Let's talk about the 3rd Annual Black Bear Half Marathon & 8k presented by Hunter Subaru, which takes place in Hendersonville, North Carolina on Sunday, October 9, 2022.
Our Event Guide is a recording of our iDaph Events Podcast, and here we discuss what to expect on Race Day. The host of this podcast is Allison Capps, Graphic Designer at iDaph events with guests Daphne Kirkwood the Race Director and owner of iDaph events and Amy Silvers, iDaph Events Administrative Coordinator. We talk about the courses, packet pickup, parking, the post race party, Recovery Zone and more - along with many other important details.
We look forward to seeing you at the Black Bear races just outside of Asheville in Hendersonville, North Carolina soon! For more info about the race visit our website here:
blackbearhalfmarathon.com
Let's talk about the 3rd Annual Black Bear Half Marathon & 8k presented by Hunter Subaru, which takes place in Hendersonville, North Carolina on Sunday, October 9, 2022.
Our Event Guide is a recording of our iDaph Events Podcast, and here we discuss what to expect on Race Day. The host of this podcast is Allison Capps, Graphic Designer at iDaph events with guests Daphne Kirkwood the Race Director and owner of iDaph events and Amy Silvers, iDaph Events Administrative Coordinator. We talk about the courses, packet pickup, parking, the post race party, Recovery Zone and more - along with many other important details.
We look forward to seeing you at the Black Bear races just outside of Asheville in Hendersonville, North Carolina soon! For more info about the race visit our website here:
blackbearhalfmarathon.com
Hey everyone. Welcome to another. Events podcast today. We're gonna talk about the third annual black bear half marathon in eight K presented by hunter Subaru. The races take place on Sunday, October 9th in Hendersonville, North Carolina. They both start and finish at Jackson park and run through the city of Hendersonville and then onto the beautiful Aqua waha
Daphne Kirkwood:green. Hey everybody. I'm Daphne I'm the race director. And welcome back to the black bear races. We're so excited. The races did move from Saturday to Sunday this year. So that is different. The park had a bunch of soccer games this year and so long term, it should stay on Sundays. But if you're noticing that difference, yes, that did change. We're so excited to be able to bring both events back and fingers. That there is no flood that happens couple days before the race. So we can actually keep this U S a TF course. That's certified yes. We hope that we
Allison Capps:get to do that. And we are gonna put the third little diamond in a lot of these people's Appalachian trilogy. So that will be so fun. We hope that you get to experience that, but you know, race during hurricane season is raced during hurricane season. Right. Right.
Daphne Kirkwood:If we have a backup course that we came up with last year, so, you know, we'll still run either one. Yeah.
Allison Capps:yeah. It's so nice to bring this back. This race, back to the running community locally
Daphne Kirkwood:and regionally mm-hmm It is it starts at 8:00 AM. Both races do at the same time. So plan accordingly for that. And you know, the first year we just did the half now we've added the eight K which has really been a nice addition. That's a unique distance. We don't see a lot of those in our community. And by fall, you know, folks have sort of done the five Ks in the spring and summer. It's a nice step up for people. Just want a little bit more than a 5k. But you know, don't wanna do all the training and, and life and time commitment that a half has. Yeah. So the eight K is eight K is a nice distance.
Allison Capps:I'm experiencing that half commitment right now. We do, but, but the best part about the eight K is that number one it's fall. So we get to go faster. Cause summer temps aren't. Crazy high and number two, there's cash prizes, if you're fast. Yes. Yeah. So tell
Daphne Kirkwood:us about that, Daphne. Yeah. So you know, we wanted the fast folks to be able to come out and feel like they have something extra to, you know, just sweat out those miles and run as fast as they can. So we have cash prizes for first, second, and third male and female. They do have to be present to win and it's just for the eight K. So if you're fast and you wanna be in contention to win that prize money, sign up for the eight K and we'll look forward to awarding that at the award ceremony.
Allison Capps:Awesome. Something that I really love about this race has been our swag and our unique awards. I love. The whole brand, I just got done filming the video of the medal and you guys are gonna freak out. It's so good. But tell us about prizes and the awards for just overall and then age group awards this year.
Daphne Kirkwood:Yeah. So I think you should show, do you have the metal handy? I have one. Hold on. Do
Allison Capps:you have one?
Daphne Kirkwood:Oh, you have one? Amy has it. Amy's got it. So the little bear in the middle, the black bear he spends. So it's super duper cool. And it's a big. Heavy metal like it's yeah, it's substantial. yeah. And then the ribbon is super cool on it too. It's just yeah, it, it really embodies the whole branding for the event and Really excited for runners to get that. And new this year is the AK participants are getting the medal as well. So it's not just the half. So AK, you know, this is a milestone for you two. And so that was a new addition this year. And you'll get a medal as well and they're running out. So yeah,
Allison Capps:they are. So if you're listening on the podcast and not on the YouTube and you didn't see the metal go check it out on our Instagram page at ID events. Cause
Daphne Kirkwood:you love it. Yes. And then we have mugs that are locally made pottery mugs. They're really nice from folk and Wayfair part pottery. And those are for first place age group, and overall. And then we also have a couple different options of colored pencil drawings that Amy Kau did with the black bear on'em. So we'll have a couple of those as well as options for age group awards. So yeah, we're, we're trying to use as much local stuff. That's relevant to this area. Local vendors, local potters, that's super important to us that we're creating that unique experience when people are coming to do the, the race or people that are just here that they're getting that experience. Shout
Amy Silvers:out to Mr. Wayne Wayne Boynton helping us to be able to add some older age groups this year. We appreciate
Allison Capps:that.
Daphne Kirkwood:Yes. Thank you, Wayne. He is one of our veteran runners. I won't say older he's veteran Yeah. He's very passionate that the veteran runners get their opportunity to get, you know, as many chances to get the awards and stuff. So we really appreciate Wayne. We were able to add some additional age groups for the more veteran age groups this year. So thank you so much to him.
Allison Capps:Awesome. And then for the overall winners fleet, P Asheville provided gift certificates for overall and master's winners.
Daphne Kirkwood:Yes. Yep. So we've got a whole
Allison Capps:SL of awards and prizes for you guys. We're excited about being able to offer that
Amy Silvers:and the swag this year is, is very impressive as well. We have the long sleeve Black bear running shirts, the Brooks dry fit tech shirts for the half marathon. And then we have the really super soft, my favorite Bella canvas shirts for the AK. And do you have to Bella? Definitely
Allison Capps:want to,
Daphne Kirkwood:do you have I do
Amy Silvers:Amy's our K shirts.
Allison Capps:Oh,
Daphne Kirkwood:I love that. Great.
Allison Capps:They're
Amy Silvers:gorgeous. And so soft. The be of canvas is just one of my very favorites. I love the be. And then the Brooks, the dry fit running shirts. Oh
Daphne Kirkwood:yeah.
Allison Capps:With the black bear logo.
Amy Silvers:They're black, long sleeve. They're gonna be one that you're gonna wanna wear all winter, all fall and winter. I know not everybody's a fan of cold, like I am. So you gotta wear the long sleeves.
Daphne Kirkwood:Yeah. The, those shirts too. I found like even in spring or just early morning races where there's a little bit of a chill. They're perfect year long, you know? Yeah. It's just, it's like the perfect texture. So absolutely.
Allison Capps:My favorite thing to wear running is long sleeves and
Daphne Kirkwood:short. Yeah. Yeah.
Allison Capps:Yeah. It's because if your, if your core is warm, you're good.
Daphne Kirkwood:Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I think, you know, we ordered some extras, but they're going pretty fast online. So, you know, if you wanna get one of those, I wouldn't wait until race day to see if there's any left. I would go ahead and order them on the shop on race roster or when you're registering get yours because I just, we can't guarantee that we're gonna have any. Yeah, definitely
Allison Capps:do that. Okay. So we've gone it on and on about our swag, but we get excited about that. that's fun. That's a fun part of running, right? Absolutely.
Daphne Kirkwood:So let's talk about the packet pick where, and
Allison Capps:when does that take place? Okay. Pack
Amy Silvers:pick up is Saturday. That's the day before the race. It's October 8th and it's gonna be a hunter Subaru and it's from 12 to two. And that's over at right. Kind of across from the Asheville airport. And we highly suggest if you can make it, to get to that packet pickup, because it's gonna save you a lot of time and a lot of stress on race morning, trying to get there early you know, avoiding lines, just if you can't at any possible way, get there Saturday to grab your stuff. That'll help you out tremendously and save you a lot of stress and time. We will have a packet pick up on race morning. It'll be from seven to seven 50 and the cutoff will be seven 50. And that's gonna be at Jackson park near the start line.
Allison Capps:Okay, Amy. So let's chat about that for just a second. So if the cutoff is seven 50, what time should they be in line to get their packet?
Amy Silvers:Well, me personally, I always try to get there at least 30 to 45 minutes. Before race with this packet pick up at SEP starting at seven. I mean, I, me, I would be there at seven because I wanna make sure I have everything I need, get my stuff to my car, use the bathroom, you know, and be there at the start line on time. So coming, you know, as early as you can, as early as you can get there to grab all that.
Allison Capps:That sounds like a good
Amy Silvers:plan. Yeah. And we did have an option to have your swag shipped which is even better because then you don't have to worry about any packet pickup session. We, we, for$10, we we ship it out. We do this for all of our races, I think. Daphne started doing it during COVID right. Daphne. Yeah. And it, it, it just caught on everybody just loved it. So we continued it. You can have your shirt, your race bed shipped to. And you don't have to worry about coming to either one of the packet pickups. And if you bought mug or a sweatshirt or anything online, we'll have that waiting for you at the mech tent. As well as your goody bag we'll have all that waiting for you after the race at the merchandise tent. And for this race, we had nearly a third about 176 who have chosen to do that. So. pretty, pretty impressive.
Daphne Kirkwood:Yeah. That's awesome. What do people do? Because I know this has happened with some of our races, and I think I know what you want'em to do, but what if folks had stuff mailed and they're signed up for the half and then race morning, they're like, you know, I'm not feeling it. I just wanna do the eight K what should they do on race morning?
Amy Silvers:Definitely have to come by the packet pickup at the start line and swap your bib because if you registered for the half, then you have a half marathon bib, which means your timing is for the half marathon. If you wanna drop to the AK, we can do that, but we've gotta swap your bib and get you an AK bib. You don't wanna be running on the wrong court or on the yeah. On the wrong course with the wrong bib. Yeah. So, and you don't wanna confuse other runners. You don't wanna confuse the volunteers and you know, it's just, we, we gotta get you swapped. So swing by there
Allison Capps:and do that.
Daphne Kirkwood:Yeah. And unfortunately, you know, you do get disqualified. If you don't swap out bibs, it messes so much up on the timing system and for awards and results. And sometimes if you see us pause an award ceremony, it's because we're seeing something that is, is triggering us to go wait a minute. That person ran way too fast to be in a half marathon. Yeah. And didn't tell us, and unfortunately you get disqualified and that's just not fun. So yeah. Take the extra minutes and switch out it also, you know, people don't think about this, so I'm just gonna tell, tell you guys it messes up the police and the volunteers on the course, too. because the instructions that I've given them is to watch for certain bib numbers and bib colors for directional support. And so if you don't swap out your bib, you know, they're gonna give you the wrong instructions. It's just gonna add more stress to everybody. You know, and the other thing I would say too, I know we sort talked about the start time is don't start the race early. We've had folks, this is so bizarre over the last couple years. I'm not quite sure why. But the race isn't ready before 8:00 AM. Everything. Is out there on the course for you, according to that start time. So if you start the race early, you're not gonna have a start time. You know, it's gonna mess up everybody that's out there waiting for you and trying to get set up. So please, please, please do not start early. Start with everybody else at eight o'clock and it is a mass start. So don't start at eight 30, start at eight we're. We can't accommodate you. If you show up late to the race. Yeah, that's my rant. Sorry.
Allison Capps:I'm here for your rant. Okay. So how do people get their goody bags and athletic coupons? If they got their stuff mailed?
Amy Silvers:Swing by the me tent, the merchandise tent, that'll be close to the finish line. We'll have all kinds of run local stuff. We'll have hoodies and magnets and decals and water bottles and all that good stuff. And if you've pre-ordered anything through your registration or if you had your thing shipped and you wanna get your goody bag, that's where we'll have that ready
Allison Capps:for. And is that where people are gonna get their Appalachian trilogy metal? I would assume so.
Daphne Kirkwood:Okay. Year, last year we had the Appalachian trilogy metal set up near where the other metals were set up. Okay. Finish line. So we'll probably have some system like that after the race, around the merchandise area for people to get them. And we'll check people off, cuz I know some people don't wanna wait for the award ceremony to get them. But we would love to get a picture of everybody. You know, with the Appalachian trilogy metals that we possibly can. And we're gonna take that picture at the half marathon award ceremony. Okay. Look at Amy throwing up the, the metal it's it's so good.
Allison Capps:And it's got a
Amy Silvers:little thing that spins on it too. The little tree spin
Daphne Kirkwood:mm-hmm so cool. So cool.
Amy Silvers:Yeah. They're
Allison Capps:gorgeous. Cool. I'm so excited about this. Sorry. Okay. So sorry.
Daphne Kirkwood:I had to do it. I had to do it so easy. I know, I know there's so many good things. We are jumping around here. Y'all but we're we we're gonna make it through.
Allison Capps:Where does everybody
Daphne Kirkwood:park? Yeah. So fortunately at Jackson park, there is plenty of parking. We are going to use the main center parking lot, where we had the finish line and vendors set up last year. We're gonna use more of that for this year. So there's gonna be less available parking around the start finish. But everything. Close within walking distance. Pretty much every baseball field there has huge parking lots. So, you know, just coming to Jackson park, find a parking spot and walk over to the start finish area, which is sort of central in the middle of the park. Okay, great.
Allison Capps:So tell us about the courses and let's start with a half.
Daphne Kirkwood:Yeah. So we, myself and my, my friend mark, who is great with certifying we spent. Hours and hours and days and days certifying the courses again for USA track and field. And, you know, I feel like this is a super important thing to do so that people know they're getting the exact true distance of what they signed up for. Also if people are. Are really fast. You can break course records and it's just a, a great way to make a race credible and to guarantee that you're going the correct distance. And so that is finished. And so both eight K and half are certified. And so you can rest assured that you are going to get the distance. If you follow all of our signs and markings and volunteers, you will go that whole distance. That's awesome. Awesome.
Allison Capps:Yeah.
Amy Silvers:Thank you for all that hard work, Daphne.
Daphne Kirkwood:Oh, you are welcome. Those, those have many races before and I come up short or yeah, it's usually come up short and I'm like, I feel jipped, you know? And so that's the last thing I want people to worry about when they show up for the race. I want'em to know that it's been measured, you know, we're, we've really taken care of that and it's, it's accurate. So, yeah, that's
Allison Capps:awesome because that means that you can use. Your half marathon time as a qualifying time, if there's a bigger race that you're trying to get into, that requires that it just makes it seamless and really, really helpful. And people love this course on the green light. It's nice. What I was telling someone the other day that what. One of our number one feedbacks about the course is that you, because it's a down and back, like the community is out there the whole time and you get to pass people and just. Way to go given high fives back and forth the whole time. It's really an awesome environment because there are a lot of people out on the Greenway all at once, and it's really fun for our participants. So that'll be a really awesome part of it. So now that we've talked about the half marathon, tell us a little bit about the eight K is it on the Greenway? What's different about it than the half?
Daphne Kirkwood:Yeah. So both races will start together in Jackson park. And the only difference to the course this year is that runners are going to go on maple street. That's by the train Depot. It's one of the only cobblestone streets. Left that I know of in Hendersonville. So they're gonna get to run on that street, which is very cool and historic. And that's the street over from white duck taco, which was not the best road. So that'll be a nice feature. And then the rest of it's the same. So they run down seventh avenue. And then hit the Greenway. The AK will go out to the kiosk, that's in the middle of the Greenway and turn around and essentially come back. And the half continues past that kiosk out to Berkeley park. Comes back to the seventh avenue side of the Greenway and then essentially goes back out and does that full loop again, back to Berkeley park comes back to seventh avenue side, and then they finish the race. So, you know, it's, it's mostly flat, there is a stinker hill
Allison Capps:you always gotta do that.
Daphne Kirkwood:I mean, I don't plan it all the time. There is a stink stinker hill on the half going up to Berkeley park. And let's see, there's maybe a little bit of a dipper hill when you're coming out of Jackson park and then. Yes at mile 12.8 12.9 ish. There is a hill to go back up into the park, to the finish at the end, and it's sort of nasty and ugly. So just keep that in mind to save a little bit at the end for both the AK and the half. I
Allison Capps:was getting ready
Amy Silvers:to say, save up a little bit
Allison Capps:for those
Daphne Kirkwood:finishes, a little bit of juice for that. And then you can just, once you go past that hill, You're flat home stretch to the finish. You can just gun it, then you can sprint, you can sprint after that. Yes. But yeah, I mean, it's a super spectator friendly course. That's why I created it. I would say, you know, as this race has grown, we're gonna have the most people there this year that we've had. I mean, it's a relatively new race. And so each year it's growing. So the thing is on the Greenway. You're gonna have to stay on the right side when you're running. You're not gonna be able to take up the whole path in lane. There's gonna be people that are, are passing you, which makes it awesome. Cuz you're gonna be encouraging and seeing people the whole time, but you just can't. Run on the wrong side of the path. There's all, it's also open to the public. So there might be people out there walking a dog or you know, with their family pushing a stroller. So you just have to keep that in mind. It's not a super busy green way. It's, it's not like some of the ones in Asheville that are a lot busier, so I don't expect there to be a ton, but you know, there are gonna be people out there. So just be friendly and nice. We wanna be able. Keep coming back.
Allison Capps:Okay.
Amy Silvers:And what about time limits? So I know I have a friend or two that do walk, run intervals when they run half marathons. What about the time limit? Is there a course cut
Daphne Kirkwood:off? Yeah. So at noon is when the race becomes unsupported. So at that time is when, you know, volunteers, police, everything, they're, they're leaving their posts. They're done for the day. And the finish line will start being taken down. So, you know, if it takes you longer than noon to finish you know, you can finish, but we can't guarantee you're gonna have a time or support on the course. Gotcha. Okay.
Allison Capps:Good to know. Okay. So that sounds awesome. I know one of the like big goals for this event was to make it spectator friendly. Can you tell us a little bit about that and how people can see their participants?
Daphne Kirkwood:Yeah. So we'll have that information on the event guide. I think it's also on the website, but a couple different areas to go would be Patton park. You can park at Patton park and that's where our Hendersonville triathlon starts and finishes and walk down the Greenway. And then you're on the Greenway and you can see people Berkeley park where a water station is at for the half. That's another place you can park and walk down. And there's a couple other. Points along the way that we'll put, you know, on the event guide and you can take a look, but it's, it's an easy one for people to get to, especially on the loop course for the half to see people, if you don't really wanna try to figure out where they're at, you know, you can be at the race hub and see them when they finish, start and finish.
Allison Capps:Yeah. That's always a guarantee. And actually You can walk down a little bit onto the course, you know, before the finish, too, if you just wanna, you know, start in Jackson park, that is always a good way to do it. So people need to start thinking of their signs and costumes and all of that. Cause best signs, even if you were making'em for like someone in particular, it's always fun for all the runners to see'em I always get a good kick. Fun signs along the way and stuff. So, yeah, definitely.
Daphne Kirkwood:Absolutely.
Allison Capps:Okay, so let's talk about the section that
Daphne Kirkwood:they repeat on the course. Yep. So the seventh avenue section of the Greenway is sort of the beginning of the Greenway section. And then Berkeley park is the end of the Greenway and it's a, it's a several mile stretch. And so that's the section that the half marathons will, half marathoners will run twice. We will have a video that will put up. About what that looks like as we get closer. And we also have a course preview video that you can check out that shows exactly what that looks like so that you can just be watching for it. But it's just super important that you, you know, don't have your earphones on so loud that you can't hear a volunteer. Who's telling you, you know, prompting you with what to do. And then you also have to just take your own personal responsibility to. Be watching for signs and stuff, and don't expect the person in front of you to be doing what you're doing, cuz there's multiple races happening. They might be faster than you and might have already done a loop who knows so Yeah. So all of those things, we will have some timing mats along the course, too. Just to make sure everybody does the whole thing. So that's really important, you know, that you're, you're clocking all those laps and loops and and we'll check that for you at the end to make sure that that happened. And unfortunately, if you didn't do the whole thing, you will be disqualified and you don't get to finish your medal. You know, if that's the case. So if you think that you're not gonna do the whole half. Highly suggest that you switch to the eight K before the race? Yes.
Allison Capps:Okay. And we always try and mark the courses super well with paint and arrows and all of that. So what are the colors and everything to be on the lookout
Daphne Kirkwood:for? Yeah. So a half marathon will be marked in pink. try to use stickers on the Greenways paint sometimes on the roadways, but look for that pink color for the half. And then yellow is gonna be for the eight K. So those will be the two distinguishing colors. And then we'll have signs where the course splits the turnarounds. Stuff like that. So pay attention to those. And I think I told you already about the people that might be out there in the Greenway. And let's see, oh, the roads are open to traffic, you know, on the Greenway, there are no cars, fortunately, but the sections that aren't on, the Greenway are open to traffic. We don't expect a lot it's Sunday morning, but as the day goes on, it will pick up more and more. So if you see a sidewalk and you're running down the road, see car hop up on the sidewalk. We will have police and other support out there as well, helping you in those areas where there are cars.
Allison Capps:Yeah. And so then everybody can take a look at the course map and see everything that we're talking about on ride with GPS, which can be found on our website and and on race roster where you registered.
Daphne Kirkwood:Yep. Yes. Okay. We also have water stations too, a couple on there. And they will be utilized multiple times. So that's another thing to definitely check out when you look at the map, cuz I know that's important and every water station also has porta Johns at the water stations.
Amy Silvers:Okay. Okay. And you did say just a reminder that the Greenway is open to the public
Allison Capps:mm-hmm um,
Amy Silvers:Yep. So be courteous of all the other families and people and dog walkers and roller skaters. And other people that might be out there.
Allison Capps:Yeah.
Daphne Kirkwood:Yeah.
Allison Capps:Okay.
Daphne Kirkwood:Okay. So
Allison Capps:what. Post race activities. Can we expect this year? That's one thing that I feel like as this race grows and grew from the first year to the second, we like doubled it. And so I'm excited to see all our post race activities and have like a real hub and everything. So what's going on, Daphne?
Daphne Kirkwood:Yeah, well, we have all kinds of really cool things and fun stuff. And we brought back back the things that are, have been really popular, like. Beer and donuts. two of my favorite food groups, really. I mean, you know, they're so important that they're actually tabs on your bib, so you can redeem your donut tab and your beer tab on your bib. So there's a
Amy Silvers:legit hashtag I run for
Daphne Kirkwood:donuts. Oh, really? Yeah. We'll have to do that one. Yeah. So the apple cider donuts from Jeter mountain farm will be back. And you can redeem that, like I said, with the little tear off tab on your race bib I don't think we'll have extras of those to sell. We just have enough for the participants. That's a lot of donors that was a big thing last year. So
Allison Capps:just know that they're for the participants
Daphne Kirkwood:and yeah. Sorry. Yeah. About their children
Allison Capps:that come to spectate.
Daphne Kirkwood:Yeah, we'll have other, so and then let's see the beer is OAA brewing company. They are on first avenue in Hendersonville. And you can do you have one of the beer tickets there? Amy? I was wondering if it has like the address or anything while you're looking for that. So we can't have alcohol or beer in the park. It's a park. So what does it say on there, Amy?
Amy Silvers:On the, it says Olo waha brewing company, 1 47 first avenue, east Hendersonville on race weekend, Friday, Saturday, Saturday, or Sunday, get a free flagship
beer.
Daphne Kirkwood:Yes. So you take that ticket in there. You know, whatever day, Friday, Saturday, Sunday of race weekend. And the, you know, you can get your beer. The Tip's not included in that. So if you wanna leave a tip, when you get your free beer, that would be really appreciative for the amazing bartenders and service workers. And we are subsidizing this free runners. So it's. It's not free to the race we're buying this beer for you. And so we want you to be able to go and just try out a local place in Hendersonville. That's awesome. A favorite here and try their flagship beer. They've got all kinds of options. So.
Allison Capps:Awesome. Right. Let's move on to my next favorite food category or food group.
Amy Silvers:I mean, we've got coffee and we got donuts for after the race, but what about before the race? I, or I always need that little bit of caffeine as. To spice me up a little bit. Give me a little bit of energy. What do we have? Cal, do we have coffee
Daphne Kirkwood:available? Yeah. Bare bones brew. S will be there again. And he'll have his coffee car and I believe he does espresso shots. Doesn't he? I think he does. Yes. Yeah. So I, I mean,
Allison Capps:don't test that out for the first time on race day, but if it works, it works to make you faster.
Daphne Kirkwood:That's not absolute words. People need a little shot of something, so he'll be there. Yeah. And then other stuff that we have going on, we, we have the recovery zone. It's gonna be bigger and better than even last year. We'll have it in a slightly different area. But close to the start, finish and Asheville personal training. Heads that up. They have a lot of fun things that they're gonna bring compression, sleeves, mats, rollers they'll help you get stretched out. We also have yoga and massage there to do post-race massages. And then movement for life will be there. That's physical therapists. If you are having a little nagging. Injury or something going on, they can help diagnose that, check that out injury screenings for free. So they'll all be there in that recovery zone to do that for you. We have a couple food items, so we have a new food truck this year. We're really excited about. Courtney from Tini jar is gonna come with their food truck. Yeah, we're really excited. They're gonna have some breakfast, breakfast D type items available too, for those of you that finish earlier in the morning, and then they'll switch off to some lunch items, but bring some cash. We wanna support our food trucks. They come to our events because we want'em to come back. And this is how they earn their living. So bring some cash and support them. We will have just, you know, snacks available, the, the usual bananas, apples, granola bars Humana, and then Hendersonville community co-op will have those water, you know, some drinks, things like that for free. So you know, you can get your little snacky thing and then go over to the food track after your stomach settles from running and, and pick up something a little bit more. Awesome.
Amy Silvers:I heard a, a rumor that we have an NC and maybe a bluegrass
Allison Capps:band.
Daphne Kirkwood:Yes. The same folks who were there last year will be coming back the dry men, mountain boys, and then Brian Bird B squared. He's a realtor in Hendersonville and he's so much fun. He will be there to MC he was also at the jump off rock half in 10 K if you guys were there for that event, so excited to have both of them back creating the energy and the cool vibe for the. Okay.
Amy Silvers:And we also have I mentioned that just a little bit before at the merchandise tent, we'll have all of our awesome free to run shirts. We have tank tops. We have the new blue really gorgeous, yes. Run local hoodies. There, the blue is just it. You can't imagine how pretty it is. So you see it in person. It's just, it pops, I mean, and the run local logo and the design is just amazing. Thank you, Allison.
Allison Capps:you did
Daphne Kirkwood:a great job designing. You think my legs warm right now? that's
Amy Silvers:yeah. So we'll have those with you know, it's supposed to be a fall weather moving in here in the next few days. Well, and look like even through the next 10 days, so you're gonna want a warm, cozy hoodie. We've got. Check those out. And then we'll have the Appalachian trilogy hoodies too. For those of you that have done your three out of the four half marathons, we'll have the Appalachian trilogy hoodies. And, and if you're a family member of a spectator, you can sneak over there and grab one. For Christmas gift, maybe for someone that you know has completed that trilogy and they didn't get a hoodie or didn't think to buy one, you sneak over there and grab one for.
Daphne Kirkwood:Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, I don't wanna be a Scrooge. I don't even wanna think about Christmas yet, but when you run to these events and you ha we have all this run local and run merchandise, that's super cool. You know, think about the runner friends that you have in your life, your family members, you know The merchandise is super cool. So pick up a few things, you know, and store it for birthdays or Christmas gifts or whatever. We usually don't, you know, have a lot of that stuff online. So the chance to get it is at the races.
Allison Capps:Yes. Yeah, for sure. We've got,
Amy Silvers:there's some smaller things too that are good for stocking stuffers. We've got like the run local water bottles, the insulated stainless steel water bottles, and we've
Allison Capps:got tons of stickers.
Amy Silvers:Yes, tons of stickers and decals. And there's a, also a new run local magnet that matches that logo. That's on those blue hoodies. So yeah, all kinds of
Daphne Kirkwood:things. Here we go. Talking about swag again, all know here we, we just can't get,
Allison Capps:so I
Daphne Kirkwood:began do an award ceremony. This. Yes. We will have an award ceremony around nine 30 for the eight K and then around 10:00 AM or slightly thereafter for the half marathon. We try to wait until most of the age groups are pretty full before we start doing the awards. So that's why sometimes it fluctuates a little bit. The other reason it would fluctuate is if people don't tell us that they are switching races, And then awards get wait, is that important? Backne? I haven't mentioned it like Yeah, so we will do an award ceremony this year. It'll be fun. All right. So besides the
Allison Capps:coffee that they're gonna drink before the race do they need to bring any fuel or hydration for while they're running?
Daphne Kirkwood:Yeah, I mean, green moose fuel is awesome and they provide the moose fuel out on the course, it's a gel. And so they we'll have those at the water stations and then water and Gatorade. But if you're, you know, If you have your own favorite thing that you like to run with, I would carry it with you. When I was racing half marathons, I always had like a handheld water bottle just in case I got thirsty between the water stations or if the water stations were so full of people, which I don't think that'll happen, but if they're really full and I just was like, eh, I don't wanna stop. I always had something with me. So that's just me. Not everybody does it that way, but I, I liked having some of my own. And then the water stations, the locations will be listed on the event guide there's one at seventh avenue in the Greenway and Balfour road in the green Greenway. So you can look at those on the map. All
Allison Capps:right. Perfect. And you know,
Amy Silvers:my all in porta favorite question? What
Allison Capps:about
Daphne Kirkwood:restrooms? Yeah, so there are legit restrooms, real deal restrooms at the park. And so we have those we'll have porta Johns as well, porta Johns at all the water stations out on the course, too. Perfect. Awesome.
Allison Capps:Okay. So then who is on, you know, we like to have a nonprofit for every partner for every event. Typically they provide some volunteers for us and we're able to help support them through everyone's registrations, as well as donating at registration. Who is it for
Daphne Kirkwood:the black. Yeah. So the friends of the Aqua waha Greenway, which just keep the Greenway so pretty and nice. They have put in some different pollinator gardens on the Greenway, which are really neat for the bees and the butterflies. They also keep the kiosk area in the middle of the Greenway. Beautiful. And just, just keep it lovely and nice. So we're giving back to them and all the work that they do for the Greenway, we also raise money for the Jackson park. Greenway that gets flooded when it rains a lot here in Hendersonville because it's a problem. And so we just figure if we keep raising money for that, that someday it'll get fixed. So we're gonna keep on raising money for it. And, and hope that someday soon we can get an engineer in there to fix that section. Yeah.
Allison Capps:So I think we mentioned that the Appalachian trilogy medals would, are gonna be given out at the award ceremony. Let's just chat about that and the Appian trilogy, and next year's plan for that. Now, because
Daphne Kirkwood:start planning now, people, you know, last year was the first time we did the trilogy and they got pretty excited about getting their medals and didn't wanna wait until the award ceremony or they just didn't wanna wait at all to come to the awards cuz they weren't gonna get one. So. We had them near where people were handing out the finisher medals in that area. So we'll do that again. But like I said, we'd like to get a picture of that at the half marathon award ceremony. So if you can stick around and be part of that group, there's almost 200 people that did the trilogy this year. So it'll be a really fun group picture if we can. A bunch of people to stay for that. That'd be a lot of fun. We will do the trilogy again next year. It'll kick off with the Asheville marathon in half Saturday, March 18th. That's in Asheville. And then it'll follow up with the jump off rock half, which is May 13th. I believe. Yes. May 13th in Hendersonville. Then we have the rad half, which is June 11th next year, and that's back in Asheville. And then we come back to Hendersonville for the black bear half. Which tentatively is October 8th. However, because there's five weekends in October next year. That date might be the weekend after. So we're confirming that right now. Okay. But we, yep. We have the trilogy planned and you just have to do three out of the four events and you're automatically entered into the trilogy. There's no signup form or anything like that. Also
Amy Silvers:worth mentioning. You can do it virtually too. If you, if you can't do it in person, you can, or a combination you can do'em in person or virtually or all virtually if you can't make it to the events. Yeah.
Allison Capps:Very true.
Amy Silvers:And you know, I gotta do it one more time. The metals, I mean, oh wait, spin
Allison Capps:the trees. I can't see the trees.
Daphne Kirkwood:Oh, It's hard to spin it with one hand and hold it and spin it. They're so I wanna see the ribbon on it's good. Oh yeah. That's awesome. They turned out so nice. They're beautiful. Amazing.
Allison Capps:Okay. So We've made it through all the core information. We did it guys.
Daphne Kirkwood:We, we
Allison Capps:got off track several times, but we made it so what sponsored and partners can we think today before we head
Daphne Kirkwood:out. Yeah. So we mentioned most of them during the podcast, but I do wanna thank Friday health plans. They are an annual partner reveal aesthetic surgery. They're a new partner this year and they are gonna have a couple folks from their office running in the races. So that's really exciting. Wanna thank the city of Hendersonville, Hendersonville Henderson county parks, and then downtown Hendersonville for all. Being part of this event, it is completely a community effort. It's not just you know, we show up at the park and go for a run. It's, you know, there's a lot of moving parts to make it happen. And we're just so grateful for all of them. Awesome.
Allison Capps:Well, I believe that's it. Thank you to all of our partners. Thanks, Stephanie and Amy. And we just can't wait to see you guys at the black bear half marathon in eight K on Sunday, October.
Daphne Kirkwood:Thanks. Thanks. See you guys soon.
Allison Capps:Bye bye.