Medoc Volunteers Needed

First of all, thank you for coming through at Ford's Colony and the RMEK with your time and effort. It is very appreciated, and speaks volumes of the character of people in our club, and the families that support you as runners.

We once again need your help. The Medoc Trail Races presented by Raleigh Running Outfitters and Halifax County is the most challenging event we have to host. It is 25 minutes out of town, the race is long, and the setting is complex. You can't jump in a golf cart and drive the course at Medoc! This makes volunteers more important than ever. Runners are more likely to take a tumble, or get dehydrated when they cover 26.2 miles in the woods. Volunteers are critical to the success of the race.

With 30+ runners racing the weekend after Medoc, we are very hopeful that you will come out to help. Think of it as "paying it forward" for all of the volunteers that will support you in DC.

As you can imagine a good deal of planning goes in to where volunteers are placed and moved during the day. The sooner we have real names in our volunteer matrix, the easier things become. If we are lucky, we would like to shift volunteers around some this year to make things more exciting. Poor Russ stood at the bridge for six hours last year, and others had jobs that were very similar. We want to make it easier on you this time.

We already have 29 volunteers signed up, but we need more. Our goal is to hit 50. We really would like for some people to step up and be a "volunteer captain". We will count on you to direct a small group of volunteers on a variety of tasks. We will give you instructions on what needs to be done.

If you want to volunteer, go to www.medoctrailraces.com and sign up online. If you are interested in being a captain, post a comment here or email us at runrmec@yahoo.com This will be a fun and rewarding experience. Please help if you can!

A Half, Two 10s, and a Tri

If you missed our group run, you missed a great one. We had over 30 runners on the roads Saturday morning going anywhere from 4-23 miles. This Saturday is the last long run before we begin our taper, so pleases try to be there. This will be a great chance for everyone to meet each other who is traveling to MCM.

Despite the big crowd at the Teeter, there were four RMEC members who snuck of for some North Carolina races. Ron Flemming, ran the Hiddenhite Half Marathon, and set a new PR on a hilly course. His time of 1:43:40 earned him first in his age group. Lucky for Ron there were no caterpillars or yellow jackets in this race.

On Sunday morning, Ashley Bass and Brian Lankford entered the next race in the Second Empire Series. The Anna's Angels 10-Miler is the longest in the series. Just a few weeks ago, both of them were racing in the Magnificent Mile, so jumping up to a 10-miler makes for some interesting training. Ashley continues his assault on the North Carolina masters, by running a 1:02:14 (6:14 pace) over the hilly course. Only seven runners later Brian crossed the finish in 1:05:14 (6:32 pace). 51 year old Ashley took 13th overall, and 2nd in the Masters Division (getting beat by a 41 year old). Brian took 20th overall, and 2nd in his age group. This is a competitive race with 379 finishers.

Also on Sunday, Dave Lavely returned to the Duke Liver Half Ironman Triathlon. This is one of the more challenging Half Ironmans you can find on the east cost. The 70 mile bike ride is a hilly course, and the half marathon run is a wooded cross country course. Last year on a very hot day (remember Ford's Colony weekend in 2008?), Dave completed the course in 6:20. This year, he crushed that time when he finished in 5:51. Dave cut time in every element of the tri, but largest improvement was the half marathon run where he shaved 16 minutes off of last year's performance.

Great job everyone!

RACE REPORT: Hiddenite Festival Road Race

Submitted By: Ron Flemming

I had vacation planned for last week and was spending some of that time at Lake Norman so I searched online for nearby races. I found the Hiddenite Festival Road Race about 45 minutes away, which is a half marathon and 10k they have as part of their fall festival. I arrived at the Hiddenite Elementary School around 7:15am to pick up my packet, greeted by temps in the high 50's and a light rain/heavy mist. The course is a point-to-point route starting in Taylorsville, NC and ending in Hiddenite, NC (never heard of Taylorsville or Hiddenite??? Me either).

There is a 1 mile out and back starting at mile 6. We took shuttles to the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Taylorsville to where the starting line was. Even though we did not take the course route to the start, one thing I noticed was that we were in much more hilly country than the way the elevation chart appears. The course is currently pending certification and as part of the certification, they had to move the starting line about two hundred yards down the road to meet requirements, whereas it has started from the church the past two years.

Start time was 8:30, but we didn't get started until about 8:50, which was a little annoying because we were standing out in the cool rain. One of the shuttles was late getting to the half marathon start and then they were also having to coordinate the start of the 10k at the same time, 7 miles down the half course.

After getting started, I immediately began feeling the aches and pains of the weeks hiking and running activities...definitely not recovered. Butt and shin pain were prevalent and I was wondering how this was going to play out and was thinking I probably should not even be racing this...Given how uncomfortable I was and the hilly terrain, I thought my goal of sub-1:45 was unreachable.

Lots of ups and downs and the course ran through some beautiful countryside of pastures and some huge granite outcroppings. Finally around mile 6 when I hit the out and back section, things got warmed up and some of those aches and pains were subdued and I decided I was going to be able to push through. The downhills definitely helped my pace, but the uphills did just the opposite.

Getting closer to the finish, I had heard about two major hills and they were just that...After peaking the last hill and with the finish in site, I knew I had hit my goal and that was great. The finish line was the start of the Hiddenite Fall Festival and immediately after the finish the street was lined with tents and vendors selling food and drink and arts and crafts. We were met at the finish line with a medal and t-shirt. My watch time was 1:43:40, which got me 1st in the 25-29 age group and also took about 9.5 minutes off my half marathon PR.

Other than the delayed start, the entire event was great...I love the small local races (50-60 half runners here). I feel you get on a much more friendly and personal level with other runners and the volunteers and the locals seem to really enjoy it. Hiddenite is known for a special gem called "hiddenite" and also emerald and sapphires. The slogan on the back of the t-shirt is "a gem of a race".

One last cool thing about this race is a special guest was announced at the start...Doug Dawkins ran with us. He is the Boogie races director and also completed a cross-country run from North Carolina to California.

RUN RSVP: Saturday 09/25

There is a cold front coming in. . . it is going to 62F at the start of our run, and is not predicted to get over 64F. Sounds like a great day for a long run! There is a chance of some rain, but I don't think this will be a problem.

The long run schedule calls for a 12 mile recovery run this weekend. That is the route I have linked below. I know some of you are doing a 20 miler this weekend, and others of you will probably run more than 12 for your recovery weekend, so please post your distance, pace and and starting time when you RSVP. I am sure you will find someone willing to run with you along the way.

Run Details:

• Where: Saturday, 6:30 am @ Harris Teeter
• Supported: Yes at the Tracks
• Weather: Forecast
• Routes: 4 Miles; 12 Miles

Fluids will only be at the tracks. The route hits this spot twice on your run. If you need additional fluids, please carry them with you. It is important that you RSVP, so I can make the correct amount of fluids. When there is just one fluid stop, it is easy to run out.

Good luck to Dave this weekend at the Duke Liver Center Half Ironman Triathlon!

ONE MONTH AWAY!

Can you believe it. . . just one month away from your marathon! Hard to believe how fast the training has gone by. Here are some more updates on the Marine Corps Marathon. Many of you have already found these links on your own, but just in case I wanted to keep the RMEC up to date.

Health and Fitness Expo: Don't forget that all of us need to make our way to the Expo and pick up our race packets, our timing D-tag and our "mock neck participant shirt". I just hope it does not have a zipper! You need to print out your E-Confirmation card to get your packet. If you are picking one up for someone else, you also need a signed letter.

If you have not done a big marathon before you will be impressed with the size of the expo, and everything they have to offer. It can be chaotic, so take it slow. There are lots of great speakers lined up as well at the expo. The schedule can be found on the link above.

Race Program: The 68 page MCM Race Program is now online. If this does not get you excited about the race, nothing will. The online version allows you to flip that pages, and zoom in on the information that interest you. You will get a printed copy at the expo in your race packet as well. Be sure to check out page 37 for a picture of your finisher's medal!

Runner Tracking: The MCM will offer runner tracking for fans and spectators. When this service works, it is fantastic. Like the New York City Marathon it will provide splits every 5k. Be warned however that some races (like the Disney Land Half Marathon) are delayed or send every alert at one time once the race is over. Seeing that the MCM does it every 5k has me optimistic it will be more like New York. If you have family at the race, or at home, this is a great way for them to monitor your progress.

Late September Newsletter: If you have not seen the latest MCM newsletter, it is online. Much of the information I mention above, but you can also learn about the Finisher's Coin we will earn, race entertainment, the finish line festival an more.

Transfers and Deferment: The last day to do a race deferment and have a guaranteed spot for next year is September 30th. This has a $25 fee, and will give you a code for the 2010 race. The Transfer policy has now expired however.

Volunteers Still Needed

09/23 UPDATE FROM TRACY: Thank you for the time commitments we have received from several of you for the RMEK. The more “coaches” we have for one-on-one with the children the more successful the program will be. Here is the updated schedule, if there is a conflict, please let me know. There are still a few dates that we desperately need some more help. Please check your schedule and see if you can help on the following dates (we need 2 more for each date):

• Y 9-29, 10-20, 11-3, 11-17 Red Oak 11-5
• The following dates we could use one more person: 10-13, 10-15, 10-22, 10-27, 10-29, 11-10.

If you can help on one or more of these dates, please let me know.

The RMEK is about to begin the fall season. We are just one week away from the first group sessions. Already 20 kids have signed up, and most of the fliers have not been passed out by the schools yet, so this group could easily triple or quadruple in size in the next 10 days!

To keep this a safe program for everyone involved, we need a good volunteer to child ratio. If we do not have more volunteers sign up, we will have to start turning kids away. Even if you just sign up for one day after work, it makes a difference! If you can smile and jog in a circle with kids while encouraging them, you are qualified.

I wish I could post the comments from the parents signing up their kids on the blog, but for privacy reasons I will not. We ask parents to share information about their child that we should know. We are told about kids who love to run, who are excited to participate, who are fun and silly. We also have children who have issues with weight control, self esteem concerns, minor medical concerns. . . the RMEK is a program that this community needs.

We offer a non-competitive environment where everyone feels included. If you are the first to finish, or the last to finish, you accomplish the same goal, and are treated with the same level of respect. I honestly believe that this program can be a life changing event for these children.

Find one day. . . and please volunteer.

YMCA JOGGING TRAIL:
09/29: Coaches: Misty, Michael; Volunteers: Kelly, _________
10/06: Coaches: Misty, Elaine; Volunteers: Ursula, Laura
10/13: Coaches: Misty, Elaine; Volunteers: Ursula, Ron
10/20: Coaches: Misty, Elaine; Volunteers: ______, ________
10/27: Coaches: Misty, Elaine; Volunteers: Kelly, _________
11/03: Coaches: Misty, Elaine; Volunteers: Kelly, Ron
11/10: Coaches: Misty, Elaine; Volunteers: Ursula, ________
11/17: Coaches: Misty, Elaine; Volunteers: Kelly, _________

RED OAK PARK
10/01: Coaches: Tracy, Ryan; Volunteers: Ashley, Brian, Laura, Eric
10/08: Coaches: Tracy, Ryan; Volunteers: Ashley, Brian, Eric
10/15: Coaches: Tracy, Ryan; Volunteers: Russ, Laura
10/22: Coaches: Tracy, Michael; Volunteers: Brian, Laura
10/29: Coaches: Tracy, _______; Volunteers: Ashley, Brian, Laura
11/05: Coaches: Tracy, Scott; Volunteers: Ron, ________
11/12: Coaches: Tracy, Scott; Volunteers: Russ, Ryan, Arthur
11/19: Coaches: Tracy, Scott; Volunteers: Ashley, Arthur

Bear Butte Running Camp

I thought we could all use a laugh today. If you have watched any running on TV there is a pretty good chance you have seen this commercial already. This is the Bear Butte Running Camp by Nike that promotes "natural running". Several world class runners are in the video. If you look really close, you might see Steve in the video. This is nothing dirty, but might be considered PG-13 by some. Don't forget your sunscreen!