Stumbling upon something really cool

Have you ever stumbled upon something non-intentionally and then later thought: "thank goodness that happened"? Well, that is what has happened to me. It all started last weekend when I ran the Bryce Riley Memorial 5K. I noticed a couple of runners that had on singlets that read "Todds Road Stumblers". Thats funny, I thought to myself. You see - Todds Road is a road in Lexington and after reading their singlets, I just assumed that some people on this road had started running together and decided to make their own shirts (which amused me a little bit). I mean, heck - maybe Courtney and I should make shirts that say Ridgeview Rockstars or something like that.

Long story longer, my mentor Treacy explained to me that the Todds Road Stumblers were WAY more than just some folks who run together. The Todds Road Stumblers is a group of people who have stemmed from a tradition of Saturday runners that began this group a long time ago. To fully grasp this group, check out their website at http://www.toddsroadstumblers.com/


Basically they are a running group formed by people who want to run on Saturday mornings and who will run one of the following distances: 6, 9, 12, 15 miles or more. The place where they meet is in the middle of nowhere and tradition is that there are no dues but you must sign up for donut duty once a year. On your first visit to run with the stumblers you are rewarded with a t-shirt and your photo placed on their website. Having said that - the head honcho was not there today and therefore I am todds road stumbler t-shirt-less and my photo will not appear on their website. Not this week anyways. I am definitely going back! There are maps inside the shack (if you will) and there are detailed breakdowns of how much each "member" has run from their first ever Saturday joining the stumblers until now. Several people have joined the "500 mile club". I have to admit - my mouth was watering a bit upon the prospect of me one day possibly joining the esteemed 500 mile club members. Do I smell a challenge/goal?

I arrived this morning about 6:30. I was a little too early, but having not been before - I did not want to be late. When I arrived there was a heavy fog and no lights anywhere around. Slowly but surely people starting coming in droves. They were getting out of their cars, strapping on their fuel belts, stretching, greeting friends and new fellow runners, etc. Ahhhh, what a beautiful thing - to be up before the sun and most everyone else and hit the pavement in rythym with others who share your passion. I love to run and this morning just further confirmed that feeling. Treacy and I ran 6 miles and saw some beautiful farms as well as an amazing sunrise. After we finished our run, I signed myself up on the little mile tracking grid and hash marked my 6 marks for the 6 miles I ran today. I will fill in that block with the remaining four hash marks it needs and hopefully will fill many more blocks in the future.

In closing - I am so glad I stumbled upon the stumblers. What an amazing group of people and what a cool tradition. I am glad to be a part of it.

The place the stumblers call their home
The 6 mile loop map
One of the first 500 mile club logs
Look how many more have had to be added
A close-up of a filled out log page. Look at all those people and all their miles!
And there I am at the bottom of the list.....cool, huh?

Treacy and I looking mighty fine after our run: ha!

Next up: swimming tomorrow and the work-out looks so incredibly intense. I am sure to have a good blog posting afterwards.