Ready to start training for the fall?

And to run together (in person) at the Richmond Half Marathon in November?

Runners make their way along Virginia’s James River at the Richmond Marathon, which runs each November.

A few days ago, one of our subscribers sent me a suggestion about something we’d talked about an issue or two ago: the idea of getting together, in person, to run a half marathon. This is an idea we’ve batted around for a year or two now, but Covid and other life emergencies have made it difficult for me to make it happen.

Until now, that is. I’m happy to say the path is clear for me — yay! — and I think we may have the perfect race in mind: the Richmond Half Marathon in Virginia, set for Saturday, November 11.

Why this race? Honestly, I hadn’t thought of it until the subscriber I mentioned above suggested either this race or the Prairie Fire Half in Wichita, Kansas, which takes place in early October. Truthfully, I’m sure either race would be great, but Richmond offers a few advantages over the earlier event:

• Training for a race in mid-November gives us a little more than 16 weeks to train between now and then, which should be plenty of time for the widest possible range of people in our group to be ready

• Average November temperatures in Richmond range from 39 to 61 degrees (Fahrenheit), which ought to be perfect running weather

• The race is a well-established annual event in the city, which means it has support from the community and plentiful on-course support for runners

• Richmond is easily accessible from airports in nearby Washington, D.C., and locally, and is within driving distance from lots of cities on the east coast.

• And, Richmond is a city with lots of things to see, places to eat and stay, and scenery to enjoy — without being as costly as a place like New York or Chicago (which I also considered)

What do you think? Interested? I can’t wait to meet as many of you as possible in person — especially after more than eight years¹ of writing, chatting and talking here — and I think this will be a blast.

I’ll plan more details as we get nearer to November, but I imagine a meet-up Friday before the race (for dinner, or even a pre-race light run) followed by running the race together the next morning, and getting together after the finish. We’ll figure all that out between now and then 😃

In the meantime, I’ll put together a training plan we can follow together for the next 16 weeks, starting next Monday. I’ll provide each week’s training miles and encouragement to get you (and me!) going, and will check in before our regular weekly long runs — which are always the hardest part of any training plan.

👉 You’ll need to be a paying subscriber to receive the training plan — to get it each week plus a downloadable copy, all you need to do is sign up here.

Sound good? I hope you’re excited, as I think this will be a great time for us all. If you’ve never visited there before, Richmond is a friendly, welcoming and architecturally beautiful city — the race bills itself as “America’s friendliest marathon” — so I think you’ll have a wonderful time there, regardless of how well you run the half.

Let me know if you’re interested in participating, either in the comments below (👇) or by replying back to me directly. I can’t wait to get started with you!

Your friend,

— Terrell

1. Can you believe this newsletter and community have been going for eight years? I owe you all an anniversary post and update on the state of The Half Marathoner; that’s coming very soon.