AORTA News: October 5th, 2026

2026 Mercy Medical Results and Video

5K Results: https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/149579...
10K Results: https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/149579…

1-Mile Fun Run Results: https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/149579...

Race Volunteers Needed!
As a runner, we know your time is valuable. But if you have a couple hours to spare, we could use your help for one of the upcoming AORTA supported or directed races! Assisting at a local race is a fun and rewarding experience. You are surrounded by health conscious individuals that, like you, are motivated fitness enthusiasts and appreciate the effort of volunteers.

Upcoming Local Race This Week

Walk For Life + 5K
- When: Saturday, October 10, 2026
- Time: 8:00 AM (1-Mile), 8:30 AM (5K)
- Where: Opelika Sportsplex
- Fee: $30 (5K), $10 (1M), $0 for 12 & Under (1M) 
- Description: Looking for an easy and fun way to make a difference for LIFE? Join Women's Hope Medical Clinic & Hope Adoptions as a runner or fundraising walker for our upcoming Walk For Life + 5K! By getting sponsors to support your walk, you can help reach our fundraising goal and play a significant role in cultivating a culture of life.

Upcoming Local Races

Tutu Trot 5K
- When: Saturday, October 17, 2026
- Time: 8:00 AM (Fun Run), 8:30 AM (5K)
- Where: Town Creek Park
- Fee: $30 (5K), $25 (Fun Run)
- Description: Join us for this fun, family-friendly event that benefits the Down South Cancer Foundation and celebrates breast cancer survivors while raising awareness and support for those affected by cancer in our community. Participants are encouraged to embrace the theme and run or walk in a tutu — a tutu is included with registration! Come run, walk, wear your tutu, and help support a great cause!

Beat Bama Food Drive 5K
- When: Sunday, November 01, 2026
- Time: 2:00 PM (1-Mile), 2:30 PM (5K)
- Where: Cater Lawn, Auburn University
- Fee: $38 (5K), $18 (1-Mile)
- Description: The Beat Bama Run Fest is a charity color run benefiting the Food Bank of East Alabama. It offers a 5K race and a one-mile fun run for participants of varying fitness levels, encouraging community involvement by collecting non-perishable food donations. Pre-registration is encouraged to save on fees, and the event includes water stops, refreshments, and children's entertainment, making it a well-rounded experience focused on fitness, community engagement, and philanthropy for participants of all ages.

Unity Wellness Center AIDS Day Run/Walk
- When: Saturday, November 14, 2026
- Time: 8:00 AM (1-Mile), 8:30 PM (5K)
- Where: Town Creek Park, Auburn, AL
- Fee: $5 (1-Mile), $5 (5K) (t-shirt $20)
- Description: Join us for the 9th Annual Unity Wellness Center World AIDS Day Run/Walk, featuring a $5 fee for both the 5K and 1-mile events (with an option to add a shirt for $20). Age group awards will be given, and there will be a raffle and refreshments for the whole family. The 1-mile walk starts at 8:00 am (untimed), and the 5K timed race begins at 8:30 am. This event commemorates World AIDS Day, a global day of unity against HIV, and supports Unity Wellness Center's vital services, including HIV testing, counseling, medical care, case management, and prevention education. 

Active Auburn Jingle Jog & Santa Stroll 
- When: Saturday, December 05, 2026
- Time: 6:30 AM (1-Mile), 7:00 AM (5K)
- Where: Toomer’s Corner, Downtown Auburn
- Fee: $20 (Fun Run), $30 (5K) 
           *Prices increase after November 26.
- Description: The Jingle Jog 5k and Santa Stroll Fun Run are here again – so pull out those Santa hats and ugly sweaters! Join Active Auburn on Saturday, December 5th at 6:30 a.m. as we ring in the holiday season in style! The Santa Stroll Fun Run (1 mile) will begin at 6:30 a.m. at Toomer’s Corner and the Jingle Jog 5k will begin at 7:00 a.m. at Toomer’s Corner.

Auburn Toys for Tots 5K/10K and Fun Run
- When: Saturday, December 12, 2025
- Time: 8:00 AM (1-Mile), 8:30 AM (5K/10K)
- Where: Town Creek Park
- Fee: $20 (1-Mile), $30 (5K), $40 (10K)
  ** Prices increase after October 15th 
- Description: Mark your calendars and start the holiday season in a festive mood with a 10K, 5K, or 1-Mile!  All participants are asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy. to be distributed to children in need. This year, Toys for Tots donations are especially important. the weak economy has caused many to lose jobs, be furloughed, or be forced out of work for long periods of time. Families in these difficult situations desperately needed a little extra holiday cheer this holiday season. The Toys for Tots race will help bring people together during the holidays. All participants who register online by November 30th will receive a souvenir festive t-shirt!

Weekly Whimsy

Long Runs: Why They Wreck You & How to Recover
Matteo Sargenti, The Running Week

Long runs cause three specific kinds of damage that take days to repair. Here is what the science says about faster recovery for runners.

The heavy, hollow feeling after a long run is not weakness or laziness. It is three separate biological things happening at once. Understanding which one is doing the damage matters, because the right fix depends on the cause. Once you can tell them apart, recovery gets faster. Sometimes dramatically faster.

The Three Reasons You Feel Wrecked

1. Your Muscles Have Actual Micro-Tears
A long run causes what sports scientists call exercise-induced muscle damage, or EIMD. This is measurable in blood work. After a marathon, creatine kinase and myoglobin levels can climb well above baseline. A PLOS ONE study on marathon runners found that runners with the biggest pace declines in the race had the highest post-race myoglobin and lactate dehydrogenase.

The muscle fibers themselves have small structural breaks. The soreness the next day is those breaks flaring up as inflammation kicks in.

2. Your Glycogen Tank Is Empty
Glycogen is the carbohydrate your muscles and liver store for endurance efforts. A long run drains it. Under normal conditions, muscle glycogen replenishes within 24 hours. But research published in the National Library of Medicine shows that when a session causes significant muscle damage, glycogen replenishment can take much longer. That is why the fatigue after a hard long run can last two or three days, not one.

3. Your Nervous System Is Fried
The third factor is central nervous system fatigue. This is not muscle damage or fuel depletion. It is your brain refusing to send full signals to the muscles because it senses the body needs recovery. Central fatigue is why the day-after long run feels heavier than the run itself. Every step drags because the signal from brain to leg is dampened.

The 72-Hour Rule
Most recreational runners underestimate how long full recovery takes.

Glycogen: 24 to 72 hours, depending on carbohydrate intake and muscle damage.

Muscle repair after a truly long effort: up to 14 days for full return of muscle power in the calves and quads.

Central nervous system: usually 2 to 5 days, though repeated hard efforts stack the fatigue.

Why Your Coach Says No Hard Runs Within 48 Hours
A run performed in a glycogen-depleted, muscle-damaged state does more damage per mile than the same run performed rested. Coaches call this compounding fatigue.

For a fuller breakdown of what to eat and when, how to fuel your long runs with real food walks through the practicals.

What Actually Speeds Up Recovery

Carbs Within 60 Minutes
The first hour after a long run is when your muscles are most primed to soak up carbohydrate. Aim for one gram of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight in that window. For a 70-kilo runner, that is around 70 grams. A banana, some toast with jam, and a glass of chocolate milk covers most of it.

Protein Alongside the Carbs
Protein does not replace carbohydrate but it does accelerate muscle repair. Twenty to thirty grams within the same hour is the working number for recreational runners.

For a deeper look at fueling assumptions, Dr. Stacy Sims on why runners are fueling wrong challenges the standard advice most training plans still teach.

Sleep Is Where the Repair Happens
Growth hormone released during deep sleep is what actually rebuilds muscle fibers. Cutting sleep short on the night after a long run does more damage to your recovery than skipping the recovery drink. Aim for at least 8 hours after any effort over two hours.

Easy Movement, Not Nothing
The old advice was to sit still. The new advice is to move gently. A 15-minute walk the afternoon after a long run improves blood flow and helps clear metabolic waste.

The rest of the toolkit is well documented. 11 key recovery tips every marathon runner needs to know is the fuller list.

The Habits That Sabotage Recovery Without You Noticing
A number of common post-long-run choices actively slow recovery.

Alcohol is one, because it blunts glycogen replenishment and interferes with the growth-hormone release your body relies on overnight.

Extended sitting is another, which compresses hips already tight from the run and slows the blood flow that clears metabolic waste.

Skipping the immediate carb window is a third. Waiting three hours to eat means your muscles are refueling at a fraction of the rate they could have.

Cold showers immediately after the run are a fourth. Emerging research suggests ice applied within an hour of hard endurance work may actually blunt the adaptation signal you were trying to earn.

For runners who feel wrecked more than they think they should, the habits behind long-run exhaustion catalogs the usual suspects.

The Takeaway
Feeling wrecked after a long run is not a failure. It is the body doing its job.

Three separate systems are recovering at three separate speeds: glycogen in a day or two, muscle repair over up to two weeks, and central nervous system in the middle. Match the fix to the cause and the fog lifts faster.

Carbs and protein within the hour, sleep that night, gentle movement the next day. That is the whole framework. Everything else is optimization on top of it.

Link to article: https://tinyurl.com/mrxrkjz4

Quote of the Week

          I run because it
          proves to me, again
          and again, that I’m
          capable of more
          than I imagined.

                    Anonymous

Video of the Week

The Most Honest Running Club Advert Ever Made (1:58)

The first rule of Run Club... is that you NEVER stop talking about Run Club.

** AORTA provides this informational video to its members as a courtesy and does not endorse any particular product, process, or service. 

Ongoing Events

RunGo For Turn-By-Turn Directions!
RunGo provides turn-by-turn navigation allowing you to just enjoy your runs without having to think about looking for street names and when you may have to turn next. Other great features include, audio cues with your running stats, split updates, the ability to share your runs via social media, and create new routes. Another great feature of the app is the ability to work offline. You can create and download your routes ahead of time, before your run so you don’t have to use data during your run.

Race Volunteers Needed!
As a runner, we know your time is valuable. But if you have a couple hours to spare, we could use your help for one of the upcoming AORTA supported or directed races! Assisting at a local race is a fun and rewarding experience. You are surrounded by health conscious individuals that, like you, are motivated fitness enthusiasts and appreciate the effort of volunteers.

Water Stop Volunteers Needed
Water stop signs and coolers are available at the following location: 1536 Professional Parkway, Auburn, AL. (Thank you Adahli Massey!). Coolers and signs can be picked up Monday-Thursday from 8AM-4PM and on Fridays from 8AM-12 noon. Items are in the room next to the back door. If you are unable to pick up supplies on these dates/times, e-mail clemster@aol.com to make alternative arrangements (we deliver!).

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