Events Calendar

List of Events

• June 29: Rogue Trail Series: the Saint 30K and 10K
  ARC Discount Available
  Austin, TX
  Contact: Joe Prusaitis
  Phone: 512-294-6456
  WebLink: www.roguerunning.com
  
  
• July 26: Spearfish Canyon Half Marathon 13.1 miles/ 5K Run/Walk.
  Held in conjunction with Lockhart Chisholm Trail Round-up
  Spearfish, SD
  Contact Name: Heather Pleinis
  Contact Phone: 605-722-4558
  Contact Email: casaadm@rushmore.com
  WebLink: http://www.nhcasa.com
  
  
• Oct 24-25: MyoMed Ragnar Relay Texas for 196 Miles
  ARC Discount Available
  San Antonio - Austin
  Contact Name: Dominique Meier
  Contact Phone: 801.295.5536
  Contact Email: dominique@ragnarrelay.com
  WebLink: http://www.ragnarrelay.com/austin/index.php
  
  
• December 07: Austin Runners Club Decker Challenge Half Marathon
  ARC Discount Available
  Austin, TX
  Contact: David Mitchell
  Phone: 512-423-2291
  WebLink: decker.austinrunners.org
  
  
• December 07: Austin Runners Club Double Decker Marathon
  ARC Discount Available
  Austin, TX
  Contact: David Mitchell
  Phone: 512-423-2291
  WebLink: decker.austinrunners.org
  
  
• December 07: Austin Runners Club Decker Challenge Relay
  ARC Discount Available
  Austin, TX
  Contact: David Mitchell
  Phone: 512-423-2291
  WebLink: decker.austinrunners.org
  
  

To list your event, please fill out and submit the following form.

Volunteer

Become an ARC volunteer. This is your chance to give back to the race community and do good for charity. If you´d like to become an ARC Volunteer please contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Megan Baker, at volunteer@austinrunners.org .

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Happy Hour

Come share stories of your latest running experience and celebrate another weekend in style. Enjoy the Happy Hour deals and the best micro brew in Austin. The Aug Happy Hour is canceled as we sail on the Annual ARC Summer Picnic.

When: Sunday, June 22nd.
Time: 5:00pm til 7:00pm
Where: NXNW Restaurant and Brewery.
Map: 10010 Capital of Texas Hwy.

NXNW Restaurant Brewery

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Kamiar´s Member Interview

Keith Dowland has been the featured Member Interview in our club newsletter published with Inside Texas Running.



Keith, 52, was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, is married to Renee Pepin, and is an income tax preparer. He came to the U.S. in 1979 on a track scholarship at the University of Nevada at Reno, which did not meet his expectations of a typical American city, but found it an interesting place. He attended the university for two years and then transferred to Western State College in Colorado, where he obtained B.S. in Business Administration in 1984. Keith’s identical twin brother, Ross, is also a runner and used to run with Paul and Sheila Carroza at Abilene Christian University. Keith moved to Austin in 1985 to join Ross. One day he ran into Paul and Sheila on Town Lake, who thought he was Ross and were wondering why Keith didn’t say hello to them! Keith is not a “health food eater,” likes ice cream and bear, and wouldn’t be caught dead wearing running tights because he is too skinny! He has been an ARC member, on and off, since 1985. Long time club members may recall that Renee and Keith used to organize club’s Christmas parties (Renee was doing most of the work and Keith was mainly responsible for the beer keg!). Ever since he was a child, Keith has been running or biking. However, formal training started when he was 15. Like most New Zealander boys, he loved to play rugby, but due to size limitations, he realized that it was not meant for him; therefore, he concentrated on running. In addition to running, Kayaking and “easy” cycling are the other sports that he enjoys doing whenever he can.

Keith trains 6 days a week, mainly by himself, and he is not a morning person. Summers are exceptions, as he limits his training to 2-3 days a week to stay fresh, not only physically, but more importantly, mentally, to which he owes his running longevity. His typical 6-day training week consists of 1 long run, 1 longer intervals, 1 shorter intervals, 2 easy runs, one medium effort run, and 1 rest day. In short, 3 hard days, 2 easy days, 1 medium day, and 1 rest day. The major ingredients of his training philosophy are 1) patience and 2) listening to his body for minor tweaks to his training (e.g., resting, tending to injury). Keith doesn’t like to run when it is too cold, and he considers less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit as being too cold for his taste! His most favorite place to run is Barton Creek trail during a “blue norther,” as he considers it the most sheltered and relatively warm place to run in Austin. Keith is self-coached and does not believe that one training program is much better than another one. He doesn’t believe that there is a "magic" training program, as most training programs are some form of Lydiard. Arthur Lydiard (1917 – 2004) was a New Zealander who popularized training methods based on a strong endurance base. If you would like to learn about Lydiard training system, check out http://www.lydiardfoundation.org/. Keith believes that all runners must learn to listen to their bodies and make proper adjustments, and that once the mileage base is established, speed workouts may begin.

Keith participates in running races 15 – 20 times a year, mainly in spring time. I asked about his racing philosophy. He asked if I wanted an “honest” answer, and I said, yes! He said that his racing philosophy was to “use people.” Let me explain what he meant by it. Keith has become quite adept at drafting off people, as he hardly feels so good about pushing the race, and he attributed it to years of training with younger and faster runners. Keith’s favorite racing distance is the 10K, because it is neither too long nor too short. He focuses on different distances at different times of year; thus, he changes his training accordingly. For example, he does lots of speed-work training in late spring, which is when he runs mostly 5Ks. His impressive PRs are: Open 5K – 14:20, Open 10K – 30:20. Masters 5K – 15:35, Masters 10K – 32:18, Masters 15K – 48:53, and Masters half marathon - 1:09:59. Keith has only run one marathon, which took place in 1982 when he was in college. He ran the first half in 1:10 and finished in 2:37, even though he had not trained for it properly. I asked why he doesn’t run marathons. Rather jokingly he replied because he was too skinny for it. The truth is that he doesn’t consider himself a natural marathoner and doesn’t like the beat-ups that his quad must endure if he runs marathons. He likes the feeling of speed.

His most significant running accomplishment is placing 4th at 2000 Tulsa 15K (masters nationals) with an improvement of 1 minute and 40 seconds over the previous year. His running wish-list includes Pikes Peak and Sunmart, and I quote, “one of these years!” I asked Pikes Peak Ascent or Marathon, Sunmart 50K or 50M? As expected, he said, “as short as possible!” The two Sunmart runs make the Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Run, the largest ultra event in the United States, held annually in December in Huntsville State Park, located north of Houston. The two Pikes Peak events are considered as America’s Ultimate Challenge (http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/).

Keith’s advice for novice runners is that if you can stay patient and do not push it, you will get to the fitness level where you can cruise and running will become much more enjoyable. He is not so keen of novice runners running marathons. His message to experienced runners is to take “longish breaks” as are needed, but try to run twice a week, as it helps to never have to start up again from scratch.

Not too long ego, Keith sent Ross to an ARC Happy Hour, who and with the help of partner in crime, John La Claire, was able to confuse several folks! It has been a source of a good laughter. Thus, the next time you see him, ask for an ID to make sure he is who he claims to be!

Kamiar Kouzekanani, an ARC member since 1999, lives in Corpus Christi. He has been writing about ARC members for the newsletter since 2002.

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