Around Christmas time last year the East Nasty community was introduced to the concept of “East Nasty of the Week.” The inaugural person selected to behold such an honor was none other than legendary Chuck Hargrove. The lovely, and now sadly missed, Annie Parsons* did a wonderful job informing all of us about the former Hillwood High School and Belmont University All-Star, his love of East Nashville, and even his pursuits in radio. You can read the original article here. So with a New Year about to begin, and new Website coming together for East Nasty, we thought it would only be fitting to make Chuck Hargrove the first RE-Nasty of the Week.

In 2009 Chuck only participated in 3 races, but they were all big ones. In April he participated in his first Boston Marathon, after qualifying at Huntsville’s Rocket City marathon the year before. In August he ran the Howl at the Moon 5k in LaVergne, TN, and finished with a very respectable 21:47 time. Finally, in October Chuck introduced himself to the world of Ultra-races by competing in 60K (37.3 miles) portion of the Nashville Ultra Marathon. To our surprise, and Chuck’s, he won the overall men’s division, which means he won a nice grey sweater for his efforts. Also, it is important to note that Chuck travelled to several races throughout the southeast to cheer on fellow East Nastys, and take pictures for our Facebook page.

For 2010, Chuck says that he wants to up his yearly mileage to somewhere over 1800 miles. He also has big plans for his first 50-miler race, which will take place in May in the Florida Keys. Does anyone else besides me want to go and cheer him on? He also plans to attend Summer Speed Sessions in hopes to make the cut for the Belmont September cross-country season opener, where he would join fellow East Nastys Ryan Snellen and Kyle McPhee in the race.

Speaking of Snellen, Chuck wanted to say a couple of things about our Fasty Nasty…

“During our respective eras we both broke Belmont ’s 5000 meter record. However I can’t help but notice Ryan’s absence when I toe the starting line. Where was Snellen in Boston ? While he is winning the Boulevard Bolt, Jingle Bell Run and other local races, Snellen is missing from Nashville Ultra 60K. He dodged Howl at the Moon 5K for some prestigious track meet out west. Also, look at his Bucktown 5K road race video. Replay shows Ryan gets a clean handoff of roses and ring. Any relay coach would appreciate this efficient technique. With finish line to his right, he kneels with left leg. Leaning left technique is dangerous to that leg and ligaments. Nor is Snellen poised to resume running should he resort to a sprint finish. Ryan should have led right knee down. You can’t have left leg crossing over to right side of body. Knees are not built for this torque motion. Anyway, Ryan got a 'yes' answer so I suppose we can overlook his footwork.”

Finally, Chuck is going to lead Thursday night speed sessions in Shelby Park starting on January 7th at 6pm. They will meet at the main trail head parking lot, and focus on tempo and fartlek (speed play) workouts. Chuck says it was these kinds of workouts that helped him qualify for the Boston Marathon.

So that is it from the honorable Chuck Hargrove, but hopefully a year from now he will once again grace us with another interview filled with wisdom and humor.

Rod Jones

*As of Dec. 23rd, Annie Parsons moved to Denver, Colorado. But fear not, she has already registered for the 2009 Country Music Half Marathon in April, and plans to train as best as she can without East Nasty.