Congratulations to the board members of the Murfreesboro Half Marathon (MHM), “The Middle Half,” and the Murfreesboro Parks & Recreation Department for being awarded the “4-Star Award” for Excellence (highest award given) in parks and recreation from the Tennessee Recreation and Parks Association (TRPA) at their annual banquet in Memphis last month.
The Middle Half, which competed in the 100,000-plus-population category, was deemed the best parks and recreation event in the state of Tennessee!
Kudos to everyone involved in this event and especially to the board members whose tireless efforts and dedication have now been duly recognized. The TRPA also honored Melinda Tate, race director and president of the MHM, with its Volunteer Service Award in recognition of the significant contributions she made to the field of parks and recreation. For those of you who know Melinda, you know this is a well-deserved recognition.
Due to the success of our event over the past two years, the MHM board of directors was fortunate enough to give back to the Murfreesboro community via cash donations. A total of $10,000 was donated to the following: Oaklands Historic House Museum, Main Street Program, Family Resource Center, Special Kids, Inc., Friends of the Greenway, MTSU/BRAA (scholarship fund) and the One Hundred Club of Rutherford County.
We also donated 532 pair of new shoes to the city and county school systems of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County.
Of interest, there were 1,740 registered runners for this years’ half marathon, ranging in age 13-79, and 142 registered participants for the inaugural Kids’ Fun Run. There were five state records broken and more than 1,000 pair of shoes were collected and donated to Soles4Souls. There were also more than 300 volunteers who graciously gave their time to this event (THANK YOU!).
I again want to thank and recognize our major sponsors: Middle Tennessee Medical Center (presenting sponsor), MTSU, City of Murfreesboro, Murfreesboro Parks & Recreation Department and Fleet Feet Sports of Murfreesboro, and our media sponsors: The Murfreesboro Post, The Daily News Journal, WGNS and the Murfreesboro Magazine. With your help and foresight, we have developed a first-class event and one in which all residents of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County can be proud.
Speaking of being proud, a very special thanks goes out to my family who all participated in this years’ event. I ran the half marathon along with my son Nick, daughter-in-law Lindsay and son-in-law Kearney. Of course Melinda was our fearless leader and my daughter Natalie assisted her on race day. Nick and Lindsay came down from Baltimore and Natalie and Kearney came up from New Orleans, and their presence made this great event even better. Hopefully this will be a family tradition for many years to come.
If you are buying for a runner this holiday season, consider the following: form-fitting, sweat wicking headbands that will keep you warm and dry during a cold winter run, no matter how much you sweat; Body Glide anti-friction gel which is loaded with aloe Vera, vitamin E and other magical substances. Body Glide rolls on like deodorant and shields your skin from blisters, chaffing and cracking; mini sports belt, just big enough to carry your cell phone, keys, a Gu pack or a MP3 player, which will fit so snuggly under your shirt or shorts you’ll barely know it is there, or a magnetic L.E.D. light, which will buy you a little piece of mind during night time runs. This flashing and reflective light will attach to any article of clothing.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS. Until next time, gotta run…hope you do to! Miles
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