Publix Georgia Marathon this Sunday, March 18

From the MTS...

Traffic Alert

Publix Georgia Marathon this Sunday, March 18
Please be aware that the 2012 Publix Georgia Marathon and Half Marathon take place this Sunday, March 18th from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m., and will result in a number of street closures throughout the city. The race starts and finishes at Centennial Olympic Park and makes a counter clockwise loop through several intown neighborhoods. For detailed information on the course route, street closures, and the timetable of the event, please visit www.georgiamarathon.com/road_closure.htm<http://www.georgiamarathon.com/road_closure.htm>.

Start: Centennial Olympic Park
6:55 a.m. - Wheelchair Half Marathon start
7:00 a.m. - Marathon and Half Marathon start
Finish: Centennial Olympic Park
Finish Line closes at 2:00 p.m.

During the event, police officers will direct traffic and provide access for emergency vehicles through the course. Police will hold non-emergency vehicles until there is a gap in the participants. Please note that there will be extended periods when there is a steady stream of participants during which vehicles will not be allowed access. Drivers are urged to plan their travel route to avoid crossing the race course or take MARTA, where possible. MARTA will begin running trains at 5 a.m.

Cheering zones have been designated along the course and the location of these zones can be found at http://georgiamarathon.com/spectators.htm.

AJC Peachtree Road Race lottery opens Thursday

From the AJC online...

AJC Peachtree Road Race lottery opens Thursday
9:00 am January 20, 2012, by Doug Roberson

Lottery registration for the 43rd AJC Peachtree Road Race will open at 7 a.m. Thursday and will stay open until 11:59 p.m. Thursday, March 22. The 10k race, which features 60,000 runners, will be run on the Fourth of July. Go to http://www.ajc.com/sports/peachtree-road-race/ to register.

Entrants for the race will be randomly selected after the lottery closes. Entrants will receive an email by March 26 with the results. A searchable database will also be on www.peachtreeroadrace.org/<http://www.peachtreeroadrace.org/> and www.ajc.com/peachtree<http://www.ajc.com/sports/peachtree-road-race/> on March 26.

Entry is $35 plus processing fees. Winning entrants can pick up their numbers on July 2 or July 3 at the Peachtree Health and Fitness Expo at the Georgia World Congress Center, or they can pay $7.50 to have it mailed.

Those wishing to run in a group of as many as 10 people may select "Group" when they enter the lottery. If their group is selected, each participant will be slotted into the appropriate start wave based upon their submitted finished time.

Atlanta Track Club members will receive guaranteed entry opportunity into the race as long as their memberships are current as of Feb. 1. "Streakers," those who have participated in at least 10 AJC Peachtree Road Races, will receive special consideration if they aren't selected in the lottery.

For more information, go to www.peachtreeroadrace.org<http://www.peachtreeroadrace.org/>

Read on here<http://blogs.ajc.com/peachtree-road-race-tips/2012/01/20/ajc-peachtree-road-race-lottery-opens-on-march-15/>.

Wednesday Night Run 3-14-2012

Hello ORC,

On Sunday, we changed our clocks and went out for breakfast at Homegrown GA in Cabbagetown. Great place to head out to with good food, tasty biscuits, and a thrift store in the back. It's a unique thing to have at the back of a restaurant. An old roommate and his wife own it. We've been meaning to visit and glad we finally made it. So try it out. Eat Kevin's breakfast which is described as a southern version of huevos rancheros (big fan of the description). The next Atlanta Roller Girls bout is this Saturday at the Yaarab Shrine Center. You can find Hilary there although she is not skating, yet. Are you a fan or opponent of WalMart? On Sunday, March 18, the movie "Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price" will be shown at Push Push Theater. The Spring electronics recycling event will be at the Decatur Public Works building on Talley St.

The Publix GA Marathon is passing through Decatur this weekend. The water stations are looking for volunteers. Cheering sections will also be up and around the route. You can find me on a bike escorting a marathon runner (the irony of it all). If you are running this weekend, good luck!

What else is going on this week/weekend?

One of the bigger runs this weekend is the GA Publix Marathon and Half-Marathon. If you can come out, cheer the runners on. I usually see a couple of familiar faces along the route.

If you are not into the marathon or half, there are others. On Saturday is the Luckie 5K and Kids Fun Run in Atlanta, the O'Highlands' Jig & Jog St. Patrick's Day 5K in the Highlands, and the Downtown Dash for Diabetes 5K. There are also 2 trail runs. On Saturday in Conyers is the Dirty Spokes Runnin The Rocks 10K/5K Trail Running Race and in Carrollton is the Man vs Mountain3 5K Trail Race.

This Wednesday you will be running route 10. Even with the time change, it's still dark at the end of the runs so please wear your lights and other reflective gear. This run seems to have a lot of car traffic at the main intersections the route crosses so please watch out for drivers who may not be paying attention. The run hits Rockyford, Hosea, Tupelo, and the rolling hills of Spence/McDonough. You can see the map through the link below. I think this is the link that has the most trouble with, sometimes it works, other times it doesn't, but if not, run route 10. After this 5 miler it is off to Mojo's Pizza for food, drinks, and trivia.

Thanks for making the Oakhurst Running Club one of the friendliest running club in Atlanta.

Corny

http://oakhurstrunningclub.blogspot.com/

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B9kfg7f38KdBNzBhOGUzZjgtNDFjOC00MmEwLWE1MjItMjczMzU5MTk4OGVk&hl=en

Local Races This Weekend

Saturday, March 17
Luckie 5K and Kids Fun Run, Atlanta
O'Highlands' Jig & Jog St. Patrick's Day 5K, Virginia Highland
Dirty Spokes Runnin The Rocks 10K/5K Trail Running Race, Conyers
Fayette Charity Classic 10K / 5K / 2K, Fayetteville
Haulin' From Pollen 5K, Hampton
Children's Voice CASA 5K, Douglasville
Gold Rush 5K, Lawrenceville
Help Chris Walk Again 5K, Cumming
New Lawrenceville Chick-Fil-A 5K & 1 Mile Fun Run, Lawrenceville
Downtown Dash for Diabetes 5K, Atlanta

Sunday, March 18
Publix Georgia Marathon & Half Marathon, Atlanta
Man vs Mountain3 5K Trail Race, Carrollton

Natural Running

From the Natural Running Center online...

New Video - "The Principles of Natural Running"
Posted on 06 March 2012

For the past 12 years, I have dissected and modified hundreds of pairs of shoes, taught running form clinics around the country, opened a minimalist store in my home town of Shepherdstown, West Virginia, directed races (from 5K fun runs to marathons), got local children excited about running, and most importantly listened with all my senses -starting with my bare soles -as I developed into a healthier and stronger runner.

Yet unless runners understand the important principles of the gait cycle, or running movement, it can be difficult to know how to make the personal (and go-it-slow, gradual) adaptation to natural running.

Read on here. And see the video below.

Chocolate milk makers now target grown-up athletes

From USA Today online...

Chocolate milk makers now target grown-up athletes
By Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY

Turns out chocolate milk makers might not need school kids after all.
Not when they have millions of adult athletes ready to scarf down the sugary stuff.

Today, the national milk organization behind the powerful milk mustache and Got Milk?? ad campaigns, will announce plans to literally wipe the milk mustache out of its chocolate milk ads and begin targeting the flavored dairy product at what might appear to be a most unlikely audience: grown-up jocks.

Read on here. And see the commercial.

Top 10 Cities for Runners

Forbes names the best running cities in the country. Chicago is at the top of the list and the city at the bottom may surprise you. Read it here.

Study: Pre-Run Static Stretching Bad Idea

From Runner's World online...

Study: Pre-Run Static Stretching Bad Idea
March 8, 2012 7:06 am
By Scott Douglas

You're better off heading out the door to run immediately after waking than if you first do static stretching, according to a review of research published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports.

Researchers did what's known as a meta-review of studies on pre-workout static stretching, meaning that they gathered the results from 104 studies to look for common threads. The upshot: Pre-workout static stretching (holding a stretch for a long time) was repeatedly shown to clearly reduce muscular strength, power and explosive performance, regardless of the subjects' age, gender and fitness levels. The negative effects were greater the longer that pre-workout static stretches were held.

Sorry, but this doesn't mean a Superman-like change into your running gear and then dashing out the door is the best pre-run routine. Dynamic stretching--warming up muscles by gradually moving them through an increasingly wide range of motion--has been shown to produce the performance enhancements many people seek from pre-workout static stretching.

This video demonstrates a good pre-run dynamic stretching routine. Save the static stretching for after your runs, when your muscles are already warm and you needn't worry about temporary decreases in power and strength.

Read it here. Video below.

DQ'ed Marathon Winner Explains

From Running Times online...

DQ'ed Marathon Winner Explains
Scott Downard ran the Cowtown Marathon with a friend's race bib, but he says he was just running to pace a friend and didn't have any devious intent
By Stephen Pyle
As featured in the Web Only issue of Running Times Magazine

On Feb. 26, Scott Downard, a 29-year-old Norman, Okla., resident, appeared to win the Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2:31:40. However, he was immediately disqualified as he voluntarily reported to the race director that he used a friend's bib to run the race. Downard, who ran cross country and track for Oklahoma and Truman State while in college, has received a surprising amount of media attention, attracting calls from both local and national outlets since his disqualification. Some message boards and comment sections have been critical of Downard for his tactics. Ultimately, Kolin Styles, 25, of Weatherford, Texas, was credited with the win in 2:37:53. Downard and Jerry Faulkner, the friend whose bib he borrowed, answered some questions about how last weekend's events transpired.

Read on here.

Wednesday Night Run 3-7-2011

Hello ORC,

What's going on locally? Shawn Mullins is celebrating a birthday bash at Eddie's Attic. You can learn gardening at Gardening 101 with Erin Walker at EcoAddendum. You can learn about composting at the Oakhurst Community Gardens. Or attend Brew Your Cask Off at Sweetwater Brewery. The Pink Floyd Experience is at the Variety Playhouse. The Drowsy Chaperone is at OnStage Atlanta. The Grant Park Conservancy is offering walking tours of Grant Park and also a bird/tree tour.

What else is going on this week/weekend? Want to share?

There seems to be a lot of races this weekend; nothing that you can jog from home to but a bunch of races nonetheless. On Saturday, in keeping with the 10K distances are the Silver Comet 10K and the 9th Annual Jog for a Cause. There are also a couple of trail runs with the Assault on Pine Mountain 5k and 9-mile Trail Run, the Wellspring Sprint 5K Trail Run, and the Oneway Trail Run. On Sunday are the Junior League of Atlanta's 8th Annual Shamrock 'N Roll Road Race 5K/10K and the Hunger Walk/Run 5K. This is only a small sampling. Of course some of you are training for the half or full at the Publix GA marathon also.

This Wednesday you will be running route 8, the East Lake Golf Course run. The link to the route is at the bottom of this e- mail. After getting out of the hill on Garland, the route runs downhill until climbing Oakview Rd. Then the route continues to climb Howard to a quick downhill on College. Then it's the climb on Wisteria, and a finishing uphill at the shop. And as always, please wear your flashing, reflective safety gear for the run in the dark. After the run, it's off to Mojo's Pizza for food, drinks and trivia.

Enjoy your run Wednesday night. Thanks for making the Oakhurst Running Club one of the friendliest running club in Atlanta.

Corny

http://oakhurstrunningclub.blogspot.com/

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B9kfg7f38KdBZGQwMWNkNTAtMTIyMi00MjNiLWI5MTgtZDkwNDNmNWRlMmEw&hl=en

Local Runs This Weekend

Saturday, March 10
Silver Comet 10K, Mableton
Assault on Pine Mountain 5k and 9 mile Trail Run, Cartersville
Scamper against Cancer, Lawrenceville
Morrow High School 5K, Jonesboro
9th Annual Jog for a Cause 5K/10K/Mile, Alpharetta
Shamrock Shuffle 5K & Fun Run, Carrollton
Wellspring Sprint 5K Trail Run, Jefferson
Oneway Trail Run 5K/10K, Demorest
The Finish Lion 5K, Atlanta

Sunday, March 11
JLA's 8th Annual Shamrock 'N Roll Road Race 5K/10K, Atlantic Station
Hunger Walk/Run 5K, Turner Field