RACE RESULTS: Princess Half Marathon

The ladies of the RMEC returned from sunny Florida Monday evening proudly wearing their newly earned "Tiara Medals". To begin with, Tracy H, Patti, Ursula, and Jeannie all ran the Royal Family 5k on Saturday morning. All four ladies had on a "princess gown" that matched their favorite princess. The weather was cold, but all had a great time. Jeannie completed her first 5k race! Congrats to everyone.

On Sunday, things got more serious. . . well, as serious as a race can be where you run through a castle, and see characters every mile! Ursula is known for snapping non-stop pictures in a Disney race, and stopping for every character possible. This time she took a new approach, and decided to see just how fast she could run a half marathon. Turns out she can run one pretty darn fast! She knocked six minutes off her previous PR finishing in 1:58:49. This was good enough for 842nd place out of 10,902 runners! I am so proud of you sweetie!

Tracy and Patti made sure they had enough pictures to make up for Ursula not taking any. The two ladies stopped for over 40 pictures, and still managed to post an impressive 2:21:13 finishing time. I look forward to seeing all of the photos from the weekend, and hope you all will consider a race report. Congratulations to everyone! Full results are available online.

RMEC Survives Another Umstead Marathon

The RMEC sent six members to participate in the Umstead Trail Marathon this year. Unlike 2009, the weather was just about perfect for a great race. That being said, even cooler temperatures does not make Umstead flat.

Scott Wingfield was the first from the RMEC to finish in a time of 4:35:45. This was a four minute improvement over last year, and just felt like a better race to Scott. Seven places behind Scott was Ron Flemming with a time 4:43:47. This was an impressive debut for Umstead. Also making his Umstead debut was Eric Pate who came in just nine spots behind Ron with a time 4:49:17. All three were able to celebrate with their Moe's Burrito after the race.

Amber Poole and Jon Shingleton were also running Umstead for the first time. Sometimes life gets in the way, and our race training takes a back seat. . . so was the case with Amber and Jon. With limited longs runs, it would have been easy to scratch on running the Umstead Marathon, but both took on the challenge and did very well. Amber finished in 153rd with a time of 5:32:04. One place behind was Jon in 5:37:09. Great job guys!

Frank Lilley was a bit worried about the cut off time at Umstead. This is a race where they will ask you to leave the course if you cannot reach cutoffs at specified times. Last year, Frank was proud to say he was the last official finisher. This year was a different story. . . Frank finished in 5:54:42, and beat four other runners! Great job Frank! To read Frank's race report, check out his blog.

This race is a challenge, but is full of great volunteers and personal touches. I would love to see 20+ from the RMEC sign up next year. It is the most fun you can have while torturing yourself. By the way, Jim Micheels of Raleigh Running Outfitters cracked the top 15 to take home the final award.

RUN RSVP: Saturday, March 6

With ten RMEC members racing this weekend, I am not sure how big of a crowd to expect at the group run. I hope you will all still considering coming out to the Teeter. Remember, if you decide to skip this weekend. . . you can't get that run back!

Run Details:

• Where: Saturday, 7:00 am @ Harris Teeter
• Supported: TBD (Can anyone help?)
• Weather: Forecast
• Routes: 6.67 Miles

Tomorrow is a day to use layers. It will be 31 at 7:00 a.m., but will warm up to mid 40s by 10:00 a.m. Depending how long you are running, you may end up dropping layers during the run. I have both kids solo this weekend, so I am not able to get by and drop off fluids. If anyone can help, please post a comment. Otherwise, it is BYOG.

I went with the standard 6.67 mile loop. I know it is not exciting, but several people are running 20 (myself included), and this sets up well for the aid station, and is also easy to shorten as needed. See you in the morning!

Also . . . "break a leg" Steve Cooper who is starring as Cogsworth in Beauty in the Beast tonight!

Good Luck to "The Princess and the Frog"

This weekend the RMEC has several people racing at two different locations. It is kind of funny actually, because the races could not be more different. One group is running as "princesses" through the world of Disney Magic with thousands of other runners, while the other group is running trails and climbing multiple one mile hills with a group of a few hundred.

Umstead Marathon: On Saturday, Frank, Ron, Scott, Amber, Jon, and Eric will take on the challenge that is known as the Umstead Marathon. This is 26.2 miles of hills, fun, hills, beauty, and hills. As flat-landers in Rocky Mount, we quickly discovered how much hills can wear you down in 2009. If you missed it, here is my race report from last year (To Hill and Back). Even though the course is a real challenge, it is a great event and one I hope all the of RMEC will try before they hang up their racing shoes. Good luck to everyone in 2010. Looks like the weather will be MUCH improved over last year!

Princess Half Marathon: On Sunday, a group of Rocky Mount ladies are heading back to sunny Orlando to race in the Princess Half Marathon. Of course, you can't go all the way to Disney and just do one race. . . so they will also run the Royal Family 5k on Saturday. Ursula, Patti, Tracy H, and their friend Jeannie will all run the 5k. They have picked out their favorite princess "gowns" to race in, and then plan to visit the parks immediately after. I can hardly wait to see the pictures! The next day, Ursula, Patti, and Tracy H will get up while it is still dark and run the half marathon, while Jeannie volunteers to help with the race. The girls will still be having fun, but I expect some more serious running attire on this day. Good luck ladies!

Two NEW 5ks!

There are two new 5k races in our neighboring cities that I wanted to make the RMEC aware of. Both are on the same day, but it is actually possible to run them both if you were interested.

• 05/08 Whirlirun 5k - This 5k raises money to benefit Buddy Ball, Wilson's program for disabled children to enjoy baseball. It has been a while since Wilson has had a local race, so this one might draw a decent size crowd. The race begins at 8:00 a.m.
• 05/05 Bright Night 5k - The new 5k is to celebrate Emily Bright and raise awareness of ovarian cancer. The evening race begins at 7:30 p.m. from Moe’s Southwest Grill and runs through the Lynndale neighborhood of Greenville, NC. Runners will all wear glow bracelets to stay visible in the dark. Should be a fun event.

I know many from the RMEC are racing at White Lake that weekend, and other do not normally race 5ks, but I did want to make sure you were aware of these opportunities. Local races need support from local runners to be successful. Please help spread the word.

RMEC in the News

Tracy Proctor recently spoke with Caroline Charm Magazine about the RMEC and the benefits of running to women. Caroline Charm is a division of the Rocky Mount Telegram. It is a great piece and will hopefully encourage more runners to get active, and more inactive people to become runners. Check it out online.

Thanks Tracy for taking the time to speak to Caroline Charm. . . for motivating other women and children to run. . . and for representing the Rocky Mount Endurance Club. Great job!

Runners Beware!

Knowing that the RMEC runs through MLK Richard forwarded this story to several of us yesterday. In Richard's words, "And I thought the wildest thing running out there with you guys was Frank"

Animal Control Call: Officers were notified that an ostrich was loose in Martin Luther King Park running towards the cemetery on E. Virginia St. Officers responded and observed the bird in the cemetery. The bird, identified as an emu, eluded capture, running through traffic, until it was located behind the State Employee's Credit Unit on Fairview Road. Animal Control, along with assistance from officers, was able to capture the bird. The bird was transported to the Animal Shelter on N. Church Street. Below is a photo of the emu.

Canal Race Packet Stuffing

Hello RMEC. Next week I will be stuffing race packets for the Canal Half Marathon and 8k. Most likely there will be 400 packets, so I could use your help. I only need about 5-6 volunteers to make it work. If I get too many people, it can actually slow us down.

I should have everything (shirts, bags, numbers, pins, samples, etc.) by Wednesday if all goes as planned. We will use the main building at RBC like we have in the past. I would like to start at 5:45. The backup plan is to do it Thursday. If anyone can help, please post a comment.

Really looking forward to making this a great event, and appreciate any help I can get. Thanks in advance!

Also, if you plan to run the Half Marathon and have not registered, there are only 10 spots left.

RUN RSVP: Saturday 02/27

Thanks to Frank's organization we had a big crowd for last Saturday's group run. I would love to see that continue this weekend. There are lots of people with marathon's coming up, so now is not the time to be skipping your long runs.

Run Details:

• Where: Saturday, 7:00 am @ Harris Teeter
• Supported: Yes (Shockingly, I actually plan to drop fluids)
• Weather: Forecast
• Routes: 4 Miles, 10 Miles, 14 Miles

I will be putting Gatorade at the tracks, but if you want something else, feel free to bring your own too. The forecast looks chilly, but still pretty good. It will we 33F at 7:00 am and 42F by 10:00 am. Don't forget your Body Glide if you are going long.

If you are not running Saturday morning, but still plan to run, post a comment and let people know.

Tar-Heel 10 Miler: Also, if you plan to race the Tar Heel 10M or 4M, better sign up now. There are over 1,600 registered. They just announced they are giving our medals for the 10M and the prices go up on Monday. This should push them to a sell out very soon.

So What are You Racing?

We are finally starting to thaw out (although there is still snow in the forecast). Last weekend nearly 30 runners came out for the group run. It sounds like racing season is getting ready to kick off! This means it is time for you. . . yes YOU, to get out on the roads and start joining us on Saturday mornings!

To help get people fired up, what races to you have planned on your upcoming race calendar. Be sure to include anything from a 5k to a triathlon to an ultra. We want to know. What are you racing?