While most states are having regular races again, there are some limitations. Almost none of the big marathons will happen this fall. That means that the always popular early November New York City Marathon with its world-wide appeal and spectacular TV coverage will be missing. It should have been the 50^th annual event with more than 50,000 runners, the world’s largest. October’s Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., will be limited to only elite runners. These will be missed.

Most of the bigger races have gone virtual, meaning that runners should send in their money, usually still a very high full price and get in return a commemorative T-shirt and a huge participation medal. In some cases, but not all, after you ran the distance. Offers for virtual races continue to flood my inbox and I usually delete them immediately. But recently a new trend has begun to hit the running scene. A sort of hybrid mix for the virtual/real race. I wish we would have thought of this earlier.

Many of our local race courses don’t take a lot of traffic control and there are some, such as the Greenway/Bare Bones course that requires hardly any. Forward-thinking race directors have begun offering something that is a decent option. Instead of running the 5K distance at any time and anywhere, choose to run the real course at any time. Run as a speed time trial, pushing yourself just as you would in a real race. Those races are offering some limited awards rather than a generic participation medal and the end result is a hard race on an equal opportunity course. And you’ll still be competing against others on a level playing field. Worth considering! For Salisbury and Rowan, we still hope to have as many as five races locally by the end of the year.

It is time for the next beginning runners class, hosted again by the Salisbury Police Department. This series of classes begins on Thursday, Sept. 10, at 6 p.m., and will run for eight consecutive weeks. Cost of $65 includes the class, a training dri-fit shirt and entry into a future SRR 5K. The class series is offered in conjunction with Salisbury Parks and Recreation and Novant Health. Runners will begin with a half-mile distance and then work their way up to a 5K (3.1 miles). Instruction includes classroom work with topics such as shoes and equipment, nutrition, stretching and strengthening, injury prevention and much more. Individual coaching is included.

Recently an international group of exercise oncologists published a major review of the literature on exercise and cancer. The news was good, if somewhat unsurprising. Regular exercise lowers your risk of developing a long list of cancers, in some cases by 10 to 25%; and if you do get cancer, exercise enhances the quality and possibly the expected length of your life. I touch on this more later.

SRR has been serving lunch 2-3 times a week at Rowan Helping Ministries. Our group has totally enjoyed the experience, offering a service to the community when our charitable races have not been allowed to happen. Recently some other groups, absent during the coronavirus have begun to return to meal serving. I’m really happy for that but the cupboards and coolers at RHM are virtually empty. Please remember that food donations are greatly appreciated and needed to continue this wonderful service. Please contact Cheryl Linder at RHM at 704-637-6838, ext. 108.

Information about the upcoming races and the beginning runners class is available at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org or by calling 704-310-6741.