The Old Runner

Last year I pushed two grandkids in a stroller in this race and really enjoyed it, but I was looking forward to just running it all by myself this time around to see how I'm doing physically. My past few races have been slower and my 5k times have gradually climbed up over 22 minutes. I'm not really surprised since I'll be 63 in February, but I'd still like to hold off the inevitable for as long as possible. It turned out fine and I was able to sneak back under 22 minutes with a chip time of 21:42, winning first place in the 60-64 age group. This is a race I really like. The food is great, the course is pretty flat, the awards are fantastic (I won not only a nice medal but also a $50 Belk gift card), and both the pre- and post-race activities are held in the Wells Fargo Atrium in uptown Charlotte, which is one of the best wintertime race venues a runner could hope for. Linda and I parked in the adjoining parking deck and since she's still recovering from her rec

It was my slowest 5k ever, but all for a good cause. According to organizer and Charlotte Running Club president Bill Shires, the world record for the most people tethered together for a 5k race was 116. That was a record Bill was confident we could break and he spent several months planning a strategy and gathering people to run. There wasn't a time requirement but it was imperative that everybody stayed tied together until every runner crossed the finish line. With the great organization and pre-planning we easily broke the record with 178 runners crossing the finish line. We were all tethered together with a system of bungee cords that was well thought out, and the biggest challenge was being sure that nobody tripped or  came loose from the tether system. Any disconnection at all by any runner would have disqualified us. Of course, the speed was dictated by the slowest runner. I was in the front row and everybody up there was wishing we could go a little faster, but there

My friend and age group competitor Ralph Shore is a regular year-round at road races, but he's especially noticeable in the Christmas races! In only its second year the ChristmasTown 5k in McAdenville has become one of Gaston County's biggest races, with more than 1,100 registered runners and 900+ finishers. Each December more than 600,000 visitors come to see the hundreds of thousands Christmas lights in this small town just outside of Charlotte. This tradition that began in 1956 has made McAdenville one of the most visited Christmas destinations in the country. The lights don't officially come on until December 1st, but this year on November 29th the streets were closed to traffic and the lights were turned on just for this race. It started and finished at a small park just off Main Street. Because of the number of runners and the fairly small street where the start/finish line was located, the runners were separated into five different waves of about 200 runners