Jesse Smarr, Running at age 80

Our last issue had an article on running past the age of 70. We utilized references where research had concluded that regular physical activity decreases risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and all other age-related causes of death by 25 percent and increases life expectancy by up to two years. This issue we follow up with a profile on an amazing local runner, Jesse Smarr.

Jesse Smarr who just turned 80 grew up as many of an older generation did constantly running and playing outdoors sports and games. Jesse has always been healthy and when he wasn’t running and playing, he worked the tobacco fields as a child, and as he got older he had to stay in shape for football. Jesse states that the young people now spend way too much time on computers and electronic gadgets to know what hard work is and to be in good physical condition”.

Governor’s Cup Road Race Volunteers Needed

Governor’s Cup Road Race has a goal to expand our participation level every year, and to ensure success, we will need to expand our volunteer base. We need persons who will assume roles and be responsible for key functions during race week along with persons who will provide “on the ground” support on race day.

Some of the key leadership functions include:

Lead Volunteer/Captain for placement of traffic cones. This person will know or learn our route, cone placement strategy, and work with several volunteers to place cones and retrieve cones using a truck and cones supplied by Governor’s Cup.
A minimum of three (3) key volunteers to serve as Course Captains. These captains will have a section of race course where they will be responsible to make sure that intersections and trouble areas are covered with volunteers and insuring these volunteers know their duties.
Two (2) Sag Wagon Leaders. These leaders will be on course and on call to handle acute situations.
Race Start Area Captain - This person will work with volunteers to guarantee timely set up of the start area and ensure all equipment and people are in place. They will also manage the tear down of the start area.
Finish Area Captains - We will need 2-3 captains to help manage finish area functions such as awards, food and fluids, and vendor services.

Can you help? If you would like to be in a key leadership position or have questions, please contact our event coordinator, Ray Renner, at 803-960-6202 or govcupsc@gmail.com. You may sign up for on the ground support for May 18-19 by going to our volunteer registration page and choosing specific tasks.

Work Sites, Running Clubs, and Fitness Groups
Registration Discounts

Over the next few week, we will be working with work sites, running clubs, and fitness groups to put together registration discounts for your specific group. There will be discounts available from 10-20 % off the current registration price.

We will once again be teamed with the SC Hospital Association to do the Working Well Corporate Challenge. If you are a work site and have a team captain, you may join this initiative to make your workplace healthier at a 20% registration discount. Details and a link to sign up will be available on the Governor’s Cup Road Race web site by November 1, 2017.
All Running Clubs and Fitness Groups who do not currently have a code, may contact the Gov Cup event coordinator, Ray Renner, at 803-960-6202 or govcupsc@gmail.com to set up your group discount.

Columbia's Triple Crown

If you are looking for a big challenge in 2018, try completing the third annual Columbia’s Triple Crown and complete three half marathons over 11 weeks. Please take a minute to view our 2017 Triple Crown winners. The 2017 event had 72 athletes complete the Triple Crown and our 2018 goal is to have 100 athletes make this accomplishment.

Run Hard Marathon/Half Marathon will be our first leg and takes place on March 3, 2018. The Palmetto Half Marathon will be our second leg with the race date TBD soon. The Governor’s Cup Road Race Half Marathon is the final leg taking place on May 19, 2018. We hope you will become a Triple Crown Winner in 2018! All who completes the challenge will receive a special medal at the Governor Cup finish line and discounts to all three 2019 events.

Governor’s Cup Road Race Trivia

The first person who gets this correct will win a free entry to the 2018 Governor’s Cup Road Race. To win, you must be the first person to post the correct answer on our FB page. Here is your question:

Who is the oldest male competitor to break 4 hours in the marathon? We would like his name, his time, event name/date, and his age on the date.