East Nasty of the Week: Becca Stinson

May 25, 2012

If you can’t find this member of East Nasty, she’s probably camping or on a week long backpacking trip –in fact, that’s exactly where Becca Stinson was when we told her she was the newest East Nasty of the Week. After she finished hiking the 70-mile section of the Appalachian Trail in the Smoky Mountains, she excitedly accepted the honor.

Becca grew up in Nashville and was an extremely energetic kid. When her energy couldn’t be contained to her Hillsboro Village neighborhood, her family would go camping and backpacking, which created a love for the outdoors at a very young age. It was on a hiking trip to Rocky Trip in the fourth grade that Becca saw “real backpackers” and inspired her to do the same thing when she grew up. Last week Becca hiked Rocky Top as one of those real backpackers!

Becca on Rocky Top with her cousin Anne

In high school, Becca played soccer for Hillsboro High and admits to being a rule follower who participated in Model United Nations and wrote for the school newspaper. She went on to attend the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio, where she was on the soccer team.

After college, Becca served one year in the AmeriCorps in Washington D.C., and then worked on one of the 2004 presidential campaign in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. When her candidate didn’t make it to the White House, Becca moved back to Nashville and landed a job as an account executive at a local PR firm, where she met fellow ENOW Meg Willoughby.

Becca’s running career started in her soccer days, though she first hated it. On her first run with her mom, an avid runner, Becca told her that running was stupid. She began to enjoy running in college and officially fell in love with it in 2007, when she ran her first half marathon (Country Music Half) with her best friend from college, Jes. Around that time, Becca was introduced to East Nasty through Meg. Meg inspired Becca to become an East Nasty regular and by 2009, she was a loyal Wednesday night runner. Becca also credits Meg for encouraging her to complete the Country Music Marathon in April, her first full marathon.

Becca loving every mile of the 26.2 at CMM!

Becca and Meg representing ENFL at CMM.

Today Becca works as the Communications Director for Hands On Nashville (HON)**, Nashville’s volunteer resource center (and one of the largest of its kind in the world). HON meets the volunteer needs of the community and offers over 400 volunteer opportunities each month. Becca lives in Inglewood with her husband and casual East Nasty runner, Will Wilson, their crazy dog Cody and cool cat Mustachio (he has a mustache). You’ll be shocked to learn that the couple enjoys backpacking and camping together.

With one marathon in the books, Becca is considering another marathon this fall. She and Will have contemplated registering for Huntsville and are looking for race suggestions!

In addition to running and backpacking, Becca also loves beets and cheesecake (her husband co-owns Tennessee Cheesecake).

Make sure to congratulate Becca on her ENOW honor!

**In the spirit of East Nasty community and volunteerism, read more about Hands On Nashville:

The  Opportunity Calendar offers 400+ volunteer options each month. In the last year, HON has launched three new volunteer-driven programs that aim to promote healthy and sustainable communities, including the Home Energy Savings Program (engages volunteers in improving the energy efficiency, comfort, and safety of North and East Nashville homes owned and occupied by low-income homeowners), the HON Urban Farm, and the Nashville Waterway Recovery and Restoration Project.

-Erin Burcham Taylor


May 23rd

May 22, 2012

Couch to 5k

We have had a great response from coaches, so now it is time to start getting our participants signed up.  Send this link to anyone who has struggled to start / stick with an exercise program.  Or if that person is you, click on our Potato to Tomato page and sign up!   This video should be a great way to start a conversation or to get yourself motivated.  If you are worried about not being able to finish, ask around.  Our Potato to Tomato program has been successful hundreds of times over! (We’ve had 400+ p2t “alumni”, many of who run with us on Wednesday nights…)

The Potato to Tomato program starts on June 18th, but first please attend our informational meeting at the Margaret Maddox YMCA on June 7th at 6:30 p.m.   Thanks to Duane and Annie Parsons, we actually have on-line sign ups this year.  (finally…)   Check out all the information here.

Calling all shoes!

Part of our vision is to make running accessible to everyone, regardless of finances.  One way we do that, is to collect gently used running shoes and give them away to people in our community.  We’ve given away hundreds of pairs of shoes.   Last year, we gave shoes to about 30 potato to tomato participants, and we assume that we’ll need at least that many pairs this year.   That’s where you come in.  On June 6th, we want you to bring any and all old pairs of shoes to the Wednesday night run.  (If you would be willing to clean them up first, that would be extremely helpful.) We’ll take any pairs of shoes that have life left in them, and pass them along to a runner in need!

Morning Running

Starting on May 30th, Amanda Tungett will be leading Wednesday morning versions of the East Nasty run starting at 5:50 a.m.  They will be completing the same course as our afternoon run.   This is a great way to get out of the heat and/or get in a good run if you are a couch to 5k coach.

This week’s run

This week we are running round LP field (Run #9).  For those of you who are familiar with this run, we’ve made a slight change.  Instead of crossing Gallatin, we are going to run straight up Woodland back to 5 points, so you may have to add extra mileage.

See you tomorrow.

Mark


Calling all coaches!

May 15, 2012

Couch to 5k

Part of our mission statement at East Nasty is to make running accessible to everybody in our neighborhood.  One way that this mission manifests itself is in our free couch to 5k training every summer.  (We call it “Potato to Tomato”)    The details for this year’s program are outlined here, but we need coaches.

Last year we had around 250 participants, so we would love to have 20-25 + coaches.    We meet on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from June 18 until the race on August 11, and are looking for coaches who can make at least 2/3 of the training sessions, and are willing to pace their group during the Tomato Fest 5k race.  If you are interested in becoming a coach please email Mark at millema6@hotmail.com.

Wednesday, May 16

This week we are back to Rick’s Market…Coldest Beer in Town.  Take a moment to check out the route, and be sure to volunteer to be a leader!


Wednesday, May 9

May 9, 2012

Only a quick few things to share this week…

Wednesday Night Run

We are running Route #7: Little Hollywood this week. A nice easy 3.2 miles through a fun part of the neighborhood. As usual, we meet at 6pm at 11th & Holly.

Last week was a great start to our new streamlined process. Let’s keep that momentum going! Please help us continue to get things moving along on Wednesday nights – find your pace group before the annoucements begin, or better yet, volunteer to be a pace group leader. It’s easy and we need volunteers each and every week. All you have to do is: 1) learn the route, and 2) run approximately at the pace you select. A little slower is fine, faster is not. The purpose is more about keeping people from getting lost, not to maintain the strictest pace.

Again, here is the plan for Wednesday nights:

1.  We are going to shorten announcements, and have them start right at 6:10.  Which mean you guys need to read the blog!

2. All 3 sub-8 minute pace groups will leave at the same time.  We will still have three pace leaders, but all three groups will leave at once.

3. We will have all the pace leaders up front right at 6, so people can line up in their groups BEFORE the announcements.  This step REALLY requires your help.  Over the last couple of months the real bottle neck to getting the run started has been finding pace leader volunteers. We need you to come to us and volunteer. Look for the person with the pace signs, and go grab one.

Summer Couch-to-5K

We’re still ironing out plans for our Summer Couch-to-5K program - look for details soon. Also, new shirts for summer are on the horizon.

Weeekend Runs

While there are currently no ‘official’ East Nasty runs on the weekend, there are lots smaller groups of people who have been making their own plans. Ask around on Wednesday nights and find one if you want to run on the weekends, or check our Facebook page. If you are hosting a run on the weekends (or any other time), please feel free to post it in the comments below or on our Facebook page and invite others along.

See you tonight!
- Duane


Post Marathon Blues – Try some new shoes!

May 1, 2012

Wednesday Night Run

The half-marathon is over, but we keep on running!  This week’s run is Route #6: Riverside and everyone should take it nice and slow! 6pm at 11th & Holly.

Puma

This week Puma will be visiting Nashville Running Company, and they are willing to bring some shoes for us to take our for a test drive (run).  If you are interested in trying on a pair of Pumas, come to our normal meeting spot at 5:30.

Being Good Neighbors

Races create a lot of trash. Gu packets, used cups, powerbar wrappers, etc.  This week after the run, please hang around for 15 minutes for a post-marathon street clean-up. We have garbage bags, gloves, and maps. All you need is a willingness to make our neighborhood a better place.

Also, we need volunteers to help wash the cups. Sign up here. We need someone this week!

Speeding Things Up

East Nasty is committed to make Wednesday nights a great experience. We are actively trying to streamline our processes, and have created a post-marathon goal of having everyone running before 6:18 every week.  Here is our plan, but to make this a reality we need everyone’s help:

1.  We are going to shorten announcements, and have them start right at 6:10.  Which mean you guys need to read the blog!

2. All 3 sub-8 minute pace groups will leave at the same time.  We will still have three pace leaders, but all three groups will leave at once.

3. We will have all the pace leaders up front right at 6, so people can line up in their groups BEFORE the announcements.  This step REALLY requires your help.  Over the last couple of months the real bottle neck to getting the run started has been finding pace leader volunteers. We need you to come to us and volunteer. Look for the person with the pace signs, and go grab one.

See you Wednesday!
-Mark


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,745 other followers