Women’s group hits ground running
Marc Buckhout ~ Managing Editor ~ 12/30/2009

Armed with “chick-a-tude” and running shoes there is a new and quickly emerging gang in Cave Creek.
From a handful of women, that decided they wanted to make the boot camp classes they were taking less straining, a group that now numbers more than 50 has emerged.
The group goes by the name Running Chicks of Cave Creek, or RC3 for short.
“Most of us are non-competitive, we don’t come from a running background, but we’re very supportive and encouraging of each other,” Elizabeth Diethelm, one of the group’s original members said. “When you are out there with somebody else the time goes by a lot faster. We have all ages, all different backgrounds and running abilities. It’s just a really good mix of women.”
Heather Capri, the club’s president, said that she never envisioned a club emerging, but she also never envisioned becoming a runner.
“For anybody that thinks I could never do that, they need to know that I would have said the exact same thing. I still don’t think of myself as a runner,” she said. “We don’t care where people are coming from. Whether you bring up the rear, can run a seven minute mile, whether you run a 12 minute mile or whether you’re a speed walker we have somebody in our group who is at your level.”
Capri said that either she or Diethelm make sure to be at a group run whenever a new runner attends for the first time.
“We want to make sure they feel welcome,” she said. “It’s a good way to meet everyone.”
In the early stages of the group, getting together for a run was simply a matter of a series of phone calls or E-mails. At some point the group expanded to the point where Diethelm decided to come up with an easier way to coordinate things, simply posting a schedule at runningchicksofcavecreek.blogspot.com.
That’s when interest really picked up.
“There’s an E-mail address on the blog,” Diethelm said. We respond to each one individually and we get at least one new girl a week that will E-mail us about joining. A lot of our members found out about us through the internet. Now that we’ve been around a couple months we’re getting a lot of word of mouth recommendations.”
The group ranges in age from the mid 20s up to 60 with the biggest group being in their 30s.
And while most runners come in as novices many of them have transformed themselves into more than they could have ever imagined.
At last month’s Tucson Marathon four members of the group completed a shuttle marathon relay, meaning four RC3 members accounted for running all 26 miles between them, four more completed a half marathon, while two members of the group did the full marathon.
Diethelm was one of the two that completed the full marathon.
“When I started running I remember making it to where I could run one mile. Then, when I made it up to three miles I thought to myself I could probably do more and after a while my goal became doing a full marathon,” she said. “Going running with these girls all that training wasn’t training. It was so much fun. I never thought I’d say it, but I knew I wanted to do another marathon as soon as I crossed the finish line.”
Renee Ureel, the club’s secretary, acknowledges that she is the group’s elder stateswoman at the age of 60, but says that between the exercise and the camaraderie she doesn’t feel her age.
She is in the process of preparing for the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon in set for Jan. 17 in Phoenix.
Having run in the event five years ago she said the training for this year’s event has been easier thanks to the group.
“When you train on your own it’s a different perspective,” she said. “Sometimes you don’t feel like getting out of bed, but when you know you’ll have people waiting to run with you at 5:30 a.m. you’re motivated to get out there. Once we start running we’ll get chit chatting and before you know it you’ve run 10 miles. It makes the time go by a lot faster.”
While the vast majority of the women live in Cave Creek Kim Rogers, an athletic trainer who lives in Tramonto, said she can’t imagine not being part of the group despite having to make a bit of a drive.
“Because of my work hours and where I live I can’t make it to as many runs as I’d like, but every time I get a chance to be around the group it feels like a home coming,” she said. “It’s just one of those great groups. We’re very lucky because there’s a great bond. It’s easier to do most things when you’re surrounded by people you enjoy. We always have somebody that will motivate you if you’re not feeling it.”
Rogers was one of the group’s members that competed in Tucson, running the half marathon.
“I never liked to run,” said the athletic trainer. “The joke was that if you saw me running somebody must be yelling my name because somebody was hurt. Being around these girls has made it fun.”
Beyond getting together to go running the group also has occasional social outings. One of their goals for 2010 is to host a running event in Cave Creek with the aim of raising funds for charity.
“We didn’t have a vision in the beginning,” Capri said. “I don’t know if we expected the group to grow to this size. We were happy to have anybody, and we still are. Now that we are a club we want to keep it simple. We’re here to promote health through running, and the social aspect of our group and then when we put on an event we’ll be even better because we’ll be supporting our community.”
For information on the Running Chicks of Cave Creek go to runningchicksofcavecreek.blogspot.com.