Highlands Roadrunners Club

Our motto:

"Are we gonna run,
Or are we gonna talk about it?!"

History

The Highlands Roadrunners Club was officially founded at an informal meeting held at the Highlands Civic Center by founder Richard Betz on August 5, 1995.  Although many area runners, from "amateur" to "elite," had been enjoying the superb climate and terrain of Highlands for years, they seldom ran as a group, and there was no network of communication.  At the initial meeting, the so-called "founding members" (dubbed "foundering" members by  one wag) discovered that there are many advantages to even a loose organization..  Runners began to form friendships and to run regularly with one another, as well as with visitors to Town.  To this day, the Club welcomes friends of runners, visitors, and beginning runners.

In 1999, the Club decided to become incorporated as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, and also to join the Road Runners Club of America.

An annual awards dinner is held, usually the first Saturday iin December, for club  members.

1.    New Years Eve Awards Banquet at the Highlands Conference Center.

2.    New  Year's Resolution Run on January 1 each year at 9:00 a.m. in front of the Town Hall, open to the entire community at no cost.

NOTE:  The Run will be held on Saturday, December 31, 2011 this year instead of on the 1st of January.

Several intrepid club members have also made an annual April Fools Day run a tradition.  The 6-mile run begins at Town Hall, descends 1000 feet in elevation to the bottom of Horse Cove, and then returns to Town Hall again.  The Club's alternate motto comes to mind:  "You ought to be committed if you want to run with us."

Regularly-scheduled group runs begin almost every weekday afternoon at the Town Hall in Highlands, at 4:30 p.m. sharp (EXCEPT AS NOTED BELOW); the distance is usually a single or double three-mile loop.  A Saturday morning run is the weekly long run for most of us, is generally more slowly-paced, and often makes several loops back to the Town Hall to accommodate various training distances and levels of fitness.  During the summer the Saturday morning runs often have more than twenty participants.

February 11 – Valentine Run 5-K – Black Mountain - Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.  I ran this race many years ago with my daughter Katy; in keeping with its name, it features Father-Daughter and Husband-Wife teams.

February 19 – Frostbite 5-K and 10-K – Fletcher – Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.  They’ve added a 10-K this year.  Martha and I have run the 5-K; it’s a nice, rolling course, well-organized and also at a convenient time of day.  You get a giant cookie at the finish – almost as nice as hot chocolate!

April 7 – Lake Junaluska Bunny Run.  Fred Motz and Paul Christy can tell you all about this nice little 5-K around the beautiful lake.

Links

There are many good running web sites available; the following offer advice and also have good race information:

For More Information

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