www.ArkansasRRCA.com

With the Hot Springs 10K this weekend there are 4 women, 7 men and one Boy that have completed all 19 races. After all of them finish the 10K this weekend they will have earned IronWomen, IronMen and IronBoy status for the 2010 Arkansas Grand Prix season. To make this a memorable one, please meet at 10:15 at the Transportation Depot where the official photo will be taken for the Arkansas RRCA Grand Prix Web site. Congratulations and I will see you there!

This year, according to my exhausting search of Grand Prix Records, Gideon Drake will be the first young man (IronBoy) to achieve Iron status in the Arkansas Grand Prix. In my opinion, this is quite an achievement for a nine year old. Being nine will also make him the youngest ever earn this award. There has only been one other youth that has earned this award and that was 12 year old Laura Prince back in 2007. To earn the IronBoy or Girl award, these youngsters have to complete all 15 Grand Prix races that are of the 10K distance or less. I hate to say this, but Gideon beat me in each of his first four Grand Prix races this year. I finally out kicked him in the Capitol City 10K, but then again, I regularly lost to Laura when she was still completing. It’s tough to admit that a 9 year old boy beat you. Look out Saturday Gideon. I will be watching for you! By the way, some credit should also be given to Gideon’s dad Josh Drake who came within one race of being an IronMan himself. Maybe next year would be a good year to do them all since it will be the 30th Anniversary of the Arkansas Grand Prix.

Great job to all the Iron's! I admit that I have paced myself behind Gideon on occasion. IronBoy is a great accomplishment at that age. Look forward to seeing y'all at the finish line.

Where is the Transportation Depot? Is it close to the finish?

Rob, the Transportation Depot is about two blocks from the Convention Center. The easiest way to get there is to go up the hill from the 10K start and make a left on Broadway. The address is 100 Broadway Terrace. See you there.

So, do we have an official list of the IronPeople finishers?

Congrats to all Iron members! I hope to join you one day!

Races start Jan 23rd. Go to home page of arkrrca to get all the details. Click on the new logo mid page to get the dates and location of all the races

OK, who wants to go out on a limb and commit to running in all the 2011 Grand Prix races?

Gideon and I plan to do it. He will have to run the River Trail for the first time and the only race I missed last year was the marathon and this year it's on my birthday so no reason to miss it! See you on lots of Saturdays Joe!