Coffee & Chat Sunday (Afternoon): Great Fall Weekend

Sunday, October 07, 2018 · Mike Davis

Good Afternoon!

Just to clean, this is Coffee & Chat with the Coach and though it is the afternoon, I am sipping coffee while I chat with you!

Yesterday was a gorgeous day for the Apple Harvest Day 5K, and I am thrilled to say the event off great! Throughout the preparation and right through cleaning up the course the volunteers made the difference. I have consistently conveyed the importance of volunteers and they are not idle words. The success (or failure) of a race comes down to the quality of the volunteers. Deej Swallow, this year’s volunteer leader organized and directed the roles of each volunteer perfectly. Deej definitely made my job easier.

AHD 5K continues to draw in runners of all ages and with the numbers of young participants, I would say running will only grow in Dover. Though young Adian Cox (13 years old), last year’s 2nd place finisher did not participate, maybe his success last year inspired other young people to come out. The AHD 5K is such a special race and believe a lot of future runners are born out of this race.

With the race behind us, I must turn my attention to the latest opportunity offered to me. A few weeks ago, I was approached as my interest in race directing the Capital City Classic 10K in Concord NH next June. This race is similar to the AHD 5K as it kicks off the Concord Market City Days festival that runs 3 days. Unlike AHD 5K, this position is solely managed by a board headed up by the race director. From soliciting a major charity through organizing food, water etc.., this job will prove to be one of my greatest challenges yet. Thankfully, I have Jennifer Miller onboard to help and it is even more helpful that she lives in Concord. I mentioned in an earlier chat how I never planned to get into the race directing business, but never say never in my world!

Today I am following one of NFLR’s individually coached runners, Chloe Golden as she runs the Bank of America Chicago marathon. I chatted a while back about Chloe’s training and how I utilized some different training methods, so her results will be helpful as I evolve our training methods. Chloe is on the backside of the race and so far, I am thrilled with the results. There will be greater detail about her training and what we have learned at a later date. I am like a nervous father as I track her.

Time to get along. I hope you have a wonderful week, and may God bless you each and every moment of it!

Mike