Hi Y’all,
I hope everyone is doing well, running miles and anxious to get back together! Just a quick note about the goings on…and what to plan for in the coming months.
SOCIAL RUNS
Our next social runs are May 19 (THIS SATURDAY), June 9, June 23 and July 7 – all at 7AM from Wild Pear Running Store. We met a bunch of folks out at the Pear Run and told them about the social runs, so we’ll definitely have some new faces this weekend! Please come out if you can to be part of our welcome wagon!
WHAT’S NEW?
Well, we’ve had several meetings in the last several months and based on the feedback we’ve received, heard, seen and experienced…we’re going to do a few things a little differently this year. We want things to be better, easier, quicker, clearer for YOU and for US that are behind the scenes making it all happen. Here they are in a nutshell:
REGISTRATION
We will open registration for the 2018-2019 season on June 1st. Your existing registration will remain active through the end of June and when you register/renew…your new registration will be through June 2019. Keeping same registration fee it’s always been…just under $0.17/day. What will be NEW this year is that when you register is that we are asking everyone to provide a previous race time or Magic Mile time and which training program. We’ll use this to determine the pace groups for FM/HM/Walk. Rather than chasing people down through August trying to figure out where they go!
WALKING GROUP…WHA! WHAT?!?
We are excited to launch an official walking group this season. Maria Albrecht is going to lead it’s charge. This is what she envisions…the group having a number of goals:
- Encourage people to get out and exercise – a lot of people find the idea of running intimidating.
- Following from the above, as people get fitter/less intimidated (lol) they could “graduate” to one of the running groups or not – staying in the walking group is good too!!!!
- It would also serve as a place where injured runners could hang out, while recovering but still maintaining some kind of training and social connection.
- Based on feedback received thus far, we shall have a formal plan so members can train to walk a half marathon and/or increase walking pace for races
YES, YES, YES and YES! Maria will be there this weekend for the Social Run/Walk too. So if you know anyone that has been jealous of your running group AND ZERO DESIRE TO RUN…they gotta meet Maria!
SEASON KICK-OFF
We’re going to kick the season off on the morning of July 14th. It will be at Reflection Bay and will not include any running 🙂 We’ll use this day to go over all the information for the season, have everyone meet their pace group and leaders…AND EAT TACOS! I know you probably forgot, but last year at our year end PARRty…there was a little snafu with the caterer. And by snafu, I mean THEY DID NOT SHOW UP. Part of the facility’s “make-it-right” plan was to offer up the facility for our kick-off meeting. So we’re going to take advantage of that…and did I mention EAT TACOS?
And if you haven’t read between the lines and thinking I’m going to sucker-punch you…I’m not. We won’t have a formal Magic Mile for the group this year. We will informally do it on a track morning or encourage you to do on your own to get that true pace to gauge your training paces and create realistic goals for the season. We’ll test it out this season and see how it goes!
Our first official RUN/WALK will be the following weekend of Kick-Off…July 21. More on what that will be later.
SHIRTS
Here’s the thing with shirts. It’s a big ordeal for us to get these shirts ordered, sorted, distributed and errors corrected. We have limited selection we have access to. There is also a high complaint-to-volunteer ratio. Enter Wild Pear Running Store. They are going to take the whole shebang over. They have already found a new manufacturer, hence new styles. Let’s hear it for David and be sure to continue to support his store BIG TIME. This is what he will be doing the following:
- Have a full set of sizes for you to try on before you order
- Will start taking orders…in July (I’ll be sure to nag the heck out of you with specifics)
- Will have those orders by the end of Aug
- Will carry some extra stock in the store for exchanges and purchasing
- Will gladly listen to your complaints and handle with their renowned customer service
- Will dream up new stuff to throw that road runner on
- WOOHOO…thank you David Rosenthal
MORE LAURENCE, LESS ME
Y’all have heard just about everything I could possibly ever say. Kidding, I got tons more. BUT…after 7 years you have got to be ready for a change! SO…the weekly emails regarding the Saturday Runs will actually be INFORMATIVE this upcoming season and brought to you by our local favorite AMWRWS – Laurence Tien. He’ll be able to provide some guidance on the runs/workouts and be a resource for you. And I’ll still send the fluffier/nagging,/not-related-
EXCITED NOW?
Ok, shockingly that was not actually quick. BUT ALL GOOD, GOOD STUFF coming up. We hope to see everyone soon – be it this weekend’s social run or another one coming up! July 14 will be here before you know it! And in case you skimmed…TACOS.
Happy Running Y’all!
Aimee Galley
281-728-4848