Just back from a 6.5 miler with the Colonial Road Runners. We have a core group of 8-10 of us that meet every Saturday at 8am. Runs cover the gamut.....from 3 miles to as long as 18 when folks are training for something. But safe to say the average run is around 5 miles. The beauty of these runs is that there is always someone that will run your distance. Feel like 3? Someone running 6 will run with you and then just do a second loop. I can't stress enough how important it is to occasionally run with a group. It removes the mental barriers that your mind will put up in your path. It's so easy to cut an intended 6 miler short when you are alone. If you have even the faintest glimmer of competitiveness, there is no way you will let your running mate down by cutting short. So join us. Every Saturday at 8am. We meet at the Lions Club on King Phillip. But be warned.....be on time. We leave at 8am on the dot.....we wait for no one!!
A sure sign of spring is the return of the Raynham Fun Run!!!! Every Monday night, the Colonials host a 3.25 mile Fun Run. Again, we start at the Lions Club at 7pm sharp!! The run will cost you $2 each week. (please bring singles, nothing worse than making change for a $20). Show up early the first time you run. (6:30??) You will have to sign up and you will receive a bib number. That bib number will stay with you all summer long, it's yours every week so don't lose it. So it's only the first week that you need to sign up, and show up early. Every week after that you simply stuff your two bucks in the jar.
I have been running these Fun Runs off and on since their inception. Local race directing legend Jim Dupont started these back in the late 90's? Early 00's? There was a group of about 10-15 of us that met on Judson Street behind the RAC every Monday night and did our thing. No frills, believe me. Like most things in life, if you build it, they will come. And come they did. Dupey's little run got big enough to get the attention of lots of runners.....and local officials. The latter of which was fielding calls from concerned citizens that all of a sudden their quiet neighborhoods were being overrun by a randy bunch of emaciated middle age folks that appeared to be enjoying themselves too much. So off of Judson Street we went.
Fast forward to the last few years. Dupey turned over the race to the Colonials and the Gillis family has picked up the ball. They do a great job along with the volunteers from the Colonials and put on a great little run. Also Mike from Spark BRS handles the hydration station with military efficiency. Did I say its a great little run? Well, it was little. At one point last year there were over 100 runners, perhaps closer to 150 if memory serves me right.
So, for those local readers that have been tempted by this blog to take your first steps as a new runner, here is your chance. You will NOT find a friendlier group run. We get runners from ages 8 to 80. From the high school rabbits that finish in 16 minutes to the run/walk crowd that take 45 minutes. And everything in between. There is NO legit excuse for you not to use these Monday nights as your incentive, your rallying call to just do it. You will not find a friendlier bunch of people and I guarantee you will find someone just like you to run with. By the end of the summer you will be running 9 minute miles, smiling and thinking to yourself how far you have come since May.
See you Monday!
Run FOR life, not from it,
JD
