Why I Love Six Rivers Running Club

This past weekend, our local running club held its annual end of the year/awards party to celebrate running in the year 2015.

Repping the #werunsocial movement and proudly showing off my first circuit certificate for....2010?  Slight typo on it.

I went to the party with my uncle/running coach Trevor, Syd, and my dad was in town so he got to come as well.  After grabbing some pizza and salad and mingling with other club members for a bit, the awards portion began.  We first heard from the club president and were introduced to the 2016 board.  Then, awards were given both to this year’s quality runner and a special Red Jacket volunteer award.  After those awards were given out and a few raffle winners announced, it was time for the circuit awards.

A circuit is like a division a runner is placed into based on gender and age.  For every race a member runs in addition to the placing they finish, they get a certain ranking in the circuit.  At the end of the year, whoever has the highest ranking in their circuit wins.  The circuit winner receives an engraved wine glass and those who complete a circuit receive a certificate.  A minimum of 6 races is required to complete a circuit, I believe.  For this being my first year running, I was so proud of how well I did in my circuit.  I was neck in neck with Rachel, a speedy girl in my circuit, for most of the year and we had never actually raced each other in the same race.  It came down to a December race as to who would take the circuit win.  We both ended up racing each other for the first time and she won.  Funny thing that Trevor told me afterwards:  if I hadn’t have raced her, then we would have tied and been co-champions of our circuit.  I realized though, that this year it was just more important for me to run as many races as I could, rather than sit out to win a circuit.  So I ended up behind Rachel for second place in the circuit, followed by my new runner friend, Robin.   I love that even though the circuit builds up a sense of competition, I have now met both girls I competed with in the circuit, and I think they are pretty great and am excited to build friendships with them!  I’m also looking forward to hopefully running some training runs with them, too, which was one of my new year’s goals (running with other people).

The lovely 25-29 ladies circuit!

Sitting at the party, surrounded by all the other members and their families, I realized how truly special Six Rivers Running Club is.  For such a small club, there are plenty of fun, challenging races to participate in with just a small annual fee of 20 dollars.  But what really sets this club apart is the sense of community.  This was my first year as a member and new runner and I felt instantly welcomed into the group.  Whether it was an invite to a group training run, a wave during a race, or a gracious volunteer’s hand extending a cup of water, my experiences in this club make me so thankful for all the wonderful, encouraging people who devote their time and energy to serving the running community in Humboldt County.  So thank you, Six Rivers Running Club members, board, and volunteers for all you do!  Joining this club was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Also on Saturday before the party, the club kicked off the first race of the year with the Patrick’s Point Run!  I raced the 10K, and I must say, it was a pretty tough one.  It was a wet, windy, soggy 6 miles, so certainly not a PR (my 10K record is around 48 minutes), but I managed to pull off a 50:34 finish time.

Must be the socks:  ProCompression WeRunSocial BOOM!

P.S. The woman finishing her race next to me on my right, Lynn, is over 80 years old and continues to race in many of the club runs...so cool.

This race got me pumped for the start to another fun year of racing with SRRC!

New friend I made in line thanks to Yoon, the club photographer, because he just had to get a pre-race photo of us lookin so fab.

Photobombed by Franklin :)

Getting all #runmatchy™ with my ProCompression socks and one of my new SparklySoul headbands from my New Year's Grab bag.