Union City Run (Group Run for 10/26/13)

Wow . . . it's been a long time since I update the blog. Anywho, below you'll find the route for this Saturday's Union City run, a beautiful four mile loop through country roads (with nigh infinite possibilities for spurs and additional loops for those who want to run more). Informed sources indicate that there will be ample parking at the park (you can't miss it--drive to the Baptist church and hang a left), and we'll meet there at 8:00 a.m.

Red dots:

1. The Meet-Up: I'll be brief--downtown Union City isn't that confusing. Once you get here, you'll see two churches and a defunct grocery store. Turn left (i.e., north) at the old, red-brick Baptist church, and you'll see the park on your left;
2. Dog Alert I: Last time I was running through here, a puppy ran out to greet me. He's probably not a puppy anymore; and
3. Dog Alert II: Last time I was running through here, a really sad old dog ran away from me. Hope he's doing okay.

I haven't run the rest of this route, but the crew at the Baldwin Running Consultancy says it's worth a gander or two, and I believe them.

If you need to get out to UC, here's a map, starting in downtown Richmond:

1. North on Main,
2. Right on the bypass,
3. Left on the bypass exit just past the school,
4. Which will lead you to Union City Road (at the light off the exit, just drive under the train trestle), and
5. Continue on five miles or so until you get to Union City.

If you're coming from Irvine or parts near (you know who you are), take Charlie Norris Road off Irvine Road and head north until you get to UC.

See you then!

Happy Hour Run Route

Here's the Official Happy Hour Route, as it is now and always will be:

Red dots:

1. Apollo Pizza: Start, finish, after-party;
2. E.C. Million Park: There are two Million Parks in Richmond (note the proper noun--there are not 2,000,000 parks in Richmond); we're going through the one that doesn't allow dogs;
3. St. Andrew's;
4. Grey Oaks: A nice hill, and right into the sunset; and
5. Rosedale . . . (drops snow-globe).

See you every first and third Thursday.

Richmond Centre Seven (Group Run for 09/14/13)

This week's group run will be a delightful seven mile loop starting from Richmond Centre (or is it "Center"? Meh.). We'll meet near Michael's (the crafty place), cover Goggins, Tate's Creek, Main Street, Lancaster, and the Bypass back to Michael's. To wit:

And, once again, it's time for RED DOTS WITH YELLOW NUMBERS!:

1. Michael's at RC: This is where we begin and end;

2. For anyone who wants to tack on extra mileage, there's a three mile loop you can add on at this point (actually, it's like 3.4 . . . stop whining). If you're interested, let me know;

3. The Arlington Golf Course: Free golf balls! (Again!);

4. For those of you who might want to get in an even eight miles, run up and down Grey Oaks at this point; and

5. Yes, we're running along the bypass, which we may cross at some point. Get ready for some frogger-style fun.

See you Saturday!

The EKU XC Course (Group Run for 09/07/13)

This Saturday's group run will cover the EKU wood chip and cross country course (a.k.a. "The Widowmaker"). Park near the corner of Kit Carson and Van Hoose on campus (across from the track, near the old planetarium). As per usual, we'll take off around 8:00 a.m.

And, yup, the red dots correspond to the following points of interest:

1. The Old EKU Planetarium: Our starting point. It looks like Marvin the Martian lives here;
2. The EKU Track;
3. The EKU Football Field;
4. The EKU Wood Chip Trail: One mile long--now with fresh wood chips!;
5. Entrance to the XC Course: Whatever you do, do NOT sit on the picnic tables--they're very touchy about this;
6. A Creek: I once saw a big snapping turtle on the course here; and
7. The Trail to Taylor Fork: If you want to climb the fence, dodge the cowpats (and maybe the cows themselves), and climb another fence, you'll get to Taylor Fork, a nice, if ticky, bio-preserve about half a mile from the XC course.

I'm planning to build on the regular group run to get in an ill-advised 20-miler (aka, "The Tour de Richemonde"). I will be running this slowly. If anybody's interested in joining, let me know.

1. The EKU Campus: This route will start at Irvine McDowell Park at the intersection of Crabbe Street and University Avenue. I'll be leaving here about 7:45 a.m. to jog over to the old planetarium and meet everyone for the regular run;
2. The EKU XC Course: The site of said regular run;
3. Old Town Branch Road: It's pretty out here;
4. Richmond Centre: Might stop off at a convenience store for a chocolate milk/bathroom break;
5. The Arlington Golf Course: Free golf balls!!!; and
6. Downtown Richemonde: Hence the course's TDR designation.

See you Saturday!

AOTD, September 3, 2013

Today's Article of the Day: Competitor Group Int'l, the crew that puts on the Rock 'n' Roll race series, recently decided to cut funding for elite athletes. Toni Reavis, road running's uber-announcer, weighs in on the issue, deriding CGI's move but concluding that

[a]fter twenty years-plus of this every-race-a-universe-unto-itself system, without any regulations to control access and eligibility to win money, without a circuit of events that could be molded and sold coherently, any economy of scale that might have taken the sport to the next level was squandered, and results are finally at hand. The public has long since lost interest in the outcome of foot races. 

Competitor Group isn’t to blame for the demise of elite racing (other than for the abrupt nature of the current decision), it is only the cold-eyed messenger.

Ouch.

The really cool thing is that Scott Dickey, President and CEO of Competitor, chose to respond to Reavis in the comments section.

AOTD, August 30, 2013

Okay, so today's Article of the Day isn't an article. It's a video. But for those of you who haven't come across this little gem--and for anyone who needs a shot of motivation--here you go.

Hope to see you all bright and early tomorrow for the Old Wilderness Trail group run!

AOTD, August 29, 2013

Today's article of the day: A nice little bit from Running Times* about the rise of small races (as in races capped at 300 or so registrants and marketed as alternatives to 10,000+ entrant "mega-marathons").

Best take-away stat: Nearly 20 times as many Americans finished a marathon in 2012 as in 1976--25,000 vs. 487,000. Chicago alone had over 37,000 finishers last year, 12,000 more than what the entire country had in 1976.

Best quote: "[My races are] for those of you who don't want to run with 40,000 of your closest friends . . . There's a time and place for a big race, and there's a time and a place to be with yourself and just run," says "Fat Pat" McCloskey, a Pennsylvania race director who markets his events as alternatives to crowded Philadelphia races. His "spring 10-miler," billed as an alternative to the Philadelphia Broad Street 10-Mile Run, had 180 finishers in its first year.

*Note: This article appeared in RT, but the site will indicate runnersworld.com; both publications are produced by Rodale, Inc.

Article of the Day, August 28, 2013

Those who follow our sport at its higher levels will no doubt be interested to know that our own EKU Colonels Men's Cross Country team is going into the season ranked #11 in the nation (between #10 Princeton and #12 Oregon); EKU is ranked #1 in the Southeast Region, ahead of #2 Virginia and #3 NC State. The official preseason rankings were released yesterday by the U. S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA for not-so-short) and have Oklahoma State, Northern Arizona, and Colorado at the top of the list.

Sadly, EKU doesn't have any home meets this season, but they will be participating in the UK Invitational on September 14 . . . Road trip, anyone?

Old WILDerness Trail (Group Run for 08/31/13)

The next group run will be Saturday, August 31 @ 8:00 a.m. The route is below, but here are the broad strokes: Old Wilderness Trail to Cedar Hill Drive to Pineur Road to Boone Trail Road to Three Forks Road, then turn around at Red House Road and head back. The total course is 12 miles (actually about 11.6, but I'll have a spur that will let anyone who wants to do the full 12 finish out); we'll have turn-arounds along the way to let people get in 3 miles, 5 miles, 7.4829 miles, or whatever they want.

We'll meet at Glenn Marshall Elementary, which is off the bypass--just take Main Street north until you get to the bypass, turn right, and the school will be about a quarter mile down on your left (Note: I need to double-check on the parking situation--so stay tuned).

As before, the red dots correspond to the following points of interest (and, by the way, the little flags w/ numbers are mile markers; note that this is an out-and-back course, so you're seeing the mile markers for both the out and back portions of the run):

1. The 1.5 mile turn-around: A creek and a cornfield. You can't miss it;
2. The 2.5 mile turn-around: The intersection of Pineur and Boone Trail;
3. A little free-range yappy dog lives here. He will bite. I hope he someday gets eaten by a cow;
4. Scenery!;
5. Scenery!;
6. Scenery!;
7. Scenery!;
8. Scenery!;
9. Scenery!; and
10. Scenery!

See you Saturday!

Mighty Oaks from Tiny Acorns Grow

A modest but hardy party set out from Reba this morning for the first ever RRC group run. It was a lovely morning, cool and foggy. One group covered three miles, the other nigh on seven--we'll save the full eight mile loop for another day. Good running, everybody!

And, just for kicks (and to explain why my kicks were soaked with dew), here are some pictures I took of the Lake Reba environs this morning while getting ready to run:

A few announcements:
1. As per my FB post, we're going to start a few different group runs throughout the week: a weekday early morning run, a weekday happy hour run, and the standard weekend run. If anybody's willing to help coordinate any of these runs on a regular basis, drop me a line at richmondkyrunners@gmail.com;
2. We're going to have a regular blog feature known as "Richmond Rave Runs" (pace Runner's World). If you've got a run somewhere near Richmond that you lurve, send me an email with the course details (preferably with a screen capture from runningmap.com, mapmyrun.com, or some similar source) and a few points of interest, and I'll be sure to put it up on the blog;
3. Next week's group run will be Old Wilderness Trail to Boone Trail to Three Forks Road (Note: None of these are actual "trails," though OWT does feature a lot of dirt and gravel). Stay tuned for the official course map; and
4. On September 7, I'm planning to do a 20-miler around town (to be known as the "Tour de Richemonde"). The weekly group run will feature various segments of the course. If anyone wants to do the full 20, please let me know--I'd love to have the company. (Edit: Previous draft said this would happen on August 24. Please disregard.)

'Til next time, happy running!

The Three Rs: Reba Run Route (Group Run for 08/24/13)

This is the course for Saturday's run, starting at Lake Reba/Gibson Bay. We've got turn-around points at 1.5 and 2.5 miles for those who want to run 3 and 5 miles, respectively. The full course is just a smidge over 8 miles. Erin will be leading the 3 mile group, I'll handle the 8 milers. There's also a nice 12 mile route you can build from the 8--if you're interested, let me know, and I'll give you the details.

The red dots correspond to the following points of interest:
1. The 1.5 mile turn-around: There will be a driveway that goes under a creek off to your left. That's the only way I know to describe it, but you'll know what I mean when you see it.
2. The 2.5 mile turn-around: The only sharp turn on Concord Road.
3. Madison Speedway: The greatest show on dirt. Also, a scary dog lives nearby.
4. The Bluegrass Army Depot: If the siren sounds, run fast.
5. The Lake Reba dam: When we get a lot of rain, this thing ROARS.

See you Saturday @ 8:00 a.m.!

Report from Apollo

We had 15 people show up to Apollo tonight for the first organizational meeting of the RRC--not a run, mind you, just a meeting to talk about the club. So I think we can call that a success.

Here's the consensus: We'll have regular weekend group runs for anyone who wants to participate, but we also want to have regular group runs for those who already have weekend commitments. So we'll get some sort of organized weekday morning/weekday evening events planned, as well.

Also, I'd like to have the RRC serve as a sort of social network for Madison County runners--the sort of thing where you can find someone to join you for an impromptu 12x400 at the EKU track or a 10 mile run around Union City. So feel free to use the email list (once I get it up and going) or Facebook site to post your upcoming runs and invite fellow RRCers out to whatever running adventure you have lined up for yourself.

As for Saturday's Reba run, we'll have two groups. We'll all run together alongside Lake Reba and out to Concord Road; a group will turn around at the 1.5 mile mark and head back to the parking lot to get in a 3 mile round-trip, the rest will do an 8 mile loop of Concord, Greens Crossing, Catalpa Loop, and back to Reba. Savvy? I've run it before, and it's a nice course. If anyone wants to go farther, I can recommend additional miles around Charlie Norris Road, Four Mile Road, Union City, etc.

See you Saturday, and happy running 'til then!

The Dawn of a New Era

All right, everybody, we now have a Facebook page. Find us and "like" us at https://www.facebook.com/richmondkyrunners. Right now, it's pretty rudimentary, but hopefully we can flesh it out in the very near future. And, yes, right now our profile pic is of my dog wearing a raincoat. That'll change once we get some shots of the RRC in action.

Otherwise, I've gotten an excellent response to the limited promotional material I've put up around town. What that means is that people are doing a great job of spreading the news. And what that means is that there's real enthusiasm for getting a running group going in Richemonde. I'm excited, and I hope you are, too!

Try to make it to Apollo tomorrow night. I'll have an email sign-up sheet (a.k.a. "The Roster of Champions"), and we can start hashing out the details of what the club's going to look like. And get ready for Reba on Saturday--we'll have routes to satisfy all runnerly needs and wants.

The Beginning of Something RICHMONGOUS!

That's right. It's time for Richmond, Kentucky, to have a running club of its own.

So here's the deal:

1. The first organizational meeting will happen at Apollo Pizza (228 S. Second Street, Richmond) on Tuesday, August 20 from 5:30-7:30. This will be a very loosey-goosey meeting--come as you are, whenever you feel like it, stay as long as you wish. Weather permitting, we'll set up shop on the back patio; otherwise, we'll be in the main dining area (if you can't find us, just ask one of the helpful Apollo staffers).

The purpose of this meeting is just to get a feel for who's out there and who might be interested. If we've got enough people at the meeting, we can talk about any or all of the following:

• How to structure the club;
• How to find new members;
• When/where to establish regular group runs;
• Whether to pursue RRCA membership; and
• Whether we need to come up with a better name than "Richmond Running Club."

2. The first group run will happen at Lake Reba on Saturday, August 24, at 8:00 a.m. We'll meet at the big parking lot at the main entrance (next to the baseball fields). Distance and pace are TBD, but don't worry--all runners are welcome (even those who need to take walk breaks). We'll probably map out a three mile course, and, if anyone wants to go longer, we can figure something out.

Who's invited?

Anyone who lives in and around Madison County and wants to run--level of experience and PRs be darned. If we've got any competitively-minded folks, we can talk about establishing a racing and training group.

Goals

For the immediate future, I think we can hope to accomplish the following:

• Provide a social community for area runners;
• Hold regular group runs;
• Share local running routes;
• Promote running and healthy lifestyle choices among Richmond-area residents; and
• Keep members up to date on upcoming running and racing opportunities.

In the long term, we may consider:

• Coming up with a cool t-shirt design to promote the club;
• Establishing new races and/or partner with existing races; and
• Advocating to make Richmond a more runner-friendly community (better maintenance for sidewalks, improved crosswalk visibility and enforcement, pushing for construction of a Richmond Greenway, etc.).

And you are?

My name is David Powell. My wife, Erin, and I moved to Richmond a bit over two years ago--if you've spent much time running in Richmond in the last two years, we've probably seen you on the sidewalk/trail/track while running and grunted hello. If you've got any questions, email us at richmondkyrunners@gmail.com.

Hope to see you soon!