It's a Wrap - Season 2016 in the Books

It's been a great SS series - we've had wonderful participation and I don't think anyone has enjoyed it more than me! We had 195 different runners take part this year. That's a heap of people. We had one perfect attendance - Bill Lacy - who finally achieved that PR he has been looking for, on the very last run. Congratulations, Bill! We had 4 people who missed only one run - Allen and Cameo Sabey, Shane Newsome, and Kermit Davis. Kim White only missed two runs. All of you did well and it was a pleasure to see you week after week. Again, much thanks to the Boone family. They are the ones who brought the oranges and cookies week after week. Evelyn, oldest daughter, helped me at the finish line for many of the runs. A big thank you to Alvin Walls as well, who missed the last few weeks with a health issue, but is doing better, I hear. Missed you, my friend, and hope to see you back next year. Also, thanks again to Bob Banks and Summer Vaughan for covering for me while I was on vacation. That's about it for now, except for the results of today's run. Hope to see all of you soon. It's been fun! Doug

Rainy Run Tonight

Looks like rain this evening for our last run - which would be great, so long as we are not having lightning problems. At least it will be cooler. Hope to see a good turnout this evening. Cool enough for a last chance PR? Doug

Good To Be Back - AND - One More Run!

Here are the results of both runs 13 and 14. We had a great turnout, about 50 happy people. Sure was good to see all of you after my week away in Red River, New Mexico. Much thanks to Bob, Summer, and others who managed the race last week. I have posted those results along with tonight's run. AND - surprise - we are going to have one last run, August 9, same time and same place. This one will be an add-on, just for fun, and no race fee, so keep that dollar in your pocket and save it for a Summer Swing run next year (right!). What happened is that one of the Summer Swing bands missed their performance earlier in the series, and they will tag on at the end of the series. Hence they play next week, and so will we. Come out and get one last run in for this year's series. Oh, and by the way, if you missed tonight's run, you also missed the free pizza. That's the way it goes.....does not pay to miss a run! We killed ten pizzas, with absolutely nothing left over, so I am considering that my PR for the year, since I sure didn't set any records running lately :-). Much thanks to my wife Marion for picking up the pizza and talking Little Caesar's into selling us a few extras (we needed them). Also, as always, thanks to the Boone family for providing oranges and cookies, and to Evelyn and Timothy for the help at the finish line. That's it for tonight - getting late. Hope to see you next week, as we wrap up the 2016 summer series. Doug

Run is ON for August 2nd

Hopefully the line of thunderstorms will be out of here by 6pm. The run is still on, and pizza is scheduled to be delivered, so if weather is decent by 6pm come on out. Doug

Run 12 in the Books

Here are the results of run 12. There was a big thunderstorm brewing up in the Valley, headed our way, but thankfully it dissipated just before it arrived in Opelika. So it was very humid, but at least no lightning and rain. I heard there is a possibility of the Summer Swing Concert Series being extended an extra week, until August 9th. If that is the case, we may extend our series an extra week as well, for anyone interested. More on that later. Next week, I will be vacationing in New Mexico, high in the Sangre de Cristo mountains, in the little town of Red River. My friends Bob Banks and Summer Vaughan agreed to direct the run, so be sure to show up and keep them honest (ha!). I don't want to come back and hear that everyone had a PR by 5 minutes. :-)The week following (Aug 2) we'll have our pizza run, don't miss that. That's about it.....keep Bob and Summer straight....and I'll see you soon! Doug

Run 11 - Not so Bad!

Here are the results of tonight's run. Could you believe that breeze that we had? That's rare for a July run. Was glad to see a good turnout. The July and August runs are pretty tough, and I admire all of you for showing up week after week. We are almost done for the summer (3 more runs)and I'll miss everyone when we wrap up in August. I'm planning the last run to be pizza night, so be sure to get that on your calendar. Thanks again to Evelyn and Raley for help at the finish line - and thanks to the Boone's for bringing orange slices and cookies. Kim, I appreciate you bringing a watermelon, I can always count on you. Also a big thanks to Mallory and Tracy of RehabWorks. Always good to have you with us for advice for injury prevention, injury recovery, stretching, warming up, cooling down, and everything related. We appreciate the time you take to be there for us. That's enough for now. See you next week - Doug.

Watermelon Run Next Week

Here are the results of tonight's run. Much thanks to Dawn Kohn for her help at the finish line, and to the Boone's for the oranges and cookies. Also, great to have Keena and Mallory of RehabWorks there to help with injury prevention, stretching, and recovery. Thanks to an earlier shower, it was a bit cooler for the 50 who enjoyed getting out for a run, or a walk. Next week, I've promised it will be our watermelon run, so come out and enjoy it with me. Anybody who wants to bring one, feel free to do so. I'll plan on bringing about 3 or 4. See you then, Doug.

Rain Rain Go Away (It Did!)

Well, you just never know. At 4pm we are surrounded by thunderstorms and at 6pm there is no storm in sight and a perfect breeze for our run. Go figure. Glad it turned out that way! Here are the results of tonight's run 9. That's run 9 in the books and about 5 more to go. We still have our watermelon run and pizza run ahead of us, stay tuned. Much thanks to Evelyn and Raley at the finish line, and also to the Boone family for the oranges and cookies post race. A big thank you to Keena and Tracy of RehabWorks, who take time out of their day to show up, help with stretching techniques, injury prevention, and provide energy bars. They add a lot to our runs and I'm thankful for them. Hope all of you have a good week and I'll see you the day AFTER the Fourth of July! Doug

Weather?

Update - 6-28-16 Keep an eye on the weather, supposed to have strong thunderstorms in the area for the afternoon. If there is lightning in the immediate vicinity of the SS course, at 6:00pm, the run is cancelled. If it's just rain, we'll still run. Hard to tell what's going to be going on in two hours (I'm posting at 4:15pm). Hope the weather behaves and we have a good crowd. Doug

Week 8

Here are the results from tonight's run. Much thanks to Evelyn Boone for help at the finish line, and to Carolyn Boone for bringing the fruit and cookies. Also a big thanks to Summer Vaughan for her assistance at the finish line. With all that help I've reduced my burn ratio on the hamburgers. :) Tricky sometimes watching the grill and the timer! Good to have some new faces. Hope that you will be coming back as I'm sure it's going to get a little cooler with each run. Right. Six more runs to go. We've got a pizza run and a watermelon run coming up in the near future. See you next week......Doug

Run 7 In The Books

Halfway through! We've got quite a few who have been here every week, or maybe missed one week. It's great to have you back time and again! Plus we always have some new faces, that's pretty cool. It was hot today, we plowed through about 10 gallons of water and Gator-ade like there was no tomorrow. You are probably looking for results - which are posted in a link in the right margin, or right here. If you don't see your time, be sure to sign a card when you come in and throw it in the box. Otherwise I can't match up your name with your time. Much thanks, as always, to the Boone family, for bringing orange slices and cookies. Also, as you noticed, Evelyn and Alvin helped at the finish line, for which I am always grateful. You might not have seen her, but it was great to have Kalynn Simpson and her family back for a run. Kalynn has run with us for several years, and is currently a student at Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas on a track scholarship. Proud of her! She is a talented athlete. I'm claiming a little bit of credit for all the great conditioning she got at Summer Swing runs. Ha! See you next week, Doug.

War Eagle!

Check out the results of Run 6 here. I'm a bit late in posting this, thanks to that crazy win that Auburn Softball had over Oklahoma on Tuesday night. And then came the heartbreak of losing a one run game and the national championship final game on Wednesday. I'm proud of our team; they played a very good Oklahoma team down to the wire, and there was never any give-up in them. So here it is 9pm on Wednesday night and I'm just getting the results of run 6 posted. It was a low humidity evening; nice for a change, but still hot. Great to see new people come out every week. What's cool is that we get every variety of runner or walker that you can imagine. We keep it lighthearted and it looks like everyone is having a good time to me, while I stand at the finish line and hand out cards (tough job!). Much thanks to Carolyn Boone and family for bringing the fresh oranges and cookies. The goodies disappeared pretty quickly. And, as always, thanks to Alvin with everything he does to help me direct this run. Also good to have the Rehab Works staff there. Take advantage of their knowledge and training; we are lucky to have them set up their tent each week and be available to us. And, on the horizon, I've had a discussion with Angela, owner of O-Town Ice Cream, and she would like to bring their mobile cart over one evening. If you are in their store, put a bug in her ear and remind her to give me a call - or just show up and surprise us! One last item - I will be on vacation the week of July 25th and won't be able to direct the run on Tuesday the 26th. If you would like to stand in for me and get out of a hot run, please let me know. I'm make it easy for you, we won't cook that night or do anything fancy. Let me know if you can help me out. Until next week, take care. See you then. Doug

Kim vs. Alvin

Run 5 was nothing but HOT HOT HOT. I don't see how you guys do it. Here are the results of this 90+ degree run. Much thanks to Kim White for her help at the finish line. Alvin, she gave you a run for your money so now you better buckle down and see if you can keep her from beating you out of your job! You can't afford to miss another week. :-) Great to see so many new faces. We had 58 runners cross the finish line, not bad for a hot day. Hope to see all of you back next week. Bring a friend! Doug

Run 4 In the Books

What a great evening for a run! Good to see 50+ runners and walkers - we had a much better turnout since we didn't have the threat of rain this week. Here are the results for run 4. Was good to see so many new faces. Hope to see ALL of you back next week, and be sure to bring a friend. See you then! Doug

Light Rain was PERFECT!

Glad to see a good number show up for SS run #3 in spite of the weather. As it turned out we had light rain, more of a mist, which was PERFECT for running! If you missed out don't worry, it will get cooler and cooler from here on out and you have plenty of chances for that big PR you have been thinking about. RIGHT. Here are the results for run 3. Be sure to join us next week and bring a friend. We are off to a great start! Doug

Run 2 - Perfect Weather

What a great afternoon for a run! Glad to see so many come out. Here are the results of the run. Much thanks to Alvin and Raley for their help at the finish line. Look forward to seeing you next week. Bring a friend! Doug

Run 1 In The Books

It was a perfect afternoon for kicking off our 13th Summer Swing series. Sure was good to see old friends and meet a couple of new faces. Great start! See results here. Looking forward to the rest of the series, come on out and join us! Hope to see you next Tuesday. Doug

First Run is Tuesday May 3

Finally, time to start another Summer Swing season! Looking forward to seeing all of you again in a few weeks. This year we will have 14 runs, beginning on May 3rd and finishing up on August 2. The links to the right have been updated so you can see the Summer Swing details, registration form (you can also register on-site before the run), concert schedule, map, and results from the last 3 years. My contact information is there as well, so if you have any questions please give me a call at 334-524-5021 (cell) or shoot an email to me at durunforfun@yahoo.com. For those of you who are new to the Summer Swing series, it's for runners or walkers of all skill levels - beginners to seasoned runners - any age. We started out with a few friends running together in 2004, and will be celebrating our 13th year (can you believe that?). It's casual enough to be a low-key learning experience for new runners - but still plenty of competition for those who want to work on improving their times. It's a marked, timed course run through quiet neighborhoods. Results are tracked each week on this blog site, if you are interested in seeing your progress over the summer. Last summer we averaged about 35 to 50 runners on a given Tuesday evening, of all skill levels. It's low cost - $10 for the whole 14 week series, or pay as you go at $1 per race. 18 and under, no charge. Still not sure if you want to bite the bullet? Come for a week or two and see what you think. I'm pretty sure you will be back. And, don't forget the free concerts in the park at 7pm. The concert schedule is in a link on the right side of the page. Come join us this summer, make new friends, and improve your fitness. Can't beat that. See you soon! Doug

Summer Swing 2016 Approaching

We will get the Summer Swing 5K Series started in early May. Looking forward to seeing everyone again! More details soon - I don't have the schedule in front of me - but I believe our first run will be Tuesday May 3rd. Just around the corner! Doug