Hi Road Runners,
Have you ever thought about running as a member of an RMRR team? We want to promote the club at outside races, so Bob Basse, club VP, has put together some guidelines for teams. You don’t have to be fast to run on an RMRR team. The only requirement is that you can organize a group of your running buddies to participate in a race, representing the club. The next team event is the Denver Marathon. If you want to run the Denver Marathon as part of a team, the first step is recruiting. The club will give everyone in your group $10 towards entry fees; in return, the club expects you to run in some sort of RMRR logo merchandise (socks, cap, singlet, shirt). If you organize a team, you’ll earn volunteer hours as well.
Volunteer hours count towards year-end prizes: 30 volunteer hours earns logo merchandise, while volunteering as a race director earns a race director award. The 2008 volunteers are going to earn something featuring the new 50th anniversary logo. With logo merchandise prizes and the fun of running on a team, there are plenty of reasons to participate. Contact Bob (bob.basse@questar.com) if you have any questions.
It was great seeing 107 of you out at the June race in Stone House park. There were many new faces and a lot of familiar faces as well. The 107-person count was up over last year’s participation of 92. I was happy to see the numbers go up. Getting together both to race and to socialize is a big part of the RMRR spirit.
Race directors John and Betsy Lyle had help from Stephanie Struble and Brian Bergevin. Together, this quad put on a nice race. We got off to a late start due to the volume of runners and it got a little hot out there, but everyone finished and lots of people beat their handicap times.
Between the May and June races, the board used the input of runners at the May race to chose a 50th anniversary logo. The chosen logo is the version most people liked, featuring mountains and a stylized runner. We shared it at the race and posted it on the website. We’re excited about the selection and are looking forward to using it to Celebrate 50!
The next step in our 50th anniversary planning is getting committees to work on promotional items, events, and marketing. Members of your board including Doug Smith (events), Holly Neill (promo items) and Kevin Downing (marketing) are leading the planning. If you are interested in helping, let us know. We want next year’s celebration to be successful. Member input and participation will be critical.
The trophy series continues with the Annual Pancake Breakfast at the 2-mile Bible Park race. We know runners are not shy about eating, so bring your appetites and your families out on July 13.
Two of the other club events for 2008 have started:
Track practice continues to run every Wednesday at 6:30pm at Heritage High School. Scott Kukel & Mike Quispe are leading the group in workouts that include Pytometrics. Please check the website for directions and for the workout schedule.
Training runs are also under way. Whether it’s the Tuesday night runs at Wash Park or the Saturday morning workouts at deKoevend, join us to meet some fellow runners.
One final event, the Marathon Training Series, begins on July 10 with a 10 miler on the Big Dry Creek Trail. See the website, visit your local running store, or come out to the next Trophy Series race to get an application. We’re exploring partnerships with the Bolder Boulder Training club and Fast Forward Sports to get our numbers up. This set of four races is the club’s big fundraiser each year.
Last, on the topic of running and volunteering. I’m starting to run again and am looking forward to racing in July. In the meantime, I got into volunteering with the finish line crew. Whether you’re a runner or volunteer, we need you. Come out and join us as we gear up to Celebrate 50.
Deb Cunningham