The Scal-a-wags

The lessons April taught us:

“Because if you’re willing to go through all the battling you got to go through to get where you want to get, who’s got the right to stop you? I mean maybe some of you guys got something you never finished, something you really want to do, something you never said to someone, something… and you’re told no, even after you paid your dues? Who’s got the right to tell you that, who? Nobody! It’s your right to listen to your gut, it ain’t nobody’s right to say no after you earned the right to be where you want to be and do what you want to do!” – Rocky Balboa

Knocked down but not out. Champions are forged in the rising up after being punched in the face. Knuckle up, buttercup👊🏻🤙🏻☠️

“The danger of an adventure is worth a thousand days of ease and comfort.” -Paolo Coelho

Between training, recovering, and a lil bit of racing, we had our first ever group Scalawag 🚴🏻‍♀️🚴🏻‍♂️🚴🏼 ride 🤙🏻 Yes, we thought we we were a trail running club too☠️ BUT, when an Ironman(woman) joins the group, then…well, ya do what she says or else😂🖤

March recap:

Goggins 4x4x48 (4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours)
Land Between the Lakes 50 miler
Cornersville Running with My Peeps 5k
Henry Horton Monthly Group Run

Coming up in April🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏾🏃🏻‍♂️😮‍💨:
Oak Barrel Half
Rim to Rim
Boston Marathon
Henry Horton Monthly Group Run
Nash Rock n Roll Marathon
Rolling Hills

Have fun going through the woods, down the road, and up the hills. Life is short. Don’t waste it on comfort. Run dirty 🌲👣

Sgt David Hierholzer Memorial Day 50k The Sgt David Hierholzer Memorial Day 50k is on Monday May 27, 2024. It includes the following events: 50k Full distance - North county line to South county line, North County line to Lewisburg square - 22miles, Lewisburg Square to South County line - 11miles, and Cornersville Highschool to South Co...

“Struggling and suffering are the essence of a life worth living. If you're not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you're not demanding more from yourself – expanding and learning as you go – you're choosing a numb existence. You're denying yourself an extraordinary trip.” – Dean Karnazes

February recap:

Group run
Eagle Ridge
Black Toe
Hot Chocolate Run
And a bunch of miles and zzzzzz in between☠️🤙🏻

Ebb and flow. Onward and upwards 🙌🏻

JANUARY RECAP—More of the same: training and racing😉 Mountain Mist 50k in Huntsville did not disappoint! This year we were able to get a chunk of our team out there together. Big shout out to Tiffany who ran her first nonstop 50k on a tough course in tough conditions (hello lots of rain and gobs of mud). She let nothing stop her from finishing. We’re so proud of you Tiff!! EVERYONE ran remarkable in less than ideal conditions. Jen was able to sn**ch second overall master female. A few weeks before, Gabe set out to log over a 100 miles at MADD backyard ultra in Chattanooga. A sneaky stomach bug before the race paired with low sugar in cold temps, forced him to call it quits about 45 miles in. Watch out y’all, the man is a machine and will be back to collect the rest of the miles with interest. The amazing thing about ultras is that there is ALWAYS something to learn either about yourself, fueling, gear, racing tactics, training strategies, strength programs, and crewing…all while trying to balance life in general. It can be hard…very hard. But, it’s also extremely rewarding and fun when you do right☠️ Keep climbing, y’all!🤙🏻🖤

We are grateful for opportunities to sweat alongside each other. The miles shared are more than numbers to log. Laced with sarcasm, laughter, tears, hopes, regrets, dreams, disappointments, brokenness, healing, and encouragement, these miles cement us together. As we endeavor to pull the best out of ourselves and one another, it’s inevitable that we will always face challenges, a lack of motivation, time constraints, and/or injuries. No matter the odds stacked against us, we refuse to give up. When we fall, we are determined to get back up. We hope you will strive to do the same. Happy New Year from all of us!!! ☠️🖤

December recap:

DASHing Through the Snow 5k
Saint Jude Half Marathon
Bell Ringer 25k + 50k
Panama City Beach Marathon
Rocket City Marathon
Group monthly run at HH + Christmas brunch

Congratulations to St. Jude Hero Meredith for achieving a solid half marathon pr in Memphis, James for completing his first 50k at Bell Ringer, and Tiffany for setting a marathon pr in Florida! And big congrats to Tivo and Markel and for running their longest distances this month! ✨

Onward gang 🤙🏻

November recap (12ish days before Christmas 😜):

Mercy covered a distance of 100 miles for the first time. Not for a medal, place, or prize. She did it for her. She did it to prove to herself she could go the distance one step at a time. Surrounded by her tribe, she slayed it! Mathew absolutely crushed his 50k at Dizzy Fifties 50k. We envy his mounting speed. Jeremy held the bar high (as always) at the Flying Monkey marathon. The rest of the lazy bums spent the month either training, lifting, turkey trotting, riding, and/or swimming. We have an Ironman among us now so we are attempting to be more inclusive😉🖤☠️ One thing continues to be certain: we are better and stronger TOGETHER because we’re sharpening and challenging one another. Stay humble. Stay hungry. 🤙🏻

To the force behind us and the steady ground beneath us. We want to say thank you to those who take care of the nitty gritty so we can keep going. We couldn’t do it as well without our crew 🖤☠️

October Recap:

This month saw victories interwoven with humility. Grit balanced with grace. Joy mixed with struggle. Sweat mingled with tears. As a team we’ve celebrated the highs and the lows and everything in between. Every bit of it is essential for growth.

At Little Dog’s Backyard Ultra Jeremy achieved his first sub-24 hour 100 miler. Gabe barely timed out on his 20th lap. That’s 20 hours of running! Both battled heat and humidity to unearth the good stuff that lies beneath.

Meredith set a personal record at the Memphis Ironman 70.3 qualifying her for the world’s championship in December 2024.

Almost the entire gang ran distance person records at Mobell. The incredible details can be found on the previous post. There were so many, it needed its own space lol.

Gabe put on his first Boo Bash 5kish fundraiser. We all agree that the race director hat suites him well. He’s cooking up more cool stuff so be on the lookout. You can count on it being challenging, fun, and worthwhile.

A few of us had the opportunity to help crew and serve at Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra World Championship. The experience was completely unreal!

Last but not least, the small and mighty Mercy dominated her second marathon in Indianapolis setting a MASSIVE personal record and qualified for Boston for the first time just two weeks after an incredible 50 trail miler. In two more weeks, she plans to crush her first 100. Watch out, y’all, she’s on FIRE! Jen also ran a bq. Mike surprised the girls at the finish!

Keep grinding forward ☠️🤙🏻

“Because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.” -Michael Jordan

Within a 20 hour period this past weekend many members of our trail fam collected approximately 382 miles. We had two handfuls of FIRSTS and crushed PRs:

Robert’s 1st 50 miler
Kelly’s 1st half
SJ’s 1st 25k
Debbie, Mathew, Tiffany’s 1st 50k
Merediths’ 1st “real” trail 50k (per Gabe🤪)
James’ 1st time to go past 20 miles
Joe and Mercy’s 1st 50 miler

Way to go push your personal limits and support one another along the way! ♥️☠️🤙🏼

HUGE thank you to Courtney with Awesomesauce Events for hosting a family friendly, team building, personally challenging atmosphere. You are AWESOME and we love you!

Be relentless. Be humble. Work hard. Have fun. Stay hungry. During September many of us signed up for races to train for bigger races coming up. The rest of the team have been silently putting in the work brick by brick. Meredith is gearing up to crush another Ironman along with everything else in her path🔥 Gabe and Jeremy will be running Little Dog’s Backyard Ultra this weekend. Mercy and Jen are both looking to pr in the marathon at the end of October. The rest of the crew are preparing to take MoBell and Bell Ringer by force. A few plan to run their first ultras which we love being part of!! Fresh blood is our favorite☠️🤣🖤🤙🏻

“A band of misfits who excel at unconventional warfare.” -Baller

AUGUST WAS LIT!!

Racing + training + hills + humidity + heat + friendly competition = miserable fun that kills mediocrity and resurrects strength☠️🤙🏻

July gave us body odor stronger than deodorant plus several opportunities to race on dirt and pavement. Refuse to be average. Stay the course🤙🏻✌🏻☠️

It’s about nature…
But it’s also about the people ❤️☠️

“Some mountains only require a good pair of shoes. Others require an entire team to conquer. Knowing which is which, is the key to success.”

May Running:
Battle Run w/ A Soldier's Child Foundation +
Memorial Day 50k w/ Fallen Warrior Foundation
❤️ 🇺🇸 💙

"Nature is not a place to visit, it is home." Gary Snyder

Slung around some mud, tasted a few rain drops, and basked in the early morning spring sun. This is real real wealth. Missed some of our regulars running elsewhere or out with injury. Happy to have Dr. Todd join us today. New blood is always welcome☠️👊🏻🤙🏻 Keep the pilot lit🔥

Come Join The Fallen Warrior Foundation on Memorial Day Morning! Run, walk, ruck, shoot water guns, and wave a flag!
Help honor those that have paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

🇺🇸

Sign up or donate at the link below!
32 miles, 22mi, 11mi or 4mi.
Come make a small sacrifice in honor of their ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms.
It will be a journey like you have never been on before.

23 days....

🇺🇲

https://runsignup.com/Race/TN/CollegeGrove/ArmySgtDavidHierholzerMemorialDay50k

Runners and local running groups!
Lace'em up and come out for a good cause.
50k, 22 miler, 11 miler, and a 4 miler.
There are limited slots available.
Get signed up or make a donation before it's too late!
🇺🇲♥️

Army Sgt David Hierholzer Memorial Day 50k The Army Sgt David Hierholzer Memorial Day 50k is on Monday May 29, 2023. It includes the following events: Full distance, North County line to Lewisburg square., Lewisburg Square to South County line, and Cornersville Highschool to South County line - RUCK/WALK.

From Rolling Hills to Boston to Frozen Head to Huntsville to a corn bread festival to many more training miles sandwiched in between life. The common thread is consistently pushing forward whether flying solo or with a group. The finish line reveals new adventures to chase. Keep the fire lit, amigos🤙🏻☠️

I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order. -John Burroughs

Lost one, picked up one, missed a bunch. Refreshingly sloppy run ☠️🤙🏻

When insanity becomes your norm, just keep plucking along. Group pic from a couple weekends ago. Congrats to those who have been racing, crewing, training, or just plain ’ol surviving. Keep going the distance, y’all 🤙🏻

4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours.
Good training for road life or trail life.
Congrats to Jeremy who ran the music city ultra and then joined us for a leg afterwards. Congrats to Robert for smashing the Chattanooga half with his brother. To those who were stuck working hard making money, taking care of other responsibilities, or living up cooler opportunities, you were missed. Onward and upward 🙌🏻☠️👣

Mug, fog, slips, and falls
Trail runners continue despite it all☠️🤙🏻

And congrats to Jeremy who took first place at the Frosty Fireman 5k on Saturday🚒🔥🌲👣

We could not have asked for a better day at the final Tick Ridge Trail Race yesterday! Many memories have been forged there over the course of time. Thank you for the challenge, Tick Ridge, you’ll not be forgotten!☠️🤙🏻 Congrats to Debbie and JenC on your first trail race!! Y’all rocked it👊🏻

Action shots by 📷 We Race Photos

🤣☠️

“Believe you can and you're halfway there" (Theodore Roosevelt). Saturday morning miles hung out to dry ☠️👊🏻

We ended May with a group trail run and a road Memorial Day 50k to honor our fallen war heros. Mike, along with the help of Gabe and David, kick started June with a 100k trail race qualifying for Western States🥳 Way to grind it out and be there for each other, trail fam! Onward👊🏻🖤☠️

Rolling Hills never disappoints! Beautiful countryside and kind volunteers make this race very family-friendly. Congrats to Jeremy who took FIRST overall in the 5 miler 🔥Gabe took first in his age group and David third in ag. Jennifer and Mercy took 1st and 2nd overall female. Robert came in 2nd overall in the 5k. We missed Mike and David who were logging many more miles together to prepare for a big upcoming ultra-trail race. Way to go trail fam! 🖤☠️👊🏻

This weekend we got together in different ways to chase big goals. Mike and David had more than a marathon of snowy climb at Frozen Head (y'all are incredible!) while the rest of us reluctantly stayed behind to leave footsteps on our home turf. Our paths diverge at times, but we're all on the same journey of becoming better each and every day🖤☠️👊🏻

Great group trail run with great peeps. Big high five to Mercy, who finished up a big growing week of building mileage, and to Jeremy for a STRONG run at the Savage Gulch 25k last weekend 🙌🏻🙌🏻☠️🖤