Race Advisory Committee + Execution Team

Creating The Best Half-Marathon In The United States

Our RunTheBluegrass RACE Team is designed for a specific reason with a very unique collection of experienced runners, ideators, trend researchers, on-the-ground listeners and logistical understanders - each from various backgrounds and running levels. 

Our RACE Team’s purpose is simple and straightforward: to help RunTheBluegrass continually build an even better Runners Experience for you, our racers; to build the best half-marathon in America. You can find each of our RACE Team Members on facebook for sure, and twitter too in several cases, so feel free to talk with them and share your ideas you’d love to see brought to life in Kentucky!

Rob Benefiel, Fisherville, KY

Rob is a husband to a beautiful Kentucky girl and lives with their two daughters near Louisville in the rural community of Fisherville. In his own entrepreneurial words, Rob owns “a small for now heating and cooling company.” (This is why we picked Rob, he’s a go-getter, never settling for small!)

Rob has always been a runner but let his physical health slide after the Navy. “I let life get in the way of my health,” as he puts it. But then Rob woke up one morning in November, 2009 and decided that needed to change – so he’s been training consistently since. In that time, he’s lost 35 lbs., changed to a clean diet, has run three half-marathons, tried not to die in a full marathon, and has raced in a dozen or more small races.

Rob is currently training for another full marathon on January 7, 2012… while overcoming an achilles injury. The man just can’t be stopped!

Krissie Carr Bentley, Lexington, KY

Krissie grew up in Greenup County, KY and settled in the Lexington area in 2000. She hasn’t been running all that long – she just graduated C25K in 2009 – but has already run in six half-marathons since and is training for her first full in May (Cincinnati’s Flying Pig). She and her husband Nate ( that’s “Big Red” to you!) ran in a total of 44 races in 2011, thereby learning and observing several things to do – and not to do – from a race’s organizational standpoint. Krissie feels a strong desire to create community among runners, especially women and beginning runners (but not exclusive of anyone). Hence, she started LexRunLadies in October, 2011 and has had an amazing response! Oh, and Krissie rocks the twitter like no one else!

Jeremy Couch, Louisville, KY

Jeremy grew up in the small Indiana town of Brookville (just outside of Cincinnati) and played sports all of his life. Football, baseball, whitewater kayaking, you name it. One day for whatever reason, his wife Courtney decided to go out and run – just one mile. She came back and said she would never run again… then went out and ran the next day. And again, and again… Courtney started doing races and Tai (their adopted son from Vietnam) and Jeremy would go watch – and the atmosphere of the races hooked him.

So he ran one … with no training… and it hurt.

So “JC” started to run a little, just so he could do a race or two, but swore he would never go over 6 miles. In May of 2012, however, he’s doing his 3rd marathon.

**Note: It was Jeremy and Courtney who first instigated what eventually is becoming “A Statewide Day of Running in Kentucky” on March 31, 2012 as will be proclaimed by Kentucky Governor and First Lady Beshear!

Caroline Craven Dix, Lexington, KY

Caroline started running in 1988 and hasn’t stopped! She raced a lot for 8 years in the San Francisco Bay Area until 1996 when I got totally burned out – and then switched to running for the simple joy of it. She even threw out all her logs, medals and t-shirts! She runs with anyone that wants a partner – of any distance, on a trail or street. She and her family moved to Lexington in 2001 where she re-entered the racing world in 2008. She’s not a competitive person by nature, but has always been restless, so running is her perfect outlet. In her words, “The journey continues, so keep on trucking!”

Abbi Beuby Florence, Louisville, KY

A “Half Fanatic” and runner since 1983-84, Abbi is one of Kentucky’s most well-traveled racers, plus the mom of two adopted 5 year olds. She started running cross-country back in Jr. High, and it’s always remained her love! Abbi claims to have never been fast – so no one really took the time to encourage her, outside of her family. So… she ended up as a back-of-the-packer and happy runner!

Abbi has a disease called Bechet’s, an autoimmune disease (like MS or Lupus) that affects the vascular system. Because of this, she has severe arthritis and some other non-running related problems. Abbi is well aware that one day she may lose her vision and her ability to run/walk independently, so she cherishes her time out on the roads and trails like most would never understand.

Being a “back of the packer” is a gift for Abbi, not a curse. She says she may never get “fast,” but as long as she’s able, she will be out there pushing herself. She is also part of Achilles International, a group dedicated to helping those with disabilities participate in mainstream athletic events. She brings a different (and infinitely valuable) point of view to our RACE Team by being labeled “disabled” as well as being a mom.

Above all, Abbi wants to give her kids the understanding that exercise is fun and important - but mostly, they can do anything and overcome all obstacles.

Shannon Hays, Atlanta, GA

Originally from Kentucky and a University of Kentucky alum, Shannon is currently on a quest to complete a sub four hour marathon in all 50 states (with 38 down and 12 to go) – and to be the youngest female and third ever female to do so. Her website is at 50sub4.blogspot.com. She raced 23 sub 4 hour marathons (2nd most ever by a female) in 2011 and has raced in over 40 marathons throughout her lifetime. In addition to THAT, Shannon has dreamed of having a world class marathon in Lexington for years – so she’s beyond excited to contribute to making that happen!

**Note: We are looking into adding a RunTheBluegrass (full) Marathon to our event calendar in the not-too-distant future. It’s a matter of logistics and financials. Stay tuned!

Ernie Peel, Lexington, KY

To cut a long story short, Ernie loves to run. He has been running since he was 14 – which means it’s now been 46 years. Originally, Ernie was planning his first marathon at age 38 but a freak foot injury foot wound up preventing it. Life then intervened and he eventually ran his first marathon at age 50. Since then (2001), Ernie has run 22 marathons, his most recent being in Louisville, directly on his 60th birthday. Over those ten years Ernie has trained with innumerable runners doing their first marathon, which eventually led him to lead the most active running group in all of Lexington, John’s Striders – with their 387 current members.

For his ongoing dedication to the runners of the Bluegrass region, Ernie received 2011′s inaugural “Most Encouraging Kentuckian Award” from LeXenomics, the organizing non-profit behind RunTheBluegrass.

–

Mark Rode, Indianapolis, IN

Mark is an elite runner, living and working in Indianapolis, Indiana. In college, he ran for Indiana State University, where he received his B.S. in Exercise Science before obtaining his M.A. in Physical Education at Ball State University.

Mark’s college personal records were: 1 mile in 4:12, 3000 meters in 8:22 and a 5K in 14:28. He now runs competitively on the roads and has personal records of: 5K in 14:30, 8K in 24:25, 10K in 30:56,

He won 2009′s Indianapolis Monumental Half-Marathon (what he called “a light jog”) in 1:10:55 and his Half-Marathon P.R. came in 2008′s Banco Popular Chicago Half-Marathon, where he finished in 1:09:16 (which is a 5:17/mile pace, if you’re counting)!

Kim Hook Schuh, Lexington, KY