Take Race No. 1, the Blue Points 5K on the Runway at PTI (that would be Greensboro’s Piedmont Triad International Airport), held May 14. As advertised, that race was on an airport runway, which had a slight dip in the middle, but essentially was dead flat. (Cary’s Joseph Lust won the race in a speedy-quick 16:09; I was a ways behind.) Ideal race course in a lot of folks’ opinions.

Race No. 2 in the series — Saturday’s Blue Points 5K at the Ballpark in Durham — manages to go one better: Although it ends near where it starts, it’s downhill. Check out the accompanying course photo. The race starts in left field of the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and follows the warning track around center and right field before exiting the park. There, it hangs a right on Jackie Robinson Drive — a momentum-gaining downhill. Then it’s left on the flat American Tobacco Trail for a quick out-and-back before ending across the street from the DBAP in front of — and if you’re thinking it doesn’t get better than starting in a great ballpark and going downhill, it does — a saloon, Tyler’s Taproom, at the American Tobacco Campus. Talk about a carrot. Or carrots. Entry in the 8 a.m. race is capped, but as of last night there were still openings; check out the race site for details.

Race No. 4 in the series is on a golf course, not quite as flat as an airport runway, but close. I ran the inaugural BluePoints 5K at the SAS Championship last year (this year’s race is Oct. 1) and can testify to it’s quickness: fastest four holes I’ve ever done. Rounding out the race series schedule: the BluePoints 5K at the Carolina Panthers Fan Fest on Aug. 6. That one begins and ends at downtown Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium.

With such a fast slate of races, a runner would be remiss not to adopt the obvious goal: run each race faster. My time at PTI was 22:16, hopefully tomorrow’s downhill course will give me the needed one second. Follow tomorrow’s Blue Points 5K at the Ballpark live on Twitter at JoeAGoGo.

Not interested in running downhill? How about hiking up one? July is a bit toasty but still good for hiking, if you know where to go. Check out our sister site, NCHikes.com, for five hikes recommended specifically for July.

Have a happy, active 4th!

The post Running downhill, hiking up appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

A lot. A whole lot.

“Back in the 1980s, it was 10Ks,” says Raleigh-based race organizer Butch Robertson. “That was the magic distance.” That, says the head of NC Races, began to change when organizations that wanted to hold a fundraiser run discovered how much easier it was to hold a 5K: not as much course to map, not as many volunteers to recruit, not as many police to hire, not as many porta potties to haul in … . The result, a lot more 5Ks to choose from today.

A whole lot.

With four or five 5Ks a weekend during nice weather, how do you choose which to do? And how does a run manage to survive?

Robertson, who guesses he’s managed more than 500 races since his first in 1978, says a lot of non-profits looking for a fundraiser think immediately of a 5K. After an initial conversation with Robertson, the sticker shock prompts some to move on to Plan B.

“With no sponsors, they’ll need a minimum of 500 runners to break even,” Robertson says. That’s assuming a typical race fee of $25 per runner to cover a plethora of expenses ranging from race brochures to T-shirts to refreshments to those invaluable porta potties to city permits to police. And that’s just for starters.

Coming up with 500 runners for a first-time 5K can be a tall challenge, Robertson says. For instance, he frequently gets calls from school groups eager for a healthy fundraising alternative to selling vats of cookie dough. Problem is, with so many 5Ks that break-even 500 will likely have to come entirely from the school: from parents, teachers, students.

“The question I always ask is what’s it gonna take to get me in the car and drive 30 miles to a race?” says Robertson. Unless there’s a personal connection to the cause, that likely won’t happen.

That, he says, is why a race such as the Komen Race for the Cure does so well.

“I met with the Komen people for the initial Race for the Cure and this one woman told me, ‘There are two kinds of women: Women with breast cancer and women who are scared they’re going to get breast cancer. And every woman has at least one man in her life: a brother, a father, a husband, a boyfriend. It touches everybody.”

In addition to a worthy cause, then, what’s a good hook for a race?

“A unique location,” Robertson said. “We just did a race at the beach, people got to run over the bridge from Morehead City to Atlantic Beach. The people loved it.”

I thought of one of the few races I could remember from my first running career, in the early 1980s. It was a 5K that ended inside Denver’s old Mile High Stadium, where the Broncos used to play. Granted, the stands were empty, but there was still something about finishing in an pro sports arena that held more than 76,000 people, a space where I’d watched the Broncos overcome years of ineptness to defeat the Raiders in the 1977 AFC championship game. Achievement by association, perhaps?

So this year, in addition to cause races I’ll add some unusual venues to my 5K mix, starting this Sunday with the Blue Points 5K on the Runway at PTI — which takes place on a 9,000-foot runway at the Triad’s PTI airport. (Robertson told me that RDU officials approached him about a race a few years ago. When Robertson suggested doing it on a runway, they said fine, but that it would have to be after midnight, when there was no traffic. Even then, they said, if there was bad weather elsewhere and flights had to be diverted to RDU, there might be a plane or two to contend with. The race never came off.)

How this PTI race will work I’m not sure, but I’m curious to find out — and I’m hoping the distraction of running on a runway will get my mind off my lack of adequate training. For many, the pancake-flat race surface is a draw here as well.

Intriguing locations are part of while I’ll be doing this year’s four-race Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Blue Points 5K race series, of which the PTI race is a part. (Another draw: BCBSNC sponsors this blog and I get to race for free.) Other races in the series:

Blue Points 5K at the Ballpark
Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Durham
Saturday, July 2
Another chance at borrowed glory, sprinting (in my mind) across one of the classiest ballparks in the country.

Blue Points 5K at the Carolina Panthers Fan Fest
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte
Saturday, August 6
Not sure if we actually get onto the field with this one*, but as part of Panthers Fan Fest there’ll be plenty of Panther players on hand.

Blue Points 5K at the SAS Championship
Prestonwood Country Club, Cary
Saturday, October 1
I ran the inaugural race last year — it was my favorite race of 2010. Not because I won my age group (small field), not even because it was on a golf course, which was pretty cool. As we were finishing up the run we got to rub elbows with some of the greats of golf, including the game’s best-ever ambassador, Lee Trevino.

My race card for the year is filling, but if you know of a unique 5K, pass it along. I’m always looking for a good distraction.

* Two years ago my niece, who works in public relations for the Denver Broncos, took my daughter and I on a tour of the team’s new home, Invesco Field. When I started to run out on the pristine playing surface, she almost fainted. “We’re not allowed on the field,” she whispered.

Info

For information on Saturday’s Blue Points 5K on the Runway at PTI, go here.
For information on the BCBSNC Blue Points 5K Race Series, go here.

The post Choosing a 5K from a chunk of options appeared first on GetGoing NC!.