Conway Running Club

We received email notification of Patrick’s journey and although we are not on the running route, I thought it was important for all of us to know about this running event that will be taking place in Arkansas for the next week or so.  You may know of others who are in the route Patrick is running or may choose to travel to meet him – or maybe support his mission.

Hello Running Club members of Arkansas,

Patrick McGlade is a young 21-year-old college graduate from VA running across the country to promote awareness and raise money for the children afflicted with juvenile arthritis.  He started in Huntington Beach, CA on Jan 2 and will be passing through Arkansas from Mar 8 – Mar 19.  We invite your membership to join him at any point running through Arkansas.  Run one mile or 30 miles, your choice! 

Visit his website by clicking on the image above for further details concerning route and how you can support. 

You can also call him at 540-845-3162 to coordinate a joining point.  If anyone would like to host him for an evening in their home, feel free to contact me to coordinate.  Again, look at the “host” column on his Route page on the website and see which days are still open.

If you feel this is appropriate, I ask you to forward this email to your membership so they can be part of this historic run!

Thanks for all your support,

Desi McGlade

(Patrick’s dad – Logistics coordinator for PatricksRun4Arthritis)

Running stories

It’s incredible how many runners from the Conway Area ran the Little Rock Half and Full marathons this weekend.  Below are the results from the Little Rock Marathon – 78 Conway area runners finishing the marathon and 201 the half marathon.  If you want to check results for anyone outside our area or more detailed splits on any of these runners, go to the race results site.  Way to go, we are proud of all of you for first putting in the training, second getting to the starting line and finally for finishing what you started by crossing the finish line.  If you are not running with a group we encourage you to explore the running opportunities on our website. 

FULL MARATHON RESULTS:

HALF MARATHON RESULTS:

Race Results

The following is an email I received from Hobbit (Hobbit and Tom Singleton on the left) a few days before the Little Rock Marathon.  Timeless, excellent advice for the experienced and first time marathoner. 

I’ve had several folks email me and ask what they should eat in the next few days and, most importantly, the night before the race.  Answer – what you’ve been doing before your long mileage runs in training.  Studies have shown that the most important meals you eat are TWO days before the race, so even though all pasta dinners are the night before the race, what is really going to start you off on the right foot race morning is what you had to eat Friday night, not Saturday night.  (And those of you doing the back-to-back races need to be sure you are well fueled on Thursday night as well.)  Same goes for rest – the sleep you get on Friday night is the most important (many of you won’t sleep well the night before the race, so sleeping well every other night this week is crucial).  If you can’t abide pasta and your pre-training run meal has always been rice and beans – don’t eat spaghetti the night before the race just because you think it’s the “right” thing to do.  Remember what has worked best for you and stick to that.  The same thing goes for race morning.  If what you’ve been doing is eating half a bagel with a little peanut butter 30 minutes before you start running, well, don’t get up 3 hours before the race starts and have bacon and eggs.  And PLEASE don’t overload on the high-caffeine energy drinks.  If you’re used to drinking a cup of coffee before you run, do it, but don’t decide to add some other drinks for the “pick me up” factor.  There is also no need to drink a gallon or two of water before the race.  Stick to what you know.  Oh, and don’t believe everything you hear from runners and walkers at the Expo – they lie, constantly.  Sure, prune juice with pork sausage may be just the ticket for that guy who’s telling you he runs a 2:55 marathon (or he may be some joker who runs a 5:00 marathon pulling your leg).  Don’t start second guessing yourself because someone you’ve never met has decided to impart his “extra special running secrets”.

And speaking of the Expo – we want you to go to the Expo and look at every single vendor.  Buy new clothes, (I do my best shopping at race Expos – Tom has the credit card bills to prove it), pick up that new gel you’ve never seen before, or get that new pair of shoes that makes you feel like you’re walking on a cloud.  And use them – in training for your NEXT marathon or half marathon.  Please do NOT wear that super cool new outfit for the first time on race day, eat that new gel at mile 10, or think that those new shoes would be the bees knees in your finish line photo.  Stick with the tried and true – what has worked for you in training is what you need to do race day. 

In the vein of nothing new – carry your water and your fuel.  This is particularly important if you are drinking a sports drink or eating a gel other than the one that will be provided at the water stops.  Nothing is more miserable than having to hit every port-a-potty along the route because you decided you’d ditch your fuel that has worked for you for 22 weeks and eat what the marathon provides – that was a big part of your training:  finding out what works for you.  Don’t throw your plan out the window just because you think it’s uncool to carry your water belt.  Another benefit to carrying your own water is being able to drink on your time schedule and not on that of water stop spacing.  A simple math problem – you drink water every 20 minutes, the water stops are approximately 2 miles apart, if you run a 10 minute mile, they will probably be just about where you need them.

However, let’s say you run an 8 minute mile or a 12 minute mile, or a 15 minute mile.  Those water stops won’t be where you need them at all.  If you have your water with you, you can drink when you need to and refill your water at the water stops when needed (believe me, the volunteers will be happy to let you fill up your water bottle, in fact, most of them will offer to fill it up for you).  You also have the extra advantage of not having to slow down at every water stop – you can sail around those folks who are clogging up the route trying to get to the water or sports drink.

This is not the week to quit smoking (and yes, I know some runners who smoke), start smoking, change your eating habits (I don’t think trying to lose 10 pounds between now and race morning is in your best interests), change your drinking habits (I know some runners who drink a beer or a glass of wine or whatever the night before every one of their long mileage runs, but it’s also not the time to go on an all night bender either), or paint your house (I have never had an uncontrollable urge to paint my house the week before a race, but to each his/her own).

NOTHING NEW, NOTHING NEW, NOTHING NEW!!!! Got it?  Good. 

Hobbit

Running Tips

You know Spring is officially here when you wake up to birds singing, you notice daffodils popping out of the winter dirt and you hear that the Women Can Run / Walk clinics are starting again for another year.  This is the week, the week of March 1st when women all around the state will start or continue running together.  If you are running but trying to be more consistent or need to meet some new friends to run with, check out the over 50 locations where the clinics will be held each week.  If you have wanted to start running but haven’t taken the first step or if you are still at the point where walking is what you are able to do, these clinics are for you.  Get complete information on the Women Run Arkansas website.  And save the date – May 8, 2010 – for the Women Can Run 5k.

Running Opportunities

The Conway area sent over 30 runners to New Orleans for the half and full marathon today.  The results are below.  If you run with a Conway group and are NOT on this list, please send us an email to results@conwayrunning.org.  We’d like to include you.  You don’t have to be a CRC member to be included, but if you are not, please join us if you can.  It’s worth it.  So many good stories and so little time tonight to write about them.  So, for now, here are the results.  You can also go to the official website to look up other results.   

Race Results

A pack of Conway runners are on their way to New Orleans and from the looks of this photo that just showed up on Facebook, they are already doing some serious carb loading for the race!  Travel safe and bring back a finishing time, maybe a PR, possibly a Boston Qualifying time, a medal and memories to keep you getting up and out on the road, running with your friends. 

Wishing all of you a safe and wonderful time at the New Orleans Half and Full Marathon event.  It’s been fun training with you and we can’t wait to hear the results and stories.  In fact, if you want to follow them throughout the race with updates texted to you, you can click here to sign up for updates.

Running stories

I’m looking real hard and I just can’t see the trail in the picture above.  This was a picture from the site and not from this year but still.  Although we don’t have a race report from any of the runners, kudos to all of them for participating in the event.  More information is available on the official race website and the Arkansas Ultra Running link to the right.

Race Results, Ultra Running

Many of you are familiar with the Women Run Arkansas walk/run clinic. It is a 10 weak clinic in the Spring to help women get started in the sport of walking/running and live a healthier life style. The Conway Clinic starts Monday night, March 1st, at 6:00 pm at the Conway High Track. They have 4 groups. Walkers, Beginning runners A, Beginning runners B, and intermediate runners. In the past we have had as many as 200 women sign up for this clinic. As you can imagine, it takes the dedication of many leaders to help these women on their journey to be a walker/runner. The clinic meets every Monday and Thursday evenings. If you would be willing to be a leader please contact Jeanne Harvey at 472-2716 or Moe Schafer at 329-7572 and let them know.

Not ready for a 10 week commitment but still want to help. Please show up Monday at 5:30 pm at the high school track to help with registration. Many of our leaders will be out that night due to the New Orleans Marathon. As you can imagine it gets quite hectic getting everyone signed up. Just show up, look for someone that looks like they know what they are doing and tell them you are there to help… “what can I do”. They will be more than glad to direct you to a job. We have a wonderful running community inside the Conway Running Club and being there for each other is a big part of it. Thank you in advance.

Judy Massingill

Location Schedule: March 1 – Conway High Track, March 4 – Laurel Park, March 8 – Conway High Track, March 11 – Laurel Park, Every Monday and Thursday after that UCA Track

Running Opportunities

Conway’s Rock Runners will be presenting the film: Dean Karnazes is UltraMarathon Man, 50 Marathons + 50 States + 50 Days, this Saturday evening, Feb. 27th at 7:10pm at Woodland Heights Baptist Church.  Admission is free to the public.  All are welcome. 

The inspirational film UltraMarathon Man: 50 Marathons • 50 States • 50 Days, features renowned endurance athlete and best selling author Dean Karnazes, in his attempt to run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 consecutive days to raise awareness for youth obesity and to get America active. A beautiful and epic journey across the United States, during which Dean pushes the limits of human endurance, inspiring thousands across the country to join him along the path while uniting people of all ages and abilities to take “the next step.”

For more information contact Bill Doshier at bdoshier@conwaycorp.net or 501.352.9385.

Uncategorized

Here are the results of the race today, more about the race to come.  Oh yeah, Frank got another PR.  Ho hum. 

Race Results