PCVRC Newsletter – November 2023
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As the darkness and cold starts to descend on folks running into the late fall, we can look back on the year’s accomplishments, successes and learnings. For some, there may be a race or two left on the 2023 schedule, while others are taking it easy and preparing the holiday push, including the PCVRC Holiday Party on December 13! Check out our website and Facebook page to see what’s happening. PCVRC is a social club and very supportive of all our member’s running goals. Most importantly, we have a great time running and welcome runners and walkers of all backgrounds regardless of race, nationality, religion, sexual or gender identity and of all levels of ability from beginner walkers to the highly competitive road racer to marathoners.
40th Delaware Distance Classic a major success!
The 40th annual DDC held on October 8 was a big success with wonderful running weather for the 190 finishers in the 15K and 63 finishers in the 5K. The DDC benefitted our charity partner, Athletes Serving Athletes (Athletes Serving Athletes (asa.run), the Delaware Nature Society and the Pike Creek Valley Running Club. Paul Matuszak was the overall winner of the 15k with a speedy time of 47:52, while Veronica Eder was the top female finisher again this year at 55:06. Top masters winners were John Becker (51:26) and Allison Emmons (58:25). In the 5K, Sean Coleman and Sienna Sylves won overall male and female categories with times of 18:06 and 23:32, respectively.
We are especially grateful to our sponsors who help support the race and club with cash and item donations as well as the dozens of volunteers who took time out of their Saturday morning to help with parking, registration, handing out food and water and keeping runners on the course and safe. Alison McCann, DDC race director, with help from PCVRC board members, and the dozens of volunteers, put on an exceptional event. Course was flat, dry, fast and cool with many of the top runners in the region participating, including a number of other USATF clubs. Thanks to all who ran or volunteered (and those who did both)!
For details on the race and more pictures, go to the DDC website at ddc15k.org.
Renew your PCVRC membership for 2024 and encourage interested folks to join
Please visit https://pcvrc.com/renew-membership/ to renew for 2024. $26 online (or $25 by mailed check) includes all family members at your address. Club membership includes free T-shirt for new members, race discounts, weekly group runs, track workouts with Coach Fischer, fun runs, Club social events including Holiday Party, Spring Social, Delaware Distance Classic (our signature event), 20% discount at New Balance Stores in Brandywine and Christiana, 10% discount at Delaware Running Company, eligibility to participate as a member of our team in USATF events and more!
Discount$ for Club Members!
Focus Multisports – https://www.focusmultisports.com/ 10% off all races with code PCVRC23
StretchPlex is offering a 10% discount off any service at StretchPlex using the code: PCVRC10. StretchPlex provides one on one wellness services that includes assisted stretching, massage therapy, personal training and compression therapy.
Running coach – Alison McCann is part of Speed Sherpa Nation as a run coach and is taking on new clients.- https://www.speedsherpa.com/coaches or https://www.trainingpeaks.com/coach/alisonmccann.
Delaware Running Company – all PCVRC members get 10% off anything in store EXCEPT electronics.
Zealios – 25% off all Zealios products with code ZupPIKECREEK and can be used at https://teamzealios.com/collections and at any event where Zealios is vending.
LEVERMovement – https://levermovement.com/ Use code PikeCreekRC20 to get 20%.
Reminder: Couch to 5K will Return in Spring 2024
The popular Couch to 5K program will return in the spring. Caitlin Reilly has generously volunteered to coordinate the program will assistance from other club members. This is a great community service of motivating new runners! The Couch to 5K program is approximately 10 weeks and will meet at Delcastle Park in conjunction with our Thursday 6:00pm group runs. The program is free and culminates with participating in a goal 5K race at the end of the program.
Check the PCVRC website for updates and details on the next session HERE.
PCVRC Racing Team updates
The fall season of the Mid-Atlantic USATF Grand Prix and Off-Road series has been in full swing. The club is currently in second place in both series, with the final races in the Grand Prix yet to be tabulated and the final race in the Off-Road scheduled for the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Many of our club members are in position to win awards for placing in the top 10 overall and/or their age group based on participation throughout the year.
Among the many members of the club who ran, outstanding performances were turned in by JR Creekmore and Liz Swierzbinski, both placing 2nd overall, and Allison Emmons and Sarah Rusk as 1st and 3rd female masters. Additionally, Anthony Swierzbinski, Mark Hannagan, Pete LoBianco, and Mike Janis placed in the top 3 in their respective 10-year age groups.
Our new course and great weather resulted in 4 new state age group records by JR Creekmore, Liz Swierzbinski, Allison Emmons, and Rob Mason!
The first Sunday in November means 2 things to our Grand Prix racers: an extra hour of sleep and the Cooper Norcross Ben Franklin Bridge 10k! This year the race had uncharacteristically perfect conditions with hardly any breeze crossing the Ben Franklin. The ladies led the way with Liz Swierzbinksi placing as 5th female overall and adding another state age group record to her resume and Allison Emmons placing as the second female master. JR Creekmore and Mark Hannagan placed 1st and 2nd in the 30-34 age group; Dave Wiechecki and Greg Cauller placed 2nd and 3rd in the 60-64 age group; and Betty Olmstead was 3rd in the 75-79 age group.
The first weekend in October was busy for some of our USATF racers. Many ran the day prior to DDC at the Camp Innabah Fall Classic 5 miler. The skies opened up to a torrential downpour for the first 5 minutes of the race, leading to slippery conditions on the course. Pete LoBianco led the as the overall winner! He was followed by Dave Wiechecki and Greg Cauller as 1st and 3rd in 60- 69 and Andrea Rubinoff in 2nd in 60-69. Once everyone dried off, a hearty breakfast of pancakes and bacon was enjoyed by all!
The final scored race so far in the Off-Road series is the Evansburg 8.3 mile. Pete LoBianco led the way as 2nd overall/first master. John Costello, Dave Wiechecki, and Greg Cauller placed 1st, 3rd, and 4th in 60-67, and Andrea Rubinoff was 1st in 68 and over. The shortened course led to PRs for all participants!
The USATF National Cross Country Championships return to Pole Green Park in Richmond, VA on January 20, 2024. PCVRC is hoping to put together a few teams again to compete in the championship. Our women’s 40+ team brought home national medals last year, and we are hoping to have more teams compete this year. In order to register, you must have a current (for 2024) USATF membership. More information can be found at https://www.collegiaterunning.org/usatf-xc-announcement and https://www.usatf.org/events/2024/2024-usatf-cross-country-championships.
Our racing team wants you! Any club member who joins USATF can participate and represent the club. The cost to join USATF is $55. USATF members can enjoy discounts on series races and win end of year awards. Members of the club who are members of USATF and compete in 4 races total among both series will receive a complimentary membership to PCVRC for the following year. Please contact Lynn Knothe () for more information.
For the racing calendars for the road and off-road series, please go to https://mausatf.org/grad-prix-events/ and https://mausatf.org/off-road-events/.
Social Activities
Holiday Social – The annual PCVRC holiday party is scheduled for Wednesday December 13 from 6:00-9:00pm at Klondike Kate’s on Main Street in Newark, DE. There will be food and cash bar with raffles and giveaways. Always a good time, this is an excellent opportunity to catch up with friends and reminisce from the past year. This is also the time the renew annual membership dues for 2024 for just $25.
Check PCVRC the website for updates on day and location on the PCVRC website on these and other upcoming events: PCVRC Events Calendar
Group Runs continue every Sunday & Thursday, track workouts every Tuesday and Trail runs on Saturdays
Group runs continue at their usual places and times and a great way to interact with your fellow runners while working out. Click here for details.
Sundays 8:00 am – meet in the parking lot behind Brew HaHa! in the Main Street Galleria, 45 East Main St., Newark (free parking); run in White Creek Park and back anywhere from 1-14 miles or more round trip. Anyone is welcome to have coffee and breakfast afterwards at Brew HaHa!
Thursdays 6:00 pm – meet at start/finish of Delcastle Rec Area; Run 1 or more laps of the 1.75 mile loop.
Tuesday evening track workouts: Workouts start at 6:00pm at St. Mark’s High School. Participants can warm up off beforehand outside of the track. Please check the PCVRC website weekly for any updates.
Saturday Trail Runs at Brandywine Creek State Park 7:30am. Meet at the trailhead at the end of Garden of Eden Road, Wilmington, DE 19803. Anyone is welcome to join, runs are typically 8-9 miles, but can accommodate anywhere between 5-12 miles. For more info check out the FB page.
For Your Information
For most of us, running in the winter is a necessity, which mean miles in the cold and dark as routine training on the treadmill is a nonstarter. There are ways to make the winter months manageable and even enjoyable, a described HERE and HERE. For those with spring races on the schedule, a couple articles providing advice on training during the winter season are HERE and HERE.
Your PCVRC Board
Please contact us with any questions HERE
President and Webmaster: Ray Christensen
Vice President; Anthony Swierzbinski
Secretary and Social Media: Alison McCann
Treasurer: Andrea Riley
Membership coordinator: Cindy Alms
Sponsor coordinator: Dwight Swaney
Events coordinator: Mike Janis
USATF Team coordinator: Lynn Knothe
C25K coordinator: Caitlin Reilly
DDC Race Director: Alison McCann
Check out our wonderful sponsors – click on logos at left for more info.