Join the PRMH Running Club!

Runners/walkers/joggers (past/present/future),

Yes, The Providence Ronald McDonald House Running Club has to be the most unwieldy name in the Rhode Island running community. I’ll get back to that, but first:

Who we are The club is people - roughly 100 men and women of all shapes, sizes, ages, abilities, professions, and outlooks. We have members who can show you their Olympic Trials mementos (Carter administration, but still...) and others who never ran past a refrigerator before joining the club. We include triathletes and non athletes. A few of our runners are nationally competitive within their age groups; another few participate in practice and group runs but rarely compete in races. Some members are veterans of other clubs, while others have trained independently for years. And PRMHRC boasts the volunteer services of legendary professional coaches. (How many walking groups are led by a Brown University Hall of Fame track and field coach?) We’re diverse.

What we do Mostly, we run. Stretching, fitness, and speed workouts once a week, group runs/walks weekends, and (optional) individual workouts with the coaches. Broken into goal and ability groups so the ~nine-minute milers training for a marathon aren’t running sprints with the <6-minute milers training for an indoor mile. Club members support each other with experience, advice, motivation, camaraderie and, (as needed) empathy for injuries. Oh, and we’ve been known to counteract workouts by imbibing in unhealthy food and beverages together...

Now, back to that mouthful of a name -- we help the House. The people at the Providence Ronald McDonald House do fantastic work that is largely dependent on contributions from outside their corporate namesake. Every member of the PRMH Running Club raises visibility for the House simply by wearing a PRMH shirt at local races. Club volunteers prepare dinner for the residents once a month; others have raised thousands of dollars in pledges for races like the Falmouth Road Race and the Boston Marathon. And, of course, we put together this unique race -- all proceeds from the Women’s Classic go the Providence Ronald McDonald House.

To learn more about the running club, visit www.prmhrunningclub.org or drop by the Brown University Stadium 6 pm on a Wednesday (while the light/weather holds) to talk, run, walk or observe.

And ENJOY YOUR RACE!

Rick Ripley
President, The Providence Ronald McDonald House Running Club