Conway Running Club

The following runners from the Conway area and CRC membership ran the 2010 Steve Platt Memorial 5k in Vilonia. 

Runners:

Walkers:

Race Results

The following runners from the Conway area and CRC membership ran the 2010 Women Can Run 5k Run and Walk.

Non-Clinic Runners: 

Clinic Runners:

Non-Clinic Walkers:

Clinic Walkers:

Race Results

The following runners from the Conway area and CRC membership ran the 2010 MacArthur Park 5k. 

Race Results

The following are the results for the Toad Suck 5k for people in the Conway Area and members of the Conway Running Club.  Full results are available at http://www.macsrts.com/2010_mrts_results.htm. 

Race Results

The rain held off for the most part and the 2010 Toad Suck 10k raced on.  Below are the results from Conway area runners and runners who are a member of the Conway Running Club.  Complete results are at http://www.macsrts.com/toadsuck/TOADSUCK10KAGEGROUP.HTM

Grand Prix, Race Results

Running is more than a sport, it is a way of life.  More than a destination, it is a bridge to new life.  Running in our society is as much about relationships as it is about fitness.  I heard someone say once that when we are not running we talk about running and when we are running we talk about everything else. 

When we run, we eventually come face to face with simple truths that penetrate us at deeper levels.  We learn to breathe and relax so we can run longer, we realize that speed and endurance are centered in our core strength rather than the size of our leg muscles and we experience how worry and anxiety rob us of valuable energy.  The race is won at the finish line, we can dig deep to find strength in our weakness and that patience is nature’s secret are just a few of the real life lessons we come to know when we run. 

People are running for reasons well beyond the health, fitness and personal accomplishment they receive.  Consider the story of Lesley Oslica, who with some of her best friends, traveled to Oklahoma City last weekend to run the 10th Oklahoma City marathon.  A lot was happening in this race and I’m going to see if I can capture some of it for you through Lesley’s experience within the broader context of the race.  The tree above is the Survivor Tree near the start of the marathon and right next to the buildings that were bombed on April 19, 1995 and the National Memorial that was built in 1997 to forever remember the victims of this tradgedy. 

For the last 10 years, runners have come from all over to run and remember.  If you run the race, you will never forget the 168 seconds of silence in memory of the 168 victims at the beginning of the race.  Music, energy and nervous activity are instantly replaced with the sound of the wind blowing through the tall downtown buildings and the songs of birds in the air.  168 seconds is a long time, long enough to deeply remember why you are there.  And after you’ve asked your body to give you all it has to complete 26.2 miles you walk through the 168 chairs that signify the people who lost their lives and see the medals from other runners hung on the chairs in their memory.  It’s at this point that you are ready to learn a deep lesson about the value of life and realize at a deeper level how blessed and lucky you are. 

Lesley and Connie’s running began as a way to raise awareness for Neurofibromatosis (NF) and hopefully to fund the discovery of a cure for everyone who is living with NF.  Their NF Hero is their daughter Katie. 

They have attended many endurance events this year and this was Lesley’s 4th marathon of 2010.  Of all she gives to the Children’s Tumor Foundation, the people who are touched by NF and to those she runs with, she would be the first to tell you that at the end of the day she feels like she receives more than she gives.  She was the leader of and in many ways the inspiration for the NF team who ran the 2010 Little Rock Marathon and raised over $10,000 to fund research at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. 

While there are many reasons that we run, those of us who race fully understand the joy of a personal record (PR) for a given distance.  The PR can feel like the pinnacle of our accomplishment and the source of our despair.  Yes, we are running for more than a PR, but deep down most of us have a number in our head that we want to see on the clock when we finish.  Lesley has had a dream to break 5 hours in a marathon someday and has come within minutes a couple of times this year.  She had decided before the race that she’d completely focus on experiencing the race and give up the goal of getting under 5 hours.  “I went out not even thinking about time. I had decided it was just going to be a fun day b/c the wind was so strong (15-25 mile gusts), and I just didn’t want to fight it all day thinking about my time. So – I never looked at my time – and made an agreement with myself not to look at it until mile 25. If I was close at that point (25mi), I would give it all I had.”

It was at this point that so many life truths that we learn through running collided and Lesley not only got a PR but she put 15 minutes between her finish time and her 5 hour goal.  The goal that had eluded her time and time again.  The expressions in the pictures below tell the story of accomplishment, patience, friendship and joy on many levels.  People often ask why we run.  We run for our health, for our friends, for people we don’t know who were killed in a horrific bombing incident, to raise money to find a cure for NF and to learn many of the deeper things in life first hand.  Oh yes, and also to get a PR.  Way to go Lesley, you did it!!!!!!

The most amazing part was…I had seen a set of balloons ahead (at mile 14) – I knew it was a pacer. I wondered if it was the 5: hour pacer or the 5:15 pacer? Then about mile 17, I caught them and noticed it was the 4:45 pacer! I thought to myself…4:45!!! No way! I was so excited from that point on b/c I still felt GREAT. It was at that point, I thought – I might be able to do a sub 5. I kept leap frogging the 4:45 pace group all the way to mile 22 when there was a 1 ½ mile hill (argg) and my calf started cramping, double argg – but it only cramped for a few seconds at a time. I’d be running and all the sudden POW! in the calf – then it was fine. So, I ran on (I must say it made me nervous). But, CB had joined me on his bike by this point, and what a blessing that was! He helped me focus on what mile I was at, encouraged me to run through the cramp, etc.

At mile 23 ½, the hill was over, CB was still riding beside me, he had brought me a fresh water bottle at mile 21 – which I ended up drinking the whole thing by mile 24, so he filled it up again (what a great friend!). Then Connie and Evelyn met me at mile 25 to run in with me (oh, and lots of high 5’s b/c I was going to make it). I was really so excited at this point I was probably skipping like a kid. Those last 3 miles, I kept thinking…I’m GONNA DO IT, I’m GONNA DO IT! Connie ran through the finish with me and it was awesome. We high fived and he was laughing at me b/c I was grinning so big (nope…no tears).

The finish line was great! Our friend, Frank, was there taking pictures (he couldn’t run b/c he has a torn muscle), and the crowd was going crazy, the food was awesome, and we had great friends there to celebrate with (Evelyn, CB, Judy & Frank). I missed all of our other running buddies being there, but honestly – they were all with me every step of the way! Through all of our training runs, and encouragement with each other…I knew we were all together in spirit.

Someone once said – running is about relationships…I couldn’t ever figure that statement out until this weekend. I think the relationships that made a difference for me this weekend are – the relationships of: Running with NF Singlet on – for all those with NF, running with friends, running with strangers – thousands of them, running with family, and running with ‘Spirit’…one that doesn’t come from oneself, but a relationship far stronger than we can imagine…

Uncategorized

The following runners from the Conway area and CRC membership ran the 2010 Oklahoma City Half and Full marathons. 

Complete information is on the race website – www.okcmarathon.com.

Race Results

Getting ready to leave for the race between 5:30 and 6am this morning, with lightning hitting all around and the electricity in the house going off and on, my wife asked, “are you really going to race?”  I was committed to race, if the race was on and according to weather.com, there was hope in sight since the race was starting at 8am.

Weather.com was right and when we arrived in Cabot at 7:30 the clouds were clearning, the rain stopped and the weather was absolutely perfect for a fast 5k race.  And right after the awards, which were held in the gym, the rain came hard again. 

Conway Running Club had a women’s and men’s team but an especially strong men’s team.  Complete results for the RRCA runners are on the Arkansas RRCA site and complete race results will be posted on Arkansas Runner’s website.  Here are the Conway runner results:

As you can see Frank “the Tank” Massingill didn’t have his best time.  This is because he is injured and shouldn’t have even been running.  He did walk, take pictures (looking forward to them showing up on Facebook) and skipped to go faster than a walk.  CLICK HERE to see a video of his finish, placing first in the Injured Runner Skipping Division.

Race Results

People often wonder why we train in the rain.  Why not take the day off or wait until later when the sun comes out?  The answer lies in the weather forecast for tomorrow’s Grand Prix race, the Spring Fling 5k in Cabot.  If you end up racing in the rain, it will be nice to have trained in the rain.  And what is rain anyway but a little water.  Now lightning, that’s another issue and the answer is get off the road and take cover.  If you are going to run in the rain, here are some tips:

1. Wear something on your head to keep the rain from bothering you and if it is a little cold this will help keep you warm.  A hat with a bill can be sold mid-race to people wishing they had one. 
2. Poke holes in a big trash bag and wear it to the starting line over your head so that you are dry to start.
3. If the race is a long race, use body glide or vaseline or something to put on areas that will get real wet and may get blisters like your feet.
4. Watch the corners, no need to take a fall in the rain. 
5. Remember that just because the weatherman says it will rain that doesn’t mean it will!  Come prepared for the sun to come out right before the race.  Don’t get caught overdressed in rain gear running in the hot sun with steam coming off of the pavement from the recent rain.
6. You can wear leg tights but leave the cotton sweats at home.  They will become anchors.
7. Bring clothes to change into after the race.
8. Run hard, don’t let up, but don’t be so disappointed if you don’t PR.
9. Don’t pin your race number on your throw away shirt!
10. And the number one tip is – NO WHINING about the rain.  Nobody wants to hear it.

For God sakes, enjoy the rain.  Remember when you were a kid and wanted to go out and play in the rain and your parents wouldn’t let you?  Get out there and run and have fun.  Maybe even wear an old shirt, pin your race number to your shorts/pants and throw it off mid-race and finish in the rain without a shirt on (ladies, you’ll need a sports bra to do this).

Have your own rain tips?  Click on comments above and post yours.

Running Tips

Although most Arkansans think BQ time is time to eat BBQ (with a typo in it), those of us who run know that a BQ time is one of the most sought after times in running. With that in mind, we congratulate the 39 Arkansans who started and finished the 2010 Boston Marathon. And special congratulations to Sur Pierre-Alain, from Conway, who ran a 3:48:01. I’ve not met you but I hope you will join the Conway Running Club and our Grand Prix team!!!

Race Results