For most people running around town on a Saturday morning means errands, soccer practice and maybe meeting up with some friends. But there are people around the Richmond area who are actually running around in their running shorts and tennis shoes with their iPods in tow.
They’re getting ready for the 10th annual Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K. While some people are preparing for it alone, hundreds of others are lacing up and hitting the streets, sometimes for the first time in years, with the YMCA 10K Training Team.
“I wanted to do something for myself,” said Tiffany Longest, a novice runner who traveled all the way from Tappahannock to train in Midlothian at the YMCA on Coalfield Road. “It’s just another way to get you going.”
She along with more than 3,000 others started in January, the week temperatures were in the single digits. There are three different levels of training. People who have some running experience are in the intermediate group. The next group is for novice runners, who may not have done any running in the past few years. The final group is for walkers, people who just want to be active but don’t have a need for speed. They won’t finish together, but they do have one thing in common, trainers who keep them moving, at least for the next few months.
“My reward is seeing people achieve their goals,” said Ro Gammon. Gammon volunteers for the training team at the Midlothian YMCA. She’s been a part of the group ever since it started. She’s seen people go from walking in the 10K one year, to running in marathons. While that may be some people’s goal, it’s not what the Saturday morning program is all about.
“If they never do anything more than a 10K, we’ve accomplished our goal, because it’s all about fitness,” Gammon said.
A part-time personal trainer herself, Gammon’s love is getting people motivated. The former teacher says it’s in her blood. “I just have a ball.”
She gets up before a lot of people on Saturday morning; she’s at the YMCA by 6:30 a.m. The first group to meet her is made up of intermediate runners. They start their run around 7. After sending them off, she warms up her novice group, who will also be on the run, but not going as far at the 7 o’clockers. Finally, the walkers stroll in around 8:30. They get a similar pep talk just like the other two groups before the trainers take them on the planned course.
This year’s groups got off to a particularly cold start.
“What really surprised me was the very first training session it was 3-degrees, 6-degrees, and they came out anyway. They were excited to be here,” Gammon said.
But the runners admit they couldn’t do it without Gammon and the other trainers.
“It’s tough to imagine running in weather like this without the group there to keep you motivated,” said Jay Lequin, a novice runner, who has his wife Amy there to help push him along as well.
“We like the challenge of it,” noted Amy, who also counts on the coaches to keep her moving.
This year more than 200 people are helping with the YMCA 10K Training Team. They get people moving at more than a dozen official training groups at Richmond-area YMCAs. And when the trainers say they do it for the love of coaching and running, they mean it. Everyone’s a volunteer.
The program costs $50 to join. The cost includes the race registration fee. It also gets you into the YMCA once a week for exercise. Training team members also have access to the coaches, who give them tips, a running schedule and online support through message boards.
The Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K is now the nation’s fourth largest 10K. This year Sports Backers hopes to have 35,000 people participating on March 28. By the end of January 15,000 people had already signed up.
But it’s not about the numbers for Gammon, it’s about the goals of individuals who have made the commitment to pound the pavement each Saturday morning. She’s there to keep them going, whether they’re there to get fit, stay fit or fit in with a new group of friends. “I get to encourage people and that’s what I love to do,” she said.
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