Amelia

I’ve written in the past about Cuba, Missouri, a central Missouri town with a population that just tops 3,000 people. Cuba is home to the World’s Largest Rocking Chair, which I blogged about in the Summer of 2009.  As a fledgling runner and an explorer of all things small town Missouri, I was ecstatic to learn that Cuba is also home to a 4-mile road race each March which ends at the giant rocker.

Another thing that Cuba is home to is a collection of really nice outdoor murals. CubaMoMurals.com is a website devoted to all things Cuba, including the town’s public art. One of the site’s writers (who also happens to write for the local paper), Jane, discovered Small Town Girl’s Guide when I posted prior to the Race to the Rocker. Jane introduced herself to me via email and offered to give me a personal tour of the Cuba murals following the race.

War

What followed was a lovely day spent with Jane driving my mom and I around town, telling us the histories of murals, buildings, and even the people of Cuba. Even now, I’m touched that she’s passionate enough about her own small town to take this small town girl on a several-hour tour.

Over the coming weeks, I’ll write about as much of that day as possible.  I took dozens of pictures, and Jane shared countless stories with me. If you like small towns, or if you like public art, I think you’ll like reading my upcoming posts on Cuba.

Historic Route 66

As a case in point, here I am lacing my running shoes:

The morning brought 40 degree temps and a strong wind. Despite the cool air, I think I speak for most of the runners when I say that I was content with wind and low temps in exchange for a lack of rain (which was impending that day).

A very cold Small Town Girl, pre-race:

I’m infamous in my circle of friends for having cold hands no matter the outside temps, so forgetting to wear gloves wasn’t good for me. The windy 40-degree day in Cuba left my hands beet red.

2010 was only the second annual race, but already the race has grown in popularity. According to Big River Running’s race results, there were 155 finishers in 2009 and a whopping 433 in 2010 (JOG, Inc. had set its goal participation at 300 runners).

According to the Cuba Mural Project blog, the race raised $12,800 for the Cuba high school track program. In addition, 650 pair of shoes were donated for Shoes4Souls, a Nashville-based nonprofit supported locally in Cuba by Hayes Family Shoe Store.

Race to the Rocker is organized by JOG (Joggers of God), Inc. and proceeds benefit the Cuba High School Track team. To read more about my experiences with Race to the Rocker and the World’s Largest Rocking Chair, click on the following links:

Previous post on Race to the Rocker

Summer 2009 post on the World’s Largest Rocking Chair

Cuba Mural Project Post about my post about Race to the Rocker

Cuba Mural Project’s most recent post, including a photo of me (look for the royal blue sweatshirt).

Okay, that’s not true at all. I didn’t win the Race to the Rocker, but let me tell you a story about the guy who did…

Cuba, Missouri’s Race to the Rocker ends at the World’s Largest Rocking Chair, adjacent to which sits the Fanning Outpost, a quirky general store where customers can potentially purchase everything from a taxidermied bobcat to round of archery to a cold Pepsi.

When the race ended, my mom and I walked into the Outpost to try to warm up a bit. As Small Town Girl’s official photographer, my mom began telling me about the shots she’d gotten during the race. ”I don’t know if you’ll want it or not, but I took a photo of the man who won the race today,” she told me.

“That depends” I teased, “Is he cute, buff and single?”

She thought for a second before commenting on just how fit the winning runner was. Having seen a gentleman who matched a similar description near the finish line a few minutes before, I wondered if it was the same person.

“Was he the one with the really big arms?” I asked.

“He was definitely built,” she answered.

“It’s unusual to see a runner with such big arms and shoulders,” I commented. “It seems like usually the fast runners are lean, but on the skinny side.

Mom said, “his picture is on your camera – I wonder if it’s the same guy?” I found the picture of the winning runner crossing the finish line in a white sleeveless running shirt and blue shorts.

As I was looking at the picture of the man on my camera, I realized I was in the way of a costumer perusing the sweatshirts on the shelf behind me. I apologized for not getting out of his way sooner, and my mom and I continued to jabber, teasingly, about the cute runner who’d won today’s race. Wearing a Mizzou hat and a black long-sleeved shirt, the man nodded at my apology and continued to examine the Route 66 goods for sale immediately beside me in the Outpost.

Fast forward twenty minutes or so.

I was taking pictures of the awards ceremony when the overall race winners were announced. You can imagine my absolute and utter horror when the winner of the race, who’d donned a Mizzou cap and a black long-sleeved shirt over his white running tank and blue shorts since finishing the race, stepped up to accept his award.

So, man who won today’s Race to the Rocker, if you happened to overhear my mom and I talking about whether you’re cute, buff and single, please know that while I don’t embarrass easily, I’m pretty much mortified right about now.

For a real race recap, come back in a day or so. For more pictures and posts about Cuba, Missouri, check back often this week!

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Previous post on Race to the Rocker

Summer 2009 post on the World’s Largest Rocking Chair

Cuba Mural Project Post about my post about Race to the Rocker

On Saturday, March 13th, I ran my longest road race to date. The St. Patrick’s Day Parade Run in St. Louis is a 5-mile run that drew more than 11,000 runners this year, many of whom were decked out in their funkiest green and clovers for the race.

The crowds were so heavy at the start line that I couldn’t begin running until I was crossing the line. We were packed into the streets of downtown St. Louis as tightly as we could fit until we each settled into our own pace, spreading the crowds out over blocks and blocks and blocks of the city.

There were walkers, joggers, runners, dogs, and even a giant banana. I wish I could have carried a camera during the run to capture some of the costumes. I think the race and its runners really captured the positive spirit of St. Louis.

Several St. Louis twitter folks ran the race, including @ibeemi @therebirth @n3bu1a and @TNIMAN. @ibeemi, who I’d tweeted with for somewhere around a year before Saturday’s race, and I met in real life for the first time Saturday morning. Here we are, along with her sister, just before the race started.

If you’re interested in St. Louis-area runs, be sure to check out my post on the Cuba, Missouri Race to the Rocker . It’s the next race on my calendar, and given that the finish line is at the world’s largest rocking chair, it’s undoubtedly going to be inspiration for more small town girl blogging.

1. The St. Charles Community website offered a nice lead-in to my post on Picasso’s Coffee House in St. Charles.

2. The Cuba Mural Project blog wrote an post about me, linking to my post on the Cuba, MO Race to the Rocker, a 4-mile road race culminating at the world’s largest rocking chair.

3. My wonderful mom created this card for me, directing many, many readers from her successful paper crafting blog to smalltowngirlsguide.com.

Thank you St. Charles Community, Cuba Mural Project, and MommaG for making Friday a very good day for smalltowngirlsguide!

Cuba, Missouri, home of the largest rocking chair in the world (which I blogged about last summer), has a 4-mile road race that ends at the giant rocking chair. The race will be held on March 27th, 2010.

@meghoulihan @jenn_if_er and @soleilune have been my inspiration lately as I’ve started training for my first half marathon. I ran four miles for the first time last Monday, and I ran five for the first time last night.

I see LOTS of road races in St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, but most of the small town, MO races are 1-mile fun runs or 5Ks. The Race to the Rocker is so totally up my ally…

I mean seriously – It’s a road race in a small central Missouri town that ends at a 40-foot rocking chair. It doesn’t get much better than that. So am I gonna run it? Absolutely.

Race to the Rocker, here I come.

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To see my Summer 2009 post on the World’s Largest Rocking Chair, click here.

For more information on Race to the Rocker, click here.

To download a Race to the Rocker registration form, click here.

Are you interested in running the Race to the Rocker? Let me know so that we can meet before or after the race!