A Local Run Club Defines Itself by Community Outreach

Last week I wrote a blog post about the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City partnership and inaugural marathon distance and RUN CRANDIC races happening on April 29th – Excited About Our Local Road Races.  Within that post, I mentioned an upcoming podcast and Q&A with one of the RUN CRANDIC race contributors, Mark Powers and his role with the Corridor Running Club.

Today, I’m excited to share the 2nd official podcast for another new endeavor of mine, RMC Podcast (stay tuned for a link on the Runnermomcoach.com website homepage to my iTunes podcast channel).  I highlight Corridor Running Club and Mark Powers role with the Run CRANDIC races but also dig deeper with asking some specific details about race morning and the course challenges.  “A Local Run Club Defines Itself by Community Outreach”

In the Presence of a Local Icon

I met up with Mark at a local coffee house (thanks Scooters Coffeehouse) and I think I could’ve sat there all day and listened to him tell me stories of his own running adventures and lifelong journey with running.  I was immediately humbled and with perked ears of his most recent travels running 50k races and ultras.  One each week for the last month in fact.  We laughed and both agreed that it’s another level of ‘crazy’. ;D

Mark has been running for over 40 years and has been an active member of the local running community for 10 years. He enjoys the camaraderie that comes with being involved with Corridor Running, knowing that there’s support and motivation when running together you just can’t get running by yourself. Mark joined the Corridor Running Board in August 2013 hoping to make an even greater impact on our running and racing community. He looks forward to serving the needs of the local running community and the members of Corridor Running.

Mark enlightened me with his honest and candid stories of how he developed a love for running and how he now just wants others to give it a try no matter what pace or how far it ends up being.

Mark also sets aside race times, finish placement or bragging rights by spending most of the last half of a decade ditching his watch or any GPS unit.  The “Run by Feel” is a concept I am personally still tuning in to and have difficulty with, being Type-A.  But to his point, when you’re running those kinds of distances the race becomes more of a function of getting to the finish and no watch or stats tracking is going to change the mental tenacity and grit that it requires to pull yourself thru.

Along with getting to know Mark as an individual runner, I also asked him a little about his role as the current Corridor Running President and what the running club is all about.

Any Time. Any Pace

“Corridor Running welcomes runners and walkers of every age and athletic ability. It is common for prospective members to worry that they are too slow to join a running club. We’re here to assure you: You’re not. Whether you run a 13-minute mile, a 5-minute mile or anything in between, we’re happy to have you become a part of our running community.”   https://corridorrunning.com/become-member/

Corridor Running supports the running community thru its volunteer board of directors and hosted races.