Run to Win

The Road Runners Club of America has elected their new officers and board members this weekend, and Mark Grandonico has been elected as the Eastern Region Director. Congratulations, Mark! Mark is currently the president of the Maine Track Club and has been on the RRCA Audit Committee for two years.

(More Info: RRCA - Photo Credit: Don Penta)

It is official. I am now an RRCA Certified Running Coach. As described on the website:

The Road Runners Club of America is the national association of running clubs, running events, and runners dedicated to promoting long distance running as a competitive sport and as healthful exercise. RRCA’s mission is to represent and promote the common interest of its member clubs, events, and individual runners through education, leadership, programs and other services.

My immediate plans and goals for this Summer are to assist in the coaching programs through the Maine Running Company in Portland, Maine. Once we determine what role I am going to play and how many people I will be coaching, I will decide how many private clients I can take on and will set up some online coaching options for the Summer and leading into the Autumn marathon season. If you have any interest in personal coaching from myself, then send me an email and let me know.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in coaching yourself and are interested in taking a class through the RRCA, they have released their Summer and Autumn schedule for courses. The instructors for my class were Janet Hamilton and Mike Broderick of Running Strong, and they will be offering courses in Orangeburg, South Carolina on July 19-20, in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 22-23, and in Arlington, Virginia on October 24-25. Patti and Warren Finke will also be teaching a class in Portland, Oregon on October 3-4.

The class takes 16 hours spread over 2 days. You can read more about the upcoming options in their latest press release: http://www.rrca.org/news/index.php?article=2282

Mark Grandonico has been nominated for the position of Eastern Region Director for the Road Runners Club of America. Mark is currently the president of the Maine Track Club and has been on the RRCA Audit Committee for two years.

Voting for all positions will take place on May 2^nd in Cincinnati. If you have been a member in good standing as of April 19^th then you can vote. Member clubs can also send a proxy vote in. Mark has done some great work by bringing his fund raising and organizational skills to the Maine Track Club and as the Maine state representative to the RRCA, and I’m sure that he will do an excellent job if he is voted in as the eastern region director.

(More Info: RRCA - Hat Tip: Maine Running Photos - Photo Credit: Don Penta)

If you are going to be in town for the 50th Anniversary RRCA National Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio on May 2^nd or May 3^rd of this year, then you may want to consider ponying up a few extra dollars. The RRCA Coaching Program has two new classes that they are offering, both of which are worth 4 continuing education credits and will cost an additional $50 on top of the normal convention fees. The classes will also count towards the new advanced coaching certification after the RRCA has finalized it.

The first class is an introduction to sports psychology, and is on the 2^nd from 2:00 to 4:00.

The second class is on the 3^rd from 9:00 until noon is about the science of lactate.

For More Information:

• RRCA News Notice
• RRCA Convention Home Page
• Active.com Class Registration Page

Race directors that want to insure and sanction their races through the RRCA or USATF know that they need to begin enforcing the “No Headphone” rules at their races. The RRCA has decided that the main problem isn’t necessarily enforcement, it’s education, and so they have designed a handy logo that race directors can put onto race entry blanks to let runners know how “serious” they are. The logo is pictured at right.
(Click here to continue reading…)

If your running club begins to the RRCA, then you probably get your insurance for races that you put on through them. How do you know that the actual event is covered by the insurance policy, however?

The latest RRCA newsletter provides some guidelines about whether you should or should not claim an event as belonging to your club. If you can answer yes to all of the following questions, then you should add the event to the RRCA calendar and it will be covered by your club’s insurance policy. If you answer no to any of them, then the event may not be covered and you should seek some clarification:
(Click here to continue reading…)