Who has a Sweaty Butt?

Frank continued his quest for 12 marathons in 12 months this past weekend by entering the no-frills "Sweaty Butt 50k". Frank swore he would never do another 50k, but he has a short memory and signed up for another. This event took place on many of the single track trails in Umstead Park. Only allowed 30 runners participated, and there were no awards, no medals, no official time, and no shirt. You got to admit, having a "Sweaty Butt" race shirt would be fun to have. . . or at least some "Sweaty Butt" running shorts.

With ten miles to go, Frank was back at the main aide station. He was ready to call it a day and start passing out Medoc brochures, but that is when fellow Mangum runner Jeff Dufor convinced him to go back in for the final loop. So back they went for 10 more miles of madness. They knew the pace would be slow, but they also knew they wanted to complete the event. After nearly nine hours and 30 minutes they both finished with pride in the near 100% humidity. Congrats Frank!

What are you running?

Time to check in with your race planning. We have had several posts about potential races and each of you have started to make your choices and begin training. I know we have crowds doing Ford's Colony, Chicago, OBX, and Medoc. Take a minute to post a comment about what your upcoming races are. This will help others to select their race, and encourage people to get signed up.

I know we have done this before, but plans change and we have added some new runners (and races) into the fold. So everyone. . . near or far. . . short or long. . .let us know what your plans are!

RUN RSVP: Saturday July 5th

We had 20+ runners last weekend. . . lets keep it going. The weather is expected to be hot, so we are starting a 6:00 am. I know that is early, but you will be glad to have it over with and you can hang out at the pool when you are done

Run Details:

• Where: Saturday, 6:00 am @ Harris Teeter
• Supported: Yes - 1 water fountain, 2 Gatorade
• Weather: Forecast
• Route: 9 mile route below; 13 mile route

The routes are not as easy to shorten this week. If you plan on running less, I recommend staying on the Candle Wood side, and taking fluids at the train tracks. Here is a good option for a five mile route.

To view the written directions, please click on Notes, on the map page. You can copy-and-paste these and print them if needed. Please RSVP by posting a comment, and let us know your estimated pace and the distance you plan to run.

4th of July Race?

Looking to set a PR? Butch is hosting the Great Raleigh Road Race tomorrow at the state capital. This is a five mile race. Many of us have never run a 5-miler, so just by showing up you get a PR!

Registration is only $25, and they have a kids one-mile race for $10. Both event include a race shirt. I am pretty sure I will be running. The kids may join in as well. Anyone else interested? It is an 8:00 am start, so you will need to get up early to get there. You can save time and fill out your application before you go.

Please reply if you plan to run. I will post a RUN RSVP for Saturday morning shortly.

Race Registrations

I wanted to take a minute and update the RMEC on race registrations for the two events we are hosting. In case you have not been paying attention, or maybe you just stumbled on to our blog, we are hosting:

• 09/13 Ford's Colony 5k and 10k in Rocky Mount
• 10/04 Medoc Trail Races in Hollister

Both events are doing extremely well with registrations, and will fill up. Seriously. . . they will both sell out. The Medoc Trail Races now has runners registered from 10 different states. They range from age 19 to age 62. We also have several running their first marathon at Medoc! This race is going to be a blast.

The Ford's Colony races are going to fill up fast! Registration has only been opened five days, and the 10k is already at 15% of capacity. It is clearly the preferred choice over the 5k. 15% may not sound like much, but we reached this number is less than a week, without any posters, brochures, and fliers. Once these are printed this week, expect to see the numbers move even faster. If you plan to run, I would suggest signing up now!

RMEC Results from the Weekend

We had a great turnout for the weekend run at the Harris Teeter. 22 total people joined us for the run! It was enough runners to snap a picture for a new web page header. Even though we had a crowd in Rocky Mount, we also had a few RMEC members racing.

Flat Out 5k: This Saturday in Greenville, 252 lined up for the Flat Out 5k. Jeff Hartney was able to beat all but eight of those runners with a time of 19:21. This was good enough for 1st in his age group by two full minutes! Tom Thurman was the next RMEC runner to finish with a time of 26:11 and 13th out of 25 in his age group. Arthur Bennett also performed well finishing in 28:20. For complete results vist ecrun.org. Great job guys!

Kure Beach Triathlon: Further from home, two RMEC members competed in the Kure Beach Triathlon. This is not your typical tri. It takes the following format: 375 meter swim, 1.5 mile run, 20K bike, 1.5 mile run, and another 375 meter swim. Nothing like running to the finish line coming out of the ocean! Jeff Miller finished in 76th with a time of 1:11:26. Dave Lavely was only five minutes behind crossing the line at 1:16:42. Visit Setup Events for complete results.

BASF Smile Train Triathlon: Also racing a tri this weekend was Ursula Forrester in Wake Forest. Ursula finished the sprint triathlon in 1:24:20. This pool swim event was a Finish Strong event. This organization continues to put on solid races. The detailed results are not available yet, so we do not know Ursula's placing.

RUN RSVP: Saturday 06/28

There seems to be some new life back in the RMEC! I have seen a surge of RMEC runners signing up for the Medoc and Ford's Colony, so I know you are reading the blog. Now it is time to wake up early and hit the roads! I realize this weekend leads into 4th of July, but I have high hopes for a big crowd at the Teeter at 6:30 tomorrow. I will bribe you with food if we have 10 people RSVP.

Run Details:

• Where: Saturday, 6:30 am @ Harris Teeter
• Supported: Yes - Fluid at Tracks
• Weather: Forecast
• Route: 6-mile route; 9 mile route below.

I created two new routes from scratch that make it so everyone will be sharing the same roads, and hopefully have runners nearby at all times (slower and faster runners). I am going "backwards" from normal and therefore not beginning on Candlewood. The route has two portions when you go to the end of a street and come back out, so you will be passing runners multiple times in the run.

If six miles is too long for you. . . we still want you to come out and run! These are easy to cut miles, just don't go to the end of the dead-end sections. If nine miles is too short, you can add in distance. I intentionally made it shorter this time however, so we could all finish close together and have some bagel and doughnuts.

To view the written directions, please click on Notes, on the map page. You can copy-and-paste these and print them if needed. Please RSVP by posting a comment, and let us know your estimated pace.