Spring Social and Awards Banquet – Postponed
Unfortunately, due to the evolving situation around the coronavirus, the March 19 social will be postponed to a later date. Please check the PCVRC Website for updates when available.
Spring race season is underway
We’re always looking for runners to participate on our USATF certified team that competes in the race series throughout the year. Doesn’t matter your ability or speed, all are encouraged to race for the team throughout the year with the best part (for most) being the after-race socialization, by way of tailgate, local diner or wherever! The 2020 Grand Prix (Road) schedule is HERE and the off-road (trail) schedule is HERE.
There are also many nearby races from 5K to marathons that you don’t have to travel far to get to. Here are just a couple upcoming local races that club members routinely participate in:
- Caesar Rodney Half marathon and 5K are CANCELLED. The half-marathon starts and finishes at Tubman Garrett Park and runs through the city and Rockford Park and back.
- Kelly Logan House 5K. Starts and finishes at the Trolley Square pub. Click HERE for details
- Delaware Marathon/half marathon is Sunday April 26, 2020. It starts and finishes at Tubman Garrett Park and runs through the city and Riverfront. The second half of the marathon continues on the scenic out and back Jack Markell trail. Look for a discount code in the near future for club members. Also, with enough participants, PCVRC will have their own tent in Celebration Village near the start/finish. Click HERE for race details.
Don’t forget to #PCVRC when posting race or training pictures on your timelines!
Injury Prevention Seminar this Saturday March 14
Club Sponsor Performance Physical Therapy + Fitness is hosting a FREE Injury Prevention Seminar for
Runners at their Hockessin location. It will be a fairly interactive seminar so bring a yoga mat if you have one.
- Learn the 3 things you should be doing to stay healthy this racing season!
- The worst exercises runners do
- Get tips from a professional running coach
- Everyone attending will be entered into a raffle for a FREE 10 minute stretching session by one of
our Certified Personal Trainers
CLICK HERE for details and to register (free)
For Your Information
Just because you get quarantined for the coronavirus, it’s no excuse to stop your long runs. Check out the story of a dedicated runner HERE
On a more serious note, a reminder of some common sense tips to stay healthy HERE

C25K program starts Wednesday March 25
A new session of the couch to 5K program is starting up again on March 25. For anyone wanting to start or re-start running in a fun, low stress and supportive environment, this is the program for you.
The program will have 10 training sessions weekly on Wednesdays from 6-7 PM at the Paper Mill Park at the corner of Paper Mill and Polly Drummond Roads. Target 5K is the Nemours AI DuPont Healthy U 5K on June 6. CLICK HERE for details.
Reminder: Group Runs every Sunday & Thursday and track workouts every Tuesday
Whether you’re running a mile or 20, making training fun and social and come out for our weekly group runs on Sundays and Thursdays
Sundays 8:00am – meet in front of Panera on Main St., Newark (free parking)
Thursdays 6:00pm – meet at start/finish of Delcastle Rec Area
Click here for details
For those looking to get faster or just enjoy running on a track with guidance and training plans from a Delaware Hall of Fame running coach, Jim Fischer, Tuesday evening track workouts at McKean High School are for you! Warmup at 5:45pm and workout starts at 6:00pm.
Click Here for details
Social Activities (it’s why we run!)
PCVRC has several exciting activities in the coming months. Look out for more information on these and other events
Spring Social and Awards Banquet – Postponed; date TBD
Picnic – Summer
Pub Crawl – early fall
Holiday Party – December
For a schedule of all club activities, see PCVRC Events Calendar
Still Time for Discounted Delaware State Park Passes
All Park Passes for the first wave have now been mailed out, but we will be doing another order at the banquet on March 19. The cost is $30 a pass (savings of $5 for DE residents and $40 for out of state residents).
Click here for details
USATF Race Series Update
The Mid Atlantic USATF 2020 race season is in full swing with the completion of the first events in both the Grand Prix and Off-Road race series.
Grand Prix (road) race series
On February 22nd the Grand Prix season began at the Ambler Frostbite 5 mile run where 20 PCVRC members joined over 1200 others for cool morning run on the rolling course. This was our largest attendance at this race and many of our runners had outstanding performances. Katlyn Kramer was the 3rd overall female finisher, and age group award winners Liz Swierzbinksi, Sarah Rusk, Zach Chupa, Pete Lobianco, Dave Wiechecki, Chuck Crabb, Greg Cauller, Carol Feole Driscoll. In the USATF club
competition we finished 3rd out of 13 competing clubs from the Mid-Atlantic region.
After conclusion of the race, we gathered at the Frostbite Grill to celebrate accomplishments from the 2019 season where the club finished 3rd overall and numerous members received USATF clothing for their individual age group performances. The 2019 awardees are listed HERE
The next road race is the famously fast Haddonfield NJ Adrenaline 5k on Saturday March 21st. This race is sold out. The full 2020 road race calendar is available HERE
Off-road (trail) series
The Off-Road season got off to a chilly and muddy start on March 7th at the Looney Leprechaun 20k. PCVRC had 5 competitors compete on the soggy 2 loop course at this new event in Buck’s County PA. This race marked the return of PCVRC to the off-road series after sitting out last year. We were rewarded with a 3rd place finish in the team competition! Individual age group awards went to Laura Berger, Sarah Kim, Keith Crispin and Epi Comacho. After the race runners commented on the new event
– Just to clarify…it was blazing cold, insanely muddy and a little hilly, but lots of fun! We had a great morning.
The off-road series returns to the Tyler Arboretum in Media PA on Saturday April 4th. One of the best events in the series with wide runnable trails and a few hills. Race details are HERE. Please contact Rich Szymanski () if you can join the team. The full 2020 off-road (trail) race calendar is available HERE
Important note to support our USATF candidate!
On Sunday March 22nd there is a USATF Membership meeting at 11AM at Widener University Schwartz Athletic building, room 206. The meeting will elect a new membership coordinator. We need members to attend to vote for our candidate Robin Jeffries. This is a critical vote to support the Long Distance running program and requires 2020 USATF membership as of 1/31/20. Please contact Tom Steenkamer () to confirm your attendance.
Reminder: Delaware Distance Classic 15K + DEEC 5K is Oct 11
It’s never too early to plan for full races and the DDC 15k is perfect for those looking to challenge themselves with a longer distance, take stock in your fall training or enjoy a run along the recently completed Markell trail.
The race starts at the Wilmington Riverfront at the Dupont Environmental Education Center in Wilmington. This is the club’s seminal event and helps support club activities throughout the year and donations to our charity partners.
Please come out to race or volunteer!
Register now and see details, course map, photos and course video at https://ddc15k.org/
Your PCVRC Board is here from you!
Contact Us!
President: Wes Stafford
Vice President: Adam Shilling
Secretary: Alison McCann
Treasurer: Andrea Riley
Membership coordinator: Christina Xia
Events coordinator: Keith Crispin
USATF Team coordinator: Lynn Knothe
Sponsorship coordinator: Dirk Sweigart
Webmaster: Ray Christensen
C25K coordinator: Lee Dresser
DDC Race Director: Dan Suher
Social Media: Mike Leva
Communications/marketing: Open
Check out our awesome sponsors:
Wilmington Trust – http://www.wilmingtontrust.com/
6AM RUN – https://6amrun.com/
Harvest Market – http://www.harvestmarketnaturalfoods.com
Cheskin Chiropractic – http://www.cheskinchiropractic.com
Liquid Alchemy Beverages – http://www.liquidalchemybeverages.com/
Essential Balance Massage – http://newarkmassagetherapy.com/
Performance Physical Therapy and Fitness – https://pptandfitness.com
Hockessin Athletic Club – http://www.hachealthclub.com
Omega Project – https://www.omegaprojectpt.com
M&T Bank – http://www.mtb.com/