Posted by: Brian S-ski
It’s definitely summer in Arkansas. That means heat, humidity and 5Ks. First on the docket for 2010 was the Brickfest 5K. There was a new course this year for the race, otherwise things felt as sticky as ever. The route started in a large parking lot, turned onto a side road, turned again to plunge down a short, steep hill then flowed along next to the Ouachita River until reaching a cone at the 2.5 K point. The course turned at the cone and traversed the same route back to the finish line in the parking lot.
The new route did the job, but I preferred the old race course to the new one. There was more traffic and more congestion on the course this year. The race organizers were forced to change though, since the entire Brickfest Festival moved out of downtown.
The good news is that our men’s team took top points! Gary Taylor, Scott Anderson, me, Imari Dellimore, Kevin Golden, Steven Preston, Joel Perez, Carl Carter, Jeff Maher, Dan Belanger and Carl Northcutt combined to easily take down the 2nd Place Conway Running Club. That also moved us into sole possession of 1st place on the 2010 Leaderboard. But don’t get too big in the head, there are still 9 Grand Prix races left this year.
The women’s team finished fifth place at Brickfest. Leah Thorvilson, our female team captain and resident assassin was in Seattle but will be back in action for the next race. Oh, and we got a new female recruit named Tracy Johanning. The future looks good for the women’s team. The LRRC ladies at the Brick were Tina Coutu, Becky Humes, Ashley Philbrick and Alesa Davis.
Next up is the Dam Night Run 5K on July 31st. Come for the race, stay for the LRRC tailgate party!
Posted 1 year, 7 months ago at 2:12 pm. Add a comment
Posted by: Brian S-ski
In what seems like a blink of an eye, the 2010 Grand Prix season is already 20% done! The LRRC racing teams are looking strong and, as of this writing, have 64 club members in total signed up. That matches our year end total from 2009, which was an all-time record for greatest Grand Prix participation by one club. So….. we need just one more person to sign up and we will break our own record! Thank you to each Roadrunner that signed up for the Grand Prix to represent the club - Go Birds!
And now for a quick recap of the action thus far…
January 24th: Grand Prix Race #1 - One Hour Track Run at Russellville
Yanoviak and Nichols fight the wind at the One Hour Track Run
Both the men’s and women’s LRRC teams took 2nd place at the first GP race of the year though we did have both the individual winners with Leah Thorvilson and myself (yep, the sun shines on a dog’s rear every now and then). As would become a theme in the first four races, the wind was a factor. At the Track Run at least, the headwind is broken up into short little segments. Then again, the lack of head wind is just as fleeting. Our men’s team at the Track Run consisted of Steve Yanoviak, David Williams, Joel Perez, Mark Hagemeier, Tim Steadman, Ross Bolding, Joseph Nichols, Craig Lair, Billy Shurley, Roy Smith, Andrew Kenley, Michael Harmon, David Meroney, Dave Conrad, Bill Bulloch, Dan Belanger, and Carl Northcutt. For the women’s team it was Thorvilson, Andrea Sieczkowski, Alison Acott, Ashley Philbrick, April Rand, Eileen Turan, Alea Humes, Becky Humes, Alesa Davis, Rhonda Smith, and Coreen Frasier.
February 6th: Grand Prix Race #2 - River Trail 15K at North Little Rock
Becky Humes sprints for the finish line in Burns Park at the River Trail 15K
The good news is the LRRC Women took first place at the 15K! The other news is that the Men took third place. On the positive side though, we did get Scott Anderson to sign up for the GP after the race. Leah Thorvilson won again to lead our women’s team at the 15K: Mary Wells, Tina Coutu, Becky Humes, Alea Humes, Eileen Turan, Ginea Qualls, Lisa Alberius, Ashley Philbrick, Wyanette Traub, and Coreen Frasier. The men’s team was me, Kevin Golden, Steve Yanoviak, Joel Perez, Greg Sorenson, Billy Shurley, Bert Sanders, Bryan Jones, Kevin Groustra, Brian Watson, David Meroney, Mark Hagemeier, Joe Nichols, Jeff Bost, Dave Conrad, Bill Torrey, DHW, Ross Bolding, Roy Smith, and Carl Northcutt. In other words, it was another huge turnout for the Birds. Would have been even bigger too, except so many club members selflessly volunteered to work the race: Steve Hollowell, Robert Holmes, Lisa Luyet, Dan “the Man” Belanger, Paul Ward, Alesa Davis, Linda House, Steven Preston, and Glen Mays. Mary, Ginea and Tina also helped with registration and then ran the race too. Andrea and I have directed the 15K the past two years and couldn’t do it alone, so again, thanks to all that helped out!
February 13th: Grand Prix Race #3 - Valentine’s Day 5K at Russellville
LT collects some hardware
The LRRC men came through at the V-Day 5K with their first win of 2010! The women had a good showing too, finishing 2nd to the hometown RVR crew. Leah Thorvilson was the overall female winner, our own Justin Radke got 2nd on the men’s side and Becky Humes and Joel Perez won a Couples Award. The women representing the LRRC at the V-day 5K were: Thorvilson, Humes, Lisa Luyet, Alea Humes, April Rand, Eileen Turan, Ashley Philbrick, Alesa Davis, Lynnette Watts, and Coreen Frasier. The men were lead by Radke, then me, Presto, Yanoviak, Joel Perez, Tim Steadman, DHW, Mark Hagemeier, Roy Smith, Michael Harmon, Dave Conrad, Billy Shurley, Carl Northcutt and Dan Belanger.
February 21st: Grand Prix Race #4 - Run the Line Half Marathon at Texarkana
The LRRC crew at the starting line of the Run the Line Half Marathon
2010 marks the Grand Prix debut of the Run the Line Half Marathon, and (I think) the first ever GP race in Texarkana.
Fun Fact About Texarkana that Radke Doesn’t Believe: the name Texarkana is actually derived from three states: TEXas, ARKansas, and louisiANA. Apparently, back in the day the entire local region was often called Texarkana. It was so catchy that the towns adopted the name even though their location was 30 miles north of the Louisiana border.
Quick Quiz Based on the Fun Fact: The name “Texarkana” was first coined for…
A.) A Steamboat
B.) An Alcoholic Beverage
C.) Just made up by a Railroad Surveyor
Answer will appear at the end of this blog post.
Anyway… for those that didn’t make the trip, I highly recommend you put it on your to-do list for 2011. The course starts in Texas, heads into Arkansas, crosses back into Texas, runs a bit on the actual state line, then finishes in Arkansas. Immediately crossing the finish line you can head into an open bar with free hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta, porkchops and beer. The finisher’s medal is actually cool too. And once again, the LRRC Blog will be the first to break huge news: our Arkansas RRCA State Rep is working with her Texas counterpart to create some sort of Arkansas-Texas challenge at this race for 2011. And… a traveling trophy is likely to be involved. Stay tuned for more details.
And now the big news: LRRC swept the team titles at Run the Line! The men won in very dramatic fashion by a single point over the River Valley Runners. Special mention needs to go to Joel Perez who set a big PR as our third scorer and to Joseph Nichols who sealed the deal as our 4th man as he continues a strong rookie GP season. Oh, and I guess we can give a few props to Radke who actually won the race. Our men’s team also consisted of me, Billy Shurley, Roy Smith, and Carl Northcutt. On the women’s side, Leah won her fourth (of 4) GP race this year. The women’s team was completed by Tina Coutu, Becky Humes, Ashely Philbrick and Lisa Alberius.
Quiz Answer: D.) All of the Above? It is actually uncertain which, if any, of these three urban legends is the original source of the name Texarkana. Thanks for playing!
Posted 1 year, 11 months ago at 10:00 pm. Add a comment
Posted by: Brian S-ski
Okay LRRC, it’s time to sign up for the 2010 Grand Prix Series!
In 2009, we had a total of 64 LRRC members on our GP team. That was an all time state record for greatest participation by one club! Let’s beat our own record and get at least 65 in 2010.
So far we have 14 men and 10 women signed up for our team:
Dan Belanger
David Conrad - new to our team for 2010!
Mark Hagemeier - new to our team for 2010!
Greg Helmbeck
Robert Holmes
Bryan Jones
Hillary Kogo
Joseph Nichols - new to our team for 2010!
Joel Perez
Ron Sanders
Billy Shurley - new to our team for 2010!
Brian Sieczkowski
Roy Smith
Steve Yanoviak
Allison Acott
Alesa Davis
Kenya Doucette - new to our team for 2010!
Alea Humes
Becky Humes
Lisa Luyet - new to our team for 2010!
Ginea Qualls
Andrea Sieczkowski
Rhonda Smith - new to our team for 2010!
Eileen Turan - new to our team for 2010!
If you’ve run for the LRRC in the past, we need again for 2010. If you’ve never entered the Grand Prix before, this could be your year. You can find out more information on the Arkansas Grand Prix Series at www.arkrrca.com, but in a nutshell it is a series of 20 races all across the state. For every race you finish you accumulate points in your age group and help out the LRRC in the team competition. We were able to win both the men’s and women’s team competitions in 2009 largely because we had great participation from club members and that helped us score points at every race. No matter your speed or racing frequency, you can help out the LRRC and probably have a lot of fun in the process.
There are two ways to sign up for the Grand Prix:
Click here for Online Registration
-or-
Click here for a printable entry form that you can mail in
That’s all it takes. Your Grand Prix entry just has to be received 5 days before a race. The first race is the One Hour Track Run on January 24th, so if you plan on running that race then make sure you sign up for the Grand Prix by January 19th. But there is no benefit to waiting, so just sign up today - the data entry personnel for the GP Series (me) would be very happy if everyone didn’t wait until the last minute!
Posted 2 years, 1 month ago at 2:24 pm. Add a comment
Posted by: Brian S-ski
By all accounts, it was a great weekend in Hot Springs for the Little Rock Roadrunners. Many of us booked rooms at the famed Arlington Hotel for Friday and Saturday night and made a nice weekend of it in Spa City. The Spa Pacers hosted the Spa 10K/5K for the 29th year and things kicked off on Friday evening with packet pickup and a welcome reception at the Arlington.
On Saturday morning an easy warm up mile took us to the Hot Springs Convention Center where the races start and end. After last year’s freezing temps, the 45 degrees or so felt perfect at the start. The first two miles of the course are a deceptively gradual uphill, running along Central Ave past the Arlington and then a lap around Whittington Park before the real fun begins. The race course heads into Hot Springs National Park and up West Mountain Drive. Up a huge hill, then it levels out a bit and then back up another. Just about the time you are considering heading over to the side of the road and yacking up last night’s dinner, the road screams back down the mountain and before you know it there is only a mile to go.
LRRC was king of the mountain as both our male and female squads won the team competition at the race. Leah Thorvilson was the overall female winner to lead the women. Jenny Weatter, Mary Wells, Tina Coutu, Alea Humes, Becky Humes, Ginea Qualls, Shareese Kondo, Alesa Davis, and Coreen Frasier rounded out our female team.
On the men’s side, Steven Preston set a 30 second PR to take 3rd overall. Brian Sieczkowski, Kevin Golden, Bill Diamond, Joel Perez, Steve Yanoviak, Greg Helmbeck, John Russell, Harold Hays, Bill Torrey, David Williams, and Dan Belanger were the rest of the 1st Place men’s team at the race.
After the race was the annual Arkansas RRCA Awards Ceremony back at the Arlington Hotel. Our own Leah Thorvilson was crowned Arkansas Female Runner of the Year while Bill Torrey was named Race Director of the Year for the Capital City Classic 10K! After the awards were handed out, the LRRC members hit the town with much to celebrate. Make sure to put the Spa 10K weekend on your calendar for 2010, it is a must-do.
Leah Thorvilson: Arkansas RRCA Runner of the Year
Bill Torrey: Arkansas RRCA Race Director of the Year
Posted 2 years, 2 months ago at 10:51 am. Add a comment
Posted by: Brian S-ski
The Arkansas Running Klub hosted the 5K State Championship Race in NLR once again this year and the LRRC crossed to the river in huge numbers to claim both the men’s and women’s team titles! Leah Thorvilson set the pace on the women’s side, winning in 17:12 to set a new course record. Our women’s team dominated in kind as Leah was joined by Mary Wells, Mira Lelovic, Tina Coutu, Shareese Kondo, Ginea Qualls, Rebecca Humes, Carol Torrey, Mackie Buckelew, Alea Humes, Alesa Davis, and Coreen Frasier to rout the other club teams.
Not to be outdone, the LRRC men showed up with a fearsome crew of 22 runners. Justin Radke, Imari Dellimore, Kevin Golden, Brian Sieczkowski, Steve Yanoviak, Bill Diamond, Steven Preston, Greg Helmbeck, Joel Perez, Ross Bolding, David Williams, Raj Bhanot, Bill Torrey, Kevin Groustra, Jeff Maher, John Russell, Dan Belanger, Roy Smith, Michael Harmon, Ron Sanders, Bryan Jones, and Carl Northcutt made up the male 5K State Championship-winning squad.
For the 2nd year in a row, LRRC swept the 5K state titles!
The LRRC men have now won the 15K, 10K and 5K state titles in 2009 while the women have both 15K and 5K titles. Looking ahead there are three State Championship races left this season: Cross Country at the Chile Pepper Festival, Half Marathon at Soaring Wings, and the Marathon at MidSouth. Let’s try to sweep all three!
But first is the Arkansas 20K in Benton on September 19th. If you’ve never run this race, I strongly encourage you to check it out as it is an Arkansas road running institution and back in the Grand Prix Series. And if you’ve never run a 20K at all, you’ll get a PR for sure! I was really looking forward to running this race since it was added to the GP for this year but then got sidelined with a stress fracture after the Toad Suck 10K. As my longest run post-injury has only been 8.5 miles, I’m going to have to wait until next year for a 12.4 mile PR. Look for me somewhere out on the course doing volunteer duty for the Saline County Striders. If anyone else isn’t up for the distance, please consider volunteering as well. The SCS recently learned that 24 of their volunteers have backed out with just a week until race time. If you can help out, contact the race’s volunteer coordinator, Maurice Robinson at mrobinson1124@att.net - I’m sure they could use a few more workers. Either running or working, hope to see you all there!
Posted 2 years, 4 months ago at 9:12 pm. 1 comment
Posted by: Brian S-ski
The RunAround Archives Restoration Project now has 11 old school issues of the RunAround online from January 1979 to July 1981. We will continue posting the LRRC newsletters all the way up to the present, and from time to time will highlight classic articles in this blog. Our first such article is from the July 1981 issue by Lou Peyton recalling running in Little Rock from 1971-1981, part of which pre-dates the formation of the LRRC.
REMINISCING RUNNING 1971-1981
By Lou Peyton
I remember when…
- Buz McNair & Terry Matthews were the first Arkansans to run in the Boston Marathon. There were no qualifying times then.
- Gary Smith, Max Hooper, Otis Edge, & Terry Matthews organized the first race in Little Rock. The 4-Mile Holiday race through Pleasant Valley.
- There were 20K races at Camp Robinson.
- The Arkansas Marathon was held on Petit Jean Mountain.
- Pat Wyatt jogged in the neighborhood to get in shape for her snow skiing trips to Colorado.
- There were eleven members of the LRRC. The first fun run was planned and run from Beth and Lloyd Walkers’ house. The route included Napa Valley.
- Dewey Glasscock ran his mileage on the indoor track at the YMCA.
- Charley Peyton ran his 1½ miles daily – in combat boots.
- Bob Plunkett made his first pair of orthotics.
- Dick Lewis tried long distance running but returned to his beloved track that was his home.
- Steve Tilley ran a 3:03 for his first marathon.
- Al Maguire rode his motorcycle to watch the First Baptist 10K race.
- Deb Strehle ran her first marathon in 3:45.
- Larry Mabry ran 2 miles a day at the track and laughed at long distance running.
- Ann Smith’s daily mileage was one mile run all out on the track at Scott Field and a 5 mile run on weekends.
- JoEtta Galbraith wore a size 12 dress. She easily slips into a size 8 now.
- Pat Wyatt was the first woman from Arkansas to run in the Boston Marathon.
- There were no women in the 40+ age division in our local races.
- Gary Smith and Buz McNair ran 30 miles on the track at Scott Field one Friday evening just for fun.
- Bob Galbraith flew to California to run his first marathon.
- Beth Walker finished six mile fun runs – walking.
- Kathy Plunkett was 60+ lbs heavier than she is now. She thought the other members of the LRRC were whippets and greyhounds.
- Ritchie Heber was the fastest young runner in Little Rock.
- There was a marathon chart at Sportsstop (Finish Line Sports) where the long distance runners posted their marathon times. Dick Dickins had the longest list of accomplishments.
- Max Hooper ran 53 ½ miles in the London to Brighton Race.
- Dick Strickland and Bob Boyd ran a ten minute pace on Saturday fun runs. Have you clocked them lately?
- There was a 1000 mile club at Sportstop (Finish Line Sports) where we charted our weekly mileage and earned those 1000 mile club T-shirts. Nita Copeland was the most persistent runner earning hers after working for two years (pregnancy slowed her progress for a few months).
- Lloyd Walker ran the hot International Rice Festival Marathon.
- Jim Johnson ran Overlook Hill seven times in a workout.
- Sy Brewer ran the Dallas Marathon with a steel pin in his leg.
- Paul Johnson was truly a gallompher.
Posted 2 years, 5 months ago at 7:03 am. 1 comment
Posted by: Brian S-ski
We met in the pre-5 AM darkness with reason to be optimistic. The weather forecast called for 68 degrees at race time, almost 20 degrees cooler than in past years. The race course had been rerouted due to road construction and was rumored to be a little less hilly. Ready for the challenge we crammed into the Dan Van and the Great White Shark and hit Highway 167 for Batesville and the White River 4 Mile Classic.
The White River Roadrunners once again put on a great race. Technical race shirts, chip timing, and prize money were added this year while the entry fee actually went down! With the break in the weather and the nice new course, it was a great day for a race.
Leah Thorvilson finished as top female by a landslide and beat all the LRRC men at the race in the process. The women’s team finished second at the race behind the River Valley Runners but maintain a solid lead on the 2009 Grand Prix leaderboard. Thorvilson, Mary Wells, Tina Coutu, Becky Humes, Ginea Qualls, and Alea Humes made up the LRRC women’s team at the race.
The men’s team also strengthened their lead in the season’s standings despite placing second to the Conway Running Club. The Grand Prix season can be a bit like the Tour de France: sometimes you let a little guy get the stage win while resting back in the peloton with your main rivals. The LRRC men were nice enough to let the CRC guys get a first place finish while still increasing our lead over our closest rival Club Arkadelphia on the season’s leaderboard. I explained this cute analogy to some Conway guys after the race and a bit of good natured trash talking ensued. Bottom line, I’ve guaranteed to some other clubs that the LRRC men will win the next four races. Now you all have to come out, run hard and back up my mouth! Kevin Golden, Bill Diamond, Brian Sieczkowski, David Williams, Joel Perez, Raj Bhanot, Greg Helmbeck, Bill Torrey, Kevin Groustra, Jeff Maher, Dan Belanger, Roy Smith, Ron Sanders Jr, and Carl Northcutt made up the men’s team at the 4 Mile Classic.
Next up on the Grand Prix circuit is the Watermelon 5K in Hope on August 8th. LRRC members Glen Mays and Leah Thorvilson are the defending champions. Car pool plans are being made on the LRRC forum so get ready to come on out and help LRRC get first place at the Melon!
Posted 2 years, 6 months ago at 1:38 pm. Add a comment
Posted by: Brian S-ski
There is good news and bad news to report for the 2009 Dam Night Run 5K for the LRRC Racing Teams. First the good news:
Justin Radke was the overall race winner in a time of 16:05! We had a strong showing from the men’s team and came up just one point shy of winning the male team competition at the race. Considering all the LRRC men out of town or injured this weekend, a one point loss to Club Arkadelphia on their home course is a result to be proud of. The men’s team consisted of Radke, Imari Dellimore, Bill Diamond, Joel Perez, David Williams, Raj Bhanot, Jeff Maher, Greg Helmbeck, Bill Torrey, Roy Smith, Dan Belanger and Carl Northcutt.
Justin Radke celebrates with some watermelon after taking first place at the Dam Night Run
The bad news is that the LRRC women just missed having enough finishers to score points in the female team competition. In order to earn Grand Prix points, a club must have 3 female finishers and we had just 2 at the Dam Night Run. A big salute to Becky and Alea Humes for representing the LRRC at the race. There is good news on the female side as well: clubs are allowed to drop their four lowest scores on the season, so our zero at this race will be wiped out. I should also add that the Roadrunner ladies are still #1 on the season leaderboard.
After the race LRRC partied in style with food, drinks, lawn games, and video footage of the 1993 Dam Night Run in which Radke held the early lead over NCAA 5K Champ Brian Baker before running out of gas after a 4:27 first mile. If you’ve never been to the Dam Night Run, I strongly encourage you to attend the 2010 running for the party alone.
The LRRC crew parties after the race with rare video footage of a 17 year old Justin Radke at the 1993 DNR 5K
There are more pictures from the race, the after party and a few leftover from the Twilight 5K earlier this month up in the LRRC photo gallery now.
Next up: The White River 4 Mile Classic in Batesville is this Saturday, August 1st. This is a Championship Race and crucial in the Grand Prix competition. We need every able-bodied Roadrunner to invade Batesville and come home with a sweep of the team titles! Check out the LRRC forum if you are interested in car pooling to the race.
Posted 2 years, 6 months ago at 7:51 pm. 1 comment
Posted by: Brian S-ski
Thanks to our new logo, we all know that the Little Rock Roadrunners Club was founded in 1977. For many club members, myself included, that information represents our entire knowledge of LRRC history. I think many club members, myself included, really are interested in learning more of the Club’s history, there just isn’t any way to read up on it. Until now…
One of the projects that the LRRC Board of Directors has taken on this year is to find and restore as much LRRC history as possible. As a start, June Barron contacted long-time club members Lou and Charlie Peyton. Lucky for us, the Peytons have issues of our Club newsletter going back over 30 years. I will be scanning these copies and posting them to the Club website on the RunAround archives page.
The oldest RunAround that the Peytons had was from January 1979 (I was 6 months old at the time); it features 3 articles and full results from the 2nd annual Road Hog Road Race 10K. You can check it out for yourself, here:
http://arkrrca.com/html/LRRR/newsletter/1979/january.pdf
The RunAround was half-sheet size back then with small type, but since it is a PDF file you can enlarge and rotate the image for your viewing needs. January 1979 is the current starting point, and additional RunAround back issues will be posted on our Archives page in the coming weeks and months.
Other plans include interviews with founding Club members and posting of old Capital City Classic 10K results back when it was called the Pepsi 10K.
If you have any historical club information in old papers or just rolling around in your head, please let us know. You can email the club address or post a comment to this blog. Help us make “Running Little Rock Since 1977″ more than just a slogan!
Posted 2 years, 7 months ago at 9:13 am. 1 comment
Posted by: Brian S-ski
The LRRC Women’s Grand Prix Team took top honors at the Brickfest 5K Saturday in Malvern! The ladies’ team at Brickfest was composed of Mira Lelovic, Tina Coutu, Andrea Sieczkowski, Ginea Qualls, Lauren Ellis (new member!), Rebecca Humes, Alea Humes, and Alesa Davis. The Women strengthened their lead on first place in the 2009 Grand Prix Standings.
Bill Diamond, Kevin Golden, Imari Dellimore, Mira Lelovic, and Jeff Maher
The Men’s Team came in second as the Conway Running Club got their first win of the 2009 Season. The Men’s team at Brickfest was Imari Dellimore, Kevin Golden, Bill Diamond, David Williams, Brian Polansky, Greg Helmbeck, Joel Perez, Kevin Groustra, Bill Torrey, Jeff Maher, Dan Belanger, Roy Smith, Ron Sanders Jr (new member!), and Carl Northcutt. The men increased their lead in the 2009 Standings over 2nd place Club Arkadelphia.
Next Grand Prix race is the Dam Night Run on July 25th at the Lake DeGray spillway. Find out more information on the Dam Night Run webpage.
Posted 2 years, 7 months ago at 2:16 pm. Add a comment
