Locals take part in National Running Day

By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com

* How National Days get on the calendar

ROCKINGHAM — Seven area members and friends of the Richmond County-based Mangum Track Club took part in the coast-to-coast phenomenon known as National Running Day.

Mark Long, Jerry Lindstrand, Rosemary Baxley, Clea Smith, Chris Kubiak, Evan “Bones” Baxley and Alix Giddens started shortly before 6 p.m. at La Cabana Mexican Restaurant on Highway 74 Business in Rockingham and ran along South Caroline Street towards the post office and then Harrington Square.

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com Evans "Bones" Baxley, right, and Alix Giddens, left, keep pace with Mark Long during the start of a planned six-mile run in recognition of National Running Day.

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Evans “Bones” Baxley, right, and Alix Giddens, left, keep pace with Mark Long during the start of a planned six-mile run in recognition of National Running Day.

From there, it was an easy stretch to Eastside Cemetery and out for a single loop around the trails at Hinson Lake, muddy after Wednesday afternoon’s downpour.

The Mangum Track Club has 790 members — including 26 dogs — representing 18 states and eight countries. Runners and walkers earn lifetime member status by completing an MTC-organized “Shirt Run,” which covers 15 miles from Mangum to the outskirts of Ellerbe on hilly country roads.

National Running Day is recognized the first Wednesday each June as “a day when runners everywhere declare their passion for running.”

“Since 2009, the country’s foremost running organizations have worked together to celebrate our sport with thousands of participants on the first Wednesday of June. We encourage runners to join in by planning a run, spreading the running bug to a friend, signing up for a race, or setting a new goal.”

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com From left to right: Jerry Lindstrand, Clea Smith, Mark Long, Rosemary Baxley and Chris Kubiak run against traffic along East Washington Street en route to Eastside Cemetery and Hinson Lake.

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
From left to right: Jerry Lindstrand, Clea Smith, Mark Long, Rosemary Baxley and Chris Kubiak run against traffic along East Washington Street en route to Eastside Cemetery and Hinson Lake.

The local contingent capped their planned six-miler with a celebratory dinner at La Cabana with fellow runners who logged their miles earlier Wednesday.

The next major event for MTC runners begins at 6 p.m. Saturday with the start of the 21st annual Bethel Hill Moonlight Boogie, a 50-mile nighttime run around the Ellerbe countryside.

Filed in: Latest Headlines, Outdoors, Sports

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