Congratulations to this year’s winners of the Fifth Annual Endurance Magazine BEST OF North Carolina Awards and Finalists! And thank you to all of our readers who voted in our online poll. It’s amazing how passionate we are about our favorite places to shop, eat, buy gear, race, train and repair ourselves from all our hard work living an endurance lifestyle.
We have some new faces among this year’s winners, like the Special Operators Challenge and the Tar Heel Youth Triathlon, proving our readers love new races, especially these two awesome events. Will they have the staying power to remain the best next year? Will new events like The Good Ride be able to build up enough support to dethrone long-standing winners like the amazing 24 Hours of Booty? Time will tell. Have fun reading this year’s other new faces and old standbys in our BEST OF awards. Don’t forget to congratulate the winners and finalists next time you see them.
We also take time to recognize our series champions in the NC-USATF Endurance Magazine Long Distance Series in this issue. The Women’s Division race was close the year, with Heidi Bretscher pulling within one point of the lead, making it the closest race in that division in three years – but, once again, Caitlin Bullock came out on top. Bullock has been the reigning Women’s Division champion for three consecutive years now. The men’s division was close as well and saw Duriel Hardy awarded the championship based on an earlier season victory in which he out-paced the runner-up, Tibor Vegh. The Masters Divisions saw new champions this year in Colin Jones and Lorraine Young. Check out this year’s final standings as well as results from the last two races in this edition.
Although the NC-USATF Endurance Magazine Long Distance Series is over, there are still plenty of races on the SPORToften Calendar. For those looking to improve for the 2015 season, we offer two great training articles, “Is it Better to Run for Miles or Time?” and “Building Core Strength to Improve Running Performance.” In our miles-or-time article, TrySports’ David Cross looks at the strengths and weaknesses of each method. He also suggests which method might be best for you based on your experience and the goals you would like to accomplish. In our building-core-strength article, Michael Agnone looks at how improving your core strength can help your performance. The Carolinas Rehabilitation physical therapist goes on to provide some strengthening exercises that don’t require any equipment and can be done using bodyweight alone.
We have another great recipe for you this month, too – one that is perfect for eating at home, or taking to a few of the many holiday parties you’ll likely attend. Brandon McDearis’ Mushroom and Goat Cheese Tartlets is a quick and easy hors d’oeuvre that won’t be found at every holiday party. These savory bites will be a pleasant surprise to your guests and they do not take all day to prepare.
As always, we feature more great gear reviews and exercises from our host of awesome columnists. Be sure to check out these articles as you work your way through winter training. And remember, while it’s late in the year, it’s early bird time for those looking to get the best prices on 2015 race fees. Registration for all of Endurance Magazine’s events is open! Look for discount codes on our ads for the Tar Heel 10 Miler, all Ramblin’ Rose events, and the super-popular Bull City Race Fest & Food Truck Rodeo.
