It’s taken me a few days to come down from my runner’s high after Sunday’s trail race, Labor Pain, in Reading. Those who participated in this event, either as runners or spectators/support teams, can appreciate the full extent of the experience but for many of you out there who were unable to make it to this inaugural event I wanted to try to relay my experience at this trail race as best I can.

For many, a trip to the Australian Outback would be the trip of a lifetime. For Michael Messerschmidt, this is one adventure of many, with more to come. Combining his love for running and travel, Michael recently traveled to Australia to run the Outback Marathon. Read about this amazing, inaugural race and catch some of Michael’s travel bug at the same time.

Did you miss out on your shot to run the New York City Marathon this year? Typically, you can get in two ways: by achieving a qualifying time or through the lottery. But wait! There’s a third way, through charities. Slots are now available.

The Allentown Rotary Club will host it’s first 5k walk/run in an effort to raise money to help fight polio. The Allentown chapter is part of Rotary International which is the world’s first service club organization, with more than 1.2 million members in 33,000 clubs worldwide. Rotary club members are volunteers who work locally, regionally, and internationally to combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, provide education and job training, promote peace, and eradicate polio under the motto Service Above Self.

Tough Mudder returns to it’s roots with a bigger and better course! If you missed out last time be sure not to miss this one. 2011 will feature an entire weekend of fun, you get to choose either Saturday, Sunday or both (for the truly insane.)

If you’re looking for a 5k to run in the middle of September you may wish to consider the Show of Faith 5k which will take place on Sunday, September 19th at Bicentennial Park in Bethlehem.

Earlier this month, Steve and Loretta Dodson traveled to Easter Island to run the Easter Island Marathon. These world travelers like to combine their love of travel with their love of running and have run marathons on all seven continents in various countries. This year they were able to check Easter Island off their list. Not only that, but they won the race with each placing first in their gender categories. Congratulations Loretta and Steve!

Celebrate Father’s Day by helping others. An article posted on Lehigh Valley Running Scene two weeks ago highlighted Mike Marsteller’s HMC Foundation, an organization created to help families afflicted by cancer. You can read the article here.
Next Saturday, June 19th, is HCM’s fundraiser in Frenchtown, NJ; a 5k race, 2 mile support run and a ½ mile kids run. 100% of the proceeds will be divided between HCM Service Programs, HCM Scholarship Program, and the Frenchtown Presbyterian Church. The purpose of the HCM Foundation Run Daddy …