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!

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!

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!