2013 Annual Club Meeting Information

I wanted to give you all some information before our annual club meeting on Sunday 12/1. Perhaps we should have done this sooner, but it is a busy time of year.

Our history

The Tryon Running Club first started in 2009 with a small group of friends that wanted to find other people to share their love of running with. We met informally and connected via Facebook.

In 2012 we decided to become more than just a Facebook page and become a "real" club.  As a result we join the Road Runners Club of America to benefit from the group insurance and to obtain non-profit designation under 501 ( c) 3 under the Internal Revenue Code.  To afford to do this we began taking membership dues of $12 for single membership and $20 family membership. Currently we have 34 dues-paying members. All of the dues go towards our yearly RRCA fee. 

Our mission

The motto for our club is "Giving back one step at a time." We want to run, meet people and give back to the community we all love.  One of our goals is to sponsor races to raise money for local charities. Last year and this year we held the "Tryon Half Marathon" to help support The Thermal Belt Outreach Ministry. We also continue to support The Jingle Bell Jog for the Hungry. This year we have also taken on The Race to the Head of the Class for scholarship funds. 

Our future

Sunday we will be meeting to discuss the future of our club. We will continue to support these local races, and many more. Opportunities abound in our community.... we have other, non-running events that need support, Tour de Leaves and Jerry's Baddle to name two. We will continue to do good, but we need more help. As mentioned above, we have 34 paying members, but we have 228 Facebook likes. On any given weekend when we post social runs we rarely have anyone show up other than the board members. 

The board members meet regularly and ponder ways to get people more involved. We want to create a social environment for people to connect. It just doesn't seem to be working out that way. We feel like we need to offer thing for our club members but with limited funds and involvement it is difficult.

There are responsibilities to being on a non-profit board and anyone getting involved should be aware of these - you can read about them on the RRCA website.

The current board has served for two years and are ready to hand over the reigns. We need dedicated people to step up and take over the leadership of the club. The new officers will be given support during the transition period and will be handed over documentation and financials to make sure operations continue to run smoothly. If you are interested, please make sure you come Sunday to throw your hat in the ring.

Please give this some thought and feel free to offer feedback. We are all just regular people trying to do good things.

Thank you for your support. We are looking forward to seeing you Sunday, 12/1/13.

Date: 12/1/13
Time: 5:00-6:00 business meeting, 6:00 - 8:00 social
Place: Thompson Garden Gallery
83 Palmer Rd, Tryon, NC

Race season still going strong!

While many athletes are now moving into "off-season", many of us in the Tryon Running Club are gearing up for two more races! We have one more event in November and our final event in December.

On November 30th, we have the Jingle Bell Jog for the Hungry. The race fee for this event is a donation of non-perishable food items. The food will be given to Saluda Elementary School.  You can also join us on the Jingle Bell Jog Facebook page

What is not mentioned on the main race site is the great atmosphere at the race. Runners come decked out in their holiday costumes and run around the town of Landrum, SC. Afterwards we also have homemade cookies and other treats, hot coffee and door prizes.

On December 14th, we have The Race to the Head of the Class. This is the inaugural year for this race with a 1K fun run, 5K and 10K distance through the heart of Tryon, NC. This is race is directed by a dedicated group of runners who love the area and are passionate about their cause. They also have the support of the same group of people that cooked the breakfast for the Tryon Half Marathon... need I say more? You can also visit them on the Holy Cross website for more info.

I hope you can join us for one or both of our events - both races are charities for good causes so the more runners the more we can more towards are mission of "Giving Back One Step at a Time".

We would love to show you a good run and feed you some good food.

2013 Tryon Half Marathon - THANK YOU!

The 2nd Annual Tryon Half Marathon was a huge success! Once again our hopes were greatly exceeded and 266 runners crossed the finish line!

We have been working hard all year to bring our runners the best experience we could... although, we did not need much help. With a course like ours and post-run breakfast prepared with love by some great cooks, we really didn't have to work that hard!

Many of us were out in the early morning setting up the course in the dark, making sure arrows were pointing in the right direction and that there were plenty of cups and drinks stocked at each station. Dozens of volunteers lined the course for hours making sure the runners were taken care of.

The runners came from all across the county - 14 different states, including the Carolinas. People traveled as far as Washington, Utah and New Mexico. Many were here for other reasons, but found a way to fit our race into their schedules. Our local runners, friends and neighbors showed them some Southern hospitality. People were raving at not only the course and food, but the friendliness of all involved.

We had the support of wonderful public servants: the Polk County Sherrif's Department, EMS and the Polk County Veterans. Thank you to all the men and women who made sure we were safe today!

The best part of all was hearing from Thermal Belt Outreach Ministry's Execute Director, Carol Newton. She gave us a heart-felt THANK YOU for helping Outreach help families in crisis. Our support means a lot to the community and we are so grateful we can help.

The race could not be possible without the help of ALL of our sponsors. Please continue to support these community businesses!

Ultra
Wells Fargo

Endurance
Tryon Federal

Tempo
Damian Hall
Tryon Daily Bulletin
Express IT Printing
Form Fitness and Function
Sierra Nevada

Sprint
Nature’s Storehouse
Macon Bank
Puurfect Bark
Millard & Company
La Bouteille
Carolina Chiropractic Plus

Follow this link for our 2013 race results!

Check out some great photos from Pictures with Attitude.

Tryon Half Marathon - Race Day 2013!

Hello runners! Thank you to all the people who have already registered for the Tryon Half Marathon! We are going to have a huge crowd! A couple of things I want to mention:


Getting to Harmon Field:

The address for Harmon Field is:

272 Harmon Field Rd.

Tryon, NC

If you use Google Maps or Garmin or any other GPS this address should get you to us with no problem.

Registration:- If you have not already signed up, but are planning to, please note that online registration ends on Wednesday 11/13 at 11:59PM. Please get your entries in now to get the $40 registration fee.- If you wait to register after that it goes up to $50! 

Late registration is permitted on Friday from 4:00PM-7:00PM and Saturday from 6:30AM - 7:15AM but you are not guaranteed a race shirt. Registration will close promptly at 7:15 to ensure we start on time. The timing company needs time to log all the runners in the system.

Packet Pick-up:It would be awesome if you are local or staying in town for the race if you could come get your race number on Friday 11/15 from 4:00PM to 7:00PM at the Harmon Field cabin. Not only will it make race morning a lot easier but we will have some refreshments and BEER! Sierra Nevada will be on site with some brew for our runners and volunteers!

There will be packet-up up race day from 6:30AM - 7:15AM. We have to make sure that the race starts on time so we cannot be late with pick-up. 

 Course Logistics:
This race is not certified but we have made every attempt to ensure the mileage is accurate.

We will have water stops at roughly every two miles. Because it is an out and back course we will try to use the same stations coming and going.

There will be two port-a-poties at roughly miles 5 and 8 (again, at the same point on the road coming and going). These will be at the intersection of River Rd and Morgan Chapel Rd.

We will have course monitors along key points on the route. There will also be EMS stationed at River Rd and Morgan Chapel and also someone either riding a bike or ATV along the course.  Police will be on hand when we are on HWY 108.


Post-Race Food:
We are so happy to have continued support from some wonderful cooks! We will have homemade muffins, breakfast casseroles, fruit and coffee for all of our runners. This breakfast is made with love and we hope you enjoy!

Award Ceremony:
While the course is open until 11:30, we will be doing the awards ceremony at 11:00. Everyone will get an official time and if any runners come in after 11:00 win awards we will present them accordingly.

Awards

Male/Female Overall top 3

Masters Male/Female Overall top 3

1-19 M/F top 2

20-24 M/F top 2

25-29 M/F top 2

30-34 M/F top 2

35-39 M/F top 2

40-44 M/F top 2

45-49 M/F top 2

50-54 M/F top 2

55-59 M/F top 2

60-64 M/F top 2

65-69 M/F top 2

70-99 M/F top 2

 

Thank you all for your support. This race keeps getting bigger each year and we are very grateful. The more runners, the more money we can give to Thermal Belt Outreach Ministries

New Couch to 5K Program!

Couch to 5K

Every Thursday at Harmon Field starting October 3, 2013

6PM

The entire community is invited to join us

Holy Cross Church and the Tryon Running Club will be co-hosting a Couch to 5K program every Thursday starting October 3 at 6 PM at Harmon Field. A Couch To 5K program is designed to get some one ready to run a 5K race who is currently a non runner. However, everyone is welcome to attend even if your goal is just to get moving again or if you are currently training for something and just want to join us to have some fun.

Experienced runners from the Tryon Running Club will be on hand with advice, coaching and encouragement. Over time instruction in stretching, nutrition and other related subjects will be available. 

In part the help is being offered to get people ready for Holy Cross Church's Race To The Head Of The Class to be held December 14, 2013. There will be a 5K and 10K run plus a 1k fun run/walk. Funds raised from the race all go to the Holy Cross Scholarship fund, which benefits all students in the community - not just those who attend Holy Cross Church.

The scholarship fund was created by an endowment back in the 1960s to for students in the communities surrounding Tryon and Landrum. This year Holy Cross gave out $21,000 in scholarships and that is a typical average for most years.

For more information please contact Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Tryon. (828) 859-9741 www.holycrosstryon.org or The Tryon Running Club www.tryonrunningclub.com

Come join everyone for an evening of fitness, fun and fellowship!

Ache Around the Lake - Saturday September 21, 2013

Saturday September 21st, 2013

Join us for the 8th annual Ache 8K or the Ouch 2 miler

Register at Strictly Running

As an extra special incentive, Andy Millard of Millard & Company are offering a $250 cash challenge to the male and female who can break the course record. The records for this tough, certified course are:

Male: 25:01

Female: 29:54:06

Good luck!!

Official Tryon Half Marathon Running Camp!

Please join us on Saturday August 17th, 2013 for our official Tryon Half Marathon Running Camp.  This year the camp is being sponsored by coaches from Form Fitness & Function.

The 3 hour training camp will include the Alexander technique for running for, Pilates workouts and pacing drills. They will also be offering general half marathon training plans for beginners and intermediate runners.

Date: Saturday August 17th, 2013

Time: 9:00AM - 12:0PM

Place: Harmon Field, Tryon, NC

Please click here for more details and to register: Tryon Half Marathon Running Camp

We hope to see you there!!

Start fulfilling your bucket list now!

As we have added new members this year and as we have been talking to people about their goals one statement is heard a lot "running a is on my bucket list". Sometimes bucket list pursuits are long term goals that require money and planning and do need to be put off for the future.

Some bucket list dreams can be done now. Like starting a running program!

If you have a 5K, 10K, half marathon or a marathon on your bucket list you CAN start NOW. There is no need to wait. Running is virtually free. Aside from the cost of a good pair of shoes and the race entry fee there are very little costs involved.

It is June already and I suspect that many people made New Year's resolutions to start running. If you haven't got started yet or need a boost then we are here for you!  Ideally you are a Tryon Running Club member for $12 per year, but don't let that stop you. Please join our social runs and activities and start running for your goal!

Please join us on Facebook to see the latest group run options. Also, feel free to post some runs yourself!


Who could ask for a better training ground?

TRC 2013 Spring Social

Join us for a fun night with the band, The Trophy Husbands, and spend time with your running club friends. Bring some food to share and your favorite drink.
Can't wait to see you all...out of your running clothes!

Date: 

Friday May 17th, 2013

Time: 

6:30PM to 10:00PM

Place: 

Sunnydale

334 South Trade Street

Tryon, NC

Adventures in Trail Running

We hope you can join us as we branch out a little bit from our normal road runs and explore the more adventurous side of running trails.

While trail running offers its own unique races and events, road runners can benefit from building some trail runs into their schedules. Trail running builds stamina, leg and core strength and the soft surface is more forgiving on the joints. These factors all help with injury prevention.

 We are so fortunate to have TRC member Michelle McClendon graciously offer to teach us the ropes and lead us on some group runs. Michelle is a former triathlete who enjoys swimming, cycling and running... especially trails. She appreciates the adventurous component of trail running and reflects that it is an opportunity to connect with nature and ultimately tap into the "sacred site within".

In addition to being an endurance athlete, Michelle is also a bodywork therapist and yoga instructor. She helps many of us find balance and strength at her studio in Landrum, SC - Inspire, where she offers a variety of services and yoga classes. She is also the event coordinator for the local event
Jerry's Baddle. This is an extreme kayak and road bike race that will be held April 20th.

Over the next several weeks we will be building these group runs into our calendar. We will run at FENCE, the St. Lukes Hospital trail, Blue Wall Preserve and the Green River Gorge. Trail running can be strenuous and we request that you are able to run at least 3 miles on the road to get the most benefit from these runs. Also be prepared and wear trail running shoes and bring water or other hydration and nutrition as the runs get longer.

These training runs will help us prepare for many of the local and nearby trail races.

First up is our very favorite local trail race, the PAC Run 5K that is directed by TR member Caroline Eller. The event will be held on May 4th and you can register for it now on Strictly Running.

4/20/13 - Dupont Half Marathon
5/18/13 - Derby Dash 5K - Columbus
11/2/13 - South of the Mountain 5K, Rutherfordton
11/9/13 - Camp Croft Marathon


Please plan on joining us on Saturday:

Saturday March 9, 8am
Meet at FENCE front parking lot.
I recommend that you are comfortable with running 3-4 miles and that you wear trail shoes. We will run a 3 mile loop plus hill repeats if you want to add on ;)
Hope to see you there!

Membership Time!

It is that time of year to renew your TRC Membership or become a member. Please click on the "Join TRC" button above for fees and form.

As we continue to try to grow our little club we ask again for your support. For those of you that joined in 2012, we thank you, and we ask that you join again. If you didn't join last year we hope that you will  give us a chance in 2013.

Why? We want to do good things. We want to create an active and supportive running community that is all-inclusive. A community where all levels of runners and run/walkers can find a training partner or a group to run with. We want to be able to host races that give back to the community.

In order to do the things we want to do we registered our club with the Road Runners Club of America. Our membership in this club allows us for our events to be insured and it gives us the guidance we need to run successful races and events.

We are still very new, but have high hopes. We hope you consider joining us in 2013.

Thank you very much for your support!
Laura Phelps
TRC President

Calling all race directors!

Are you interested in organizing a race or fun run? Now is your time to get your event on the TRC calendar. At the beginning of each year we like to get together to fill up our race calendar. The board members do a little prep work and scour the race calendars around the area to see what others have going on. Then we will it up with the local events that are members are conducting.

This meeting was a big success last year and we were able to support a lot of local races, including:

Jerry's Baddle
PAC Trail Race 5K
Derby Dash 5K
Fabulous Forth Ride (Cycling)
Coon Dog Day 5K
Ache Around the Lake 8K
Tour De Leaves (cycling)
Tuesday School Tot Trot
Tryon Half Marathon
Jingle Bell Jog

 We strive to support our local races and events above all others and really try to get the word out and some training runs in a few weeks before the events. We can't promote what we don't know so please come join us for our meeting. You do not have to have to be a race director (or wanna-be director) to join us at the meeting - just come see what is going on and get involved!

Race Meeting
Date: Tuesday January 22nd
Time: 6:00 PM
Place: El Sureno Mexican Restaurant - Tryon, NC
1052 South Trade St. Tryon, NC


Please join us for our group runs this week:

Track Workout
Date: Wednesday January 16th
Time: 5:30AM
Place: Harmon Field Track
Distance: Runners Choice - bring your own workout or borrow one from someone

Saturday Coffee Run
Date: Saturday January 19th
Time: 8:30AM
Place: Open Road Coffee House in Tryon
Distance: 2 mile run/walk beginning and ending at Open Road Coffee. All paces welcome - no one left behind.

Hope to see you soon!!!

Let's get this year started!!!

Even though I am a perpetual goal-setter I still love the idea of a new year and a fresh start. I love getting my new calendar and marking the dates for my races and my training plans. It makes me happy to see those events on the calendar.

If you haven't done that yet you should! There are so many great races in our area all year long. There is probably something every single month in either South Carolina or North Carolina. I usually check these three websites for races:

Running the USA
Strictly Running
Active

First find a race and get it on the calendar. If you have not been consistently running lately you probably need to find a training plan. There are a ton of free plans all over the internet - just Google what you want and it will come up. Here are some places to start.

If you are starting fresh then you might want to check out a popular plan called Couch to 5K.
It has a nice progression with run/walk intervals. At the end of 9 weeks you should be able to run for 30 minutes straight. They make it really easy with a mobile app, if you have a smart phone.

Other resources are:
Runners World  (not all are free)
Jeff Galloway
Hal Higdon

The only thing you really need to get started is a good pair of shoes. I highly recommend getting professionally fitted for your shoes. I am sure there are others, but I really like FootRx in Asheville. They have a treadmill and video to monitor you running to determine what shoes might be best for your stride. They take a lot of time and care in making sure you are happy.


Most importantly, if you do not want to start alone come join us!

We have two group runs coming up!

Starting on Wednesday January 9th we will be meeting for an early morning run!
Time: 5:30AM
Where: Harmon Field track
Distance: Runners choice. Some of us might do track/speed workouts, others might walk. Either way, you will be in good company!


And, once again, this Saturday we are having a coffee run. We will run or run/walk 2 miles around Tryon then have coffee afterwards so we can get to know each other. This is a perfect time to come out and meet some like-minded people. You might even find a new training partner!

Where: Open Road Coffee House (687 North Trade Street, Tryon)
Time: 8:30AM
Distance: 2 miles

From last week!

Please add comments for other recommendations below!

You Are Ready!

I can't tell you how many years I wanted to be a runner. I think I have every book on the topic from every famous runner from John Bingham to Bart Yasso. All of them are very motivating and inspiring. I would go out and buy new running shoes, mark my calendar with key dates and print out my training plans.  I would get a couple of "runs" in then I would stop. It was hard and I looked stupid (so I told myself). I was fat and people would point and laugh (I don't think they did). I wasn't a REAL runner (whatever that is).

I wanted to BE a runner. I think I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what that is... certainly a subscription to Runners World would tell me. Again, I would pour over the magazines as they came in the mail... I had all of them... Women's Running, Trail Runner, Running Times...

Certainly there was a secret in those pages somewhere. What is a runner? How can I be a runner?

The more I read the more overwhelmed I got. Which shoes were the best? Heel striker or mid-foot striker? How do you fuel and hydrate? Long slow miles or sprint intervals? I was paralyzed by information.

I think my husband's patience wore out. I remember one day at the beginning of 2009 I was agonizing over yet some other detail I could not wrap my head around. He said, "why don't stop reading about running and actually go run." Hmm. Interesting concept. Just run.

I started off by myself run/walking alone around Harmon Field. It was fine - just me and my music, but it got harder to get motivated to stay out there. One night I was out running and a group of runners came by and asked me to join them. I remember the day like it was yesterday. I remember saying, " I am too slow."   They insisted and I went. I was invited the next week to a training run around Lake Lanier. I remember saying, "I am not ready". The response, "You are ready".

That was the beginning of the Tryon Running Club. A group of runners with a vision to get others running. That is what we still are trying to do. We want you to know that you are ready to lace up your shoes and join us. Maybe you have never run before but WANT to run. Maybe you just want to run/walk. Either way... we are here and we want you to meet you!

Our next social run is coming up this Saturday. We hope to see you there!

Jan 5th 8:30 am
Meet at Open Road Coffee in Tryon
We will be doing a short run/walk beginning and ending at Open Road Coffee, so we can socialize afterward. Please come out and meet us, bring a new run/walker, all are welcome and no one will be left behind.