News & Announcements Archive


KFOM logo 01/06/12: 2011 KFOM Awards: If you were not at the SFTC Awards Banquet in December to receive your KFOM participation medal, please contact the the KFOM coordinator at kevintbarham@gmail.com to make arrangements to pick up the award.

Election Results 11/25/11: 2012 Election Results: All of the votes have now been tallied. Congratulations to Debi Secor (2012 President-Elect), Jamie Mains (District 1 Rep) and Sam Culbertson (District 3 Rep). Please give them your full support as they start their board duties in 2012.


Liane Jennings 08/19/11: Another Tunnel Race: Liane & Mark Jennings took a vacation this summer to the west coast. While they were there, Liane ran a small scenic downhill marathon in North Bend, WA on a rail-to-trail course. Read all about their adventure, as chronicled by Liane, in the Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon.



TN State Records 08/10/11: Four Records in One Night: The Duck Island Summer Mile races were scorchers last night; four Tennessee state age records were broken from age 5 to age 79! The new record holders are Drew Parrott (age 5), Tom McCormack (age 58), Susan Rollins (age 53) and Harriet Locke (age 79). Congratulations to all!



Half-Marathon Sheep Tropies 07/06/11: Varmint Review: Now in it's 18th year, the Varmint is arguably one of the most scenic half marathons in the nation. Eric Thiessen took part in this year's race back in June and was inspired to write about the beauty of Burkes Garden and the Varmint Half-Marathon, which, in turn, might inspire you to plan to make the trip for next year's event.



National Senior Games medals 07/03/11: The Queen is back: Karen Seiferth competed in the National Senior Games this year. Karen did pretty good-- 2 first places and 1 second. She has been injured of late, so her times weren't as good as the past. Still her results are really good. Read all about it.



03/02/11: SFTC Chip Timing: SFTC now has its own chip timing system! The system is available for use with all races already hiring SFTC's services and for future race management hire requests. Chip timing complements the existing SFTC finish line services, ( the "card system" and the "computer system"). Details of all three of SFTC's systems can be found on the Finish Line Systems page.

05/28/11: Ride to INDY 500: Tom Murrell and Linda Morgan ran in the OneAmerica Mini (Half) Marathon in Indianapolis on May 7 with 30,657 of their closest friends. They highly recommend it. Here is their trip report.



03/16/11: Ride to Rode City: Where was Tom Murrell last Saturday? No, he was not at Chasing Snakes. He was with Linda Morgan at the Rode City Run in Louisville, KY. Read all about their Rode(s) trip to an out-of-town race experience.




01/25/11: Tennessee Ragnar Relay: There are a number of Ragnar Relay events in States across the U.S. Tennessee held its first one in the fall of 2010. A local team participated. One of the team members, Jeff Williams, gives an account of this year's race in 7 Deadly Sins.




01/22/11: 2011 Bucket List: Are you looking to spice up your running in 2011? Maybe create some special memories in 2011? Brian Sansom has written a bucket list of some "stretch" races to consider doing in 2011.


01/15/11: Running: A Love Story: Adam Allie has just completed his first year as a runner. He was inspired to write about his One Year of Running "after such awesome stories about Vera McGill's dog, and the great stories about the brutality of the Bays Mtn 15-Miler". One of the rewards of Adam's running and new approach to life will be the sound of bells later this year.




2011 K&Q Rule Change: Any SFTC member wanting to compete in the King & Queen competition must now sign up. (In previous years, all members were automatically entered). To sign up, please send an e-mail saying you want to sign up to the K&Q coordinator. After the War Party 10K, you must sign up prior to a particular race you are competing in for that race to count toward your K&Q score.


11/23/10: Press Release: SFTC 2010 Outstanding High School Runners

11/20/10: The Runner Slayer: Bays Mountain is sometimes unforgiving and claims victories where ever it can. Satan's Roller Coaster Ride and Donna 3, Mountain 1 record its attempts at dishing out the message: "Respect me".




11/17/10: The Last Mile: The Santa Special Animile is a must-do fixture on many canine calendars. This year's event is this Saturday (November 20). Albert McGill had competed in every Animile since 2002. Sadly he won't be there this year. His human says Goodbye to her racing buddy.




10/01/10: Dr. Ruth's Elixir: Ever wonder why Dr. Ruth Ketron seems so sprightly? Her secret is chocolate milk and tart cherry juice concentrate, as a post-exercise recovery drink. In the article she details some of the reasoning behind the use of this mixture together with testimony from some local athletes who have seen the benefits of it. Dr. Ruth suggests you try this blend yourself and make up your own mind.





08/05/10: Dog Days Books: Early morning and late evening are often the best times for running with this sultry summer weather. For those who are runners/readers or vice versa, Brian Sansom has found you some Summer Running Reading that can carry you through the other parts of these summer days.





05/13/10: To the Pig and Beyond: Several local runners ran the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati this year. Liane Jennings was one of them. Liane's journey to the start line was a little different than the others. Deep Water Running tells her story.




2/20/10: New Running Parents: Having kids is a life-changing experience for most new parents. New Dad and SFTC president Jason Goodman verifies in Running with Baby that adjustments in training schedules are necessary when the first born arrives.





2/10/10: Pain is Not Optional: Former high school and collegiate coach Tom Murrell philosophizes for us on running, racing and life in his article: Will you "Feed the Rat" ???





1/16/10: Run a Different Tunnel: Looking for something new in 2010? SFTC member Mike Chaudron ran the Detroit Half Marathon in the fall of 2009 and raves about it. Read Mike's review of the race by clicking here.



1/16/10: 2009 SFTC Awards Banquet: About 95 people attended the 2009 SFTC Awards Banquet held at The Red Room, Blountville, on December 12. The annual SFTC Awards Banquet featured a potluck dinner, door prizes, awards for the 2009 SFTC Competitions and a SFTC membership general meeting.



11/29/09: 2009 Outstanding HS Runners: Molly Foster and Michael Mansy have been named as the area's outstanding High School runners for 2009. They will be honored at the club's awards banquet on December 12.



10/21/09: SFTC Election Ballot: The 2009 SFTC Election Ballot has recently been snail-mailed to all SFTC members. As always, the ballot includes nominations for the Most Improved Male and Female Runners. This year's nominees were identified "scientifically" using the Most Improved Selection Process.

10/13/09: Still Jittery?: The article written by Dr. Ruth Ketron (see Caffeine: How Much is Too Much?) on caffeine inspired Dr. Earl Brown to respond with questions (and maybe provide answers) in Comments about Caffeine.




10/12/09: SFTC Bylaws Amendment: During the SFTC September board meeting, the board proposed changes to the club's bylaws. Most significant of these amendments are changing the Secretary and Race Walk Representative from non-voting to voting Board of Director positions and to add the Volunteer Coordinator position as a voting member of the Board of Directors. You can use the following link to see all proposed changes to the Bylaws: Proposed Bylaws Changes. These changes will be voted upon at the Annual Membership meeting, held in conjunction with the Awards Banquet, on the evening of December 12, 2009 at The Red Room in Blountville, Tennessee. Please submit any comments or questions regarding these proposed Bylaw amendments to the Board Secretary prior to December 12th.

10/04/09: Got the Jitters?: Most people know that too much of most things is typically bad for you. Dr. Ruth Ketron has reviewed the contents labels of energy drinks and reports her findings in Caffeine: How Much is too Much?




09/15/09: The Comeback Coach: Greeneville High School cross-country coach and Amaizing Race Director Jeff Bloomer has gone through major injury, but now he's back with a PR at Eastman with baby in tow! What It Takes for a Comeback is Jeff's story of some life changing events this year during which he learned some important lessons.



08/19/09: Three's not a Crowd: The Borghetti family are often seen participating at local running events - particularly Tony with his grandchildren. Tony's daughter Stefania is now a runner too, making Three Generations of Racing Borghetti's.

08/16/09: Queen Conquers More Land: The reigning Queen of the SFTC King & Queen Competition took part in several track and field events in the National Senior Games in California earlier this month. The National Senior Games is held every two years in different cities across the United States. Read more about how she did by clicking here.



08/14/09: King & Queen 101: This year's King & Queen Competition is about two-thirds complete - 21 races out of a total of 31 for 2009 have been and gone. If you've always wanted to know more about how the competition works, Earl Brown, the K&Q Coordinator, gives a thorough breakdown in the King & Queen Web Pages.


08/11/09: Still Going Crazy: It's now been about a month since Crazy 8's. There were 1743 finishers this year - that's up by 327 over 2008. It's a special experience for some of us to be in the same race as the best of the best. Donna Bays went one better - she really did go Running with the Kenyans.




07/25/09: Running Mom-to-be: Many of you may know that Nicole (Trail Series Coordinator) and Jason (President-elect) Goodman are expecting their first child in the early Fall. Running for Two highlights some of Nicole's experiences so far...



07/18/09: Return to Normalcy: After a week's break with Crazy 8's now completed, the SFTC Summer Training Program re-starts on Monday July 20. The training program is now focused on helping runners prepare for the Eastman 10K.



07/05/09: SFTC Members-at-Large: Tom McCormack competed in several events at this year's Police and Fire Games in Nashville. Click here to find out about how he got on.


05/24/09: Mile Times Fall: Six Tennessee State age records were set at the Duck Island Spring Mile Races on Saturday May 23. Congratulations to Harper Russell, Porter Bradley, Ryan True, Vera McGill, Carla Rogers and Ruth Ketron!

05/15/09: New SFTC Contest: The SFTC (Adult) Mile Series Competition commences Saturday May 23 with the Duck Island Spring Mile at Warriors' Path State Park in Kingsport. This competition for SFTC members of at least 15 years of age is new for 2009.

04/26/09: Sheep in Sight?: SFTC's Equipment Manager Donna Bays has kindly submitted her story of running in the 2007 Varmint Half Marathon in Burkes Garden, VA, "It was Bound to Happen", for all of us to enjoy.



03/31/09: VCM a blast!: Fifteen different States were represented by participants at the blustery Virginia Creeper Marathon. Even though Mother Nature once again was reluctant to cooperate, the combination of the beauty of the Virginia Creeper Trail together with the enthusiasm and efficiency of our wonderful volunteers still made VCM shine. Full results and photos can be found on the VCM website.


03/15/09: TN Tour Qualifiers: The Tennessee State Parks Running Tour is a season of races from October through March across Tennessee, each of which are associated with one of the State Parks. SFTC'ers have competed in the tour for many seasons; the 2008-2009 season, which has just ended, is no exception. Click here to see who qualified.


03/01/09: Attention All Trail Runners: SFTC is pleased to announce a new Trail Series Competition for 2009. We have a number of excellent trail races/runs in the SFTC catchment area that form the basis for the competition. One of the requirements for the series is that each race must have at least one significant uphill...$$$ Prize money $$$ for the winners!



03/01/09: Shoes for Mileage: The Mr. & Ms. Mileage Competition now has prizes as well as trophies! The top male and female K&Q mileage loggers for 2009 will each get a free pair of shoes! Go to the Mr & Ms Mileage webpage to find out more details.


01/01/09: Foot Rx is K&Q Sponsor: The 2009 SFTC King & Queen Competition sponsored by Foot Rx JC is now underway. Go to the King & Queen page to see changes and additions for 2009 including $$$ prize money $$$ incentives.