Pine Belt Pacers Forum

Becky, or anyone, could you please post some information about this event on 11/14? Where? What? Time? etc. ?
THANKS!!!

Pine Belt Pacer 10th Anniversary Run/Walk and Becky Ryder's 65th Birthday Celebration - Saturday, November 14 - 10:00 am Oak Grove High School Track - To Benefit the Oak Grove High School Track Program

Becky Ryder, a retired track and field and cross country coach has been an avid competitive distance runner for over 40 years. Running and coaching and all things running and track and field have been a huge part of her family and their lives. Becky's son, Robin, was a scholarship runner at the University of Southern Mississippi and is now the track and field and cross country coach at Oak Grove (MS) High School.

To celebrate her 60th birthday and raise money for a local high school track program, Becky ran 60 laps (15 miles) on a track. This year, to mark her 65th birthday, as well as the 10th anniversary of the Pine Belt Pacers, Becky will once again do a fundraiser by running 65 minutes on the Oak Grove High School track. Pine Belt Pacers and other participants in the run/walk
are asked to donate a minimum of $10 for the privilege of joining Becky in her run. Participants who donate a minimum of $20 will be given a t-shirt. All proceeds from this event will go to the Oak Grove High School Cross Country and Track and Field program.

T-shirts will be awarded to those participants who cover the 10K (6.2 mile) distance. Those who cover 10 miles will get a t-shirt and a $10.65 gift certificate to Soccer Locker and City Runners. A record sheet for recording lap times will be provided and a limited number of volunteers will be available to act as recorders. Participants are encouraged to bring someone who will record their laps.

Additional information about the event may be found on the Pine Belt Pacer website at www.pinebeltpacers.org or by contacting Becky at 601-434-2619 or by email at hryder29@comcast.net.

The event will begin at 10:00 am and all Pacers are invited to a fish fry that evening. Details to follow.

Anytime btwn 8-10 is good for me. I like it early, but it's just been too darn cold here lately. I'd say 9 or 10, that way it would be a bit warmer, and I could sleep in to 7 or 7:30, .

...for all it's worth. I'll be there either way.

Our BD Celebration fundraiser is off to a good start. On Saturday, I got three checks for a total of $65. I thought that was a good omen---$65 to celebrat the 65th BD.

As mentioned previously (see above posts for details), the run/walk will be a Oak Grove HS track on Saturday November 14 starting at 10:00 am. Registerations will begin at 9:00 am. If you can't attend the run/walk, you are still invited to the fish fry at Robin's house that evening. If you already know that you will be coming to the FF, let me know so we can have a count for how much food we will need.

I wanted to get this back to the top and to let everyone know that our fundraising is moving along, with $550 donated so far. My goal is $3000 and with the help of you generous Pacers we can make it happen.

BTW, on Saturday, Robin's girls finished 3rd in state with the Stricker sisters going 1 and 2, followed by Pacers Melinda Solomon, Brittany Ware and Dana Dillistone in 5th, 22nd and 34th out of 142 runners. His boys finished 5th in state, with Chad Moore placing 4th out of 164 runners.

I'll try to write a detailed report and post it here later today.

This afternoon I will be purchasing food for the fish fry and I wanted to put out a last request as to which Pacers will be attending. Robin is hosting and the plan is that we will begin eating at about 5:30 pm. The menu will be fish, baked beans, coleslaw, hushpuppies, and fries. My sister-in-law is making cakes and pies and we will provide soft drinks. Please bring your own adult beverages.

These people have indicated to me that they will attend;

Keith and Deborah Barrett
Susan Davidson
Vicki Copeland
Eric Weil
Charles and Audrey Jackson
Kily and David Garcia

Please email me or post to this forum if you are planning on attending.

We will have a total of 40-50 people at the FF. These Pacers will be there. Email me if you plan to attend.

Keith and Deborah Barrett
Susan Davidson
Vicki Copeland
Eric Weil
Charles and Audrey Jackson
Kily and David Garcia
Terry and Mitzie Lawhead plus 1-3 of their children
Don and Sheryl

Can someone give me directions? If I can scoot out of the baby shower early, I'll be able to come, as my dad has enlisted the help of a friend to help pull down our chimney, I don't have to, thank God for small miracles.

What a wonderful weekend! I really do appreciate all of you who had a part in making our BD Celebration fundraiser such a huge success. We had at least 25 people running for 65 minutes on Saturday and thus far we have raised over $2000 for Oak Grove HS Track program. If you have not donated and wish to do so, you can make the check to Oak Grove HS Track and mail to me at:

Becky Ryder
11 St Andrews
Hattiesburg, MS 39401

I'd like to write a report for the Pacer website and I need to know any results that you would like to have included in the report. I ended up running almost 7 miles (I did the 7 in a time of 1:05:18) and I know tha Sheryl did something like 9.25 miles. Please provide me with additional distances and I'll include the info in my report.

I enjoyed the last lap that I am told Kily organized and encouraged everyone to run (except Landry who had to be in the lead) with me. It was especially nice to run with my daughter, son, daughter-in-law, grandchildren, husband and many wonderful friends.

The two beautifully decorated and very tasty cakes that Melissa Ravencraft made were enjoyed by all and those of you who made it to the fish fry were treated to Pat Curry's special touch as he once again prepared the fish.

Thank you for joining me in this celebration of fitness, friends and family.

What a wonderful day to run and spend time with friends and relatives with the purpose of raising money for a worthy cause. I am so thankful that I am in good enough physical condition to continue to run at the advanced age of 65. I am also very thankful to all of you who ran with me and contributed to the Oak Grove High School Track program. With this event, we raised about $2,000 with more donations promised.

It was really fun to run the first and last laps with my grandchildren, Bailey, Tate and Landry. I also want to thank Kily Garcia for getting everyone to run the final lap with me. That was a nice touch.

There were about 40 people at the event, about 25 who ran/walked for 65 minutes. I was able to cover almost 7 miles. In fact, I did get that distance but it took me 1:05:18. Others who have sent me their results are:

Sheryl Chatfield - about 9.25 miles
Neil Solomon - 9 miles
Terry Lawhead - 8 miles in 57:31
Vicki Copeland and Kily Garcia - 7 miles including the 10K distance in 53:44
Mitzie Lawhead - 10K in 1:01
Chrissy Holbrook - 6
Laura Malone - 5.75
Susan Davidson - 5.25
Melissa Ravencraft - 4.25

There were quite a few others, but they did not give me their distances.

The evening was made complete by the 35 or so people who came to the fish fry at Robin and Kim's home. Kim's Dad, Pat Curry, was in charge of cooking the fish. We also had fries, beans, slaw and hushpuppies. Melissa Ravencraft made two beautifully decorated cakes, one for my BD and one for the Pacer anniversary.

It's hard to believe that it has been over 10 years since Hollie and I moved to Hattiesburg. At that organizational meeting for the Pacers, there were 10-12 people present. We have now grown to over 250 members. Thank you to everyone who has made us feel so welcome in Hattiesburg.