July Letter from the CRC President

There was a recent thread on our FaceBook about the Charlotte Running Club making another attempt at the 100 x 5k Guinness book world record. As much I would like to see us hold this title again, I don’t see our club leading this effort. To break the record set by the Iowa runners we would have to average well below 17 minutes for a 100 runners. Probably less than 3% of our club is capable of running a sub 17 minute time on any given weekend. To make a realistic attempt at this record we would have to recruit heavily outside our club. There is nothing wrong with reaching to non members since I view this as an opportunity for potential members to gain exposure to our club. Where I am struggling with it is on the day of the event, it becomes less of a Charlotte Running Club initiative because the majority of the runners would most likely be non members. This is why that I would rather see someone else pursue this record. 

So with that said, I would consider going after a different Guinness Book world record. This would be to break the record for the number of tethered runners completing a 5k race. Guinness says the current record stands at 116 runners.

Is it possible for us to do it? I believe the answer is yes. There some logistical issues to workout. Namely, we would need to find a race that would allow us to do it.

Going after this type of record makes a lot more sense for our club. Unlike the 100 x 5k attempt where maybe less than 3% of our club could participate, this record could engage more of our existing club members. If I had to guess, I would say that at least 90% of our club can run a 5k in 35 minutes. Nothing would please me more than seeing every club member sign up to help us make this attempt.

If you are interested in being on the Charlotte Running Club world record attempt team, email run.charlotte@gmail to express your interest. At a minimum we would need 117 runners, but let’s go big and see if we can do 200 runners.

 

Upcoming CRC Activities and Events:

Here is what’s on tap for the coming months:

·         8/3/14 CRC Brain Freeze Run - Metropolitan 4pm

·         8/5/14 CRC/Blue Ridge Relay night @ Charlotte Running Company Location And Time are TBD

·         8/10/14 SLR Half Marathon – McMullen Greenway 7 AM

·         9/13/14 Earth Fare Community Block Party  11 AM -3 PM

·         10/4/14 CRC Uptown Throwdown 12hr Run Oct

·         10/29 & 30/14 CRC/Run Safer Clinic Charlotte Running Company Locations & Times TBD

·         12/7/14 Holiday Lights Run - Freedom Park 5:30 PM

·         12/13/14 CRC’s Guinness World Record attempt for most number of runners tethered together while completing a 5k (Huntersville Half & 5k 8:00 AM start)

 

CRC Summer Track Night “Under the Lights”:

I looked up into the sky and felt the rain falling on my face two hours before our track meet was to start. Shaking my head, I wondered if we were even going to be able to hold our CRC Summer Track Meet and if we did, how many people would come out to it. Rain and thunderstorms tend to keep people away from outdoor events.

Much to my surprise and enjoyment the rain stopped about 15 minutes before our meet was to begin. From this point on we could not have asked for a better evening. The temperature was way down. We had numerous vendors and spectators out to watch, and best of all, we had over 70s runners come out to enjoy a fantastic evening of track running.

Another potential issue that turned about being better than expected was the placement of the vendor tents. We were told by UNCC that we needed to stay off the field because the turf has been resurfaced. This left me wondering where I would put all of the tents. Again luck was on my side, we lined the tents up along the outside of the track. The plan was ingenious. Our runners could easily mingle with the venders if they were not participating in a particular event.

My other concern was staying on time. I had planned roughly 10 minutes between each event and 45 minutes for the open 5k. Running everyone using the waterfall line was the key. This allowed us to run more than 8 runners per event.

There is one change that I want to make for next year and that is to change the way we are counting laps. We had about 20 runners in the open race and 16 in the fast heat of the 5k. Runners are pretty good about the honor system so I don’t think we had anyone that short changed themselves. However, I want to figure out a way to make it easier on the timing team.

Again overall, we had a great event with lots of runners in attendance. Special thanks to Mike, Lori, Jon, Audrey, and Jeanette for their volunteer help. They were on top of everything.

Just so you know, I am already thinking about improves and additional events for next year.

 

Tour de Charlotte:

I hope everyone found our Tour de Charlotte initiative as great as I did. Eric’s weekly emails and blog post were slam packed with information covering the entire Charlotte running scene. There was everything from where to run to when to run to whom to run with. Reading them each week quickly got on my must do list.

While your mind was being entertained by the emails, we also had every possible running front covered. To do this, we mixed it up with some road runs, track runs, and trail runs. We have been to Charlotte Running Company for a great group run, pizza, and spirits. We were in Davidson with DART and Omega Sports for a rainy but no less fun group run. Of course, you read about the fantastic night at UNCC under the lights. We were at the US National Whitewater center for the River Jam group run. Awesome place, I really enjoyed hanging out with them and raffling off $100 dollars in gift cards. We wrapped this month up at Inside Out Sports where we gave away $400 in Inside Out gift to several lucky CRC members.

Special thanks needs to go out to Eric, Mike, Wendy, Eric, Lori, and Dave their willingness to step forward and organize these events for our club.

 CRC Newsletter:

Often our club members do special events or achieve special awards for their running or just have a burning desire to write. If you have an article that you would like to submit to be in our monthly CRC newsletter, email cltrunclub.newsletter@gmail.com.

The same goes for race results. Just email them to the same address and Phyllis will see that they make the next month’s newsletter.

Lastly, I would like to ask a favor. I am not sure how many club members know it or even realize it but Phyllis has been our club’s newsletter editor for a while now. She has been doing a fantastic job editing all of the articles into our monthly newsletter, and I really appreciate the effort that she has put into it. So, the next time that you see her please tell her what an awesome job that she is doing. For without Phyllis’ commitment in time and energy, our club may well be without a newsletter.  

Mileage Program:

Audrey has tabulated the June results for our club and posted it to our CRC website.

You can still join our mileage program by replying to Audrey’s monthly email. If you have never participated or have not received an email from her, you can still email Audrey at run.charlotte.miles@gmail.com

Member Status:

Our club membership total now stands at 325 members. Remember, you are our brand so help us promote our club. I would love to have 400 members by December of this year.

Board Meeting Update:

Our July board meeting was pushed back into the first week of June to accommodate the schedules of our board members. Here is the link to our June Board Meeting notes .

Our July board meeting was 6:30 PM on the 7/31 at the Dowd Y.

This was one of our best meetings yet with lots of great discussion.

Paul was not in attendance so I covered the Treasury report. We have a little over $5600 in the club’s account.

I reviewed with the board my idea about the Guinness World record attempt for most tethered runners completing a 5k. They approved the idea, and I am beginning the initial planning stages.

Eric and Lori have been doing some great analytics of our usage in Constant Contact as well as our FaceBook group. This work will help us both in approaching advertisers for our social media outlets and to better understand our member’s needs and wants. We also plant engage some of some members and non members in discussion groups.

 Eric pitched the idea to create a Charlotte’s Runners Hall of Fame. Look for more updates from him as he brings this idea for concept to reality.  

Next up, we talked about plans for the:

·         Aug 3 - Brain Freeze Run - Metropolitan - 4pm

·         Aug 5 - Charlotte Running Company/BRR Logistic Meeting

·         Aug 10 - SLR 1/2 marathon run

 

Mike shared with us the status of McAlpine and the options for going forward. McAlpine Park will close after Foot Locker in December which means our Winter Classic 8k will not be in the same location next year.  

Mike also has been working to update our website to provide better exposure for four club FaceBook groups.

 Rob is working out the location details for the Uptown Throwdown Relay.

 

Wrapping Up:

After the summer solstice the days tend to get shorter but they also tend to get hotter and more humid. Afternoon thunderstorms are a bound in the Charlotte area. Truly, this explains why most of us still finish our runs looking drenched. We are doomed from either the rain or the sweat. Ah, but before we know it, the cool temperatures of September will be upon. Our legs will feel like they have 10 more horse power on our daily runs. I am so looking forward to it.

If there is every a question, a concern, or just general feedback about our club, reach out to run.charlotte@gmail.com. Our board members monitor this email inbox and usually respond to emails within 24 hours.

 

Best in Running,

Bill Shires

CRC President

run.charlotte@gmail.com