Well what a month it has been for the Houston Area Trail Runners. We have seen more growth this month in regards to members, group runs, facebook etc etc… So to start the blog off thank you to all that support this club in whatever form that is.
I will recap the month and tell you some of these items that we are working on with out letting all the cats out of the bag.
As most of you know we were able to put out the map to the public a few weeks ago and we have been happy to see people using the map and the mileage that was wheeled out. We have recently changed the map to add some of the HATR sponsors and will make new versions of the map as the trail does.
Jose was also able to donate his time and volunteer for the El Chupacabra de Houston last night put on by runintexas.com
We were also able to really use the meetup.com group along with with the club and bring some new members to the group. When we started this group there was a notion from some that we shouldn’t advertise these trails to the city and we should just keep them to ourselves. I disagreed with that thought on the basis that I think the park needs people to care about it and I want people to enjoy the beauty of trail running. Our group runs on sat and sun have been consistent and a pleasure to see new trail runners born all the time. So thank you to all of you who have shared the trails with us.
We also secured our FIRST club sponsor which was Thunderbird Energetica. We may actually do a demo for them this Sunday if we can but they are a great company out of Austin. I was able to secure some bars this weekend and hand them out this morning to our Sunday runners. Make sure if you want to be sponsored with them you fill out the application and do so. I sent it with last email and it is in the Facebook Group documents as well. Thunderbird Energetica is a wonderful company that is committed to same goals and values that we are. They are constantly trying to make sure their products are the best they can be in every way. We salute Thunderbird Energetica for that commitment and we look forward to eating their bars in training and racing this year!
Our the next few months we have a few items that we are working on. We will probably at some point measure the triangle which is another part of the trail. We are also going to put together a packet of information on running 50k, 50m and 100m races. Along with the packet which will be available on line we are also thinking of doing a 3-5 part seminar on ultra racing. We want to really dive deep into teaching those who want more information on what it will take to get these goals. We would like to have some guest speakers at the events as well to add information and general advise. And we are going to also be working on securing some other “deals” for the members of the group. We will also be working on getting some tech shirts made for the members. I think we are going to outsource the tech shirts so people can buy whatever size, color shirts etc instead of a stock kind that we make for you. I would rather you personalize your HATR shirt how you want it.
But it has been a wonderful month as a club. When I hear people tell me how other clubs they have been in different states I look forward to sharing the same goals, experiences and fun with all of you. I also want to thank all of you who read our stories and realize that you can do whatever you want. We want to inspire anyone to trail run and we love seeing a first timer hit a PR on mileage or just doing something they couldnt do.
Run hard, Run fast and Run Free.
-Rob


















































