As the days grow shorter, Frontrunners Rhode Island will be trying out a new venue for their Monday yoga-run sessions.  Starting August 31 (Monday), we will be meeting at Blackstone Park, right across The Narragansett  Boat Club on the East Side of Providence. We will have a beautiful view of the river and have more sunlight during our yoga class.  Walkers will be able to walk around the new paved trail or along the Seekonk River  while runners can run a 3.3 mile route up to Groto Road and back to the park.  

Drive up to  2 River Road, Providence, and look for us gathering in the park area across the boat club.  See you at 6:00PM!

Join Frontrunners RI at 6:00pm on Monday 24 August for our regular stretch—run/walk—yoga session with Erik Strzempko in Lippitt Park. 

Yoga is a fantastic way to open up the body and improve breathing, especially for many of us who sit for long periods each day, our bodies folded and crumpled, our breathing made shallow. 

We hope to see you Monday at 6:00pm at the end of Blackstone Boulevard (see map, below). Bring a mat if you have one, but otherwise, Erik has plenty of mats and blocks to loan out. Afterwards many of us head out for cheap eats at a nearby restaurant and you're welcome to join us.

Drop-in-the-bucket donations of 2-5 bucks to support Frontrunners events and expenses are appreciated but are not expected. Just bring your tired bod and warm spirit and we'll be happy to have you.*


Here's an article from the Human Kinetics website about the benefits of yoga for runners (with a section on how it improves stability and mobility excerpted below):

Stability (Strength)

• Arms: hands, wrists, lower arms, triceps, deltoids
• Back: lower trapezius, serratus anterior
• Legs: quadriceps, tibialis anterior (front of shins)

Mobility (Flexibility)

• Arms: fingers, biceps
• Back: latissimus dorsi, paraspinals (both superficial and deep layers of back muscles)
• Legs: hamstrings, calves, Achilles tendon

A balanced yoga practice requires most of the muscles in the body to perform some action. At the same time, joints are taken through their full ranges of motion as the corresponding muscles contract or stretch to support the movement. The result is improved muscle balance, which translates to better form, stronger running, and fewer injuries.

* Frontrunners is an LGBTQ group open to straight allies.

Last night, as we arrived for our weekly run on the Boulevard, we encountered a sharp looking pair of gentlemen waiting patiently on a park bench.  We soon learned that their names were Bud and Don and after a little chatting, we were very impressed to discover that Bud was the founder of the first Frontrunners group (San Francisco, 1974) and Don was an inaugural member of the club. 

Bud's a Cranston, RI native and RISD alumnus, in town for his 60th high school reunion this weekend. What a great privilege it was to hear their story about how Frontrunners evolved from a band of "lavender joggers" to the legacy of today's International Frontrunners,  a solid network of LGBTQ clubs around the world—from Liverpool to Little Rhody. 

We took a few photos of some of our gang with Bud and Don. We hope to cross paths again very soon, but meanwhile we're grateful for the opportunity to have met these two guys—our distinguished founding members.

Our first yoga-run-walk event had a wonderful turnout on August 10, 2015.  The group gathered at Lippitt Memorial  Park at 6:00 PM under beautiful mid 70's weather.  After a brief orientation yoga instructor, Erik Strzempko, provided a 10 minute dynamic stretching routine  followed by a 40 minute run/walk along Blackstone Boulevard. The gang  regrouped and completed an exhilarating  40 minute yoga routine. 

Thank you to all the 18 participants (Don & Scott,  Brian, Tim, Rob, Danny, Kyle, Rene, Deidre, Scott C., Denise, Dee, Ike, Michael, Ali, Jordan, Scott M.,  and of course, Eric). Frontrunners RI wishes to thank everyone who chipped in some money that will be going towards future club events. 

We hope to see even more of you next Monday!

Monday 10 August
6PM in Lippitt Park
at the end of Blackstone Boulevard in Providence. 
Hope to see everyone there. 

Well, not everyone. 
That would be way to crowded.

Thanks to Peter and Ike for having the whole crowd down to Westport for our annual summer gathering. The weather couldn't have been finer, and after running and biking various distances before noon we all chowed down on an incredible lunch. What a fantastic time we had. A handful of us lingered to take a walk on the beach at the end of a great day, taking in the impressive Westport sunset. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more perfect day or better company.

Frontrunners Rhode Island is adding a Monday evening stretch-run-yoga combo to complement our weekly Thursday runs, led by the talented and generous Frontrunner/Yogi, Erik. Join us this Monday at 6:00pm at the triangular park across from our usual gathering place (Lippitt Memorial Park if you're looking for it on Google Maps, see below); bring water and a mat if you have one. Erik has some mats but the less he has to tote along with him the better.

• The schedule will be:
6:00 - 6:10: Dynamic Stretching with Erik
6:10 - 6:45: Run or Walk (be sure to return by 6:45)
6:45 - 7:30: Yoga with Erik


Please note that the yoga portion will be accessible to all and won't be anything overly complex.  It will obviously be geared toward runners/walkers. 

The warm up doesn't really require a mat and can be done in sneakers so if you want to leave your mat in your car until after the run/walk that might make the most sense. Erik has enough mats for about 12 people so if you don't have a mat he can probably provide one.

Remember, there is absolutely no required donation. It is free to all.  If you do want to donate to future Frontrunner activities ALL donations go directly to Frontrunners RI.