RUN RSVP: Saturday 09/18 @ 6:30 a.m.

Greetings club members!  There will be a group run tomorrow morning.  I should have posted this message sooner...my sincere apologies.  Michael passed along his proxy to me for blog postings, so you just never know what may pop up.  Kidding!  
PLEASE NOTE the scheduled run time has been changed to 6:30 (30 minutes later) to allow some time for the sun to rise.  There is not a planned route for tomorrow and there will not be fluids put out unless someone can volunteer to take care of them.  

Run Details:

• Where: Saturday, 6:30 am @ Harris Teeter
• Supported: None planned
• Weather: Forecast
• Routes: Create your own!

Several members are participating in races this weekend.  Good luck to all who are racing!  

Please RSVP below with your pace and distance.  Happy running!

RESULTS: White Lake Internataional

Several months ago Patti Miller decided to take on the challenge of a half-ironman distance triathlon. She has not slowed down with her training ever since. She has been out two to three times a day on the bike, running, in the pool, or some other cardio work. This past weekend gave Patti a test to see how here training in going so far.

Although the "big" race is not until November, Patti headed to White Lake to compete in the Inside Out Sports White Lake Internataional Tri this past weekend. Here hard work paid off. Patti finished 41st among 240 women in the race. Her xxx meter open water swim was competed in 38:32. After a quick transition she jumped on the bike where she completed the XX mile ride in 1:24:03. This was the 41st fastest bike time among women and the 9th fastest in her age group. After the final transition, Patti got back to her roots where she ran a 48:14 10k! For the record, that time would have placed her 7th at the Golf Club Race this past weekend. . . and that was after swimming and biking!

All of this added up to a 2:55:22 finishing time, and a 5th place finish among the largest and most competitive age group. Excellent work Patti. Can't wait to see the results of you half!

Tar River Connector Trail

Carol shared some great news last week. As you may know there has been an initiative going on for the past two years to try to improve the running and cycling access around Rocky Mount. There are many phases of the plan, but the first step is to create the Tar River Connector Trail. I am please to report that funding in now officially in place, and work on the trail will begin in late September.

The Tar River Connector Trail will connect the Battle Park Trail to the paved jogging loop near the YMCA. This means there will be a safe route for runners and children on bikes to use when coming and going from the YMCA. The trail will wind along Independence Blvd and near the football field. There will be cross walks in place at the I-64 ramp, and it will connect by the dog pound.

You should start seeing progress any day now! This certainly sounds like a great opportunity for a new race. . . hmmmm.

RUN RSVP: Sunday 09/12

Some people have asked about a group run tomorrow. Thought I would start a post just in case there is interest. Please share what time, distance, and place you plan to run. You might find a running buddy!

Run Details:

• Where: Sunday @ TBD
• Supported: No
• Weather: Forecast
• Routes: TBD

Congrats to everyone who raced today. Please RSVP below with your pace and distance.

Volunteers Needed

Hello RMEC. The Golf Club at Rocky Mount 5k & 10k is now just five days away, and we are still very short on volunteers. Please post comments if you can help out.

THURSDAY: We will be stuffing race packets this Thursday. We will meet at the main RBC building, and use the same format that we always use. We really need between 5-7 volunteers. Any more than that and it actually slows things down. We will start at 5:30 pm, and should be finished in less than two hours if all goes as planned. Each race bag will get a race number, safety pins, shirt, Wheaties sample, and a few race brochures. Nothing to fancy.

• Michael
• Ted/Liz
• Elaine
• Amber
• Jon
• ________
• ________

FRIDAY: The Harrison Family YMCA was kind enough to lend us their lobby for early packet pickup. We will have the early packet pickup from noon until 6:00 pm. It is an easy job to do. All we do look the runner up on our list, mark them off, and give them their race packet. We of course also want to encourage anyone who is not currently a member of the YMCA to request a tour of the facility in case they wish to join. At a minimum we need:

• 11:30 Michael, Scott, Yvonne
• 12-1 Michael, Scott, Yvonne
• 1-2 Richard, Jackson
• 2-3 _________
• 3-4 Alane Floyd
• 4-5 Liz, Jeannie H
• 5-6 Ursula, Michael

SATURDAY: If you know of any friends who would be interested in volunteering please direct them to our race website ASAP. We build a detailed volunteer plan to ensure we have everything covered. We like to tell the volunteers what they need to do prior to arriving. It makes things go much smoother. At the race website, they can register for free as a volunteer. A couple of places where we really need help

• Lead Biker: This is not a difficult job, but it is very important for the success of the race. If you can ride a bike, follow directions, and shout instructions, your are qualified.
• Packet Pickup Coordinator: We need a single person who can guide 5-7 people on race morning with packet pickup. It is a fun and easy job. I just want to make sure I can speak to the person before race morning.

RUN RSVP: Saturday 9/04 @ 6:00 AM

This may be the last weekend that we have 6:00 am for our official start time. It is still dark at 6:00, and I need to keep safety in mind when trying to encourage 70 people to come out for a run. I know several of us have a 20+ mile run scheduled tomorrow, so I was trying to avoid a latter start.

According to our long run schedule, we will have a 4, 14, and 22 miles run options. This is a big week for those training for Steamtown. Treat this like a race weekend. 20+ miles is hard work. Eat some carbs today and tonight. Get to be early. Bring GUs/Gels to the run. Pick an outfit that will not chafe. Whatever it takes to make it a good run is what you need to do.

I am not sure who is in town to help with fluids. For this reason I decided to take the lazy approach and don the 6.67 mile loop. I prefer to use this route for 20+ runs. It keeps every one close to fluids and works in some short hills. You will need to add or subtract a little to hit the exact distance of your run, but that should be easy to do.

Run Details:

• Where: Saturday, 6:00 am @ Harris Teeter
• Supported: Yes at the tracks
• Weather: Forecast
• Routes: 4-Miles, 6.67-miles

There are several ways you can tweak this route. Steve made this suggestion, instead of going to the back of Woodstock every time, you can do the Ketch Point loop (Miller's House) or Hansford loop (Ryan's House). This will change the scenery some. If you want to run more than 4 miles but less than 6.67, just cut off the out-and-back portion at Woodstock.

The weather forecast should be nice thanks to Earl. Even with starting temps at 66F, you should still arrive well hydrated. If you are running 20+ be sure to eat as well. Please RSVP below with your pace and distance.

RMEC Shirt Swap

Most of you have picked up your RMEC shirts. I still have about a dozen that have not been picked up yet. I will have them with me at the run this weekend. If you would like to come by and pick them up, send me an email and we will work out the details. I really appreciate every one's patience with this complex order. . . but I am really ready to get the shirts out of the van.

• Kelly Allen: L Tomato, L Agave Blue
• Ashley Bass: L Thunderstruck
• Margaret Bentley: S Tomato
• Tampa Cooper: L Agave Blue
• Robin Johnson: XL Thunderstruck
• Jean Kerr: L Royal Blue (note: they did not send the Agave Blue - I can refund if you don't want it)
• Wayne Painter: XL Agave Blue

Please note, the list above is only based on my "check-off" sheet. If I have you listed above, and you already picked up your shirt let me know.

I have been asked by LOTS of people about extra shirts. Once I have given out the pre-paid shirts, I will take inventory of every technical shirt we have and let people know what is available on the blog. There will be a pecking order however. . .

1. If you ordered a RMEC shirt but don't have one that fits
2. If you do not have a RMEC shirt
3. Everyone else

SHIRT SWAP:
I know that several of you found the sizing of your shirts is not working as well as you hoped. If you have a shirt that you want to get rid of, post the details here. Include the size, style, and color. Even if you wore it once and discovered the size is not good, you can still post that. No need to have it sit in your closet.