River Region Runners

THE EXTRA MILE: Running can't be cure-all to get you through life's bumpy roads

by Kym Klass

July 4, 2010

Maybe I have come to depend on running too much.

You know, that dependence a lot of runners hold on to that "the run" will provide a release -- temporary or otherwise -- from troubles, duties, worries, life.

Scary how sometimes "life" is separate from those other words, but it happens when things continue to stack upon each other.

That dependence -- maybe there is such a thing as too much of a good thing -- has helped me realize this past week that I've reached my end.

Runners' high: Since being plucked from irrelevancy, Woodstock holding tight as premier event
by Christa Turner, Anniston Star
June 27, 2010

Brooke Nelson has no trouble recalling the laughter and disbelief she and John Moore had when they started to build up the Woodstock 5K, as well as the Anniston Runners Club, just half a decade ago.

Just a year after the annual race featured less than 100 runners, Moore started the paperwork to apply to have the race designated as the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) Alabama state 5K championship.

“People thought we were crazy, that a race that had 79 runners the year before would apply for a championship,” Nelson said. “He and I had a vision of what we wanted to do. It was awesome to see what, with our energy, our club could do.”

THE EXTRA MILE: Stop it! Quit yelling, start cheering your children across the line

By Kym Klass 
June 6, 2010

Several weeks ago, I wrote about kids and exercise-- about pushing them too hard when they aren't ready. Since that time, I have received e-mails from readers/runners/parents who have witnessed
parents yelling at their children at local running races.

So I thought that perhaps I didn't make the point clear enough: quit pushing your children! There's yelling encouraging words -- you can never get enough of that -- and then there's mean-spirited
belittling yelling if you don't think your child is running fast enough or that he or she will not win their age group.

Column by Kym Klass
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I am getting older.

I'm only 39, but the body has been doing things to me that I've had to do something about.

Lately, the body has been hurting. Hurts more after hard runs, and it is forcing me to pay attention to consistent stretching, and to proper warm-ups and cool downs.

If I want to keep running, I have no choice but to slow down, tune in, and listen.