Posted by: Preztc
By Tina Coutu, LRRC President
As the trees are budding, flowers blooming, longer, warmer days arriving, it seems like spring has finally arrived-Welcome! And welcome to any new members and old members joining a new.
Last month’s column noted things that have never been done before and the then upcoming Little Rock Marathon, congratulations to all members participating and, kudos to all involved as this was an outstanding event and I can now say that from a personal level. This was my first Little Rock Marathon. Yes, I did many training runs, volunteered, and worked the expo, but for some reason resisted the whole marathon mostly due to the last 6 miles of Riverfront Drive. My friend/hero John Woodruff was a big supporter and fan of this race and I decided to run it for him-the third anniversary of his death was Saturday, March 27th. Although not fully prepared for this as I worked for Easy Runner the weekend of the marathon,- but I threw myself into the energy of the event as another motivator came with everyone’s favorite runner/triathlete Kirsten Davis (now of New York), who arrived to run this marathon for the first time as well. Also, I decided to push myself to get out on this course officially by using it as a training run for Hog Eye Marathon (another first-we shall see). My longest before LR was maybe an exaggerated 16. The weather was mild and actually perfect for this long training run with a couple of thousand fellow runners on race day. This was exciting to run the course passing many famous sights of LR with so many out-of-towners and locals running, walking, and cheering, the crowd support was both amazing and amusing. Many fun groups were out there on the sidelines. Governor Beebe was greeting runners as they passed his house. I was amazed at the crowd offering support, hospitality, and shouts, especially going up Kavanaugh. I was dreading the downhill on North Lookout by Allsopp Park due to a bum knee since mile 8.5, but I really wanted to get to John Woodruff’s Memorial water stop at mile 25 and yes, after all this I wanted that HUGE medal. A few things assisted me along the way to my destination. Yes it hurt going down N. Lookout, but at one point I looked up and was able to greet and hear Gary and Libby Smith of Easy Runner fame encouraging the marchers from the balcony of their home. Running backwards (took some pressure off knee) at the risk of looking foolish but it sure helped, and Allison Acott (aka marathon angel) came up alongside when it seemed like I needed it most, and encouraged and pushed me on. She had just finished the Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans a week or two before and really offered uplifting words that worked until mile 20. At mile 24 while taking a walk break another angel, Melanie Baden, appeared. Although she did not have any shots for my knee, her bright manner got me back running enough to get me up to Dillard’s and the “had to see” John Woodruff Mile 25 memorial and the finish. This was a good experience in spite of me and I will do this race again and hope you will too.
Speaking of marathons, motivation, and inspiration, Randy Oates spoke to a fairly well attended monthly club meeting (considering all the competition) on Mar 18th at Whole Hog Café., Good food, fellowship, and strength of spirit was experienced as Randy updated us on his very hard road of learning to walk and ride a recumbent bike. Once an avid athlete (runner, triathlete, boater), Randy had to face the situation of possibly never being able to walk about three years ago and has made miraculous progress. Listening to Randy’s personal account of working very hard to accomplish tasks we take for granted makes a person stop to think what we would do if faced with something that took away our ability to train-where we would we find the discipline and desire to make us move and not wallow in self pity. Thank you Randy for sharing and helping us to remember we have to continually be in training for a marathon or any event we set our sights on. Not just give it a half hearted try but to be vigiligant and constantly be on it. Randy is an excellent example of what we can accomplish when we train and purposefully go after our goals.
Posted 2 years, 1 month ago. Add a 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, 9 months ago. 1 comment
Posted by: Presto
If you have a shirt, hat, or workout bag and want the LRRC logo on it, you are now in luck!
Contact for Logo Stitching: Patsy Varner
E-mail: Patsy.Varner@dillards.com
Address: 1600 Cantrell Road., Little Rock, AR 72201
Phone: 870-917-9495 (cell) or 870-942-4639 (home)
Delivery and pickup: At Dillards Corporate Offices, Steven Preston can work out pickup if needed.
She has two sizes that she can put on shirts and caps. They are 2.5 X 3.5 inches and 1.5 X 2.5 for $10.00.
She has a 4X4 logo that will be $12.00 on any item - this size would work well for a workout bag.
She has a 6X6 logo that should look good on sweat shirts and large bags.
No discounted rate on multiple items. She said it takes her the same time to do each one.
She can also change the colors on any part of it. You might want to change the color of the lettering depending on the color of the item.
Get the Bird on your shirt!
Get the Bird on your hat!
Posted 2 years, 9 months ago. Add a comment
Posted by: littlerockroadrunners
Welcome to the LRRC Blog, the newest feature of littlerockroadrunners.com! It looks a bit sparse now, but it will soon increase our club’s online content and get more members involved.
Blog Tour:
Starting at the top of the page, we have the wonderful club logo. Just beneath you’ll find a row of sliding-door pictures. Click on any of these pictures to view blog posts within any one of the six categories:
Race Reports - club members sharing their experiences at local or far-away races
Upcoming Events - Get current, up-to-date information on what’s coming up in the Little Rock running world: races, club meetings, etc…
Board Reports - News from the LRRC Board of Directors
Training - Blog posts detailing training techniques and tips, training programs, or members’ experiences preparing for a big race
Racing Team- News about the LRRC Grand Prix Series competition
Miscellaneous - All that doesn’t fit anywhere else
Clicking on the left-most picture at any time will return you to the LRRC Blog’s home page where you will find the most recent blog posts in all categories. At the bottom of each blog post is a link to comments. Click this and you can read any comments that other blog readers have written and be able to leave a comment of your own.
The left sidebar has a series of links for easy blog navigation. There is also a search box and a subscribe to link. By subscribing to this blog you will receive email notification each time a new blog entry is posted.
That’s pretty much it for the tour, so subscribe today to get be notified about new posts, or just check back with us every now and then and see what’s new.
Posted 2 years, 10 months ago. Add a comment
