These races are low-key, inexpensive, and meant to be fun for the family – just show up, pay the $5 or $10 entry fee, get your bib, run, and meet some other runners in the community. A couple of my favorites are the Thursday night Westford Academy Series races to benefit the WA X-C team. There is also the Tuesday evening Good Times series in downtown Lowell, a 5K that winds along the Riverwalk of the Merrimack River, sponsored by Marx Running. The Gate City Striders club sponsors 5K and 5M trail runs every Monday evening in Nashua NH.  Then there is the weekly Wednesday night “Run the Q” race in Wakefield MA, sponsored by the Mystic Runners – a 5K run around Lake Quannapowitt.  If you’re closer to Boston, you can join in the weekly Thursday night Fresh Pond series in Cambridge, which is one of the longest-running races in New England.

Here are links to the races I mentioned above:

http://wasummerrace.blogspot.com/2009/03/welcome.html

http://www.goodtimesrun.com/old_court_old.htm

http://www.gatecity.org/gcs_Big_Med/bm/signaturegcsevents/trailseries/index.shtml

http://www.mysticrunners.com/moxie/5k_races/index.shtml

http://csurun.org/ (Cambridge Sport Union sponsors the weekly Fresh Pond runs)

Happy running, and don’t forget to register for the Grace Race and start gathering pledges to help us build the orphanage and school!

So, this week I will start to focus in on my training.  I will ramp up miles, grit through weekly speed workouts, and endure long runs.  The goal will be to set a personal record (PR) at the Grace Race in October.  As I go through my training, I make one request – I ask those who will participate in the Grace Race to also train with me.

This is how we will do it together.  I will write about my training by posting workouts, tips, and knowledge I pick up along the way.  Perhaps you can use the information.  Maybe you have your own information.  Let us know by posting comments.  Tell us how you are doing.

We have 12 weeks from this Saturday to meet our goals.  I am interested in what your goals are:  more speed?  more endurance?  better health?  Do you want to beat your spouse?  Whatever it is, we are in it together whether you like it or not.  So, lace up the running shoes and let’s pound the pavement.  It is time to start training.

In fact, I enjoyed the day so much that I am thinking that we should rally for a Father’s Week! (However, I suspect that we will need to address Mother’s Day/Week if this is going to get traction!)

Returning work on Monday also meant the return to planning for the race in October. As I looked toward this week’s planning meeting, I was thinking beyond race day logistics to the bigger goal and ultimately to the recipients of these efforts which, of course, are the kids – all of them orphaned and obviously not celebrating Father’s Day.

Since we can’t fill that role, I hope that, at a minimum, our efforts will continue to make life better for the 100 children in this part of the world.

Thanks to the hundreds of volunteers and donors, much progress is being made on the on the facility – check out the pictures. And, as the race gets closer, let’s remember the ultimate goal. Thank you!

We also are planning to have child care at the race and have begun planning for that.

Meanwhile in Naivasha Kenya, the construction crew is making steady progress on the dorms. We’ll post photos of their progress soon. Stay tuned please!

We are excited that the orphanage is rapidly moving towards completion. The plan is for the first phase of young people to move in by January. Thanks so much for your on-going support.

Ray Mascola
/Grace Race Steering Committee

With your continued participation, that day will come soon!

First, we are expanding the race.  We are featuring a team competition in order to attract the base of the running community, the local teams and clubs, in order to build the name of the Grace Race.  As more local runners get involved, the competition will increase year after year and the word will spread making this a sought-after race – much like the Groton Road race (occurring this weekend) or Andover’s Feaster Five on Thanksgiving Day.

Second, we are taking advantage of our success from last year.  More sponsorships are providing increased flexibility.   We are increasing our advertising in strategic ways.  A secondary letter writing campaign went out at the end of March which will help to finish furnishing the orphanage.

Third, we are providing something that many races at this distance (5 mile and 5K) do not provide – technical T-shirts.  This high performance wicking athletic wear will feature the attractive Grace Race logo on the front and our sponsors’ logos on the back.  It is our way of thanking our supporters and is also our way of saying that the Grace Race is where you want to be on October 9, 2010.

All of this is designed to help us realize our long-term vision while meeting short-term milestones.  Lots of excitement this year; and so, we rejoice.