TMIRCE gets Race-y

After a few long weeks of family, friends, lots of food, and running, it's time to settle in for winters long haul. But it doesn't have to be done alone. On December 18th, TMIRCE broke all the rules, kicked ass and took names at the Cambridge 5k Yulefest, placing 1st overall in the team category with the help of some top secret speed-demons.

And again, this past Saturday at the Resolution Run 2 Kick Cancer in Lexington, TMIRCE repped strong and threw down 2nd place in the team competition. Go team.

But the truth is, you don't have to be a super speedster or uber competitive to run with us. Being part of a TMIRCE team is something anyone can do because we believe firstly in having fun together, and that's what counts. Pfff. So we got a couple trophies in the bag...we have fun together no matter what, drinking beers, eating breakfast and slamming down some post race champagne for the hell of it. Even more importantly, we've had a bunch of people run their first race ever as part of team TMIRCE and for that we thank you.

We can never have enough TMIRCE power at local races. Supporting one another as we tear up the pavement can be inspiring to rookie and veteran TMIRCE'ers alike (speaking of which, big ups to Jonathan Dioli, Sean Murphy, and Rachel Vanderkruik for stepping up at the Saturday Fun Run+BFast the last two weeks, banging gongs and hosting the best run ever.)

Now we have an opportunity to strut our stuff, get informal all over everyone, and race like the Mayan calendar is about to run out of time. Sunday, Feb 05 2012 at 10:30AM (for you sports fans, that's Superbowl Sunday) is racemenu's Super Sunday 5 Miler. They've put out a call to all teams who think they have what it takes to achieve greatness. Well I say, since we're already great, let's do this one for fun and uphold the informal name to it's truest meaning. By my count, there's about 6 people who registered under the join team option and typed "TMIRCE" and so should you. Whether this is your first time ever hearing of us or the billionth, we want you to run with Informal Nation.

Want to run with Informal Running? Then get off your booty and join:
~

The Most Informal Running Club Ever
we're even on Facebook too.

Why it's okay to have pizza and beer

Some people run to get in shape. Some people run so that they can eat food like pizza and beer. Other people run just to run. Me, I love slurpees.

Tuesday nights at the Harvard track has become a staple for most runners and tmirce'ers come out for all different reasons. You wanna get fast, you wanna get strong or you're training for a race. We run for all sorts of different reasons but the outcome is the same. See post track workout photo below.

From Left: Fast Bob, Ray, Dan, The Kid, Energizer Bunny, Danzu Ryu

So why do you run? I bet it's because a llama's chasing you; a valid reason. If that's not the case, tell us. If you're looking for a good reason to get out on a Monday night when it's dark and want to run with some fun people with free food afterwards, check out Lululemon's new run from their store at the Pru.

Want to run with Informal Running? Then get off your booty and join:
~

The Most Informal Running Club Ever
we're even on Facebook too.

Is Ragnar Relays stealing races?

Paul Vanderheiden thinks so. Mr. Vanderheiden claims Ragnar Relays is acting unethically by violating an unwritten code of ethics.

...there is an unwritten code of ethics between race directors that you don’t steal someone’s course, and you don’t piggy back on an established race’s date with a nearby, similar event.

Whether a race course is intellectual property and whether it is immoral to plan similar events near already established races are interesting questions. I understand planning a relay race is not a trivial task. However, every business makes decisions under uncertainty, faces barriers to entry, must navigate down learning curves, find returns to scale, etc. To the extent that new entrants learn from incumbents, costs can be minimized. Although I am not sympathetic to Mr. Vanderheiden’s views, I am not surprised he is frustrated: the history of business is filled with pleas by incumbents who find their competitors’ ethics questionable.

Putting ethics aside, will consumers (i.e. runners) be adversely affected by Ragnar Relays? I think the answer on the whole is unambiguously no. While some will not like what Martin Potter fears will be a “Wal-Mart” effect on running events, the average runner will most likely benefit from Ragnar Relays in the same way the average runner benefits from the rise of more corporate races. The popular Rock ‘n’ Roll marathons might be huge corporate events, but they certainly do a great job of motivating runners who would not otherwise run a 26.2 mile race.

Counterintuitively, Mr. Vanderheiden may even benefit from Ragnar Relays. If Ragnar Relays succeeds in growing the market for relay races, an entirely new generation of relay runners might emerge in much the same way the marathon has grown in popularity in recent decades. Consider the words of Mr. Vanderheiden’s governor in Colorado, John Hickenlooper, who in the 1980s owned a restaurant in Denver and actually advertised other nearby restaurants in his own restaurant: “Our competitors are not other restaurants but TV sets.”