Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Run Like a Girl... plus... run naked!

A couple races set for this Saturday that I've been meaning to tell you about. (Better late than never, right?)

First is the for-women-only Run Like a Girl 8K, to be held out at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in West Charlotte. The five-mile run/jog/walk will benefit the HERA Women's Cancer Foundation (which focuses on ovarian cancer), "as well as encourage you to become or continue to be active," the Web site says.

One heads-up: The site also mentions the course consists of "gentle paths and trails," but a WWC source of mine cautions that "the trail run is pretty rough ... since it is a trail with roots, rugged ground, etc." This is not to scare anybody off -- just to make you aware that it ain't necessarily a PR course. But it's a great, great cause, so even if you have to walk parts (or all), consider it.

Start time for the 8K is 9 a.m., and it's preceded by a 1-mile girls-only Run Like a Kid event at 8:15. As the trails are narrow in parts, 8Kers will be sent out in five waves, three to five minutes apart. Cost is $10 for kids, $30 for women. Race page is here.

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And then there's the Sunbare Whispers 5K Run & Walk. I'll just leave this one to the reader who e-mailed me the tip last week:

"Here's an offbeat race for you to add to the calendar coming up on Sept. 19 [this Saturday]. When we discovered a flyer for the race at the Wachovia Health and Fitness Center on W.T. Harris Boulevard yesterday, we couldn't help but laugh and crack jokes like a bunch of 12-year-olds."

Click HERE for details on this event, for which you definitely will NOT have to dress to impress.

3 comments:

dfore said...

I ran the 8k this am and I don't know why anyone would say that trail was "gentle and rolling". That was a tough run, but it was alot of fun. Can't wait for the next one!

Anonymous said...

I did the Run Like a Girl 8K this morning too and here is my race recap for anyone who might be interested.

Besides having to pay $5 to park (on top of the $30 entrance fee) it was a great time with a big turnout. It was actually a well run and well marked race (I wasn't sure what to expect). The course started on the sidewalk around the rafting area and then after about 0.5 miles went into the woods and the rest was on the trails. It was challenging -- definitley a much slower pace than on the road but felt like I was working harder. Not much to speak of for post race snacks -- just some Gu packets, granola bars and bananas. But they handed out cool water bottles to the finishers.

It was fun to try something different and I would do it again next year.

dfore said...

Yes, I agree. It was very well marked and I had a lot of fun. I do plan to do this again next year. The only negatives I have are 1. no water throughout the trail. 2. having to stand in line at the end to get water. there was only 1 water container of diamond springs water cooler and you had to wait in line to get it. i would have sworn i remember reading that there would be water throughout the course. 3. i was also surprised to see no volunteers through out the trail in case anyone got hurt or needed help.