OnFootBlog.com

I’m going to stop posting on here for a long while. Possibly forever.

When I first started this site, my employer was the Annapolis Capital, a wonderful paper that (at the time) had no running or transportation blogs. Now, however, I work for the Baltimore Sun, which within the last year has launched both a wonderful transportation blog and, more recently, a very nice running section. Since these vastly outdo my blog in terms of quality and quantity, I’m happy to say that it’s now quite redundant.

That said, I’d still love to see you at a Friday meetup, as those will continue.

View Running meetup spot in a larger map

This was a good suggestion. Thanks to Richard for the comment.

Now I just need to manage to show up. I’ve missed it the last two weeks.

NOTE: Starting December 12, 2009, this group is on hiatus until spring 2010.

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After a two-hour search encompassing about a dozen local running groups’ online pages, I found that there are organized training runs in the Baltimore area on every day of the week … except Friday.

That’s about to change.

Next Friday ( May 8 ) and for the foreseeable future, groups will be meeting to run at the East end of the Johns Hopkins lacrosse stadium (near the five flag poles). Runs will start at 7 a.m. and noon, though we may eventually move them to different times if there are a lot of requests — so feel free to revisit and/or comment on this post for change requests and updated details. This is a free training event. Distances will vary depending on the requests of the group.

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FOOTNOTE: This is entirely greedy on my part, since I have Fridays off.

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Update: Thanks to everyone who has showed up so far. As promised, here are links to our meetup group (which basically just links back to this post), a printable set of handout slips (for recruiting friends while they run) and a pdf for hanging on bulletin boards. Share them around!

The “weekend options” posts have stalled because of a technical error — and because priorities have been on a really cool project (which readers can see part of if they come back on Friday).

While I can’t give a specific time that the weekend summaries will be back, I can say that it is extremely likely they’ll return before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, keep an eye out for that other project.

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FOOTNOTE: Since we’re discussing weekend options anyway, I strongly recommend checking out the Sandymount Four Miler. It’s an interesting distance, and at $2 for the public, it’s about as cheap as anything out there.

From a recent article on a running group for recovering addicts:

“It rejuvenates your body and your mind,” said Richard Smith, 23. The Massachusetts native used to play football as a child and joined the running group because he wanted to try something different while recovering from his alcohol addiction.

[Read more]

If I didn’t work at 5:30 in the morning anyway, I might try this. Interesting to read about either way.

The group’s site: backonmyfeet.org

Here are some choices for this week:

What I’ll be doing: The Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile & 5K in Washington could be interesting.

Other options: A chance to go to Wilmington, DE, along with nearly a dozen other events.

In the future: Some very short races in interesting settings.

As always, you can see a full list of upcoming road races, transit events, training rides, walks, and runs via the on-foot calendar of events.

Here are some choices for this week:

What I’ll be doing: Nothing too active. I did something stupid this week, and now my foot is recovering.

Other options: The Baltimore Bicycling Club is holding rides for four different ability levels on Saturday, with another four on Sunday. It looks from the site like the Saturday session might be the more beginner-friendly of the two. In addition, there’s a slew of footraces and walks from 5K to 30K in length.

In the future: Another dozen, including the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile & 5K.

As always, you can see a full list of upcoming road races, transit events, training rides, walks, and runs via the on-foot calendar of events.

Here are some choices for this week:

What I’ll be doing: Perhaps cheering people on at the Suntrust National Marathon. That sort of depends on whether anyone I know is running in it.

Other options: Races in Walkersville and Hampstead, among other places.

In the future: Another chance to race on the NCR trail.

As always, you can see a full list of upcoming road races, transit events, training rides, walks, and runs via the on-foot calendar of events.

Here are some choices for this week:

What I’ll be doing: Too early to say yet, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to resist a run that promises pi. Mmm … pi*.

Other options: There are at least five 5K races in the area this weekend, which means we must be getting into spring. Those include the KELLY Shamrock 5K here in Baltimore. I’m sure a lot of people will be making a day of it by swerving their way in and out of Fell’s Point bars afterward.

In the future: National marathon? Yeah, we have one of those.

As always, you can see a full list of upcoming road races, transit events, training rides, walks, and runs via the on-foot calendar of events. Quick reminder: We really do have bike events on our calendar as well, despite the relative lack of them in recent weeks. I encourage you to e-mail me any upcoming events that I may have missed. We’ll usually be happy to link to them.

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*I know I’m probably the 8,000th person to make that joke this year. I don’t regret it in the slightest. The world can always use more middle school math puns.

A quick housekeeping note: I’m slightly tweaking the layout of this week’s options. There’s no shortage of stuff to do this week: I just realized that in certain future weeks, I might not be so lucky, so I should probably shorten things up a bit and leave people to their own devices at bit more.

That said, here are some choices for this week:

What I’ll be doing: Probably just training this week. Perhaps by myself, or maybe with the Panera running group if I’m able to make it down to Glen Burnie.

Other options: It’s getting late enough in the year that you could theoretically run a marathon and not be categorized under “completely insane.” If you run the Seneca Creek race, however, be warned: It’s point-to-point, so you’ll want to park near the finish line and take a bus. More events on this weekend’s calendar include a few 5Ks, a 3-miler (just shy of 5K) and a 12K.

In the future: Next week, a 5K track run in far yonder western Maryland. Other stuff as well.

As always, you can see a full list of upcoming transit events, races, training rides, walks, and runs via the on-foot calendar of events.