Pizza Run Results

Check out the results of run 14, our last run for the 2022 season. It's been a great year, and I certainly have enjoyed the time we have spent together. Here are a few stats you may find interesting. Total runners participating - 82. Perfect attendance - 3 runners (Kermit, Kim, and Bill). By the way, I am not counting run 9, where we had the downpour during the run and all results were lost - so we are working with a total of 13 runs. More stats - 46 of 82 runners (56%) only made 1 or 2 runs during the season. That's an interesting observation. Running at 6pm during summertime is tough! There were a few of these that were sidelined due to injury, accidents, moving, etc. In the next category (making 3 to 10 runs), there were 29 runners (36%). Lastly, there were 7 runners that made 11 or more runs (8%), which is pretty difficult due to summer vacations and other activities. We fed about 40 people last night, and had only a few pieces of pizza left over, so that worked out about right. With the threat of bad weather at 4:30pm, I was expecting about 10 to 15 runners, and about 30 showed up. You never know! I'm glad we were able to finish on a strong note. So that's it until next year. If I had any of your times incorrect, let me know and I'll get it corrected. And - be careful getting those runs in during these "dog days" of summer. Hydrate and watch out for drivers who MAY NOT be watching out for you! I'll update my email list so I can give you advance notice of when we crank up next May. It's been fun - take care of youselves - and I'll see you out and about. Doug

Weather For Pizza Run

Wow, who can ever figure out the weather? Future radar looks like there might be a clearing window between 5 and 6pm. I plan to set up for the run and order pizza, unless it gets a lot worse in the next 30 or 45 minutes. I expect our numbers to be down because of the uncertainty. However I will provide pizza under the pavilion even if we can't run. Let your judgement be your guide. I was hoping the weather would not be an issue today, but Mother Nature has thrown us a curve ball! Give me a call at 334-524-5021 around 5:45pm if you like and I'll let you know what is going on at the Rec Center.

Run 13 Results - Next to Last Run!

Here are the results of run 13. One more run to go! Remember that next week (August 2) is our pizza run. Hope to see you there. Last night was one of our better weather nights, with no threat of rain. However, it was probably our hottest run of the season. For our pizza run, we will have pizza rain or shine - if the weather is bad we will have our pizza under the pavilion at the Rec Center. So, stay safe and hydrate. Until next week - Doug.

Week 12 Results

I'm a bit late with this post - took two of my grandchildren fishing yesterday. They did pretty well - caught a bunch of bream at a local lake - and believe it or not it did not rain on us, LOL! Since I goofed off yesterday, I thought I'd better get this post out there this morning....so here are the results from Run 12. AND we managed to get the run in without rain! We are just about done for this series - two runs to go - with the last run to be our annual pizza run (Aug. 2). Be sure to make it for pizza - rain or shine. If it does happen to be bad weather, we'll knock out the pizza under the shed roof at the Rec Center. Welcome to new participants (for this year) Melanie and Rachel Hall, Lilah Middleton, and Madelyn Tarvin. Hope to see you next week. Also hope to have some others back who are enjoying some vacation time. Need to get those vacations in before school starts, which is just around the corner. That's it for now....see you next week....and be safe out there on the streets. Doug

Week 11 Results

Here are the results of our Watermelon Run. Thankfully the stormy weather stayed south of us and we were able to get in our 11th run. Three runs to go....and keep in mind that the last run on August 2nd is our pizza run. If you are new to our Summer Swing 5K series, the 8/2 run means free pizza! Make plans to join us at that time or somebody else - like me - will be eating YOUR pizza! Welcome to our additions yesterday - Caroline, Elizabeth, Emily, Ethan, John, Carter, Chris and Jackson. Glad to have you and hope to have you back. Also, much thanks to my grandsons Chris and Carter for their help setting up, working the finish line, and cleaning up. Always thankful for those that help out! That's it for now - remember to hydrate well on your runs - we are sure enough getting into some steamy, hot days. And more than likely our last 3 runs will be some of the most challenging. See you next week - Doug.

Week 10 Results

Here are the results for run 10. Thankfully, no thunderstorms this week, but it sure was hot and humid. If you check the results just posted, you will see that last week (run 9) shows no results. With the downpour, I had equipment issues and could not capture results accurately. That was a shame, as we had our largest group of the series, with over 40 participants. But, now we are back on track. NOTICE: next week is our watermelon run, so if you like free watermelon, be sure to show up. I will not grill hot dogs and hamburgers next week. Also, remember that our last run, August 2, will be pizza night. Looking forward to it. OK, now we are on the home stretch, with 4 runs left. July is tough - please take precautions to avoid heat-related issues in both our runs and your own personal runs. Welcome to Steve and Ruthie for joining us, and hope to see you next week. Stay safe! Doug

It's Not Nice to Fool (With) Mother Nature

I'm dating myself - really badly - but a few of you may be old enough to remember the old Chiffon margarine commercial "It's Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature", which came out in 1974. You can find it on YouTube if you are curious. Well, I found out about that the hard way yesterday, trying to get our 9th run in and hoping a storm would hold off on us. WRONG! The storm had just been sitting near Auburn for 30 minutes dumping water - but about the time I turned our runners loose, the storm combined with a storm between Opelika and Columbus, and headed straight toward us. A handful of runners had finished before the bottom fell out. Thankfully the lightning was not on top of us, but it was a sure-enough downpour for about 30 minutes. My timer paper got wet and quit feeding, the timer quit, we had to put up the clock, and all the finish cards got soaked - so what few cards had names on them were hard to read. Unfortunately I was not able to capture accurate results for our run - so I won't be posting any times for yesterday. What a mess! I apologize to all for not being able to capture your times. It's not nice to fool (with) Mother Nature, and she let me know it. Hopefully next week will be better. It was great having the OHS Cross Country team run with us, much thanks to Vicki Gould for arranging for them to participate. I hope to have some or all of you back for our remaining 5 runs. For all of you, keep in mind that our watermelon run will be on July 12th (free watermelon), and our pizza run will take place on August 2nd, our last run. Pizza will be free as well. By the way, Vicki captured most of the CC team times manually, so results were not a complete bust. As far as perfect attendance goes, run 9 won't be considered since it was such a disaster. I've still got things spread out in the garage drying as I post this at lunchtime Wednesday. Much thanks to Meredith for bringing the pound cake, which unfortunately nobody had a chance to enjoy. I also ended up with a pile of half cooked hamburgers and hot dogs. It is what it is. That's the first time in 19 years that the run was a complete bust. Hopefully the last, too! Lastly, welcome to several first time runners for the 2022 series. Hope you will be back. In closing, I did note that most of the runners enjoyed the coolness of running in the rain - but I guess I can't say that for runners with strollers! That was not so cool. Hopefully we can get back to normal next week. Hope to see you then. Doug

Week 8 Results

Ever noticed how the wind usually dies down just before the run starts? Back in high school I used to go sailing on Mobile Bay with an older gentleman who had a passion for sailing his Lightning Class sailboat on weekends. One of the things that he taught me was to be back to the boat slip around 5pm, because the wind will be slowing or dying from 6pm to 7pm. He was right, too. I've always remembered that. And, as you know, it applies on land as well as on the water. So that makes our summer runs even tougher, as was the case yesterday, with little or no breeze. Thankfully everyone made it back okay in pretty good shape. I noticed that we drank about twice as much Gatorade as usual. Glad to see you taking care of yourselves, keep it up! Many of you noticed we had a visitor last night. Grace sets the record as our youngest "participant" ever at the age of 1 week and 1 day. Congratulations to Liz and Steve on the birth of their daughter! Also, welcome to Precious for her return, and to Kimberly and Caitlin (Carmen's family) for running with us. Here are the results for run 8. Heads up, we will have our watermelon run on July 12, and our pizza run on the last run (August 2). I'll feed you on those runs, so plan to be here. That's it for now - stay safe and run smart this summer. See you next week. Doug

Week 7 Results

Here are the results from run 7. It appeared that we might have a weather problem, but things cleared up and the temperature dropped 25 degrees after the thunderstorms passed. Thank goodness! Welcome to our 5 new runners (although some have run in previous seasons) - Dozier, Winston, Vera, and Joanne Smith T, and Matt Carter. Great to have you and hope we will see you in future runs! We are halfway through our schedule and have the coolest months ahead of us (LOL). If this week is any indication of summertime heat to come, we are going to need to take precautions in July and August, as always. Keep in mind we have our pizza run and watermelon run ahead of us. I'm looking forward to them. See you next week, Doug.

June 14 Run WILL Take Place

The bad weather is gone and the rain should be out of here by 6pm. The run will take place. However I will not be grilling hamburgers and hot dogs today, please plan accordingly. Doug

Weather Update June 14

As of 2:30pm, weather looks pretty bad, lots of thunderstorm activity. I'm hoping things have settled down by 6pm and as of now am still planning on having our run. Doug

Week 6 Results

Six down, 8 runs to go. Off to a great start! Much thanks to Bob Banks for his help at the finish line. That's what happens when you get a quad injury, you are relegated to helping out! Just kidding, but glad to have his expertise on the line. Also, a big welcome and THANK YOU to Meredith Avera, who surprised us with a box of homemade chocolate chip cookies. They were excellent! She set the bar pretty high (that's a discreet challenge to our other runners - hmmmm?). Hey, goodies are ALWAYS welcome at our runs! Good to have our other new faces and some previous participants - Pete, Nicole, Timothy, James, Molly, Katie, Cal, Jonathan, Kanon, Patrick, and Thomas. Hope to have you back next week. As you check the results of this week's run, keep in mind that if I made an error on your time, I'd like to get it corrected. There is contact information in the "run details" link in the top right margin, or you can comment right here at the bottom of this post. That's it for now, see you next week. Doug

Week 5 Results

We are cruising along, 5 runs in the books! We had a good crowd of about 30, counting all the kids. Welcome to our newcomers and visitors - Robert and Oki, Stephen, Cody, Tate, Knox, and Carrie. Here are a few stats for the series: average timed participants per week - 24, strollers this week - 5, total participants for the series so far - 43, participants with "perfect attendance" - 10. Now that school is out we may have a few more joining us, we shall see. Invite a friend, any and all are welcome. As some of you read on AORTA's website, Misty Carroll was in a serious car accident earlier this week, and has had surgery on both her ankle and arm. Thoughts and prayers go out for her, and we wish her a speedy recovery. Here are the results for this week. See you next week, Doug.

Week 4 Results

Click here for run 4 results. We were lucky last night. Pretty soon after everyone was in, we were pounded by an intense thunderstorm. It's hard to get through the entire Summer Swing Series without some weather problems, but maybe this will be the year that we do. Keep in mind that I usually post information here, on the day of a run, if the race weather is threatening. Welcome to Phillip, Tim, and Craig, good to have you there yesterday. Hope to see you in future runs. Always good to see the rest of the crowd, too. We have 12 runners with "perfect attendance" so far! I look forward to seeing you each week. Doug

Green Light, Run is On

Weather looks to be cooperating, see you this evening. Doug

May 24 Weather

it's hard to tell what the weather is going to do this afternoon. Odds are that we WILL have the run. I will plan to check back here between 4pm and 5pm with additional information. Doug

Week 3 Results

Great to see everyone yesterday afternoon at run 3. Weather is still pretty cool, at least compared to what is coming in a few weeks. Welcome to those joining us for the first time this year - Win, Audrey, Valerie, Greg, Frank, Triston, and Russ. Hope to see you next week! Be sure to check results in the link in the right column "2022 Summer Swing Results". Eleven runs still ahead of us - one of them will be watermelon day, and then pizza day following later. Lots to look forward to! With school winding down for many families, I'm hoping for an influx of young runners to join us. It's great training, with opportunities for personal records since it is such a FLAT course (LOL!). See you next week - Doug

Week 2 Results

Great evening for a run! Somewhat cool (for May), low humidity, nice breeze. Had a good turnout, and a good time. Welcome to Summer, Alice, Thomas, Misty, Banks, Rachel, Jay, and Bob. Good to have you back, or as a first time participant. See you next week, I hope, and bring a friend. Lee-Scott Academy Jazz Band had the concert, they sounded really good to me as I was packing up after the run. Next week is Bill J. Brooks, Elvis impersonator. He's also very good; take in the concert after the run. The concerts start at 7pm. If you are interested in the concert schedule, see the link in the right column. Also, you can find race results in the link named "2022 Summer Swing Results". Hope to see you next week. Doug

Week 1 Results

I'm running two days late on results, sorry about that! But I did catch some fish yesterday, and they are cleaned and frozen, good to go. So now, about run 1. It was good to see everyone, and I was happy to see a few new faces, as always. Welcome to Gary, Jeff, and Brenna - hope to see you regularly, and please bring friends if you like. You can see results by clicking on the "2022 Summer Swing Results" link in the right column. Let me know if you have any problems getting to the results page. We will crank it up again next Tuesday, don't miss. A word about weather - the run goes on rain or shine - UNLESS we have lightning in the immediate area. In the case of "iffy" weather, which we are bound to have sooner or later, I'll communicate here on whether or not the run is cancelled, prior to the run (usually by 5:30pm). In the 18 years we have had the run, we probably have had fewer than 10 cancellations. Another concern - when it gets really hot in July, runners need to take extra precautions - slow your pace and/or walk when you need to. Don't want anyone hurting themself! See you next week - Doug.

Results are Late

Running late on posting results from last night's run, sorry! Had a chance to go fishing this morning and jumped on it. I will post results Thursday morning. Did I catch anything? Shoot yeah! Some crappie and a nice catfish! See you next week!

Let's Go! Summer Swing 2022 Starts May 3rd!

Time to get rolling - our first run is scheduled for Tuesday, May 3rd. Hard to believe, but this is our 19th year of enjoying these spring and summer runs. Quite a history! If you are new to Summer Swing 5K runs, be sure to visit the top 5 links in the column to the right titled "2022 Summer Swing 5K Series". All the race details can be found there. Pretty much everything is the same as last year. Runs will start at 6:15pm as usual, so be there early enough to complete your registration information. Once registered for the series, you will only need to sign in for subsequent runs. Fees will remain the same - $10 for the entire 14 week series, or $1 per run if you would rather participate piecemeal. And, as always, 18 years old and younger fun for free. This year there will be 14 Tueday night Summer Swing Concerts and runs, from May 3rd through August 2nd, straight through. If you have any questions please contact me by email at durunforfun@yahoo.com, or give me a call at 334-524-5021. Looking forward to seeing you soon. Bring a friend!