RRCA Convention in the Chronicle

Ha, Ha Jon. I beat you to it. And don't go fudging the time and date when you post this! hehe Actually, Steve beat us all, posting on Stride4Fun.

Striders put Bayou City on national running map
Club will host March convention alongside 10K race
By ROBERTA MACINNIS
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Houston's running community is on pace to gain some national exposure next year when the Road Runners Club of America holds its annual convention here.

The March 8-12 event is timed to coincide with the H-E-B Bayou City Classic on March 11, which has been designated the 2006 National 10K Championship.

The Houston Striders running club will host the convention, which will attract several hundred race directors and club administrators.

"We wanted to bring the convention here to show off Houston and Houston's running community and what goes on here," said Doug Spence, a Houston Strider who's helping organize the event.

Convention participants will have several chances to tour the city — on foot, as you'd expect from a group of runners.

In addition to the Bayou City Classic, they will run on the USA National Cross Country Championship course along Allen Parkway, ride Metrorail to run around Rice University and Hermann Park, and take a walk through downtown's tunnel system.

They will also share information on such topics as race management, course certification and how to write a club newsletter. While the workshops will address technical matters, anyone is welcome to register for the convention, and the public is invited to attend the running expo that will be held in conjunction with it.

Keynote speakers will include Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon, and Roger Robinson, the author of Heroes and Sparrows: a Celebration of Running and Running in Literature.

The nonprofit RRCA is the national umbrella organization of more than 700 running clubs with 175,000 members across the country.

For more details, check out www.rrcahouston06.org or e-mail Steve Shepard, the south Texas state representative for RRCA, at rrcahouston@aol.com