An Affair to Remember: The TMIRCE IN4MAL

Last Saturday night, droves of informal runners put on their best duds, suits, tuxedos, dresses and ball gowns to get down and boogie on the dance floor. The Most Informal Running Club Ever, as founded by Dave Johnson (pictured below,) has been in existence for 4 years. Originally meant to be a group of a few friends who ran every now and then turned into a mob of sorts.

Left to Right: Andy, Justin, Dave

The night was full of raffle prizes, giveaways, music and dance-offs. The crew from Lululemon represented strongly at the party. Dance-off winner, Jonathan Hall, pulled off an insane backflip; what seemed like slow motion and 9 feet in the air, Jon pulled a move rarely seen at TMIRCE events. Of special note, Hudson Doyle won the NB Reach the Beach Relay full team entry for this years Massachusetts race, May 18th and 19th. Hudson is suffering from good karma after volunteering with TMIRCE this past September at RTB Relay's NH version of the historic race.

Earlier in the day, TMIRCE Saturday's at City Sports saw a near record number of runners, 60+, all donning birthday hats for the group run. There was a lot of excitement in the air as runners were talking about their anticipation of the event later that night.

Left to Right: The gang

With Basket Case blaring over the sound system, and hands flailing in the air, one of the workers of the Marriott pulled the plug. We partied so hard that the staff was told to shut us down. And so they might be able to quiet us at the end of the evening, but TMIRCE will reign strong, at least until next year, when the big 5 beckons and the lights dim once more.

Your favorite band sucks. A tribute to running with music and "the Empire"

There is big controversy in the running community about running with music. Some people like to run with it, others don't like to run with it, some people tell runners they can't run with it - usually concerning safety reasons - and the one thing we fail to see is in fact the music. During a few of my most memorable runs, I was accompanied by Anberlin, a true American rock band. Anberlin's lead vocalist, Stephen Christian, evokes a tone reminiscent of the 1980's, Duran Duran-ish, while the band mixes in a host of hard core guitar rifts, drum beats and a "Cadence" that nearly anyone can run to. I was of the lucky few who got to see Anberlin co headline with Switchfoot this past Sunday in New York City at the Best Buy Theater in Midtown. Brian Schantz of The Aquarian has a great review. But don't take my word for it.

Cadence is one of the most important aspects of good form running, typically around 180 beats per minute. Want to measure it yourself? Count each step you take while running for 15 seconds and then multiply by 4. This will give you a general idea of how many steps/beats, your taking every minute. A good indicator of measurement is if your counting between 42 and 46 steps every 15 seconds. But I digress.

Your favorite band sucks. How do I know this? Because it was printed on a sticker I got from Empire Discs (now closed) in Garden City - Long Island - NY. Known in my circle of friends as "The Empire," my friends and I would pile into my 2 door, 1986 Cadillac eldorado after class and go lose ourselves among the endless rows of music, waiting to be found. It was here back in 2003 that I discovered Blueprints for the Black Market, Anberlin's debut album. The first song on the album, "Readyfuels" is what turned me into a runner. If you've never run to music, it's my suggestion that to get your butt in gear and check out one of the great bands of the 2000's, run to "Redayfuels" and get back to me. You'll probably need a new pair of pants by the end of the run.