Cape Road Runners stay active and social at the same time

The first race Linda Null ran as a member of the Cape Road Runners, she finished dead last.

So why, more than 15 years later, is she still pounding the pavement with them?

"Some of the runners came back and ran in with me," she says. "They're all encouragers. You don't feel like you're in an elite club of fast runners. That's probably the biggest reason."

Since the 1970s, the Cape Road Runners have been one of the pillars of Cape Girardeau's running community, coordinating and supporting local runners. Board member Debbi Leoni has been involved in one capacity or another since the mid-'80s and says the point isn't to run faster than everyone else; it's to get out and run for the love of it.

"You get out there and you find the people that you kind of mesh with and the rest of them encourage you," she explains. "I'm not as fast as the guys out front, but they'll never let you [get] behind. There's always someone who stays with you."

Member Steve Schmittzehe is happy to say the running community has really boomed over the past decade. Whether it's a race, people getting together to do a workout or an afternoon social run, there's something going on for runners in town nearly every day, and the Cape Road Runners serves as one of the grapevines that people use to meet up.

"We have a very strong running club because we have a great running community in Cape," he says.

He attributes the growing popularity and strength of the running community to the prevailing melting-pot ethos that all the participants share. Everyone is welcome.

"We have a full spectrum of people, from former [Southeast Missouri State University] athletes to more casual runners. The community breaks down into different training groups," he says. "We've got several beginners' groups, so there's a place for everyone."

The Cape Road Runners' official membership is just over 250, and members enjoy discounts on race registration, social events and other perks, but Leoni says they are essentially runners in Cape Girardeau first and Cape Road Runners second.

"The Cape Road Runners are the larger community and we're all kind of together," Leoni says. "It's very hard to separate the two, we're all such a closely knitted group."

The club also runs registration booths and timing records at local races, which Leoni says are becoming more and more fun every year.

"That's one of the great things about the trends in fitness -- the fun," she says. "It's less about speed and more about participation and involvement and socialization and being active."

This is what explains the color runs, Tough Mudders and zombie-themed 5ks that have come into vogue in recent years. Leoni says this means they have begun to see much more participation from the community.

"Getting 100 people for a race used to be victory," she says. "But now we get that regularly."

No matter why people run, The Cape Road Runners are happy to see the trend. Null started running for health reasons. Schmittzehe started running when he was in high school.

"If it were about being fast, I wouldn't be able to run," Leoni jokes.

But even if it's not about being fast, Schmittzehe says the Cape Road Runners field a competitive traveling team in other cities. Running Cape Girardeau's hills day in and day out apparently whips you into shape.

"We go all over the place," Schmittezhe says. "And most of the time we get done and look at each other like, 'Where were the hills?'"

They all run for different reasons, but they all have one thing in common: a love of running. They also enjoy being around other runners. They say anyone who's even remotely interested in running should just stop by the Missouri Running Co. in Cape Girardeau or join them at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays for their weekly social run at Bel Air in downtown Cape Girardeau.