Rise Up Runners, Officially

If we have a cool logo, we must be official, right? Very many thanks to Tim Cureton and the crew at Rise Up Coffee, for what looks to be a fun collaboration in spreading two often connected endeavors: endurance sports (primarily running) and good coffee.

"Rise up this mornin', smiled at the risin' sun..." --Bob Marley

If nothing else, Rise Up Runners may have the toughest, hippest logo of any running group. At least I tend to think so! We talked to Tim and Rise Up Coffee about what we were doing and what we want to do, and agreed that we can have some real fun, log some miles, drink good coffee, and help spread the word about Rise Up, all at the same time.

We've gone and started something, now we'll see where we take it, or it takes us, from here. If you want to understand or know more about Rise Up Runners, take a peak at the group's blog, bookmark it, and check back to see what's going on from a number of voices, perspectives, activities, and adventures.

Rise Up Runners?

On Easter morning we ran by moonlight around Easton. I was out the door and running to rendezvous with our pre-dawn running crew at 4:40 a.m. Photo courtesy of Sky & Telescope magazine.

I have always enjoyed the borderline sanity that can accompany distance running. I like doing things that most people shake their heads at or do a double-take. Of late, that includes running at uncommonly early hours.

This past week (of 3/16) saw runs of roughly 6.5 miles, 7.5 miles, and 15 miles. The 15-miler began at 4:30 a.m., and was marked at the beginning by a ruthless wind and a brief period of -in-the-face rain. I don't think there is a neighborhood in south Easton that we didn't loop through to get the miles in. Total time for a hair over 15 miles was 2:20:56, which puts us reasonably close to 9-minute miles, for the long, slow run of the week.

It felt good to work the distance back up and I felt good throughout the run. Our previous run saw us running the last two miles of the run at a quick pace, under 7:00-minute miles for a stretch and clocking one of the last miles in 7:30.

Then there was Easter morning. I ran 2 miles to meet Landy Cook and Joel Shilliday at Idlewild Park, connecting at 5:00 a.m. We ran by moonlight at an easy pace, catching up on Easter egg hunts, upcoming races, common experiences, and plans for the coming week. After a good group run, I ran home, with a total running time of 1:24, probably about 8.5 or 9 miles, and walked up the front steps at about 6:00 a.m., able to talk to our older daughter, Anna, who was awake and curious if the Easter Bunny had been to our house, and I was even get back in bed before the holiday with the family started.

This makes three weeks of 3-per-week morning runs in the log book, and the start of a fourth, pre-dawn. Since the training race in question is a trail marathon, we've got to get some trail miles in out at Tuckahoe, hopefully this weekend for the next round.

The early morning runs, and the posse (at 5:00 a.m. on Easter morning, three fathers of young children out to run constitutes a posse), has talk of a running group going. Of the names proposed, Rise Up Runners is the only one with any sponsorship potential ;) The natural connection between getting up to run in the dark and coffee is poignant. If our friends at Rise Up Coffee--with two convenient locations in St. Michaels and Salisbury--would consider some coffee rations and use of the name and logo, maybe we can spread the word!