Signature Runs
My drive back from the Idiot Run on the Saturday was the perfect time to reflect on the events of the morning. One thought kept resonating in the back of my mind. The Peter's Idiot Run is quickly becoming a signature run. By signature run I mean a run that Peter and a couple of friends started has ballooned from something small and into something a lot of people want to come out and do.
From one thought to another I started thinking were there signature runs around Charlotte. We have some signature races, but runs. I am not so sure.
As the day wore on, I tried to think of one signature run around the Charlotte area but nothing came to mind.
What really makes signature runs is partly the course, but partly the people who think them up. Humans find that emotional connection in doing something in groups and the more difficult the activity the better.
The closest that I came to a signature run was from a few years ago. Tim Long would hold these runs on Thursday evening behind the Charlotte Running. Some weeks we would do an urban assault run. Other weeks, it would be a time trail with the slowest starting first. It was just something that people wanted to come out and do. But Tim left town and the run dropped off the map afterward.
Clearly, the Idiot Run that Peter does in Albemarle is really starting to get a following and then there is the "Shirt Run" by the Magnum Track Club. The run is about 15 miles along some of the loneliest road near Ellerbe, NC. I have did it once and absolutely loved it.
Today, I cannot really thing of such a run in Charlotte that has people talking and wanting to try it.
Let me know if you have one.
Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner
Comments
And just in case anyone is feeling nostalgic, a remnant of the Thursday Night run continues, at 6:00 pm from the Charlotte Running Company, with a small group - some of the old timers and some new people. I have a very soft spot for it, as it really got me into running. And I'm very grateful to Tim.
I hadn't heard of the term signature run until this post but I may have inadvertently started one this winter... Myself and a small group (9-10 runners) of brave souls started a signature/theme run of sorts. I called it a 'broken watch run' and we started a 5k around 12:50a before the clocks turned back... by the time we were done we all ran 'PRs' and negative times for the run and finished before we started :) Maybe I'll actually publicize it with the club next year and this can be a signature run for those crazy enough to brave the cold/sleep deprivation.
I always thought a food themed run would be fun too. I think you can count the multiple beer miles around CLT as signature runs eh?
I definitely think you should get the word out next year.