Category Archives: RCI

June 30 and July 4 Running Events

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Since the big July 4th Holiday is coming up, I decided to go ahead and publish both this weekend’s races and also the couple that are on the 4th as well. I will publish races for the 7th next Thurs.

June 30 Races

Firecracker 5K Walk/Run starts at 7:30 at the Clay County YMCA in Brazil.

Wabash River Runners Club 26th Annual 4Mile Fun Run Summer Scamper, starts at 8am in West Lafayette.

Haynes-Apperson 4 Mile Run (pdf) is directed by Club Kokomo Roadrunners and is run at Kokomo Central Middle School at 8am. There is a pre-race pasta dinner on Friday night!

July 4th Races

Firecracker 5K Run located in Portland, starting at 8am.

CarmelFest FREEDOM RUN & WALK 4.5 Mile run starts at 8am and 1.5 Mi family walk at 8:05am. Event is located at Carmel High School and managed by Tuxbro. This event benefits Donate Life Indiana. Award given to most patriotic outfit!

Fast Track Mile located in downtown Terre Haute. Organized by the Wabash Valley Roadrunners Club, the mile race includes a scored school division. Women race at 8:15 and men at 8:30.

Chesterfield Optimists 5K and 10K (pdf) located in Chesterfield (just east of Anderson). Starting at 8:30am this is a pretty good race with a pancake breakfast, and Chesterfield Town Parade following.

Fowler 5K Run/Walk located northwest of Lafayette. $5 entry and pancake and sausage breakfast afterwards!

Weekend Weather

The current forecast for July 4th is 89 with Isolated T-storms.

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Favorite Runs

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Enjoy changing scenery? Like the soft surface of trail running? How about seeing wildlife on every run?

Those are all experience you can have at one of Central Indiana’s best running spots. Mounds State Park, in Anderson has a little bit to offer every runner. Mounds may be one of the smallest state parks at only 280 acres, but there are still enough trails to please most runners.

The biggest problem with Mounds is that there isn’t much flat trail to run on. So whenever you get hurt you have to cut Mounds out for a little while. I personally run a 3 or 5 mile loop (or some combination) whenever I run there. I know of runners who have completed 20-milers out there! Yuck! There are probably 6-7 decent size hills with names like K-Hill, Cinder Block, and Step Hill. Many people do interval workouts including one of my favorites the Spaghetti Bowl. It is hard to describe each hill or workout, or even the courses, but here is a good map of the trails. The trails are described in this brochure (pdf) available at the gatehouse.

Mounds is home to the Anderson Road Runner’s 26th annual 5 Mile Run the Mounds. This year it also hosted the DINO Series 5K and 15K races. It is also home to Highland High School and Anderson University’s Cross Country courses. Needless to say, in the fall it is a busy place with high school and college runners everywhere!

I would encourage every runner to spend some time at Mounds. I’ve seen at least one deer each of the times I’ve run out there the past few weeks, including a doe and 2 fawns! My recommendation is to take it easy the first couple of times out there and like any training slowly build up mileage and intensity. It can be a brutal run, but it is so fun.

There is a small entry fee: $4 per carload M-Thurs and $5 Fri – Sun and Holidays. Or get a State Park pass for $36.


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Race Day: Buzzards Roost 10K

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On a rare, cool and rainy day (one of the first in awhile), the Buzzards Roost was far from its normal hot misery! The weather conditions made this an excellent day for PRs and great races.  That is precisely what happened for me.  While I didn’t set a 10K PR, I did set one for the Buzzards Roost course in the countryside surrounding Arcadia.  I ran a 42:22 (6:50) with splits of 6:19, 6:25, 6:54, 7:08, 7:03, 7:07, 1:23. This got me 13th place overall and 1st in my age group (netting a $25 gift card).

The course is exceptionally flat, until about 3.5 miles then it has 3 or 4 moderate size hills, but at that point in a 10K they can be cruel.  The race finishes with a flat last mile.

A rare evening race, starting at 6:30pm, it is usually boiling hot, but the nicer weather made for a great event.  99 participants ran and walked helping raise money for Hamilton Heights Cross Country Team.  Race results are posted here.

Runner’s Forum is a sponsor of the event and gave away gift certificates as door/raffle prizes and for all age group winners.

Expertly organized by Evan Achenbach, I’ve not been disappointed with this race (this is my 3rd year).  Three water stops support the runners, and spectators can watch the runners at the start, 1 mile, and the finish area without moving! Turns were brightly marked with orange paint and finally, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department helps manage traffic at some of the busy intersections.

How did your race go this weekend? Leave a review in the comments section.

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Charitable Running

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Most runners are good people! Some are even great people!! Runners as a whole may be some of the most giving individuals in the US.  That sounds like a crazy statement, but most of us tend to race on weekends and inevitably, that race raises money for a specific cause. If we added up all of the race fees that supported an organization it could be a significant amount.

It is probably safe to say that most runners don’t have a personal interest in every cause they support with their race calendar.  Although many will travel or make special exceptions for certain causes/events that are of particular interest.  I ran a 5K the weekend after the Mini because I wanted to support the organization.

Many non-runners take up the sport because of programs like Team-in-Training, that provide support and personalized training.  TNT boasts over 320,000 individuals have helped raise over $750 million.  That’s a ton of money raised by individuals for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I have two friends (that I know of) who ran their first marathon because of TNT and in support or honor of a family member.

Using individuals in this manner has become a popular fund-raising method for large organizations across the country.  Its effective because it raises money and awareness of the issues at a very local, grassroots level.  The Complete Running Network posted regular updates about runners racing for charity at their blog’s Charity-o-Rama!

Another growing trend of “charitable running” is the donation of clothing, well specifically shoes! I don’t think anyone would want our used running shirts or shorts.  Each year I’ve done the Indy Mini I always plan on taking my old shoes for their donation boxes, and each year I forget! The Mini partners with an organization called Changing Footprints, which is actually located in Indiana, Columbus I think. I know a few individuals who collect shoes and take them on mission trips around the world for distribution.  Indianapolis based The Running Company has partnered with Soles 4 Souls, an international shoe donation organization, to be a drop-off site for used shoes.  To encourage participation they are providing a 15% discount off new shoes with an old shoe donation.

So whether you do it on purpose or not, keep up the charitable running!

If you are actively involved in charitable running leave me a comment and I’ll make a collection of charitable running links and information.

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Race Day: Jennifer’s Run

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As mentioned Thursday there were lots of races to choose from. I decided to travel to Hartford City to check out the 7th Annual Jennifer’s Run 5K. I was very cautious with my expectations regarding my performance due to my 11-miler yesterday at Westwood. I ran a 20:47 (6:19, 6:50, 6:56, :41) and could definitely tell my legs were tired, not to mention the heat! Overall results are here.

Note: Before you read my review let me say that I am 100% behind their cause and the reasons for their race. I think domestic violence is horrific and awareness needs to be raised about the issue.

A quick race review: In summary I will not attend this race next year. Why not? Lots of little reasons, a 9am start is a bit late given the mid-June race day, the course is pretty flat (a couple of tiny semi-hills) but had lots of turns and was delicately marked (little white lines within a foot of the curb and easy to miss mile markers). Not to mention being 1 tenth too long (3.2 miles). The police officer leading the race actually missed a turn, thankfully someone was biking and yelled at the leaders to turn! Other reasons include not having water at the finish (they did have Powerade) and an odd layout for the course (a quick turnoff after the finish line is already in sight). I should note that there was a water stop between 1.5 and 2 miles. The race was sponsored, in part, by RoadID Race Sponsorship Program which included gift certificates for RoadID products for race winners and a $2 off coupon for all participants.

Finally and this may be the greatest sin a race director can commit, age group awards were not given out as advertised (for the awards they used 10 year instead of the advertised 5 year, making the error the other way wouldn’t cause any concerns!). In addition to a little confusion about some age group awards.

This is a good local race raising money for an excellent cause, but in my humble opinion not worth the drive from Anderson!

Am I too harsh? Want to talk about your recent race? Click on the comments link below and leave me a comment.

I did e-mail my concerns to the Race Director prior to this posting.

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