I have written time and again about my old running group, the Sloths. Not unlike the group runs that many of you are now a part of, this group of friends came together and bonded as a result of daily runs from a downtown office building in the middle of our works days. I cannot overstate the value and sense of satisfaction and well being that comes from: initial fun runs with new acquaintances, morphing into harder training alongside friends, and eventually stiff competition for bragging rights. No reason anyone needs to go further than the initial stages, it is just what happened to me and could occur in your group. As you can see from the picture, our runs migrated to bicycle trips. In the case of this picture which was coincidentally shared with me this past week, the seven of us planned a self supported bike ride along the northern stretches of the Great Divide Trail out west(off road trail from Canada to Mexico). We started in Banff, Alberta Canada and a few of us bailed in White Fish, Montana while other continued on.

This picture was taken at a lodge in Alberta, Canada after 2-3 days of riding and camping in the rain (thus my happy countenance). My hope is that as you all join groups, lasting relationships will form and possible trips together to marathons or other running events(or cycling adventures) will ensue. Emily Webster hinted in her Volunteer profile last month the special bonds that can and do form in such groups.

I would be remiss without mentioning the upcoming (3/29) Springtime Races which Jackie and I direct. I have written in a previous column how I accidentally entered the very first Springtime race in 1976, which I believe was my first racing experience ever. A look back at the history of this race is interesting and can be found on the website: springtime10K.com.

Of note are the large variety of race directors the race has had over its almost 50 year span (16 -17 by my count); variety of courses (mostly variations on a theme – downtown/Myers Pk); race(s) – other than the original 4 mile race, Springtime offered only a 10K for 30 years, from 1977 – 2007 at which point the current 3 races were offered; a Governor (Askew) awarded the winner’s trophy one year, and another Governor (Scott) ran the 5K one year; lastly, the highest # of finishers was 1877 on 2011 (which we hope to eclipse this year)! Please sign up to race, walk, watch or volunteer!

The Marathon/ Half was quite successful this year with record #’s. I wish to thank Geb Kiros and Tsige Tadesse, the Skrobs, the Wrights and a slew of volunteers for making this event happen this year. There are folks in this club that dedicate enormous amounts of time to this event and others just so runners can come from far and wide (and near) to have a well coordinated and safe race experience. Also, a big thanks to the Bank of America for stepping up to become the title sponsor for these races! We anticipate our partnership with Bank of America to continue for future races.