c-ville-athon

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The c-ville-a-thon is the brilliant idea of my coach, volunteer race director, and running store owner Mark Lorenzoni. Created as a way to encourage runners to try a variety of local not-for-profit races as well as to track one’s progress over the year, the c-ville-a-thonallows participants to design their own racing experience by running at least 26.2 miles in charity events in a calendar year.

I worked behind the scenes to create a logo, flyers, website, and social media presence for this initiative and it was a huge success during its first year.

Of the 243 people who signed up for the challenge in the inaugural event, 83 runners submitted their checklists, running a total of more than 2,500 miles for worthy causes!

Currently we have 216 likes on Facebook and 46 followers on Twitter. We hope to increase our visibility and engagement over the next year.

Since I’ve been a race addict since 2007, it came as no surprise to me that I was at the top of the leader board for total miles raced with 98.4. Andrew Hersey came in 2nd with 51.1 miles and Kristin Morgan was 3rd with 46.9 miles.

Although I didn't PR in any distances during my c-ville-athon, I was the most proud of myCharlottesville Ten Miler time of 1:16:42 which is my 3rd fastest time in that distance (and the two faster times were on the flat Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run course).

I had a few really bad races this year especially in the 5K (for me, anything 24 or above is disappointing unless it's the week after a marathon :) which was the Chocolate Chase after the Chicago Marathon). Luckily, I was able to finish off the year with two 5Ks averaging 7:40 pace on my Garmin and finish times of 23:26 and 23:05. 

I created an evaluation form to get feedback and suggestions from the 2015 finishers. Here is a sampling of some of their kind words:

"Fun idea :-) Enjoy participating in local events and supporting local organizations; motivation to participate in an extra event or three during the year! "
"This was a great way to stay involved, get healthy, and contribute to some very good causes. Please do this again in 2016!"
"Thank you for hosting such a fun competition! I look forward to participating next year.”
"It looked like a fun thing to do, since I was planning to run several races already. I love tracking my progress."
"Thank you for putting this together! It's been really fun!"
"I thought it would be fun since I was running enough races. I told all if my running friends and we did discuss our progress especially toward the fall."
"This was such a good idea! Thank you!"
"Thank you for sponsoring such an innovative way to encourage race participation in the Charlottesville community. It certainly kept me motivated!"
"That was fun! Thanks for organizing it!"
"It was so pleasant an experience to run all those races and learn of this recognition."
"I thought it was a neat way to turn lots of little events into a bigger event; it was also great for tracking progress (or, sometimes, the lack thereof). I considered it fortuitous timing, since I had only been in town for some months, and found out about it while looking for races to participate in last spring. Being in on the inaugural edition seemed pretty neat, and putting the focus on non-profit races is quite nice." 
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Click on links below to register for the individual races. RSVP on facebook to let other C-VILLE-athon participants know which races you are running!
Download a checklist!

2016 

JANUARY
1st -- New Year's Day 5K

FEBRUARY

MARCH 
5th -- Haven 8K
12th -- Sugar Hollow Bridges 5K & 10K Run
19th -- Charlottesville Ten Miler
20th -- Fix a Leak Family 5K 
Camp Holiday Trails 5K

APRIL 
2nd -- Zeta Run For Life 5K 
16th -- Run For Autism 5K
23rd -- Martha Jefferson 5K
30th -- Montalto Challenge
Lile Mile / Pi Miler
Masters Mile
Hoos Hea l 5K 

MAY
May 7 — CHS Band/Cross Country 5K Fundraiser
14th -- Red Hill 5K
14th -- Batesville 10K
21st -- Keswick Hunt Club Foxtrot 5K
Oakland School Kids' Trail Race
Run & Remember 5K
Discovery Dash (Kids edition)
Mimi's Run 5K
Ramblin' Rabbit 5K

JUNE
4 the Wounded 5K
Bruce Barnes Mile

JULY
4th -- Independence Day 5K
Fairview 5K
CTC All-Comers Summer Track Meets

AUGUST 
Stagger Start-Predict Your Time 5K Trail Race 
Firehouse 5K

SEPTEMBER
3rd -- Women's Four Miler
17th -- Pepsi 10K
CCS All-Terrain 5K

OCTOBER
North Branch School Dragon Dash 5K Run/Walk
Buzz by Belmont
VSA Color Me Cured 5K
Glenmore Volunteer Fire Department 5K Run/Walk
Chocolate Chase 5K
Jaida's Joy 5K Monster Run/Walk

NOVEMBER
24th -- Boar's Head Turkey Trot
Run for Shelter 5K
James Monroe 5K
Charlottesville Men's Four Miler
Race and Taste 10k by ETF to benefit St. Jude Children's Hospital
Honoring Our Heros 5K
Kelly Watt Two Miler
4th Year 5K

DECEMBER
Monticello Classic 5K
Freedom 5K

Sponsored by C-VILLE Weekly and Ragged Mountain Running Shop.