Area runner, 5K champ in 2013, will run at longer distance
For
longtime runner Laura Nelson, Saturday’s Grapevine Runners and Walkers’ Bold in
the Cold 5K and 15K club race holds special meaning.
Nelson, 48, has belonged to the club since she moved to the area seven years
ago. This year, the event serves as the Road Runners Club of America Southern
Region’s 15K championship.
“I live right down the street from it,” said Nelson, who won the Southern
Region’s women’s masters 5K title at Bold in the Cold last year. Nelson, a
regular at several area running club events, said she prefers racing close to
home.
The RRCA’s mission is to support grass-roots programs for runners at all
levels, said Kathryn Gleghorn, 49, of Southlake, the North Texas RRCA
representative.
The RRCA uses a competitive bidding process to select established,
well-produced events, Gleghorn said. The races receive complimentary Gatorade,
race bibs and awards for overall winners — masters (40 and over), grand masters
(50 and over) and senior grand masters (60 and over).
Bragging rights are up for grabs for runners such as Nelson, who will again
be vying for the women’s masters title, Gleghorn added.
Nelson initially took up running to get in shape through a community college
jogging class in Maryland in 1985. She learned proper running form and joined
the college’s cross country team.
She entered her first endurance event, the 1988 JFK 50 Mile Memorial in
Washington County, Md. It was her first race beyond a 10K. Though it was a
struggle, she returned several times, capturing the women’s JFK 50 Mile title
four times.
She has completed more than 100 marathons and ultra marathons, winning the
overall women’s title more than a dozen times. Her marathon personal best — 2
hours, 51 minutes, 5 seconds — was 65 seconds shy of the U.S. Olympic Marathon
Trials standard in the late ’90s and early 2000s.
In her 30s and 40s, she represented the United States twice as a member of
the 100K national team and twice as a 24-hour national team member. She won the
women’s 2004 USATF National 50-mile championship.
Nelson, an accountant, estimates she runs approximately 3,000 miles annually.
She enjoys running 800 and 1,500-meter track races at the Luke’s Locker All
Comer meets as well as ultra marathon events. She emphasizes strength training
along with her running.
“That’s the biggest key to not being injured,” she said. “That keeps you
flexible.”
She’s currently running 50 to 70 miles a week in preparation for the Feb. 23
Cowtown 50K in Fort Worth. She said that Saturday’s 15K fits her schedule well
but that she backed off her mileage this week to feel more rested for
Saturday.
“I want to do well since it has a title,” she said of the regional
championship status. “I’ll try to focus and keep a steady pace.”
Briefly:
Longtime race timer Matthew Compton is launching his own timing company,
Compton Time and Measure. … Rock band American Authors will headline the Rock
’n’ Roll Dallas Half Marathon postrace concert March 23 at Fair Park. …
Competitor Group is offering a discount, $20.14 off its Dallas half marathon
registrations, through 1:59 a.m. Saturday. For info, visit runrocknroll.com,
then click Register for a Race, search for Dallas, then click more information.
The discount code is: DALLAS2014.
RRCA regional events
Saturday’s Bold in the Cold 5K and 15K event is one of three RRCA regionals
being held in Texas this year. The others:
March
8, Bayou City Class 10K in Houston
Oct.
26, Run for the Water 10-Miler in Austin.
RRCA state championships
The Dallas area will hold three of Texas’ seven RRCA state championships:
Sept.
1, Fort Worth Labor Day 15K
May 3,
Dallas Running Club’s White Rock & Roll 10 Mile
Oct.
25, 13.1 Dallas Half Marathon.
CALENDAR
SATURDAY’S RACES
Hotcake
Hustle 5K, 10K and fun run, Addison Circle Conference Center, 15650
Addison Road, Addison, 8 a.m., 5K $45, 10K $55, Kids 12-and-under 5K and fun run
$20, 214-751-7914 or runproject.org.
Lake
Grapevine Runners and Walkers’ Bold in the Cold 5K and 15K, LGRAW
Clubhouse, 2615 Dove Loop Road across from the Oak Grove Park softball fields,
Grapevine, 8 a.m., members $35, others $40, lgraw.com.
Resolution
Run 5K, 1-mile and 4-legged friend walk, Briarhill Middle School, 2100
Briarhill Blvd., Highland Village, 9 a.m., $30, 972-966-1300 or
terrafirmaracing.com.
TUESDAY’S RACE
Plano Pacers
Prediction Race 5K, Schimelpfenig Library, Custer & Country Club,
Plano, 7 p.m., free, www.planopacers.org.
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