Sign Up for Nashville 5k

The Nashville Blooming Festival 5k is about to go from $15 to $25 on their entry fee. This is a small town local race that the RMEC should do our best to help support. The race is on May 10th (one week from Saturday). Next to our Turkey Trot, this is the closest 5k you will find to Rocky Mount, so get out and run!

If you print and mail your application by tomorrow, you should okay for the $15 fee. There are not any kid races, but you could walk with them in the 5k if they are willing.

Post a comment if you plan to run!

Medoc Trail Races - Sponsorships Needed

The Medoc Trail Races presented by Raleigh Running Outfitters is now a reality. We have made lots of progress, and our race comittee is meeting about every other week. Raleigh Running Outfitters is now the presenting sponsor, and Eagle Press is printing all race brochures for us.

We have also finalized the events, and have decided to focus on two different races. We will have the Medoc 10 Miler, and the Medoc Marathon. Both races will start on park roads to allow runners to spread out, but will then enter the trails for a beautiful and challenging course.

Our goal of this race is to give runners a first class event, that includes a unique race medal, a colorful long sleeve shirt, a well supported run, and good food at the finish. With the sponsorships we have so far, we can pull this off, but just barely. If we are hit with any surprise expenses late in the process, it could really have an adverse effect on our budget. For this reason I wanted to remind people that we are still looking for sponsors.

If you know anyone who may be interested, please let us know. We hope to go to print on the race brochures this week, and open registration in the next two weeks. For this reason we really want to finalize our key sponsors now, so they can get the full benefit.

We would love to bring in a Platinum Sponsor for the event with a $500 contribution. Raleigh Running Outfitters was able to give $1000 in cash and merchandise, but an extra $500 would make us feel much more comfortable with our budget. We are also looking for Gold ($250- $499) and Silver Sponsors ($150 - $249) as well.

Please let me know if you know of anyone who may be interested. You can have them email us at runrmec@yahoo.com. Thank you!

Weekend Results

Jeff Miller and Dave Lavely joined 234 other runners this Saturday in Chapel Hill for the inaugural Tar Heel 10-miler. Not a bad sized crowd for the first running of the race. Both Jeff and Dave are training for a Half Ironman next weekend at White Lake, so this was a "training race". Based on the results it appears they are ready for White Lake. Jeff finished in 19th place overall with 1:08:11 (6:49 pace). This time was good enough for 4th place in his age group. Only eight runners later, Dave crossed in 1:11:20 (7:08 pace). Dave benefited from being an "old man" and took first place in his age group! (Kidding about the old man thing). Here is a link to the compete results.

Speaking of old men. . . Frank completed another marathon running the Country Music Marathon. Frank said, "I have never passed so many people in my life. I felt like I was flying." This information of course came after the fact that Frank told me they arrived late, and crossed the starting line with the half marathon walkers. . .one hour after the gun time. Never-the-less, Frank bobbed and weaved his way from the back, and finished with an impressive 5:14:45, his fastest marathon in 2008. This was much better than his gun time of 6:18:21.

I also wanted to point out there were big crowds are both the Saturday Morning run, and the Lake Gaston practice swim. Between the two we had 20+ athletes out! I am glad to see more people out enjoying the weather and staying active. So of you we have not seen on a Saturday morning for a long time. Come out and join us again. . . we would love to see you!

I have updated the 2008 RMEC Results Page. Let me know if I am missing anyone.

Good luck racers!

I know of two RMEC members racing this weekend. Please speak up if there are others. First, close to home, Dave Lavely is running the Tarheel 10-Miler in Chapel Hill. This is a new addition to the Franklin 5000 race. If you are looking for a 5k or a 10 mile race, go join Dave on Saturday.

Further away from home, Frank "Triple F" Lilley, is adding another state and another marathon to his resume as he heads to Tennessee for the Country Music Marathon. Frank is running this race with his semi-son. This race constantly has great reviews, so I am sure Frank will have a blast, and will have lots of pictures to show for it. Good luck guys!

If anyone was interested in a different 5k, the Skirt Chaser 5k takes place late Saturday afternoon. This race pits the boys against the girls, by giving the women a head start in the race. It will be followed with an outdoor social. Should be lots of fun. Lastly, there is a 5k in Cary on Sunday if anyone is interested.

RUN RSVP: Saturday 04/26

Note the time change. We are going to start meeting at 7:00 am now. The sun is up earlier, and the weather will soon be getting hotter. This may be a small group, as a few of you are racing, and several are swimming on Saturday. Unless people are opposed to it, I was going to use the same routes we used last weekend, and leave from City Lake. I have family in town, and having a water stop at my house makes it easier to set up.

The 10 mile route is pictured below, but there is a shorter 7.5 mile route that uses the same roads if anyone is interested.

Run Details:

• Where: Saturday, 7:00 am @ City Lake
• Supported: Yes - My House and fountains
• Weather: Forecast (61F at 7:00 and 68F at 10:00)
• Route: 10 mile route is below. Shorter 7.5 Mile Loop

Please RSVP in the comments if you are coming. If you can provide your estimated pace, it will help. This lets people know if there is someone near their speed to run with, and will help encourage others to come out for a run. Thanks!

Tour de Georgia

Hello all. You may not know it, but the Tour de Georgia is taking place this week. It is a great race - I just wish it did not take place during our busy season so I could go watch a couple stages. There is a very good field this year with Team Slipstream, Astana(last year's Team Discovery basically), Jelly Belly, High Road, and CSC(possibly the strongest Team Team in the world) involved to name a few. If you have never seen a stage race, they occasionally have something called a Team Time Trial. Basically, the 8 members of a team (or however many are remaining in the race - you start with 8) work together to set the fasted time possible on a course by working together. One difference for this one will be that they are not allowing time trial / aero bikes to be used due to the hilly nature of Road Atlanta.

Tomorrow, 4/24/08 they are racing 4 laps of Road Atlanta (2.5 mile lap) as the first Team Time Trial in the US since 1986. They will keep the time of the 5th team rider to cross the finish line which opens up different strategies. It is pretty short and exciting. Anyway, you can watch it live on the internet starting at 1PM. VS will show highlights from the entire tour on May 4th at 2PM. If you get SportSouth on your dish package - you might be able to see daily coverage - I'm jealous!--Eric

Fiesta Biathlon Results

Okay, I willingly admit the following race results are not as impressive as a Boston Qualifier, or a debut marathon time, however in the Rocky Mount Endurance Club, we acknowledge all race performances for the sheer fact that it takes guts to sign up for a race. That being said, four RMEC people raced this weekend in the Fiesta Biathlon in Greenville, NC.

Ursula and I, had issues arranging childcare, so we entered as a relay team and took turns watching the kids. We placed 5th in the coed division. I ran a 20:03 in the 5k, and Ursula rode 55:03 in the 15 mile bike. This combined for 1:15:05, and placed us 32 out of all finishers (relay and individuals).

Our combined relay time was still not good enough to hold off Eric Seale. After setting a 5k PR of 28:40, Eric posted the 8th fastest bike time of 43:30. His bike speed allowed him to pass 35 racers! This moved him up from 64th place after the run to 29th by the end of the race. All of this was good enough for a 4th place age group finish.

Right on Ursula's back wheel was Rob Powell with a time of 1:15:14. Rob was one of the original founders of the Fiesta Biathlon over 20 years ago, and he is still racing! Sunday, he began with a 22:35 5k and finished with a 52:40 on the bike. Despite finishing 33rd overall, Rob was in a super competitive age group and only managed 11th in his age group. He would have placed no worse than 5th in every other age group.

Congrats everyone on taking on a new challenge!