Friday Fun Run (rescheduled)
Next Club Event Set (Second attempt). Hopefully this week the weather is better.
What: PCVRC and Rebels “Run the Judge” – Trail run of the Judge Morris “5K” loop and picnic
When: Friday, May 27th, 6 PM (run), 7 pm (picnic)
Where: Sweigart’s, 108 Dewalt Road, Drummond Hill, Newark, DE (close to McGlynn’s and the Polly Drummond shopping center)
Event details: Come for the run at 6 or the picnic at 7ish (after). RSVPs requested for counting but you can surely come even if you did not reply. Event is rain or shine (run will be canceled for mud or rain but picnic still on). Kids and spouses are welcome. Bring a side dish, dessert or weird beverage. We will have burgers (yes Theresa, and turkey burgers!), hotdogs, cole slaw and macaroni salad, beer and wine, water and sports drink. And what people bring.
Run details: Run starts from the open space at the corner of Dewalt and Old Coach road (side entrance) at 6. Park at Dirk’s house and walk up to the start. There will be water and sports drink there. Timing (and direction of run) is up to you. For those wanting to clean up, we will have towels and washcloths at the house after.
Course Details: this portion of the White Clay preserve is the former estate of Judge Hugh M. Morris, a Delaware native, respected attorney and distinguished federal judge. The property also belonged to the University of Delaware for some time and contained a course for the UD cross-country team. The loop will be well-marked with a “cutoff” for anyone wishing to shorten the debated length of 3.1 miles ( bring your Garmin and tell us what you think the distance is). This is a mixed use trail so you need to beware of mountain bikers (like Josh) and hikers. You also need to be aware of the usual trail run hazards such as tripping over roots or rocks (Jerry, Dirk). Immediately when you enter the woods, you will need to decide whether to go left or right around the loop. There is no right answer! But if you miss the entrance/exit (or if you just want to), you will run the loop twice (or more).
Directions:
From Kirkwood Highway – go north on Polly Drummond Hill Road. Take a right at the first light onto Old Coach Road. Take first left onto Dewalt Road. 2nd house on the left after the stop sign.
From New Linden Hill Road – Turn off of New Linden Hill Road onto Chadd Road directly across from Polly Drummond shopping center (Zingo’s). Take right at first stop sign on Dewalt. House is on the right, just before next stop sign.
News from the President:
DE Marathon report by a visitor:
As I mentioned in last week’s bulletin, while in Fredericksburg I roomed with “Blaine from Maine” who happened to be running Delaware Marathon on the morning that I did the Half down there. Here’s his recap…
Click here
Marine Corps Historic Half
See my full recap with photos at http://runmarathonman.com/marinecorpshistorichalf11.php
RRCA Annual Convention report
PCVRC had been a member club of Road Runners Club of America years ago, but terminated our affiliation at some point. In 2007, club member Tom Fort suggested we rejoin, which we did in 2008. Benefits to the club include insurance for races & functions, designation as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, publicity, and belonging to the largest national association of running clubs, dedicated to promoting running as a competitive sport and as healthy exercise. The RRCA’s mission is to represent and promote the common interests of its member clubs, events, and individual runners through education, leadership, programs and other services. (see www.rrca.org for more info or contact Ray).
RRCA appoints State Reps to disseminate info between their DC office and local clubs. Tom Fort was on their national board for some time and in more recent years was Delaware State Rep. I’ve now assumed that position to help PCVRC and other clubs grow and try to offer more services to help runners achieve their personal goals. Suggestions are always welcome and participation in club leadership is sincerely appreciated!
RRCA holds annual conventions, in conjunction with high profile races throughout the country. Club leaders and any members are welcome to attend. Each city tries to out-do previous ones by hosting great meals and interesting fun runs. Here’s my recap of this year’s Fredericksburg convention, to try to give you an idea of it’s value to clubs and individuals.
State Rep Meeting included presentations by RunDisney Club, reasons to hold state or regional joint meeting of local club leaders, RRCA programs (such as “Runner Friendly Communities”, fitness programs for children, partnership with Weight-Watchers), use of Social Networking (such as our Facebook Group & MeetUp). To be successful, every club needs motivated leaders and talented members to work as a team to reach out to non-members who aren’t aware of how much fun our sport can be.
All approx 200 attendees got some refresher training on how our insurance works and best practices to keep risk (and rates) low. For example, beer is allowed at events if not being sold. Our policy provides coverage required by municipalities to hold races in public areas. Any outside groups providing service such as massage or hanging signs should have their own insurance coverage.
Breakout Sessions (90 minute seminars) were held on various topics. During each of 4 sessions, we had 3 choices. I attended
Managing Your Club Finances – Form a new budget each year. Keep separate accounts for each event. Programs must match club’s purpose. Keep one year working capital balance. Board approves budget and all bills.
Motivating Volunteers – Form an operations plan for each event to determine assets needed. Utilize club members and outside groups (boy scouts, school cross-country teams, other local clubs, etc). Offer t-shirts, food, swag, etc. Solicit feedback. Consider offering points toward club merchandise.
Managing Club Politics – Conflict Resolution – interesting presentation by a professional “dispute resolution center” director dealing with types of personalities, identifying problems and negotiation for a win-win outcome. Lessons:
Separate the people from the problem – attack the problem, not the people.
Focus on interests, not positions – look at underlying needs.
Generate opinions for mutual gain
Assure a fair process – process is just as important as the outcome
Practice direct communications – talk with others, not about them
Developing a Strategic Plan for Your Club/Event – help keep focus to allocate money, time, people most effectively and not waste time. Re-affirm club mission as necessary (such as adding walkers or trail-runners to our target group). Build consensus for new initiatives and make them compelling. Include a fundraising plan. Assign committees to investigate new ideas.
Other seminars included:
Running Etiquette
Implementing the National Physical Activity Plan
Crisis Management
Organizing a Club Grand Prix Series
Using Technology in Your Event
Dietary Supplements and Running Performance
Olympian Speakers (during lunches/dinners)
Olympic Gold Medal Winner Billy Mills, a Native American, is a very inspirational speaker. He was commissioned a lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps where he kept running. At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Mills set the Olympic 10,000 meters record at 28:24.4. Great video of his finishing kick!
Gary Morgan switched from running to race-walking when his coaches told him he’d be more successful. He is a world traveler – from Antarctica to Africa. Morgan has enjoyed a 20-year career as an award-winning race walker that includes 17 national titles, a spot at the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics 20K racewalk event and a qualifier in six separate Olympic trials.
Julie Isphording is a 1984 Olympian who ran with the first-ever Women’s Olympic Marathon Team. She was also the first American woman finisher in the 1986 Boston Marathon. Now, an award-winning syndicated radio talk show host, Isphording features health experts and provides listeners with fitness and nutritional advice. She is the author of three books, including her most recent “Get Healthy, Get Happy: How to Make Small Changes that Give You Big Results.”
Early morning Fun Runs were held on Friday & Saturday. Friday’s was a 5 mile run around Spotsylvania Civil War battlefield, led by members of the local running club on roads and trails. Saturday’s was a running tour of Historic Fredericksburg and included parts of the half marathon held the next day. The town is dripping with history, from Revolutionary times to experiencing 4 major Civil War battles and essentially becoming one large hospital to the wounded and dying.
Saturday evening concluded the convention with an awards banquet to recognize clubs and individuals for their achievements or contributions to the running community.
RRCA clubs in Delaware include PCVRC, Delaware Sports Club, Races2Run, Middletown Athletic Club, Seashore Striders, Downstate Delaware Striders, and Mental Health Assoc. in DE (an ‘event member’).
We’re categorized as a “small club”, but many “large clubs” (300+ members) are located in communities with smaller populations. With the number of runners in the Wilmington area, I think we owe it to them to offer more. We could easily double our size. Contact me anytime at 302-633-1482.
Ray Christensen (302) 633-1482 President, Pike Creek Valley Running Club
Cross Country Series starts Tuesday, June 7:
The Howard M. Laws Summer Cross Country Series will begin with the first of six races Tuesday night, June 7, 2011 at 6:30 at Bellevue State Park north of wilmington. the series includes 5K runs on 6/7, 6/21, 7/5, 7/22, 8/2 and 8/16. The fee is $25 for the entire series, which includes a T-shirt, or $5 for individual races. runners of all ages and skill levels are welcomed, as the series was designed particularly for middle school, high school and collegiate runners preparing for their fall cross country seasons. Phone 379-4811 or e-mail for more information.
Dirty German 50K Trail Run
Four club members, Lori Culnane, Chris James, Claire Neilan and Wes Stafford went up to Philadelphia last Sunday to run the Dirty German 50K Trail Run. This was the first ultra event for all of them. Below are Claire’s recounting of her experience plus some additional thoughts from Wes:
Claire: All of us knew we were in unchartered territory when we saw the average attire
of the runners at the starting area – many wore the little gators over their
ankles, there were lots of hydration backpacks, and for women – skorts and
compression socks! Many of you will have seen the Facebook photo of the
starting line – it was practically non-existent except for a little white sign
stuck in the ground!
The start was across a grassy field and then a sharp turn onto a single track.
We were all standing around waiting to filter down onto it. Lots of remarks
(and not from us) about definite lack of PRs on this course. And then we were
onto the trails. Not too technical – not too many roots or rocks, not too many ups and downs. Just enough to keep it interesting. The 25K was one big loop, the 50K two loops, and the 50 miler three loops plus an extra 3.5 mile loop at
the beginning. As expected, Wes and Smarty quickly separated from Lori and myself. Lori and I ran together for most of the course, with the exception of
about 5 miles in the middle. Jordan joined us for the second loop, and John was able to bike along side us for a while too. Their company was MUCH needed in those last few miles. Lori and I were both hurting, especially when we had to run on the paved bike path. It was not as forgiving as the trails.
The aid stations and volunteers were GREAT! All sorts of solid food. I didn’t know where to start! Lori’s beer radar kicked in as expected so we both got some beer on the course. Very tasty. A Smuckers Uncrustable proved to be exactly what Lori needed around mile 23!!
I learned that when it starts to hurt (for me around mile 22) it just continued to hurt the same all the way to mile 31. It didn’t get any worse the more miles I ran. The freezing cold creek crossing felt nice at mile 30. There was a really neat, very narrow, super winding section that helped keep your mind off
of the fact you just wanted to sit down.
There was no finish line – we just ran up to the little orange cones, let Derek (Austin’s friend) take off our tags, present us with our hats and pint glasses, and that was it!! There were some other runners cheering for us as we approached. Lori came in 3rd in her age group and got a Cuckoo clock/barometer
thingy that was made in the Black Forest in Germany. Definitely a cool and unique award. Post race food was awesome: bratwurst, potato pancakes, and homemade cake. Yum. As much as I cursed on the course and swore I would never do this again….I
would!! I hurt far less than I have after road marathons. And the time on my
feet was SO much longer than ever before (6:50). This was definitely a totally
different experience and I realized I had no clue what I was getting into…..but it is kinda fun. Soft on the joints, no worrying about dealing with crowds of thousands of people, some nice scenery, happily walking when you felt like it,
fresh outdoor smells (no exhaust fumes), solid food, beer…..yeah, I could be persuaded to run some more long trail runs for sure. 50 miler might be a bit much though…!
Wes: Thanks Claire for a great summary of the day. I honestly was prepared to feel like a train wreck, but I feel better than after most road marathons I’ve done. I didn’t think running mostly trail would make that much difference, but evidently it does. I thought all the running on rocks and uneven surfaces would leave me with some seriously sore hips and ankles. Like Claire, I was cursing the course while I was on it, but now considering how I feel, I may need to think about throwing in a trail run now and then.
If anyone is into well stocked aid stations, ultras are the way to go. Let me see if I can remember everything the aid stations had on hand:
Salted baked potatoes
Potato chips
Pretzels
Cheez-It crackers
Marshmallows
Peanuts
M & Ms
Trail mix
Bananas
Oranges
licorice
PB& J sandwiches
Sandwich cookies – light & dark
Maalox
Motrin
Endurolyte
Gel
Gatorade
I might have missed some, but you get the idea.
It’s definitely a more laid back atmosphere than a road race. There were a few people there that looked to be concerned with running for time, but for the most part, it seemed like most people were there for the experience more than anything else. Everyone was friendly and engaging, both on the trails and after the race.
All in all it was a positive experience. I’m not sure I’d commit to another one right now, but I’m glad I did it and would recommend it as something to knock off your bucket list.
Race Results:
Dirty German 50K Ultra:
5:29:33 Wes Stafford
5:32:14 Chris James
6:50:02 Claire Neilan
6:50:03 Lori Culnane
LACC 5K
17:43 Greg Cauller, 2nd Overall
19:12 Lynn Knothe, Female Winner
Miles for Moo Moo 5K
17:33 Greg Cauller, Overall winner
17:40 Matt Cutrona, 2nd overall
19:16 Epi Camacho, 3rd overall
Interesting to note that these club members, who were the top three runners in this race are 51, 40 and 55 respectively. The first person of what would be considered prime running age of 20s and 30s was sixth overall.
Kids Kickin’ Cancer 5K
16:33 Mike DiGennero, Overall winner
27:39 Liam Kauffman, seven years old, first race ever