4 minute read
Running
Donnie Cowart, left, No. 67, runs with the lead runners at the start of the men’s race on North Franklin Street during the fifth annual Nash UNC Health Care Rocket Mile at the Imperial Centre. Cowart won the race with a time of 4:10.9.
By Samuel Evers
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A burgeoning running scene in the Twin Counties, even five years ago, wasn’t easily as recognizable as it is now.
In 2018, those interested in Rocky Mount and the surrounding area have been able to join the Rocky Mount Mill’s weekly Wednesday run club, slog through mud in Tackle The Tar, run through residential streets knowing beer awaits them at the Mills 5K, and so on. There’s also the Mill Chill, the Rocket Mile and the Hometown Heroes 5K.
Back when Kristen Bramble, organizer of Tackle The Tar, moved to Rocky Mount in 2013, she didn’t see those options.
For her, a lot has changed.
“Fitness in general I think has just sprung up in the last five years or so. You see Crossfit, all these 5K runs, core fitness; five years ago, I just don’t remember that,” she said. “Our community is a little unique in the fact that we like to give back to our community. I really think everyone puts their arms around all of these things.”
Tackle The Tar, which had its third iteration in May, was Bramble’s own creation inspired by a Tough Mudder she and her family used to go to in Charlotte. In 2016, 300 or so participants showed up from across the state — even some from out of state — and it has since doubled to 600 this year, a gaudy number despite a dark sky and on-and-off rain on its scheduled day.
“We’re further ahead than I thought we would ever be,” she said.
In terms of money raised, too. In the first two years combined, the event raised around $90,000 for scholarships to college for local high schoolers; this year alone raised about $60,000.
Another event, the Mills 5K, which took place for the third time in June, has raised about $45,000 in the last three years for the Carolina Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. It’s organized by Rocky Mount resident Michael Forrester, and his daughter, Caroline, who have a family friend who suffers from the disease.
It’s a simple concept — money towards a good cause, combined with an eye for fitness, means community involvement,” Bramble said. “What else can you do that brings all walks of life together for one united cause?
One of her proudest moments, Bramble said, was in the month or so leading up to TTT this year, when a group from Nash Community College decided they were up for the challenge and met everyday for a scheduled long walk. Eventually, that turned into a daily run. On the day of, the month of preparation turned into a crawl through mud in the pouring rain.
Those types of joint anecdotes were hardly a glimmer when Bramble moved here, a relocation she wasn’t excited
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about in its early going.
“I moved here five years ago. It was only because my job made me. I didn’t want to do it. I had never heard anything good about Rocky Mount,” she said. “Once you get here, your whole outlook changes if you let it. I wanted something to bring people to Rocky Mount.
Jeff Dodrill races through the mud pit obstacle during the third annual Tackle the Tar 5K Obstacle Course Race at the Rocky Mount Sports Complex.
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1) Martina Richardson, left, and Julie Eskew laugh as they trudge through the mud pit obstacle Saturday during the third annual Tackle the Tar 5K Obstacle Course Race at the Rocky Mount Sports Complex. 2) Ursula Forrester cheers for her son Henry Forrester and makes a video of him as he nears the finish line of the men’s race Sunday during the fifth annual Nash UNC Health Care Rocket Mile at the Imperial Centre. 3) Nykeeah Johnson runs on the greenway Saturday during the 2018 Rocky Mount Mills 5k at the Rocky Mount Mills.
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