Richard Betz: Runner • 59, Highlands

When he’s not running: Betz is the town administrator for the town of Highlands.

Why he likes running: “I believe if gives you mental and spiritual benefits. It helps you think clearer.” Also, it’s a portable sport. “The great thing about running is you just throw your shoes and running clothes in a bag and you can do it anywhere.”

How he started running: Smoky Mountain News outdoor writer Don Hendershot can take credit for this one. Betz was a leisure jogger for years.

“It was just a stress relief running after work, just 20 miles a week or so,” Betz said. But in 1993, when Hendershot was serving as the race director for a 5K fundraiser for the Highlands School PTO, he talked Betz into running in it. Hendershot apparently had a secret motive.

“The next year he convinced me to be the race director,” Betz said.

A sign of dedication: Betz went on to start the Highlands Road Runners Club, and has been president ever since.

“I think they deemed me the president for life,” Betz said.

The club provides a great social outlet for runners. It meets every afternoon on weekdays at 4:30 p.m. at Highlands Town Hall for a run, with at least a few people showing up any given day. On Saturday mornings at 9 a.m., a larger group turns out for a long run. The club also carpools to races and puts out a monthly newsletter touting the members’ recent running accomplishments. The club has a website at www.main.ns.uc/hrc.

Favorite race: The Mountain Lake 5K, held the first Saturday every May in Highlands, is the annual race put on by the Highlands Road Runners Club. Betz is the race director, along with his wife, who is also a runner.

Betz did this interview amidst race preparations, after a long night of stuffing race T-shirts in bags. More and average turned out for the ninth annual race last weekend.

Future exploits: Betz has run 12 marathons. This year, he is angling to run in the Outer Banks Marathon, hoping to improve on his experience in the event a few years ago.

“I had a pretty miserable performance because it was raining most of the time and I vowed I would never do it again. But now I am thinking if it wasn’t raining it would have been a pretty good race,” Betz said.

Tip for other runners: “I try to run smarter the older I get. I’m hardly ever sidelined with injury. The thing is consistency. It might not be a whole lot of mileage but I am out there at least three days a week. It is as consistency.”

Betz is also cognizant of how hard to push.

“If I have a hard day, I will try to follow with a easy day or rest day, recognizing the value of rest. That is almost a beneficial as the workout itself.”

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