Imagine your standing feet from the finish line, cheering at the top of your lungs as this month’s featured NRCer comes bounding down the narrowing lane with literally seconds counting down to his Boston qualifying time and just when you think he’ll blow by you, he slows slightly throwing his water bottle to the pavement in a triumphal spray with overwhelming emotion on his face as he high fives you and your friends just before making his final strides to victory!  Now rewind to seven years ago, this same guy who has never run a mile, much less a marathon, is relaxing in the break room at work with his buddies and one of them poses a challenge.  “Let’s all train and run the Nashville Country Music Half.  What d’ya say?”  If the answer had been “Man, I can’t do that!” or “Are you crazy?!” things for runners in Nolensville and surrounding would be a lot different today, but little did Scott Alexanderknow just how much his decision that day would change not only his life, but so many others, as well.

That’s right!  Our fearless leader and the friendliest guy in Nolensville is the latest NRCer of the Month.  Born and raised in Nashville, TN, Scott was blessed to have met the love of his life, Kelli, early in life and the two have been inseparable since high school.  With their two sons, Ryne and Matthew who are both studying at MTSU, they are an extremely close knit family who appreciate their time together attending sporting events, concerts or just taking it easy at home.

Surprisingly, traveling down the road of life did not entail running for Scott until that fateful day he agreed to train for the Country Music Half.  He remembers going home that night, throwing on some shorts and t-shirt and heading out of his neighborhood towards Nolensville road.  About a mile down the road, not far from the NRC breakfast hang – Mama’s Java, he had to stop.  Not quite ready to give up, he ran some and walked some as he made his way home, but by the time he hit the door he saw Kelli and told her “I’m out!”  Luckily, at work the next day he and the other guys all told their running stories and found they were all in the same boat and encouraged each other to keep going.  So Scott kept training and got up to 2 miles, then 3 and so on.  A few months into their training he decided to do his first 5K at the Tom King and came in with a time of about 27 or 28 minutes.  He was beat, but when he crossed the finish line and got the medal – he was hooked!  Scott says that race will always be sentimental to him and he continues to run it when he can.  Soon, the Country Music Half day came and he ran it in 1:57 (under his goal of 2:00), and his co-workers all finished too.

Since then, he’s kept on running.  He did his first full marathon in 2008 at the CMM and came in just over his goal at 4:09.  This was the start of the marathon buzz for Scott and his goal became chipping away at his marathon time.  He ran the CMM again and came in under 4:00 and then he traveled to Chicago and came in under 3:45.  Now, that’s some determination!  He also did the Vegas Half, but his favorite marathon was Carmel.  While there may be some sentimental reasons, Scott really said it is due to the flat course, it being a small race and the fact that he had 30 of his best friends with him!

A big sports fan, another big hobby of his softball.  In fact, he started the Nolensville co-ed adult Softball league about 6 years ago and watched it grow from 4 teams to 12-13 teams.  He has now passed on his mitt to others to lead this group, as his passion and most of his time is with NRC.  He and his son Matthew are HUGE Dave Matthews Band fans.  Scott is not ashamed to say he will have seen them 28 times after the four shows that he will see this summer!  In fact, one of the concerts will take him back to the Carmel area, where he plans to run the Carmel half course for fun. Often joked with about being the “Prince of Nolensville” (his father is mayor of Nolensville) he and his brothers are definitely big on humor.  His older brother, Jimmy, while not a runner, supported Scott and his team as a driver during Ragnar keeping them laughing, and then there is his younger brother, Jason.  An original founding member of NRC, Jason left the crew due to a hectic schedule, but not to be outdone, he started up NRC2 – a vigilante outfit that has pitted themselves against NRC.

Okay, this is controversial, but with no other running clubs nearby, Scott was running with East Nasty running club.  However, seeing more and more runners on the streets of Nolensville, he started talking to Kelli about how there had to be enough runners to start a club here.  In March of 2010, he put the word out through an ad in the Nolensville paper to meet at Martin’s.  As it often is, the very first night was a slow start with only 4 people showing, including Scott and Kelli.  Still they kept meeting regularly and as they say in the movies, “If you build it, they will come.”  Thanks to word of mouth and other sources like Chuck Hargrove’s weekly running resource and Fleet Feet Nashville, NRC has grown to a regular crew of 40-50 members.  Without Scott’s vision and dedicated leadership, this could not have been possible and while he does not do it for the recognition, it deserves to be said.

What’s next on the list?  Boston, April 2013 of course!  His plans are to do a few more half marathons between now and then and to start training in December-January for Boston.  He has recently gotten the bug to take on a 50K trail run with the Fleet Feet Ultra Dirtbags (which will be good since anyone who knows him, knows he’s already got everything in Fleet Feet but the trail running gear!)  Looking ahead though, ultimately Scott sees himself continuing to work to take down his marathon time.  He is excited for Boston and has already decided with his fellow NRC qualifiers that they will not “race” this one and really enjoy the experience of it all.

Scott still sees his old friend, Mike Betts, who threw down the initial gauntlet and Scott always tells him, “If it wasn’t for you I would not be running.”  Knowing our NRCers, I can confidently say that we are very grateful to have benefited from the “marathon-of-a-course” that has brought Scott from mile 1 to fearless leader of NRC.  Scott will admit that when he started running he could only dream of running a marathon in the time it would take to qualify for Boston.  Still, ever the encourager, Mike told him early on that if he ever made it to Boston, he would be there.  Who would have guessed that 7 years later Scott would be taking him up on it (true to his word, Mike will be making the trip) and seeing his dream come true?  Yeah, me too.  J

I cannot think of a better ambassador for running than Scott Alexander.  He has never met a stranger, is determined in his training and is always thinking of new ways to make NRC better.  When you see Scott be sure to tell him congratulations on being NRC member of the month and take a minute to thank him for all his work to make NRC such a great running crew!

Not only can this month’s NRCer make your head spin with her long, blonde hair and brilliant smile, she can make you surge in a low hover with her mad spin-bike skills! Yep, it is my pleasure to announce our February NRC member of the month, Kelly Dever! NRC’s resident spin instructor has been teaching spinning for over 4 years at the Maryland Farms YMCA which she admits is her “happy place” to workout, socialize and just take a break from the stresses of daily life.  As you can imagine, quiet moments are rare in the Dever home with their three boys (Jack, Lane, and Dylan-all under the age of 5) running around.

Kelly has attempted to make the transition to running before, but lucky for us – third time’s a charm.  Kelly ran track and cross-country in high
school.  In fact, she currently holds the 8^th all-time girls 100 meter record and her 4×100 meter relay team also still holds a top ten all-time record for Lassiter High!  The social scene drew Kelly’s attention away and she put her running flats on a shelf until just recently.

Fast forward to 2010, when Kelly’s friends talked her into doing a sprint triathlon (400m swim/12 miles bike/5K run) just 5 months after her second child was born! She started getting back into running then, but her third child had other ideas.  Another 9 or so months later, she began
treading the mill again.  This time it was a Couch to 5K training for the Best Buddies race to benefit a cause very dear to her heart, but the course’s hills were a wake up call to hit the road.

So, Kelly made up her mind to come out to NRC this past August.  She remembers her first NRC run as challenging and admits she had to stop and walk at times to complete the 3 mile route, but this time the running fever had taken hold…5K fever that is.  Kelly went on to complete 9 5K races in 4 months!  She made the mistake of saying she’d NEVER run more than a 5K – famous last words!  You guessed it; she’s planning to do the Country Music Half in April.

When she’s not running, Kelly helps her hubby (Craig) with their restaurant, Uncle Bud’s Catfish Shack in Nolensville, which incidentally catered the NRC Holiday Extravaganza!  She also just started her own company, Rasbury Realty (her maiden name – just rolls off the
tongue, right?!) and is prepared to answer her phone 24 hours a day!

A native of Dallas, TX, Kelly spent time in Atlanta, Louisville, and West Palm Beach before settling down in Nashville, where she’s lived for the past 10 years.  But Nolensville has been her home for 4 years and they’re staying put. It was a tragedy that showed Kelly the incredible heart of her town.  When Lane was just 8 days old, their house burned to the ground due to a faulty wood stove.  A snowy winter morning made it difficult for the fire trucks to get near the home to fight the blaze.  Kelly quickly grabbed newborn Lane, evacuating in just the nick of time with just slippers on her feet.  She will never forget how amazing the community of Nolensville was to their family, giving them clothes, toys, and
funds.  It meant so much to her and Craig, and they truly feel that – There’s no place like Nolensville!!

We are happy to report that the NRC Member of the Month is back!  Last year we got to know several fellow runners and we’re excited to continue this tradition in 2012.  Now, my NRC siblings, as with any good clan, you know you’re one of the family when you get put to work… so I consider it an honor that Scott has passed on the opportunity to highlight one of our own for the monthly column to me.  Each month, by the luck of the draw, we’ll all learn a little bit more about our fellow wandering, yet warmhearted, and of course, workout addicted running crew.  So here it goes…(and don’t forget to click on each link for some extra entertainment!!)

JANUARY NRC Member of the Month

I’m so psyched to kick things off and although it is already “technically” like the last day of January, I hope you will allow me to introduce you to the January NRC Member of the Month.  Okay, so you’ll never guess who I saw at Mama’s Java last Wednesday night.  No, not Michelle Obama or Chrissy Haslam… nope, I got to sit and talk with none other than the First Lady of NRC – Kelli Alexander!  With all the charm, poise, intelligence, and beauty worthy of this title, Kelli sat across from me in that buzzing coffee shop surrounded by the warm smells of
Paninis and peanut butter wraps, and opened up about her life pre-Nolensville, the joys of running and yes, even her bucket list!

Kelli was born and raised in southeast Nashville, a.k.a Brentioch.  Her and her two sisters, who have also stayed in the middle TN area, are still close and have run 3 half marathons together.  During her formative years at Apollo Junior High, Kelli met the love of her life, Scott Alexander (only she didn’t know it yet.  It would be another six years of signing each other’s yearbooks before the two would become an item!  So romantic, right?!)

After high school, Kelli became a Blue Raider and hit the books at Middle Tennessee State University.  She graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice, which explains her love of mysteries.  Kelli loves to read and when I asked her what types of books she read, Scott laughed and said she usually reads stories that involve people killing other people.  I’m sure she’s usually solved the crime way before the last page, too!

Kelli works as a paralegal, managing a total of seven states and calling the shots on over 200 cases at any given time at Caterpillar Financial.  Kelli is also an amazing mother to her sons, Ryne and Matthew.  Both have followed in their parent’s footsteps, taking their journey for higher learning to the MTSU campus.  (Don’t you know there are some great exchanges as they swap bragging rights with Scott on his other favorite team, the Black and Gold ‘Dores.)

As for running, it was only 5 years ago that Kelli tied up her Asics and started logging the miles.  Since then, Kelli has done two full marathons, both in the windy city of Chicago in 2008 and 2011, NRC’s Ragnar Relay team in 2011 and too many half marathons to count. She can
often be seen running with her equally stylish, partner-in-crime, Shawn Berkau (see August ‘10 Mem of the Month).  Her favorite race so far was the Women’s Half Marathon in St. Pete.  I mean, how can you beat running alongthe beach with that beautiful Bay shore view!

Kelli loves to travel and could probably be an official tour guide in Vegas!  In addition to her various trips to races and girl’s weekends away, she also takes a cruise with Scott every year.  Still, there are a few things still on her bucket list. While Kelli exudes a quiet, calm that immediately puts you at ease, she is also one of the quickest wits I know.  When asked about the limitless list of things she would like to do, she said, “Go on safari in Africa, take a tour of Italy, and NEVER do another marathon again!”  Hilarious!!!

Of course, she was one of the original 4 NRC members back on that fateful March 2010 run and continues to support NRC by welcoming new runners, stashing water on routes for our summer runs, helping keep track of all our T-shirt orders, and so much more.  She is currently training for the Mt. Carmel Half Marathon in April and will race “All Night Long” again with her Ragnar teammates in November.  Thanks Kelli for the great interview and good luck with your training!  I guess that’s a “wrap”… until next month!

Amy
Owsley