A Plug for Road Runners

Disclaimer: I have no association with this club other than being a previous member.

This weekend I ran a low-key 5-mile "Turkey Burn-off" race with my local Road Runners club.  It reminded me of just how much I love the road runners.

My first introduction to them was when my husband and I decided to join their speed development program, and you needed to be a club member first.  The more we got involved with speed development, the more we learned about the club and the more we liked it.  Every week the club offers many different workouts: trail runs, speed work, and long runs.  And at least once a month, they sponsor a race.  Some races are low-key, like last weekend's race.  For non-members, these races are $5 and free to members.  They offer no t-shirt, but are timed.  Others are bigger races with t-shirts and timing chips.

One thing that I love about my club is that there is guaranteed to be someone running my pace.  (My local club has over 2,200 members.)  With speed development, I found 15 others who ran my exact pace!  No more sprinting next to my too-tall-for-me husband while he barely jogged.  After spending nearly four months together, our running cohort became good friends.  In fact, I saw two of them this past Saturday and ended up running three miles with one!

Another thing I like about the club is that because there are always races happening, I always have something to train for.  I find that unless I have a race for which I'm training, I tend to slack off and not push myself as hard as I could.

Finally, I love the programs they sponsor.  I ran my fastest 10K ever thanks to the speed development program.  They also do a half-marathon training group, a first-time marathoners, and an experienced-marathoners group.  I'm almost tempted to do the first-time marathoners before another baby gets in the way.

Anyway, I just thought I share.  They are a great resource and I recommend seeing if there's one near you!

P.S. Anyone see "Spirit of the Marathon" yet?  I got it on Netflix this weekend, and wow...the movie + the race = one highly-tempted first-time marathoner.  We'll see.