RunTheBoro: A Field Trip for Runners

One of my runners, Rochelle Cook, described the annual Greensboro running event RunTheBoro as "a field trip for runners." It's ironic that the birth of RunTheBoro actually started with a field trip. One day back in April of 2016 (actually it was April Fool's Day), I found myself with a free half day (which is extremely rare). So I took a field trip to Raleigh to a check out a running store I had heard about, Runologie. They had some great T-shirts. One shirt that caught my eye had "Greenway City" printed on the front.  Raleigh has one of the best greenway systems in the country with over 117 miles. The Greenway City shirt was celebrating that awesome network of greenway. Greensboro also has an awesome network of greenways and trails, over 90 miles!

That trip got me thinking that we (Greensboro) needed a shirt to celebrate our great running city. Not just the greenways, but the whole city. There are lots of awesome neighborhoods, including the downtown area, in addition to our vast network of greenways that are great for running. So, when I got back home, I started designing a graphic for the shirts. I used a photograph I had taken of the skyline of Greensboro to help me create a silhouette of the skyline. While working on the graphic, the phrase "Run The Boro" came to mind and it stuck and I added that phrase to the shilhouette.

It's funny how things evolve. Initially, I thought I'd sell the t-shirts and use part of the proceeds to help fund the Greenway Water Fund. In 2012, RunnerDude's Fitness began putting water coolers out in four spots on the Atlantic & Yadkin Greenway each Saturday. We put out about 10,000 bottles of water and Gatorade each year. We recycle all the bottles that are placed in the recycle bags with each cooler. The shirts seemed like a great way to celebrate Greensboro's awesome  running community and help continue the weekly water cooler service on the greenway.

During the process of getting the T-shirts printed, I had the epiphany for a series of runs during May and June getting runners into these cool areas of our city. What better name to call the series than RunTheBoro! I wanted the runs to be free and the shirts would be optional to buy. Two separate ideas that serve the same purpose...bringing runners together and exploring our great city. Idea conceived on April 1st. Shirts printed on April 20th. Runs announced on April 27. First run on May 7th. Quite the whirlwind.

That first run was just one run distance of 7 miles. We explored the Kirkwood, Latham Park, and Old Irving Park neighborhoods. I thought mainly my runners would show for that first run, possibly 30-40 runners, but we had over 75! Each week the numbers grew and we averaged about 110 runners for each run. After that first run, I began offering 2 distances, a 4-5 mile and an 8-10 mile route. This helped increase walker participation. For the last run of 2016's RunTheBoro, we had about 175 runners participate. Overall, for the event, we had over 300 total participants. It was awesome.

RunTheBoro 2017 saw even more growth. We averaged about 120-130 runners for each run and had over 400 total participants. The RunTheBoro newsletter was added as well as some special theme runs like the "Monument Run" and the "City of Murals Run." We had about 400 total participants for RunTheBoro 2017.

RunTheBoro 2018 surpassed my wildest dreams! We averaged 275 runners for each run and had over 600 total participants! Run #9 (the last Saturday run of RunTheBoro 2018) had over 330 runners! It was amazing!

Then in 2019 we grew even more! In 2019 we averaged 350 runners per run with the largest run attendance being 400! RunTheBoro 2019 drew in over 700 unique runners and walkers! The walking group really grew tremendously averaging around 70 each week! 

RunTheBoro 2020 will continue the newsletter, theme-based runs (there are several new murals to add to this year's City of Murals run!) and returning title sponsor Volvo Financial in conjunction with RunnerDude's Fitness will be providing a brand new pint glass this year for those runners that participate in 5 or more Saturday RunTheBoro runs! WeeDoggie!

My dream of bringing the running community together, exploring our city and celebrating our city is happening and growing each year thanks to your support. The Triad's running community rocks!

Hope you'll join us for RunTheBoro 2020 with the first run/walk starting on May 2nd. For more information on RunTheBoro 2020, click here.

Be sure to check out our sponsors:

Volvo Financial Services

Cone Health

Got Your Floored

Greensboro Physical Therapy

Omega Sports

Atlantic Webworks

Bank of Oak Ridge

Royal Homes 

Forbis & Dick

Crest Leather

REI

Junction 311

Take a Tour!

Check out the video below to take a quick tour of RunnerDude's Fitness and all it has to offer! After the video, be sure to check out our website!

RunnerDude's Fitness Studio Tour from Thad McLaurin on Vimeo.

Controlling the Holiday Bulge

The holidays are a time to enjoy friends, family, and good food. Problem is many of us attend so
many holiday functions that before you know it, you're entering the New Year with new pounds.  The Calorie Control Council has estimated that the average American could consume as much as 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day. Just Thanksgiving Dinner alone could pack 3,242 calories for some.

I know what you're thinking, "I wait all year to enjoy those homemade seasonal goodies." You don't have to do without. BUT, you do have to practice moderation and accountability. Eat your favorite foods, but eat small to moderate portions. If you do indulge a little more, then account for it. Work it off with additional exercise.

Here are a few tips that also might help fight the Holiday Bulge:

• Begin the day with a run, brisk walk, or hit the gym for a circuit workout. Getting your metabolism ramped up early will get your engines fired for the day.
• Try to schedule your holiday meal at lunch instead of dinner. This way you'll be able to have time after lunch to get in a walk or a workout. Also, the digestion process pretty much stops when you sleep, so if you go to bed on a full stomach all that food is just going to sit there.
• Bargain with yourself. If you really want a huge piece of pecan pie, determine what other goodie you can do without. "I'll skip the mashed potatoes and gravy, so I can have that pie!"
• Be sure to eat breakfast. Many will not eat all day thinking they'll be able to eat more at dinner? Well, that basically is true, but if you haven't eaten all day, then you'll be more likely to overeat at dinner time. So instead of saving those 2000 calories till the end of the day, you end up packing in 3500 in one meal because you're so hungry. It's kind of like the old saying, "Don't go grocery shopping on an empty stomach." Don't come to Thanksgiving Dinner hungry either.

Celebrate the Small Gains

Sometimes we get so caught up in the Big Picture that we forget to celebrate the small gains. It's the small weekly gains in your training that are the building blocks to that big picture. Celebrate the day you get up that big hill and you realize you're not winded. Celebrate the day you inch down a little more in your tempo run training pace range. Celebrate the day you make it to your tempo pace range. Celebrate the day you go past the longest distance you've run in your training plan. Celebrate the day you wake up and you're not sore. Celebrate the day you add a weekly core workout to your weekly running routine. Learning to celebrate the small gains along the way helps you realize the true progress you're making.