Charlotte Observer Running Blog Features The Old Runner


If you’re a runner in the Charlotte area you most likely already know about the popular Charlotte Observer running blog, “Run, Theoden, Run,” which is written by local running enthusiast and Observer entertainment editor Theoden Janes.
Theoden was very kind in profiling me in his blog today and in case you missed it here’s a link so you can read it…
Thanks Theoden!

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Race #474 -- Novant Health Lake Norman 15k/5k -- Cornelius, NC -- 09/29/19

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I've run this race several times previously back when it was the Lungstrong 15k and I always ran the 15k until this year. With my self-imposed limit of 10k I decided the 5k would be better for me this time around and when it was over I was glad I chose the shorter distance. The temperature was warm for this autumn race that's usually on the cool side, and the 72 degrees felt fine to me although the 100% humidity made things a little more difficult. It's a pretty big local race with 327 finishers in the 15k and another 349 in the 5k, and when I arrived an hour before the race I was surprised at how many runners were already there. Guess I'll have to leave a little earlier next year. I wanted to run under 23 minutes but I didn't quite make it, finishing in 23:19, but I was happy with being 14th overall. Race Name:  Novant Health Lake Norman 15k/5k Location:  Cornelius, North Carolina Date:  September 29, 2019 Race Rating:  94 Winners: Course (5k...
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Race #214 - Mount Holly Springfest 5k - Mount Holly, NC - 05/04/13

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For the first time since last July I ran a 5k in under 21 minutes (20:58) so I was happy to know I still had a sub-21 in me at the age of 61. This race is just a few miles from my home and one of the few Gaston County races I had never run. It's a smallish race with 156 finishers this year, but there are a lot of good things about races this size: parking nearby, not losing your friends, a more casual starting line, etc. As I've been doing lately, I'll go light on the talking and let the photos tell the story since I wore my video glasses. Below is the video, followed by a few of the 100+ pictures I took. You can see all of the photos on my Facebook page. Click here for my Facebook gallery of this race. It was frigid for a race in May, when we expect springtime temperature. Bill refused to leave his car to warm up before the race. This was the first race I've been in with Dianne Allen in a while. She's coming back strong after an injury kep...
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Race #497 -- Racefest 10k -- Charlotte, NC -- 06/27/21

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Charlotte Racefest has been one of Charlotte's premier racing events for the past twenty years or so, long before I became a runner in 2008. It was virtual-only last year during the pandemic, and for some reason unknown to me it was moved from its usual location in the Southpark Mall area of Charlotte to the university area for this year only. According to the website, it'll be back at Southpark next year. Either location is fine with me and this year's race was outstanding, even though there were fewer runners than in previous years. Still, there were more than 700 finishers (469 in the half marathon and 264 in the 10k) so it's still one of the area's bigger races. Since I ran a half marathon the previous week and have another one coming up only two weeks from now, I chose the 10k option. Looking back at my past race results I was kind of surprised to see that I had run the Racefest Half Marathon six times in the past, but this was the first time I ran the 10k. I w...
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Race #110 – Santa Scramble 5k – Concord, NC – 11/20/10

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It was our third trip to the Santa Scramble in three years and was a lot of fun as usual. This was my first race since the New York City Marathon and things have been going nicely for me, as I seem to have survived with no injuries or other ill effects. I’m glad to finally be out of marathon mode, which is something altogether different than training for shorter races, and having figured out once and for all I’m not really too great at running marathons, I’m quite content to be facing nothing in the future longer than a half marathon. If you’re looking for the fastest 5k around, this one is probably the one to run, so you might want to add it to your calendar for next year. Each year it leads off the Concord Christmas parade so the course is lined with an estimated 20,000 people. About 99% of them are there to watch the parade so they’re not cheering for the runners, but still, they’re witnesses so if you have a little pride you’ll step up the running a notch just because people are w...
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The Finish Line

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After 15 years of having fun (mostly) at the races, it's finally time for me to hang up my running shoes. The last race I blogged about was #574, but I ran two more after that: the Ocean Isle Beach Half Marathon on October 25, 2024, and the Police Donut 5k the following week on November 2, 2024. After the half marathon, I felt generally fine, but the following week, I began having some back pain. I managed to run the Donut 5k without too much of a problem and felt pretty good despite having to eat a half dozen donuts halfway through the race. The day after the donut race, I took the day off since my back was hurting, and my right leg had also become painful. To make a long story short, over the next couple of weeks, I became unable to walk or even stand without extreme pain. I ended up seeing an orthopedic surgeon, who did an MRI that revealed a stress fracture in my right tibia, and a spine doctor, whose MRI showed a severely pinched nerve at L4. I ended up in a wheelchair for the...
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