Shoe Fidelity

Evan Schmidtke in a man on fire…for shoes.

The Salomon demo night at Common Block this Wednesday is making my heart pitter-patter with anticipation. What shoes could I meet there? Will they fit me? What if that shoe is better than my current shoe? Can I love more than one shoe?

Not usually one to fear change, I've developed a co-dependent relationship with my brand of shoe and my personality cocktail of midwest frugalness combined with West coast woo-woo superstition has kept me buying the same kicks over and over again. Pearl Izumi used to be MY brand and when they stopped making trail shoes I first panicked and then bought all the pairs I could buy, some still unopened in the garage, unopened because as a shoeless woman in the market I ran into (pun totally intended) an even better shoe. This one had it all: wide toe box, perfect drop, cushy but not too cushy on the downhills, traction for days, curves in all the right places, and the colors, man, the colors.were.cute. I would have never known that there were better shoes out there or believed that I really deserved a better shoe until this one came along. Breakdown, breakthrough.

I should just be cool with the shoe I have and don't get me wrong, I totally am. After all, it's never hurt me or given me blisters or busted out on me when I needed it most. But lately, I've been feeling, well, curious. At the end of a long run my feet are tired, my toes feel every rock, and now I've started to roll an ankle every now and then. Maybe it doesn't have to be this way. Maybe, just maybe, things could be even better. Join us at Common Block Wednesday night for a Salomon rendezvous with some new shoes that we'll test out on a group run. Leave your current shoes at home. They don’t need to see this.

Speaking of new adventures, we'd love to have you join us at the 1st Annual Gravy Gallop on Thanksgiving morning. The planning is also in full swing for our 2nd Annual Jingle Jolly on December 7th. Both runs are free, family-friendly, and stocked with snacks. Mark your calendars and get your costumes ready.

Choose love this week in all of your adventures.

Use the #RunWoodlands or #RunWow and share your adventures

Lucy Durst in Altra, Richelle Marshall in Hoka, Mary Rosas & Hayley Schmidtke in Nike. Deep debates were had by all.

New Season, New Group Run Schedule

The Women of Woodlands dressed as the characters from GLOW, the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling

Cheering in our friends at Lithia Loop Marathon, we made our way to Ruby's for our weekly dose of post-run life and running debriefs over burritos. We've spent a lot of time this year celebrating the small wins, turning the pain into laughter, and making future life and running plans as friends here. Toasting over beers and kombucha after long Saturday runs where some of our friends hit new milestones in speed or distance, warming up over the firepits on Thursdays post-WOW runs at Gil's while making new friends and catching up with the friends we only see once a week on these Thursdays, laughing when someone gets order #69, sharing birthday cakes and announcing pregnancies while synchronizing our Ultrasignup's to run the same races together, Ruby's is much more than burritos.

This weekend marks the end of the race season for many of us. As debriefing winded down we started talking about how we stay connected to one another, to this sport that allows us to gain energy and blow off steam while also allowing our bodies the rest and recovery we need. This is the nature of nature I guess, one season ends to make way for the next.

In Woodland's world what isn't changing is we will continue to host group runs that create space for that weekly connection all year round. What is changing is we're mixing up our weekly schedule (see below) to add a Tuesday night on Roxy run leaving Wednesday open for more of us to join the weekly Rogue Valley Runners group runs. Thursday Women of Woodlands group run will continue the same time and place, this time with the added magic of headlamps required. We'll keep rolling with once monthly long weekend morning runs and will add options for women's only and coed. And since snacks are kinda our alternative brand to running, we'll have both the Gravy Gallop and the Jingle Jolly, free holiday themed family-friendly group run/hikes with food, games, and plenty of silliness.

Next week we have a special event at Common Block Brewing in Medford called Shoes & Brews with our friends at Solomon running. Come try on and go on a test run in Solomon shoes and stay after the group run for some beers and friendship.

Here's to taking some time to congratulate your accomplishments this week.

Use the #RunWoodlands or #RunWow and share your adventures

Aid station masters Karl Wulff, Evan Schmidtke, and Hayley Schmidtke serving snacks at mile 8 of the Lithia Loop Marathon

Woodlands is Your 2019 Holiday Headquarters

The change of seasons was felt by all this past week in Southern Oregon both in the idyllic fall weather and in some runnings season winding down. The 15 women who ran together on this past Saturday’s Running for the Gil’s long run were all processing this transition together with a few getting their last big miles in before Happy Girls Half Marathon and the Lithia Loop Marathon, both next weekend, while others were looking forward first to a holiday season of basking in snacks and next to 2020 race schedule planning.

Speaking of basking in the holiday spirit, here at Woodlands we’re feeling that lets-race-for-silly-run-and-snacks vibe and have 3 upcoming group runs/”races” that fit the bill. This Wednesday will be Hill-oween, a 4ish mile costume-encouraged coed run up on Roxy Ann starting at 6:00 PM. On Thursday our Women of Woodlands 6:00 PM Ashland group run will also be costumes-encouraged and we’ll be more hiking than running to preserve said costumes for a post-movement dinner and hangs downtown.

Looking ahead, we’re offering an alternative Thanksgiving morning run to the Southern Oregon Turkey Trot (which we also love) called the Gravy Gallop, a 4-5 mile trail run in Ashland ending with snacks and a Gravy Mile…think beer mile but those brave gravy loving souls will be chugging gravy instead. Our final big event of the year is the 2nd Annual Jingle Jolly, a family-friendly 5k walk/run starting and ending at the Schmidtke residence in E. Medford at sundown and taking you to and through the famous Cherry Ln.& Greystone Court Christmas light displays. Afterward, join us for a fire pit, homemade chili, beverages, holiday movies, and hangs - ALL free, no registration required.

For those of you running Lithia Loop this weekend, the Woodlands crew will see you at the mile 8 aid station on the top of the big climb and will be sure to give runners all the snacks and cowbell encouragement needed. Hope this week is filled with all the pumpkin spice you require! 

What makes a great race?

A race dreamed up BY Woodlands Runners FOR every kind of runner

Twin Peaks week is finally here and all our minds are on the question: what makes a great race? After back to back weekends volunteering and/or running Rainshadow races along the Oregon Coast, we feel fully informed and inspired by their laid back, runner and runner’s crew centric approach, many of those aspects which we are bringing to the race on Saturday including:

• Keep it local: We've kept as many aspects of the race from t-shirt printing from Moxley Media to giveaways from local sponsors to snacks from local grocers as well as from our Jackson County Costco, boosting our local economy 

• Environmentally conscious: This is a cupless event and Twin Peaks is donating some proceeds of the race to Jacksonville Woodlands Association for ongoing trail maintenance and preservation efforts

• Easy to run: Several check-in options including one on Friday night at Beerworks in Jacksonville and the morning of beginning at 7:15 AM at the start line

• A beautiful, challenging and well-marked course: YES!

• Runner centric aid stations: All aid stations will have experienced runners as captains who’ll be filling water bottles with water and Tailwind as well as fully stocked with GU, PB&J’s, chips, candy, Coke, and some fun early 90’s themed treats

• Lots of volunteers: We will average about 1 volunteer for every 4 racers, making sure runners get supported every step of their journey AND showing how Woodlands really is a community running group that belongs to everyone

• Trail Sister Approved: We’ve made a commitment to gender equality in our race with equal podium spots, equal awards, women’s specific apparel, equal space for women at the starting line, and menstrual products at all aid stations

• A finish line for runners, friends, and family: We’ve brought the hype with race finisher announcements, free tacos from Los Arcos, coolers with refreshments (also BYO drinks of your choice), giveaways from our sponsors and Woodlands Running, awards for top 3 women & men in each race distance, and live music from Adam Gabriel

We’re so grateful to our race sponsors Southern Oregon Subaru, Tailwind, Rogue Valley Runners, Hoka One One, and Jackson County Physical Therapy as well as to all the volunteers and runners helping to make this race the start of an annual fall running community tradition in Jacksonville. If you haven’t already signed up, you can do so HERE or come see us at Beerworks from 4:00-6:00 PM on Friday night.

Here’s to frolicking in leaves and unpacking those cute boots and warm sweaters.

What Exactly IS Woodlands?

*Taken from the Woodlands Weekly Newsletter sent out 10.7.2019

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Chatting it up at the first Thursday night Woodlands Roxy Ann run of October.

People ask us all the time, "What exactly is Woodlands Running Co. all about? Are you like a store or something?" After 18 months, it still feels like a daunting and complicated answer to give. No, we are not a store. Yes, we are a business insofar as we sell gear and charge race entries but that money goes into a 'slush(ie) fund' for buying things like group run snacks or birthday cakes for our running group friends. Like a real business, we have a mission statement to Celebrate the Adventure of Running and weekly team planning calls with Karl Wulff, Jamie Chick, Evan Schmidtke, and myself to figure out who is leading group runs, party planning for future events, and who we want to celebrate that week.

But this business and running group doesn't belong to the 4 of us, it belongs to the collective us - the big US. It was born out of the desire to be inclusive of all people in this sport, to provide space where we remind others every type of body is a runners body and there is no minimum speed to be a runner, to not take ourselves or the sport so seriously - to be silly and light and creative to remind all of us that feeling of freedom we felt running as kids. Above all, it's run by (pun intended) a diverse group of strangers who have become like family, talking through real shit and supporting one another through life, running-related or not. PHEW, complicated answer indeed.

This past weekend we had part of this collective us doing all kinds of rad stuff. There was a crew of Woodland's guys and gals in Gold Beach spending their weekend volunteering at Rainshadow's Secret Beach 100k/50k, fixing feet and feeding hungry mouths at aid stations and sweeping the course to encourage runners to hit those cutoffs. Meanwhile, there were some big races our friends crushed including the Condor 25k, Williamette Headwaters 22 miler, and Three Sisters Skyline 50k. Social and texting were ablaze with love given to those racing and those supporting. Our dear friend and #runWOW sister Lucy Durst ran her first 50k at Three Sisters and summed up that love with her beautiful, packed with gratitude post of which in part said:

"In March, I ran with Women of Woodlands for the first time. My first big group run. My first trail run. It was 4 miles. These ladies I didn't know then talked about their trail marathons and other crazy things like 50k's, 50 milers and 100 milers. I laughed and said yea....half marathons are my jam. But then this thing happened. Their strength, amazing-ness, and belief in you before you believe in yourself had me registering for a 50k of my own. I (heart) these ladies and am so happy I get to have them in my world being inspiring and supportive."

Bad.Ass. You better believe Lucy had all the beer and all the pizza to celebrate.

Speaking of partying, we're less than 2 weeks out from a trail party at Twin Peaks Trail Runs in Jacksonville, OR - Woodlands first sponsored run. While the running will be beautiful, challenging and fun - aren't we all about the finish line? Yep! We're stoked to share that we'll have post-run tacos from Los Arco, live music, fun announcements from Jami Sutter, lots of local volunteers putting together thee BEST aid stations, and sponsorship from Southern Oregon Subaru, Tailwind, and Jackson County Physical Therapy. Make sure to get signed up today.

Hope your week is filled with lots of love, laughter, and pumpkin-spiced deliciousness.

Lucy Durst finishing her 1st 50k race at the Three Sisters 50k