Ghost Race Grand Prix: Week 2

Week 2 Segment Details
Strava Link: map and leaderboard 
Veloviewer Link: interactive maps and more
Distance: 1.8 miles
Average Grade: -1%
Elevation Change: -94 feet
Course Records: 9:27 (Victor McHenry) / 11:28 (Erin Teschuk)
Adopted Businesses: Foot Rx Asheville and Village Bakery

Segment Description: 
A gentle downhill through Bent Creek and the NC Arboretum. This is a well-traveled route with easy access from multiple locations. 

Course Navigation:
Start – The paved bridge at the intersection of Bent Creek Road and Hard Times Road (just below Lake Powhatan)
Finish – The Arboretum’s viaduct bridge overpass on Old Mill Trail will serve as your finish line  
Notes – You must open the gate to the Arboretum around 1000m into this segment. Also, there is one right-hand turn onto Old Mill Trail just before the finish

Start by the paved bridge and head down to the Arboretum

Stay on the main gravel road - side trails won’t count!

Turn right onto Old Mill Trail. You are almost there!

Your finish line is under the viaduct bridge.

How can I fit this into a workout?
If you’d prefer to have a measured effort rather than a time trial, this is another great segment for some threshold work. Build off of last week’s mile repeats by tackling 2 x 2 miles this week. Start your workout closer to Lake Powhatan in order to hit the full 2 miles (the segment itself is a bit shorter). On the way down, your effort should be a bit faster than half marathon pace (or 45-60 sec slower than your 1-mile time if you blasted last week’s segment). The splits will come a bit easier due to the gentle downhill. 

When you get to the end of the segment, jog or walk for a few minutes (5:1 work:rest ratio is a good rule of thumb), then turn around and try to hit the same splits coming back up. The gradual uphill will add a manageable challenge to your second 2-mile rep. 

Keep in mind, there is a Bermuda Triangle for GPS watches in the middle of this segment, so focus on pace rather than real-time pace provided by your watch.

Where can I park/how do I get there?
You can access this segment from a variety of trailheads and parking lots. The easiest and most direct starting point will be the Hardtimes trailhead.

Segment Raffle Prize & All-Time Course Record Award
Complete the segment to be entered in the raffle for a $25 Gift Card to Foot Rx Asheville.  Set the all-time CR (9:26 for men & 11:27 for women) to earn a a gift certificate for Village Bakery.

Adopt a Local Business (or Two)
This week, we will show love to the south side. Both Foot Rx Asheville and Village Bakery have supported the Collective and the Wedge Run 10k from the beginning. You can help give back by grabbing a new pair of kicks and filling your belly with baked goodness. 

For more than a decade, Foot Rx Asheville has served runners of Western North Carolina with high-quality customer service, a commitment to building a supportive community, and a strong connection to some of the best events on the race calendar. Aaron, Scott, and the crew have not met a foot too funky to fit. Empty your Amazon cart, stop searching for coupon codes online, and buy local. Who cares if you need shoes now… you will in the future. So, spend some cash with the folks who will reinvest it in our amazing running community.  

Those who have raced the Wedge Run 10k may remember the monster-sized post-race cookies greeting them at the finish line. Those treats, along with a mobile pizza oven, were provided by our friends at Village Bakery. ARC-member Dave Workman has kept the Collective well-fed for years now, and we couldn’t be more thankful. With two locations, Flat Rock and Fletcher, Village Bakery is giving us way too many reasons to buy more baked goods. Give in to your impulses and place an order for a to-go pizza or some fresh-baked bread today.

Ghost Race Grand Prix: Week 1

Hominy Creek Greenway

Week 1 Segment Details
Strava Link: Map and Leaderboard
Distance: 1.0 mile
Average Grade: 0%
Elevation Gain: 19 feet
Course Records: 4:50 (Chass Armstrong) / 5:41 (Kate Schwartz)
Adopted Businesses: Summit Coffee and Cooperative Coffee Roasters

Segment Description:
A fast, flat, uninterrupted mile along the Hominy Creek Greenway.

Course Navigation:
Start – The stone pillars indicating “French Broad River Greenway”
Finish – Entrance to the Asheville Outdoor Center (gravel driveway).
Turns – None. Just follow the path.

How can I fit this into a workout?
This segment is relatively flat, protected from the wind, and mostly shaded, which it makes it a great choice for 1-mile tempo intervals throughout all seasons. A tried-and-true session would be 4 x 1 mile at a bit faster than half-marathon pace with 1:00-1:30 jog recovery (or just aim for a 5-to-1 work-to-rest ratio). Throw on some 30 sec repetitions at 5k effort to finish the workout feeling fast.

Where can I park/how do I get there?
Two options: Begin at the Hominy Greenway entrance off of Hominy Creek Road OR Start at the Carrier Park Velodrome and run westward towards Hominy Creek Road as a warmup.

Segment Raffle Prize & All-Time Course Record Award
Complete the segment to be entered in the raffle for a $25 Gift Card to Summit Coffee. Set the all-time CR (4:50 for men & 5:41 for women) to earn a bag of coffee from Cooperative Coffee Roasters.

Adopt a Local Business (or Two)
In a city blessed with wonderful coffee shops and talented roasters, the Asheville Running Collective has been lucky to benefit from our relationships with two of the best.

Summit Coffee has been a Wedge Run 10k sponsor since 2018. Each year, they have enthusiastically supported the race and gone above-and-beyond to add to the experience of our racers. Help us give back by dropping in to their shop in the Foundation for a to-go drink or buying a gift card for later.

With less than a year in the game, Cooperative Coffee Roasters has already made a big impression with their small-batch, sustainably-sourced offerings. It has been exciting to watch ARC’s own Matt McDaniel build up his business and grow his team. We are looking forward to seeing what the future brings. Support Cooperative Coffee Roasters by ordering a bag (or three) online or starting a monthly subscription.

Updates from ARC's Southern Outpost

The Southern affiliate members of the ARC were busy this weekend in Myrtle Beach and Brevard.

Myrtle Beach Marathon

Jacob Montgomery spent the day before his 30th birthday working his way through the breezy streets of Myrtle Beach. Montgomery entered Saturday's race with a 2:45:57 PR from Chicago 2018, but after the first few miles it was clear he was aiming for a PR. Running conservative opening miles on the windiest part of the course, Montgomery split through halfway in 1:20:18. Alternating breezes kept Montgomery conservative through 30 kilometers, but once he had a sustained tailwind he flipped a switch. 6:05s rapidly became 5:50s, and Montgomery would not let up until he finished in 2:38:13. That 6 1/2 minute personal best also earned Montgomery 3rd place overall. 

Oskar Blues "4"-miler

Inspired by seeing his athlete and training partner Montgomery crush his first full-fledged training cycle, Phil Latter was a late signee for the Oskar Blues 4-miler, held in the outskirts of Brevard at the Oskar Blues brewery. Latter was joined by Christopher Murrey and Dave Workman, two of the top master's runners in the region. Latter would run alone in 5th place for the majority of the race, trying to keep the effort as even as possible after a low mileage winter. Behind him, Murrey and Workman worked together until the final stretch when Murrey pulled away to take 8th place overall and top master's honors, nudging his friend by one spot. The slightly long course saw Latter run 22:35, Murray 23:39, and Workman 23:44. ZAP Fitness's Johnny Crain, fresh off of participating at the 2020 U.S. Olympic trials marathon, took the win over Charlotte's Jesse McEntire.

ARC Runners Sweep Podiums Across the Southeast

Last weekend marked a historic moment in US distance running. More women than ever before toed the line at the US Olympic Marathon Team Trials in Atlanta, a first-time marathoner landed a spot on the women’s team, and a relatively unknown and unsponsored man made the men’s team. Several ARC team members were there to see it all unfold and cheer for our very own Olympic Trials qualifier, Holly Davis. Davis, who recently moved to Colorado Springs, was among the field of 450 women (for comparison, a little over 200 men ran).

Several ARC team members were there to see it all unfold and cheer for our very own Olympic Trials qualifier, Holly Davis. Davis, who recently moved to Colorado Springs, was among the field of 450 women (for comparison, a little over 200 men ran). 

Her main running goal was simply to qualify, which she did, in a last-ditch attempt at California’s CIM a few months ago. So going into the trials race, Davis’s only plan was to soak it all in. Without much specific training (in fact, she took a pretty healthy break after her CIM performance), she crossed the line in a still very respectable 2 hours 54 minutes and 48 seconds. 

Recalling the race on Facebook, Davis wrote, “I feel as though I am waking up from a dream...a little bit groggy, a little bit confused, and a little bit overjoyed. It might seem more real if I was incredibly sore and hobbling around, but my body just feels the way that it does after a hard strength session. My mind keeps asking, “Well, what’s next?” For now, I do not know what’s next.” … Well, we can pretty much guarantee that, whatever it is, it’ll be pretty darn next-level-awesome. 

The next day, on a similarly hilly course, Caleb Masland crossed the line of the Publix Atlanta Marathon in 2 hours 35 minutes and 6 seconds. After holding second place for much of the race, he had a tough final mile and lost a couple of spots. Upon reflection, he said, “I’m proud to finish 4th and run a solid time on an absolutely brutal course, I just wish I could close better. I’m going to be mad for a bit, then I’m going to get back to work.” We have no doubt he will be fighting for the podium again soon. 

Meanwhile, after spending hours running around Atlanta cheering for Davis, ARC’s Valerie Pattenotte ran the hilly Atlanta Half Marathon the next day. “I didn’t look at my watch once,” she says. “I just clicked start and ran off of effort.” The do-it-by-feel approach paid off. Pattenotte crossed the line in 1 hour 30 minutes and 45 seconds, a new half marathon PR. And that’s coming just a few months after a solid 50-mile debut at JFK. Well done. 

Lilly Smith capped off the busy weekend of racing for the ARC’s Atlanta invasion. She lined up for the Publix Atlanta 5k and finished 6th among women in 19 minutes and 16 seconds. Nicely done, Lilly! 

Snowy conditions led to changes for the Mount Mitchell Challenge 40 miler as all runners were rerouted to the Black Mountain Marathon course. On a nice day, this race is a beast with 3000+ feet of climbing and the same descent, but a snow-covered path added an additional obstacle to the event. The Collective’s Michael Fisher (3:23:02) and Brandon Smith (4:31:32) handled it well with fourth and fifty-sixth place finishes. This was a solid tune-up for Fisher, who will be competing in the Hellbender 100 Miler next month.

Margaret Brennan also set a new PR (1 hour 20 minutes and 37 seconds) and finished as the first Master at the Prisma Health Half Marathon in Travelers Rest, SC. “It was a great race with a deep field,” she says. “I am thankful that I am healthy and racing again! And that I finally broke the high 1:20s barrier. It was my fourth year running this race.” We’re so glad to see Brennan back and running strong. And we’re pretty sure that breaking 1:20 is next. 

ARC runners represented back in Western North Carolina at the Chilly Challenge 8K, too. Mitch Mull (29:28) and Jose Ruiz Herrera (29:38) finished an impressive second and third, respectively. And race-day lived up to its name with challenging cold and icy course conditions. 

While everyone else was racing on the roads, Luke Paulson took to the trails just outside of Birmingham, Alabama. He gutted his way up the final climb to secure the win at the Mount Cheaha 50K as part of his build-up for his goal race in April, the Lake Sonoma 50 Miler (where he hopes to secure the highly-coveted golden ticket to Western States 100). He and Avery Collins from Silverton, Colo., jockeyed for position for most of the race until the final climb when Paulson pulled away. “The push to the top of Mount Cheaha (tallest point in AL) was a true butt-kicker,” he says. “Hands-on-knees, head down type climbing for about a mile.” Paulson pushed across the line in a staggering 4 hours 4 minutes and 1 second, the second-fastest time ever recorded on the course. Well. Done. 

LAST WEEKEND!

The weekend before last, Kate Schwartz ran her first half marathon in nearly a year. It was a major milestone after months of on and off training due to injury. And, she crushed it. Despite below freezing temps and a black-ice-covered course, Schwartz ran her way to a finish in 1 hour 19 minutes and 15 seconds at the Raleigh Half Marathon, good enough for second place in this USATF-NC championship event. 

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Have a race result to share? We want to hear about it! Please send a picture (that you own the rights to, please!) with credit information to ARC member Ashley Arnold (ashleycohenphotography@gmail.com), a link to your results and a quote about the day.

February Newsletter: Collective Action!

Happy New Year!

The Asheville Running Collective is excited to bring you the first official newsletter of 2020. We plan to use these regularly scheduled missives to share team members' race highlights, spread the word about club events, and recruit new members for our club's leadership positions. 

In order to build our community in the most effective way possible, we need a wide range of perspectives involved in the decision-making process. Please reach out if you any questions or ideas. Your feedback is greatly valued. 

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Get Involved (Please!)

There are a number of different organizational opportunities to get involved with in order to meet our club's goals. Our community is filled with talented individuals. If you have skills in design, photography, budgeting, marketing, accounting, writing, etc, we could really use your help!  While we would love assistance with year-long club organization, there are also needs for one-off events (photography or filming at the Wedge Run 10k, for example) so don't be intimidated about large time commitments.

We definitely need help with the following committees, so please reach out if you would like to lend a hand (or take on a position of absolute power!):

• Finances - manage bank accounts, collect dues, and plan for the future

• Social Media Coordinator / Communications - manage Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and website; write race recaps and newsletters; promote events; take photos and videos

• Wedge 10k RD / Planning - manage backend logistics, promote the event, and manage volunteers

• Logistics and Membership - rally teams for races, arrange travel, order gear, manage membership, and plan team events

• Community Outreach - organize group runs, team events, and community service projects

• Fundraising - bring in the big bucks through event and team sponsorships, as well as grant writing

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Club Events and Volunteer Opportunities

February 20th - Club Photoshoot 

• Meet at the Foundation prior to Wedge Run for a lowkey photoshoot 

• Club member Ashley Arnold will take some shots to be used in upcoming newsletters, social media, and event promotion

• We have too many photos of the old guard (especially Javan), so we need new members to participate! 

Thursday Mornings - Montford Morning Hills

• Weekly 5:30 AM Hill Workout (#hillz4bfast) beginning February 20th

• Led by new club member Mark Kauffman

• Contact Mark at 443-835-5585 for more info 

March 1st - Girls on the Run Chili Cookoff

• This event benefits our community partner GOTR WNC

• 3-5 pm at Noble Cider

• More info here

April 1st - Hellbender 100 Miler Aid Station (we need help!)

• Support the WNC trail & ultra community at this great event

• Our aid station was very popular with racers and a ton of fun for volunteers

• Help with planning or pitch in on the day 

April 16th - Sneaker Soiree 

• Support our community partner GOTR WNC

• 7-10 PM at plēb urban winery

• More info here

May 2nd - Wedge Run 10k 

• Race or Volunteer (we need help!)  

• The club's major fundraising event of the year

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Race as a Team 

Running a 5k this weekend, a spring marathon, or a trail race sometime soon?  Let us know, so we can support your racing and celebrate your successes.

In the Loop 

With our growing membership, it can be hard to keep track of all of the PRs, debut marathons, and badass accomplishments of our team members. Help us stay in the loop by joining the Asheville Running Collective Strava group, tagging us on social media posts (@AshevilleRunningCollective on IG and FB), and emailing us your recap or highlight (subject line: RACE RESULT). Remember, your 6k XC PR or road 100k debut may be the spark that ignites one of your teammate's motivation to take on a new challenge!  

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Recent Racing Highlights 

Team events: 

• 2020 CRC Winter Classic NC USATF 8k XC Championships

  • Asheville Running Collective had multi-team representation this year at the North Carolina cross country championships. We placed first in the women's team competition and a close second in the men's team competition. The women's team racers were Kate Schwartz, Eliza Parker, Margaret Brennan, Kelly Montague, and Valerie Patenotte. The men's team was represented by Brian Atkinson, Mike Zeberkiewicz, Alex Griggs, Luke Paulson, Caleb Masland, Noah Allison, Javan Lapp, Gabriel Malloy, Mark Kauffman, and John Douglas.

• 2019 USATF Club XC Championships

  • For the first time, we had two full teams in both the women’s and men’s open competitions as well as a notable performance in the women's masters race.  It was a very wet and muddy day in Lehigh PA for all the runners. In true cross country fashion just keeping your feet on the muddy course winding through the cornfields was an accomplishment. The women’s team finished 33rd out of 48 teams from around the country and the men’s team finished 50th out of 77 teams.

Individual Highlights: 

• Ginna Reid – Chicago Marathon – 2:50:30 (6th master, PR)

• John Douglas – Chicago Marathon –3:05:43 (7th AG, PR)

• Holly Renee Davis – California International Marathon – 2:44:16 (OTQ, PR)

• Margaret Brennan – USATF Club XC Championships 6K – 22:35 (2nd Master)

• Valerie Pattenote – JFK 50 miler – 7:34:52 (7th place)

• Luke Paulson – JFK 50 miler – 5:54:51 (3rd place)

• Annie Zeberkiewicz – Houston Marathon – 3:01:30 (PR)

• Michael Fisher – Asheville Hot Chocolate 10k – 34:56 (1st place)

• Matthew McDaniel – Jekyll Island Marathon – 3:24:33 (14th place, 3rd AG)

• Tilda Helgesson – Frosty Foot 30k – 2:24:03 (1st place)

 *Side note: we need your help in this area -- If you run a race and would like us to feature your result via our various social media channels, please tag us!

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2020 Team Race Opportunities 

• May 2, 2020 - Wedge Run 10k - Asheville, NC

• May 30, 2020 - Running of the Bulls 8k - Durham, NC

• September 2020 - Blue Ridge Relay - Asheville, NC

• December 12, 2020 - USATF Club Cross Country Nationals - San Francisco, CA

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Look the Part

Every new member of the Asheville Running Collective will receive a team-issued singlet.  We have restocked our women's uniform tops and we are in the process of ordering a new batch for the men. Please reach out if you are in need. Here are a couple of options:

• Grab one at the Wedge Run - every Thursday at 6:15 pm at the Wedge at Foundation

• Reply to this email with your address and we will mail it

Hats!

We are finally set up with a new vendor and have 24 hats on order.  Those who have prepaid will be notified the moment they arrive. We will also send out a call for new orders at that time. Thanks for your patience.