2023 New Year's Resolution Run Event Guide

Let's talk about the 9th Annual New Year's Resolution Run, which takes place in Downtown Asheville, North Carolina on Sunday, January 1, 2023. 

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 Amy Silvers, Administrative Coordinator at iDaph events with guest Daphne Kirkwood the Race Director and owner of iDaph events. We talk about the courses, the  costume contest, packet pickup, parking, and what you will find there - along with many other important details.

We look forward to seeing you at the Resolution Ru  5k and 10k races!  For more info about the race visit our website here:


https://idaph.net/resolution-run/

Transcript

2023 New Year's Resolution Run Event Guide
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[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to another iDaph Events podcast. I'm Amy Silvers, the administrative coordinator at iDaph Events, and I have with me Daphne Kirkwood, our owner and race director. Hi everybody. And today we are gonna talk about the ninth annual New Year's Resolution run in downtown Asheville. Coming up on January 1st, I'm looking forward to saying goodbye to 2022 and kicking off the new year on the right foot.

Literally . I hear you. It's funny cause as I was preparing for this podcast and I saw ninth Annual, I was like, Wait, was that last year? I feel like we plan events for so long, leading up to a race that it feels like we've already gone through that year. I guess it still is the ninth annual.

And it'll be here in a couple weeks. It'll be here before we know it actually. Christmas will just fly by. Excited about the event. I always, when I was racing a lot, loved to [00:01:00] participate in a race on New Year's just to kick off the year. Racing and getting that first run and first workout in of the year, it just always felt so good to get it in on January 1st.

And Asheville didn't have anything like that happening nine years ago, 10 years ago when I thought about it and. That's how it really came to be was, our area just needed something that was fun and a health healthy thing to do on New Year's Day. Most things are all shut down on New Year's too, so it's like this is something that's happening, it's something that's fun.

Starts at 10:00 AM so it's not super duper early, so you can still stay up and watch the ball drop if you want, and still show up and have fun on year's. Yes. I'm looking forward to it, and I think I've run this one every year since you started it, so I'm very excited. That's awesome. It's a tradition for me, so It is.

For a lot of people it is. And it's a great tradition. Yeah. Yep, for sure. [00:02:00] Okay. We typically have a charity or a non-profit partner for each of our events. So who are we helping out for the resolution? Yeah, so we have Asheville Humane Society, all of our little furry friends over there that we're helping out.

So they are one of our partners. And then I Dream Athletes Foundation, which is our non-profit, our sister company, non-profit. And we have some exciting things happening in 2023 with I Dream Athletes Foundation. Some free training opportunities for swimming, biking, and running. We have some folks we've been supporting with scholarships most recently.

So all the funds that come in for that go to those programs right back into our community. Fantastic. Okay, so we have a 5K and a 10 K. Let's talk about what people can expect on race. . Yeah. We brought the finisher medals back. So people, we did a survey. We said, Hey, we did mugs last year.

What do [00:03:00] you want? Do you want mugs again? Do you want finisher medals? And the. It was actually close. I can't say that it was a total landslide because I think people really loved the mugs too. But this is the metal this year. It spins. If you haven't seen it on social media, you can see it there too, but it's really cool.

So that right there is worth running for. Need we say more? I don't think so. No, that's all you need to say. Start the new year off with some shiny new. That's perfect for the new year. Exactly. We also have some cool new comfort colors, race shirts this year and we have two options, short sleeve and long sleeve.

Yeah, we were floating around some ideas for switching up the shirt brand a little bit, trying something new. We have really cozy comfy ray shirts and this one is supposed to be equally as cozy. So we're not skimping on that. It's actually a high quality T-shirt. So we're excited to try out this brand, see what you guys think, and if you like it, we will look at adding it [00:04:00] in to some more of our events.

But yeah we'll try those out this year and wait to get mine. Okay. Let's talk details first. Let's start with parking. Yes, parking is everywhere. , there's one to parking in downtown Asheville, especially on New Years when there's not much happening downtown. There's street parking available.

There's parking garages that are right around Pac Square Park. So parking has never been a problem for this race. Should be pretty easy to. Perfect. Okay. And convenient. So there won't be a lot of traffic on the road at 10 o'clock when we start. So after we're parked, what's next? Yeah, so both races start at the same time, at 10:00 AM there's no rolling start.

It is a mass start, so you do need to be started at 10 and you will get your race number on race morning, or you can get at the day before at bid pickup. And so you'll get that race number. You'll put it on the [00:05:00] front of you, and you can check in at bid pickup. If you haven't gotten your stuff.

It's gonna be at the pavilion which is Impact Square Park. We'll have a goodie bag for you as well. You can get that before the race and take it back to your car. You could get it after the race, at the merchandise table if you want to. And then the start line is right on college and Spruce Street.

We take over the whole street. That's by Packs Tavern. So the start line is there, the finish line is on the little alleyway. Buy packs, Tavern. So they're in two separate spots. Okay. All right. And you mentioned packet pickup. We have two options for that. Yep. So we have the pre-event packet pickup, which is New Year's Eve from one to three in that little pack square pavilion that you mentioned at Pack Square Park.

And then we have on race morning from eight 30 to nine 30 in that same location. . , no packet Pickup available after nine 30. And we do have, [00:06:00] we've been doing the mailing option. The shipping option. . Yeah. We're doing the mailing and we also have two different bib colors just to mention that too, for the 5K and 10 K.

If you're getting yours in the mail and your friends looks different, it might be that you're doing a different race. But yeah, people can opt to have their stuff shipped to them, the deadlines coming up if it hasn't already passed by the time you listen to this podcast. But if you haven't taken advantage of it for this race, look at it for another race.

We're mailing out having this option for all of our events. People have just loved it. We introduced it during Covid. And we kept it because so many people just wanting to skip the whole packet pickup thing, skip the lines, the hassle. And so it really makes it easy for you. That's always an option.

For our races, yes, it's great to just be able to show up and just go straight to the start line, not have to worry about that at. I do wanna mention though, if you do get your bib and your shirt things shipped ahead of time. If you decide to change your mind, [00:07:00] if you're feeling extra energetic and you wanna go from five to the 10 K or if you stayed up a little too late and you wanna go from the 10 K to the 5k be sure you stop by packet pickup and let us swap out that bids and get you changed in the system.

Yeah, unfortunately it will totally just mess things up if you don't. And we often have this happen and we would love, love, love to have y'all's help with this. By making sure you're wearing the correct race number before you run and switching that out. If you choose not to do that particular race distance on race day we would really appreciate it.

Yes. Yes. And for the people who picked the pre-event shipping option, they can still get their goody bag. Yeah, but the merchandise tent right after the race. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Swing by there and pick one up. We'll have one ready for you. All right, so you've got your [00:08:00] race bib and your swag, your bib is pinned on the front of your shirt.

And if remember, I have to try to remember this too, if you layer, you're going to want to put it on a layer that's not gonna come off so that your bib stays on your front and is easily visible when you cross the line. Don't crinkle it, bend it, fold it, any of that kind of stuff. Yeah. Messes with the timing chip if you do that.

Yes. . Okay, so we're all set with that. Where's the start? One thing I wanted to mention about the bibs, cuz I've been noticing this in some of the race photos, Amy, is that make sure and have that bib on the front. Try to have it close to the front of your shirt or if you're gonna have it on your shirts or pants.

Have it up high enough because when we take our race photos that's how the race photo system will match you. Ah, when you go to look for your picture and race roster. And even though we can't guarantee we're gonna get everybody's photo, if you wanna make it easier on yourself and you [00:09:00] don't wanna look up, all look through all the photos it has to see that race number to be able to match that up.

And I noticed in. The Ugly Sweater Run photos. There was a few people that had the race numbers flipped up, like while they're running, because they didn't have four safety pins, they didn't have one on each side, and so we couldn't see who that person was for backup timing when they crossed the finish. And then we also, they wouldn't get the automatic bib tag with their photo Just another reason to make sure that it's on the front, it's visible, it's showing, and it's not bent

Gotcha. All the things, the start line, like I said it's at college in Spruce, there's plenty of room. Guys just keep in mind like if you're planning to try to win the race or you're super competitive, Get more towards the front of the line. Don't be timid, don't be shy. If you're getting age group [00:10:00] awards a lot or you think you're gonna win, just get up there in the front.

It's gonna make your experience better. You're not gonna have to weave in and out of hundreds and hundreds of people. And then on the flip side is if you're gonna walk the whole event or most of the event, or you have dogs or strollers, get more towards the back. , I know there are a couple folks who are very competitive runners who do push a stroller.

And you can get more towards the front, that's fine. But if you're really planning to just take it easy and stroll along just get more towards the back. I always say in the middle of, a line up, it should be about the nine, 10 minute mile folks in the middle. So if you're trying to figure out where to put yourself if we can work on getting that better for 2023, I think everybody's experiences will be better.

Your time doesn't start until you cross that mat at the start line. So you know, if. Wanting to walk really fast and get a good time for yourself, your time won't start to get to that [00:11:00] mat, so it's okay if you're further back in the line. So I just wanted to mention that. Got it. Okay. Good to know. How about coffee?

Will we have coffee to get some caffeine to get us going? Yeah, bare bones, brew Hos will be there. Serving up some coffee and hot drinks. All right. And the number two all important question restrooms. Yes, we will have porta johns lots of porta johns. They will be over by the stage pack square park areas where we put them for this one.

Usually the restrooms our hit or. The public restrooms sometimes they open 'em, sometimes they don't on race day, so I wouldn't count on those. But we will have porta johns. Okay. All right. And what is the course like? Tell us a little bit about the course. Yeah, typically for a downtown Asheville type of race, it's hilly.

I think our, Asheville Marathon in half and our rad half are flatter than [00:12:00] this race downhill. Those races go downhill and are on flat roads. So this race being in downtown, primarily in, in the north side of town, it's just, it's hilly. There's just no other ways around it. It's an interesting course.

I think you get to run through downtown and then you go. Like I said, to North Asheville, and so you get to go through some historic neighborhoods in Asheville. The 10 K especially gets to go up Kimberly Avenue by the country club into a very nice part of Asheville. That's really neat to see.

So it's very enjoyable. But yeah, it's a very city style race. It has a nice flow to it, but it definitely has some hills along the way for. Okay. I'm still waiting. I'm waiting on the mention of the Stinker Hill. Oh, man. Yeah, so there's several , I think it depends on the [00:13:00] course, but Gring is one of them that on the 10 K course, it just keeps going.

Just keeps going and going. It's short. To some degree, but it's steep. So that's one that I think folks will probably need to watch out for, but there's definitely some hills on both the courses along the way. Don't be scared of the hills though. I really think, like I've raced in lots of flat races in Florida and, along the coast.

The hills to me, make it interesting. They break up the monotony. You're using different muscles when you do hills versus flat. If you're running flat. It's like being on a treadmill and it really I was always very sore after a lot of those races and events. So I think, having the different undulations is definitely helpful for your body.

You might not think so at the time as you're climbing up hills. But just shorten your stride and you'll make it over the [00:14:00] top. You'll do it. Yes. And the best part of going up a hill is coming back down. Exactly. There you go. You get a little time to, to just let gravity help you out a little bit and rest your legs a little bit.

So yes. Okay. What time are we closing the course? When do we, when does everybody need to be? Noon. Noon, okay. Yep. . All right. How about course markings and signs? Yeah. Yeah. We will mark the course with a lot of signs and stickers on the road and spray paint. So just pay attention to those.

That's really super important. Okay. And how about music? I know both of us love to to run with our music. Is it okay if we just keep the volume low enough so that we can hear instruction from volunteers if needed, or. Yeah I love running with music, so it's, one of those things that I want people to be able to enjoy music if it's motivating for them in races as [00:15:00] well.

I think the trick is you need to be able to hear what's around you. You need to keep it low enough so that if a volunteer is telling you or a police officer telling you something that. Understand and can hear what they're saying. That's what we hear the most feedback from our safety personnel is that they've given instructions or they tried to tell somebody not to go a certain way and they just were so in the zone and focused and headphones on that they didn't hear 'em.

So that's the biggest thing is you know yourself and what type of a runner you are and how in the zone you get The courses are open to traffic. While we don't expect a ton of cars out there on New Year's morning, there will be cars. Be aware of your surroundings. It's up to you to pay attention to the signs and the postings the yard signs, all of that stuff.

I wouldn't just follow the person in front of you. There's two races happening. There's a 5k, there's a 10 k. You might follow the wrong person. . Yeah, [00:16:00] so all of that to be said with music, keep it low ha you can have it, but keep it low so you can hear things, right? Yes, because if I'm registered for the 5k, I don't wanna run the 10 K

No, most people don't. , no. Okay. How about water? Yeah, so there is a water station. It's about a mile and a half in on the 5k and it's where the 10 K course splits. So the 10 K will keep running up Kimberly Avenue, the 5K will take a left. And so at that core split, there's a water station. So the 10 K folks can hit that water station twice.

They can hit. On their way up to go do their little lollipop loop up around the country club, and then when they get back they can hit it again. The 5k, we'll see it one time. Okay. And that's a Green Moose Fuel and Fleet Feet, Asheville. Yay. We're glad to have them with us. All right. Are there places for [00:17:00] spectators, friends, family, if they wanna come, cheer us on?

Yeah, I think around Pack Square is really fun to watch people. You could walk up to Market Street to see people as they're. Coming through that last finishing stretch and just walk backwards down the course if you want to. I wouldn't drive around. I think that, the minimal, as much traffic as we can keep at a minimum on the roads the better.

I don't really think that people need to drive. To different places on the course. If you wanna see the course, I would sign up and walk and be a part of, be a part of the event, exactly. But yeah, it's spectator friendly. All right, perfect. What do we have? What rules do we have? What kind of rules do we have for the, for both.

Leave your roller blades at home, Amy. Okay, man. . Yeah, basically just come out with a positive attitude. We're getting ready. For a new year, we're ready to have fun. Just, know again that the race is open to traffic. We're [00:18:00] gonna put the signs where we want you to be on the road.

So pay attention to those. Sometimes it might be facing traffic, sometimes it might be with traffic. Pay attention to those cues along the way. And then just be cur courteous to other people who might be on sidewalks or biking or, the cars and the volunteers and just all of that will make everything just a great experience for everyone.

Got it. Okay. So you've had an awesome run or walk and. Because not everybody runs. We have a lot of walkers that participate and love it. And we welcome it. Yeah. So yeah. Tons of 'em. Yeah. So you've walked it and you've run it. You've kicked off your new year with 5K or a 10 K. Now what? You're gonna swing by get your finisher medal.

And then we have some post race refreshments as well. And you wanna get some merchandise at the merchandise tent if you've not already been shopping or maybe you wanna shop twice. So you're gonna wanna do those things for sure. , [00:19:00] yes, you'll definitely wanna check out the run local. The two favorites, especially now at the colder weather here is the Run local hoodie.

And the Run AVL shirt. I love that shirt. And it's got the Asheville Run Asheville on the side. Oh, that's so cool. I love that. Yeah, both of those have been a really big hit, so you'll definitely wanna check those out. We'll also have the free to run shirts, the run local t-shirts, water bottles, magnets, decal.

And just lots of other awesome stuff. You'll wanna bring some extra cash or a card? We can do either. Yeah. Um, And do some shopping. Yeah. And any of those runner friends or family members that you forgot to get Christmas gifts for, you can just pick it up on New Year's and just say, Hey, I saw this, I forgot to get you something.

or shop for yourself. That's fine too. Absolutely. Okay. What other post race happenings that we got going on? Yeah, so yoga and massage will be there to [00:20:00] do our post race massages. We have a new partner called Yoga six. They are opening up a studio. In Asheville in early in the new year, and they are offering 30% off their unlimited founding memberships.

And so they're gonna offer that to our participants at the race so you can sign up there for those memberships. For unlimited. Yoga. And so they are gonna be new in the new year. They're also weather dependent. Gonna bring yoga mats and do some stretching and stuff like that. Maybe even a yoga class if the weather is good.

Just keep that in mind to hang out for that. Vitally PT Lee will be there. Stop by and say hello to him. He does injury screenings. He can tell you all kinds of things about your body, so go and visit with him and Tini Jar will be there with some yummy food [00:21:00] as well. We might have some other things come on board too that we're still in the works on.

So yeah, it'll be. Awesome. And if we have anyone that's traveling or still visiting family, coming in for Christmas, new Year, still visiting, traveling, and need somewhere to stay, what do we recommend for accommodations? Yeah. The wrong way. River Lodge and Cabins, it's brand new. It's. Down on the river.

They have the cutest little cabins down there that you've ever seen, and they're in city limits. I went on a tour of 'em and I, if I have family visiting, I'm definitely sending 'em over there to to stay. They're really cute, they're comfortable and they're close and convenient to the race. Highly recommend those if they're not filled up to check those out for a place to.

Yeah, they're very unique and they're super close and convenient too, so yeah. All right. We've run and we've shopped . What about results? Where can we find our. Yeah, so we always [00:22:00] pa post our results on our website. So under the race name, you can always find them there. They're on the homepage on race day.

They're also on Facebook, on Instagram. We'll put the link throughout the race, so any of those places you can find the results. And I would suggest that you, if you take photos, especially on New Year's You know that you are tagging at I D A F events on Instagram and you're using the hashtag resolution run, and we'll see those and we like to repost those as well.

That's a lot of fun. Great. And will we have an award ceremony and what time will that be? Yes. We will have an award ceremony. It'll be around 11 o'clock depending on folks finishing from the 5k. We don't like to start the awards until pretty much everybody, if not everybody is finished. So it'll be around 11 for the 5k.

And then [00:23:00] we will do the 10 K award ceremony shortly after that. If you're not able to stay for the award ceremony, that's fine. We'll take the awards to Fleet Fee Asheville on January 3rd, and you can pick them up after 3:00 PM that day from them. Or you can have it mailed for a small fee. If you wanna do that.

Cool. We have some super awesome awards this year too. Yes. They, I meant to bring one to our podcast and I didn't, but they're really cool. Pint glasses. So those are really awesome. And we have some mugs as well, gift certificates. We have cash prizes for the 10 k. So if you're fast or you have fast friends, tell 'em to come and participate.

Try to win some money. So that's gonna be fun. Great. And we also will be handed out awards for the photo contest and the holiday hustle series. So let's let's first talk about the photo contest. Yeah, so we're gonna have a [00:24:00] reveal your resolution photo contest. We also are gonna have what we're calling sort of a confession booth

And we're gonna have a big wall that you can write on. So be thinking about it. The the text on the top of the wall says this year I will. This year I will so be thinking about what is something that this year you want to do, whether it's a resolution, an intention and write it on that board.

We will be doing some video testimonies, photo testimonies around that area about what you guys are writing. And so we can check on you throughout the year and see how those things are going. And then the photo contest will be leading into the finish line. You can do strike a Pose, during that final stretch expressing how you're feeling about heading into this New Year holiday and new Year 2023.

[00:25:00] And you can win a free entry for yourself and a friend. And we're gonna be selecting those photos after the event. So have fun with it. We're excited about the resolution run this year. We've got a lot. Fun things in the work, so for sure. And I love seeing all the jumps and just all gets, and yeah, people get so creative.

It just amazes me and I always love looking at the pictures and it's even hard to pick a winner sometimes. . Yeah. You could wear something too that has your intention or your resolution or what you wanna do for the new year. Put it on your body somehow, put it on a hat, there's all kinds of creative things that you can do.

So just have fun with it's, yes. All right. So this was the third and final race of our all new holiday hustle series. Yes. What is this all about and how can people get involved for the next one in 2023? Yeah holiday hustle, we have well over a hundred participants who are doing all three of [00:26:00] these we're really excited about it.

This is the medal. Really cool with all the dangly ornaments that show the three races that folks could do this year to get one of these. And we'll hand these out at the award ceremony at the re run. And yeah, they, the thing was the Turkey tro, south Asheville, Turkey tro ugly sweater run and New Year's.

You had to do all three of those either in person or virtual or. Mixture of both. And you get one of those medals. So we're just gonna continue to grow on that for 2023 to 2024 for next year. So if you missed out this year, get involved with it next year. It's been a lot of fun. So yeah, we're looking forward to it.

Yes I'm looking forward to earning my holiday hustle medal after the residency. No. If you can do it, anybody can do it. It's more bling. I love it. Okay. What el any anything else people need to know? How about weather? Oh, man, [00:27:00] I, that's one thing people ask me and I just can't control it, so I don't know what to tell you.

, bring some hand warmers. I don't know. It's been all over the place for this. Or maybe shorts and a tank top. , we've had that weather. It really is that unpredictable in the mountains with our race weather. It's happening rain, shine, or snow. The only reason that something like this race would be delayed or canceled would be if there's an ice storm.

And we did have it one year. We're not gonna have that happen this next year or in 2023, but I just want people to know that regardless of the weather come out, we're gonna be there. You're gonna kick yourself if you don't. We just had a, the ugly sweater run and it looked like it was gonna be a total washout and it drizzled just a little bit and the people that didn't come were just kicking themselves.

So you just never know. You just have to come. Yes, for sure. And the, what about if you're traveling or you're not feeling well [00:28:00] or is there a virtual option? Yes, we do still have the virtual option available. If you need to switch to that, just contact support@idaf.net and we can help make that change for you.

You'll still get the cool swag, the metal. The shirt up to the deadline, that sort of thing. So definitely check that out if you can't do it in person. Perfect. Okay. And how about sponsors? Who do we need to thank for partnering with us for this one? I think I mentioned a lot of 'em, but I do wanna thank Asheville School for always supporting our events in 2022 the City of Asheville for continuing to support and be behind this event and allow it to happen in downtown Asheville.

It's not easy to get permits. For races and events there's a lot of high demand for them. We're just always so honored and thankful and grateful that we can continue to bring this event to downtown Asheville. And then just wanted to mention, if folks are listening and they wanna be.

Included as a sponsor or a partner [00:29:00] for any of our events for 2023, reach out to us. Races are expensive to produce. We always could use in kind things too. Water bananas, , various things. So there's always a way to get yourself, your company plugged in. To our events and we could use that more than ever.

Feel free to reach out to us if you ever wanna be a partner and have your name in the spotlight too. Yes. And we are so grateful for their support. Absolutely. Okay. Can you think of anything else we need to cover? The only other one that just came to mind was iHeartMedia. They're gonna start doing some radio ads for us and Brian Hall always comes out and runs with his friends and so they, you'll start hearing some of those ads on the radio as well.

So we wanna thank them for promoting the race for us too. But I don't think there's anything else I'm really excited about. Closing out 2022. It's been an amazing year. It's been wonderful to just see [00:30:00] so many people come back from being in Covid, hibernation, . Even though we were putting on events throughout the whole.

C except for, April, may, three months. It's nice to just see those familiar faces again and people to come back and really just letting loose and having fun and living and. Doing those goals and achieving them. That's been really inspirational I know for all of us on our team.

And we look forward to just going into 2023 with you, with Positive Vibes and helping you to reach your goals and dreams. Yes. We're so excited. All right thank you everyone for joining us for the New Year's Resolution podcast, and we are looking super forward and super excited to see in everyone on January 1st.

All right, guys. See you then. Bye.