a great chance for all of us to show what an outstanding group of individuals you all are! Here are a few reminders for the weekend.

Shirts: Please try to wear an RMEC shirt to the event. If you have been helping coach the Rocky Mount Endurance Kids, then wear your RMEK shirts instead. Lets stand out among the crowd.

Hospitality: Even though this is not an RMEC event, we should always show hospitality to other runners. Make sure people feel welcome and don't be afraid to introduce yourself to someone. Remember, we are the running club for our town. Most importantly, cheer for the kids. Make them feel important.

RMEC Booth: We will have an RMEC tent sent up among the other non profits. We will use this as a chance to let people know about our club, the RMEK, our races, and the Kid's Triathlon coming up. We hope to see all of you at the tent, but we do need to keep space available for people to pick up information from our booth.

Events: As a reminder, we are promoting the Ford's Colony 5k and 10k (September 12), the Medoc Trail Races (October 17th), and also the Kid's in Training Tri (June 27th). All three events have links to the right in the side bar. The Tri is not a RMEC event, but it is something we are supporting.

RMEK: There will be LOTS of kids that are running the 1-mile and the 5k this weekend that were trained by Tracy, Misty, Elaine, and countless of other volunteers. If you see a child wearing an RMEK shirt, congratulate them, and give them a high five. These kids and coaches have ROCKED for the last 10 weeks and should feel very proud of what they have accomplished.

Fund Raising: The Fun Run for Charities has already been a great event for our club. Through many generous donors, we have raised over $300 for the RMEK. This is fantastic, and helps to ensure the continued success of the program. As a reminder, RMEK is designed to train all children. It is entirely volunteer based, and entirely free to the participants. If a child is willing to put in the effort, we are willing to train them. We do not charge any fees, but we provide kids with a training program, tee shirts, race entries, and a commemorative award.

Sunday Group Run: There will not be a group run on Saturday, however some of you are planning to run on Sunday. Tracy P. has a 22 mile run planned, and she would love some company. Tentatively lets plan for a Sunday run at 6:30 am from the Teeter. Tracy will likely start earlier. Please post a comment here if you plan to run at all. I am sure she will change here route to meet up for some company!

Rocky Mount. . . Medoc is looking for you!

You likely all know that the Medoc Trail Races early entry period ends after this weekend. We are WAY ahead of last year's pace for registration. In fact, in 2008, it was the second week of July before we had reached our current registration totals. The marathon is on pace to double in size this year. What makes these numbers even more impressive is the very limited number of Rocky Mount runners who have signed up!

I realize that 30 of you (myself included) are running the Marine Corps Marathon the following weekend, so I do not expect you all to run the race. However, that still leaves about 35 people from the RMEC who could be racing. We need you to to sign up! For those of you running the Marine Corps. . . we need you to volunteer!

Please take a minute and sign up online today. RMEC Members can use the code "RMECMEMBER" to save $5.00. This code is only for paying club members, and will be monitored. If you can't run, we still want you to join us at the event to help out, sign up online to volunteer today. It really is a rewarding experience to volunteer at a race. Never forget that the reason you can race, is because some else is not.

Vermont Marathon Results

Fresh off a PR at Shamrock, John Batchelor decided to plan a family trip to Vermont, and run a marathon while he was there. So John tried to heal his injuries and cram in some training for the Key Bank Vermont City Marathon.

The race was held yesterday morning, and John continued his trend of setting PRs when he finished in 3:14:23. Keep in mind that John's first marathon was Chicago this past October where he ran 3:31 Four months later he ran Shamrock in 3:20. So in just over half a year John went from "marathon-virgin" to knocking 16 minutes off his time. You can view some pretty cool details on his race results online at the race site.

Congrats John! Hope you have a great vacation.

More Race Options

There are some races coming up (near and far) that may interest the RMEC:

05/23 Skirt Chaser - This race is held tomorrow afternoon in Raleigh. Registered women get a skirt, and men get a shirt. Women also get a head start, and the men try to catch them (chasing the skirts). First one to finish gets $500. The race is held downtown, and they have an outdoor block party to follow.

06/06 God's Country Marathon - Interested in squeezing in one more marathon before the summer? Frank and Ron are heading to the 35th Annual God's Country Marathon in Potter County, PA. By carpooling with them, it will be a low cost trip. Let Frank know if your are interest.

07/04 Great Raleigh Road Race - Run Four miles on the 4th of July. This is another Raleigh Race. Over time, the distance of this race has changed multiple times. The last few years it was a 5-miler. Now it is a 4-miler. If you are in town and looking for a PR. . . sign up! After all, what is your current 4-mile PR?

RUN RSVP: Saturday 05/23

I felt like we needed a change from the Harris Teeter routes, so I made a City Lake option. This is an eight mile route that starts by Chicos, and comes by my house at the halfway point for fluids. It also has a short portion on a dirt road which is kind of fun. There is a bathroom by Chicos, which is normally open.

If you need more miles, run around Westhaven after you finish. If you need less miles, you can cut off two full miles by turning right on Old Mill just before mile-4. This will cut out the fluid stop, and put you on a more narrow road, but I have run it before without trouble. Just be careful.

Run Details:

• Where: Saturday, 7:00 am @ City Lake (by Chicos)
• Supported: Yes - at my house
• Weather: Forecast
• Routes: 8.25 Miles

The weather looks great. It will be warmer than it has been this week, but sill good running weather. At 7:00 it will be in the mid 60s, and it will just start to crack the 70 point at 9:00. Please post a comment with your pace and distance. I really hope if you are doing a weekend run you will join us. We are getting between 10-15 runners on most weekends, but are missing some familiar faces that used to be regulars.

Monday Option: There is also a group planning to run Medoc this Monday morning. If you would like to run Monday, please post a comment here as well. We can carpool from the Teeter if anyone is interested.

Save 30% Online or In Store

FootLocker family of stores is offering 30% off coupons for use both in store and online. Coupons expire May 26, 2009.

• Foot Locker coupon code: FF9YPCLK printable coupon
• Champs coupon code: FF9Y6CP5 printable coupon
• Footaction coupon code: FF9YCP34 printable coupon

As always, we strongly recommend supporting your local running stores, but if you plan to order the same pair of shoes that you are running in today, this is often a fway to save a few bucks.

Register Today: Fun Run for Charities

I know most of the RMEC plans to run the Fun Run for Charities on May 30th. This race will be something fun and exciting for not only the running community, but also for those who try to improve our community through various organizations.

If you plan to run, please sign up TODAY! Speaking from experience, late race entries are always welcomed, but they make managing the event more challenging. They are planning for shirts, timing, aid stations, race packets, and more. All of these things are impacted by how many people register to run.

Counting spouses and children, the RMEC represents about 100 potential runners. Lets do our part to help the event organizers by signing up today. Seriously. . . take five minutes now and get registered!

As a reminder, there is a 1 mile, 5k, 10k, 15k, and Kids Dash. All events are priced low, so I hope you will consider adding a small contribution to one of the 48 participating charities during your registration. Pick your favorite one (but don't forget the the Rocky Mount Endurance Kids is one of the options).

The RMEC will have a booth set up at the expo with information about the club and our races. Be sure to race in your RMEC shirts, and be a positive influence on the event by cheering on other runners.