Paul Schweitzer, PT on Injury Prevention,
Nov. 5th, ATI, Limestone Road, 7 PM
Our next seminar will be a session with Paul Schweitzer on Tuesday, Nov 5th. This will be held at the ATI location just off Limestone Road (100 Valley Center Drive, Wilmington, DE 19808). This is just south of the Pike Creek shopping center and New Linden Hill Road. Paul will speak about injury prevention, specifically for runners.

Paul Schweizer graduated with honors from University of Delaware’s physical therapy program. His early experience was at A.I. duPont Hospital for Children where he became the Director of Aquatics Therapy. After that, he started several physical therapy practices, the most recent of which is PRO Physical Therapy (which is now ATI). Paul’s expertise is in the areas of aquatics therapy, sport medicine and general orthopedics. He is an accomplished runner and has been fixing athletes for years. You can read about some of his activities here http://www.atipt.com/news-media/blog/physical-therapist-leads-cancer-survivors-advocates-finish-line

There will be a short “open” Board meeting for the first half-hour, for a “club discussion” about any items that board or the members feel is appropriate, followed by Paul’s talk. Come with your ideas, suggestions, comments and contributions!

RSVP’s are appreciated but not required to Paula Jermyn at

PCVRC Holiday Party, December 9
Mark your calendars now for our Holiday party – Monday, December 9th at 6:30 at Timothy’s (upstairs) in Newark! Details to follow.

Race Results, Reviews and accomplishments:
Kristen Stump’s been busy!

Joy-Hope 10K, Oct. 12, 41:32 (Overall Female Winner)

Run for Buds Half Marathon, Oct. 19, 1:35:30 (Overall Female Winner!)

Theresa Cannon, Steamtown Marathon, Scranton, PA, Oct. 13, 3:58:39 (BQ)
Special note – Theresa has now run a marathon in under 4 hours for 4 decades!

Mike Piorkowski, Whistlestop Trail Marathon, Ashland WI, Oct. 12, 3:29:13 (BQ)
PS, for a special treat, check out the race photos of Mike!

Monster Mash Marathon, Dover, Oct. 19
Dave McCorquodale, 4:06:03 (3rd in AG)
John Schultz, 6:47:57 (2nd in AG)

Monster Mash Half-Marathon
David Baca, 1:47:10 (3rd in AG)

USATF
MidAtlantic USATF Quarterly newsletter.
Check out the great article about our own Hugh Campbell on pg. 15.
http://www.mausatf.org/association/newsletters/Newsletter-2013-October.pdf

USATF Masters 5k Cross Country-Championships, PCVRC Earns 3rd Place in a National Event (Tom Steenkamer)
This past Sunday, October 20th, at the Cross-Country Championships at Deer Path Park in Flemington NJ, our team competed in the Men’s 50-59 age group team competition against 13 other clubs from NJ, NY, PA, and GA. Cross country scoring rules applied to this race. Therefore we raced head-to-head with the order of finish from each team determining the team scores. The top five positions from each team create the team total and positions six and seven displace other runners. The lowest score wins.

The course was two loops on an all-grass course, fairly flat with a few minor hills. The hills were followed by gradual descents. We believed it was a fair test that could produce fast times. Race time approached and we assembled for check in and team uniform inspection. Thanks to DE New Balance and Jamie Graham! PCVRC was assigned to starting box 15, which was a great spot in the middle of the starting line.

With a brief delay to reload ammunition the gun sounded and we were off. The pack of 106 headed across the field and up the first gradual hill. Spacing was tight, with three or four runners abreast, the pace felt slow. 2:35 at 800m must not be that slow, 5:40 at the mile. The pace felt under control and there were four PCVRC orange singlets within a few strides of each other. Pack running, that’s what is needed in XC to get a good team score.

Things were looking good as we headed back past the cheering crowd for lap #2. The field stretched out finally and we were only two abreast or single file heading up the first hill. Going down to the two mile mark, the PCVRC pack was still intact but stretched a bit. John maked a move up the last hill at the 2.5 mark, with Dave and Tom in pursuit. We ran down through the tree line and had only 800m across the field to the finish. Feeling pretty good, the stride lengthens and the arms drive, attempting to close the distance or at least keep from getting out-kicked. We avoided the dreaded last-second sprinters and hit the finish mats.

On a perfect fall day for XC racing the six-man PCVRC team did exceptionally well in a strong field. The winner of the 50-59 division was renowned Californian, Pete Magill, who put down an amazing 15:51 at age 51. The next three places were under 17 minutes and the rest of the top 20 were under 18 minutes. The combination of cool weather and a good course contributed to the great times.

We were excited about the potential to score as a team, and speculated during our post race cool down that we could be on the podium. Fueled by the energy of the race and some of the post-race tail gate material we anxiously awaited the race results posting.

The award ceremony began without the results from our race being posted. All of the other race results were available except for the Men’s 50-59. Unknown to us, there had were issues with the chip timing and subsequent scoring for the 50+ race. Finally the 50+ team awards are announced and posted. We are shut out! Atlanta Track Club is awarded third, Genesse Valley second and Greater Philadelphia took first.

Meanwhile Lynn Knothe and a few of the guys are busy analyzing the result pages. The numbers are not adding up! Lynn discovered that Greg was listed with PCVRC but his finish place was not included in our score. Dave and Tom headed to the timing company truck to explain the situation. The timer agreed and admitted that they committed a data entry error. Adding Greg changes the results and we needed to file a results protest with the USATF race officials. We located the official and he stated that we were within the official USATF one-hour protest window and he accepts the timer’s explanation. We are awarded third! Unfortunately, the third place plaque and medals had already departed with the Atlanta Track Club!

Post race was a great affair. Fellow competitors welcomed us to their tail gate parties. We owe a special thanks to Greg’s buddies in the Baltimore Washington Athletic Club who shared their keg of home brew. Greater Philly also shared their spread and opened their coolers of Guinness. Our dear MA-USATF friend, Robin Jeffries, satisfied our continued thirst with some Troegs Double Bock during the awards ceremony. The celebration continued when we returned home as Sheri and Dirk opened their home for an impromptu barbeque. Special thanks to Sheri and Lisa Jalot for pulling it all together.

PCVRC’s Jim Durkin also competed as an individual in the 75+ age group in the men’s 60+ race. Jim finished the 5k in 29:55 for 5th. Nice work Jim!

Congratulations to my teammates: Greg Cauller, Harvest Bob Klezsics, John Stoudt, Dirk Sweigart. I am both honored and thankful to have been able to participate.

Team Results:
8. John Stoudt, 17:29 *
12. David Wiechecki, 17:36 *
13. Thomas Steenkamer, 17:37 *
20. Gregory Cauller, 17:55 *
41. Dirk Sweigart, 19:39 *
48. Bob Kleszics, 20:03

I believe that this is the first time in club history that PCVRC has sent a team to a national championship. A belated awards ceremony for the PCVRC team is tentatively scheduled at the Delaware XC Open Championship on Saturday, November 30th.

It would be great to have PCVRC have greater involvement in these types of USATF events. Next year the USATF National club championships will be held at Lehigh University on December 13th. This is a bigger and even more prestigious race where PCVRC could potentially enter teams for both men and women.

PCVRC USATF Evansburg Challenge 10-mile Trail Race Recap (Ray Christensen):

The Evansburg Challenge 10-miler is part of the USATF Series, held on a pretty state park course near Collegeville, PA. With many of our fastest male trail-racers competing at the national master’s club cross country championship in NJ, Tom & Rich knew that they’d have to scramble to put together a team to at least put up a score to hold our place in the series. That turned out to be a huge challenge itself. Between injuries, and a multitude of other races, we didn’t have a full five-person lineup until the day before. Many emails and calls confirmed valid reasons even though over 50 club members are members of USATF. For example, John Schultz ran Monster Mash Marathon on Saturday and was actually willing to take on the long trail race Sunday except that he was already booked for another activity.

So I was the lucky guy who joined four of our dedicated ladies to round out the PCVRC team. Tom repeatedly told us “not to be heroes” and that everyone finishing was our only important goal. So our team battle cry was “Just finish!” Along with Carole Feole, Carol Giampietro, Sheri Herrmann-Sweigart and Lisa Jalot, we hit the trail on a gorgeous, crisp, sunny morning. Lisa was really heroic. She took one for the team, aggravating her existing leg injury and running through the pain to finish first in her age group, no less! Sheri took second in the same group while Carol G won her own age group.

The course is not as hilly as others in the series, but there was plenty of surface mud along with rocks and roots. There were also two water crossings. I didn’t realize that the first was nearly waist-deep until I was wading through it and actually put a hand down to avoid going for a swim. Even with the course being not very technical, 10 miles of trails makes your mind almost as tired as your body just from concentrating on staying upright. There are always some runners at the finish proudly displaying their battle scars from the race.

I was having a good run until I got through the second water crossing with just a half-mile to go. That’s when I guess I felt that 10 miles just wasn’t enough of a challenge, so I made a wrong turn and added an 11th mile to my race. At the start, Ron Horn had instructed us to watch for markings and signs and to follow course marshal directions. But by mile 9.5, my mind was too tired to remember the last critical direction. The trail goes either left or right and I went left since I thought I heard a volunteer say “go left”. I had lost contact with the runners ahead of me so it was only after I ran all the way to where we had first crossed the water that I knew for sure that I was in the wrong place. I hurriedly back-tracked while pondering how I’d screwed up.

I had thought the guy said “go left”, but maybe he had said “half mile left”. Maybe he said “don’t go left”. Maybe he saw my PCVRC singlet and intentionally sent me in the wrong direction. Whatever it was, I said a lot of naughty words when I finally got to the finish, over six minutes after I should have been there. I cheered up once I saw that all of our ladies had finished and cheered up a bit more when Sheri, Lisa and I grabbed some frosty beverages at the car.

After awards, a team picture and a photo with a bunch of Korean guys who requested a photo with my lovely teammates, it was time to head for Delaware while awaiting results from our guys competing across the river. I was still perturbed about messing up what would have been a good race. Lisa and Sheri were carpooling with me and we needed a restroom break en route. When we missed a turn to a gas station on 202, we saw a Dunkin Donuts ahead. I realized that there was a Hooters right next to it. My day suddenly improved when the ladies suggested we drop in to grab a beer. Who cares that I ran an extra mile when I’m sitting with two of our own lovely ladies surrounded by Hooters girls while drinking beer, eating french fries and watching football?

But the real point of this story is “join our club USATF team!”. You don’t have to be fast. We need a long bench to fill in for injuries, busy race weekends and last minute schedule changes. Team events make running and racing even more fun. Run safe!

USATF Grand Prix “Road” Series
The next race is the Bridge run 10k on Sunday November 3rd. Online registration has closed (October 18th.)

The Waffle Cone 10 Miler
Club member Ryan German (Caffe Gelato) is once again putting on the Waffle Cone 10-miler in Newark on Sunday, October 21 (9:00am start). This is a flat and scenic course crossing both of the brand new White Clay Creek foot bridges. Part road, part crushed gravel and some trail. It’s a certified 10-mile course that benefits the Friendship House Inc. All runners will receive dry-release performance T-shirt. And you will not want to miss the excellent post-race brunch buffet, courtesy of Ryan and the Caffe Gelato.

Location: 90 E. Main Street Newark, DE. This race is sponsored by our club sponsor Caffe Gelato.

Awards: Overall male and female plus top 3 in 5 year age groups 13 under through 70 over.

Free parking for all participants/ spectators behind the restaurant.
Online registration at www.Races2Run.com

Couch 2 5k program
Our Couch 2 5k fall program has come to an end. In total, we had 15 “regulars” – four who had perfect attendance (all nine weeks). The group had targeted the DDC 5k on Sunday, October 6th as our season finale. We had nine Couch 2 5k’ers run the 5k and two run in the 15k and one who volunteered (thank you, Mark!) It was a humid day but everyone pushed through to the finish. Special congratulations to Couch 2 5k’er and PCVRC member Kathy Belardo who placed in her age group! A big thank you is offered to Lori Culnane and Gelsomina Paolini for their help on the course supporting the Couch 2 5k’ers. Coaches Darlise and Paula feel that this new program was very successful and a great addition to PCVRC and are looking forward to resuming the program in the spring!

Race Results, Reviews and accomplishments:
Here’s what’s been sent in…

Woodbridge, CT (Wedding) 5K
Kelly Horowitz, 20:11 (First Overall Female)
Jack Horowitz, 22:14 (3rd in AG)

Sue Simmons – back to back PR’s! Look out Dan!

4H Quest for the Clover 5K, Sep. 28, Dead President’s Society, Wilmington, 34:25 (PR, 1st in AG)
Ocean City NJ 5K, Sep 29, 33:22 (PR, 2nd in AG)

DDC Results, Pike Creek had 30 runners in the 15K and eight runners in the 5K! And lots of “places”!

DDC 15K
Sarah Antonaitis 1:01:28 (2nd in AG)
Kirsten Belair 1:00:11 (3rd overall female)
Kim Borges 1:23:21
Mike Brown 1:06:45
Epi Camacho 1:05:40 (3rd in AG)
Theresa Cannon 1:16:38 (3rd in AG)
Jay Coughenour 0:57:02 (1st in AG)
Keith Crispin 1:02:31
Lynn D’Angelo 1:28:31
Lorri Fencer 1:20:24
Nancy Fleming 1:28:11
Carol Giampietro 1:08:04 (1st in AG)
Beth Howlett 1:22:42 (1st in AG)
Christopher James 1:09:01
Lee Kauffman 1:04:35 (2nd in AG)
Elena Kupchik 1:33:05
Ron Kwasnieski 1:15:13
Sang Lim 1:08:16
Kelsey Mentzer 1:23:04 (2nd in AG)
Lisa Mentzer 1:39:51
Betty Olmstead 2:05:31 (1st in AG)
Mike Piorkowski 1:09:19
Robert Roche 1:37:38
John Schultz 2:00:37 (3rd in AG)
Dan Simmons 1:08:33 (2nd in AG)
Tom Steenkamer 1:02:14
Dan Suher 0:56:35
Tricia Szymanski 1:28:43
Lenora Wagner 1:33:26
David Wiechecki 0:58:18 (3rd in AG)

The DDC 15k had 330 finishers. PCVRC had 13 age group award winners in the overall race results.

John Schultz set a new 80-84 15K state record (2:00:37) at this race!

DDC 5K
Rudy Antonini 0:30:43
Kathy Belardo 0:36:09 (3rd in AG)
Darlise Dimatteo 0:46:44 (C25k)
Paula Jermyn 0:46:45 (C25k)
Jacob Mentzer 41:36.0
Sarah O’Connor 33:14.8 (2nd in AG)

Gelsomina Paolini 0:28:50 (2nd in AG)
Sue Simmons 0:33:59 (2nd in AG)

The DDC 5k had 98 finishers. PCVRC had four age group award winners in the overall race results. Coaches Darlise and Paula ran with the new runners – thanks so much to you two from the club, you rock!

USATF

PCVRC USATF DDC 15k Recap (Tom Steenkamer):

The USATF club challenge fall series kicked off this past weekend with the 31st running of PCVRC’s signature event, the Delaware Distance Classic 15k. 16 USATF club members took up the 15k challenge and set out to conquer the distance and humidity. It felt more like a summer day with the humidity hovering around 80% and temperatures in the low 70s. Thank goodness the cloud cover remained throughout the race (Last year race time temperature was in the low 50s.)

While I personally dislike racing in the humidity, the majority of the race team were undeterred as the results indicate. A special shout out is given to the best water stop/splash zone on the course, Jim Steele’s Ursuline Field Hockey crew, who provided a much needed cool down heading into the last mile.

In the USATF Age Graded results, PCVRC had three women and seven men place in the top three in their age groups. In the club challenge competition, PCVRC scored 402.125 to squeak out a first place finish over Greater Philadelphia who accumulated a team score of 401.313.

With three races remaining in the 2013 club challenge competition PCVRC retained our hold on second place position out of 12 clubs. Way to go team!

The following clubs are in the running for the prize money. (Note that all clubs drop their lowest score of the season. Athena has already dropped a race this season and is “in the hunt” provided they complete the remaining three races.)

CLUB – – – – – –
ADR-ROD Combined – VFR – – – BRD – – – MOR – – – DEL – – TOTAL
(all races) – – AVG

Bryn Mawr Running Club – 435.043 – 408.914 – 432.608 – 402.954 – 392.445 – 2071.964 – 414.393

Pike Creek Valley Running Club – 435.986 – 402.194 – 390.549 – 403.326
– 402.125 – 2034.180 – 406.836

Greater Philadelphia Track Club – 423.548 – 392.079 – 421.092 – 383.404 – 401.313 – 2021.436 – 404.287

South Jersey Athletic Club – 419.671 – 363.499 – 424.029 – 407.679
– 381.134 – 1996.013 – 399.203

Downingtown Running Club – 394.156 – 378.529 – 405.269 – 371.746 – 375.475 – 1925.175 – 385.035

Pineland Striders – 367.292 – 357.712 – 375.248 – 359.752 – 319.878
– 1779.882 – 355.976

Athena – – – – – – – – 426.729 – 422.057 – 435.218 –
399.315 – 1683.318 – 420.830

Keystone Track Club – 408.184 – 393.049 – 421.682 –

1222.915 – 407.638

Moorestown Distance Running Project – 367.439 – 398.879 – 372.236 –
1138.555 – 379.518

TNT International Racing Club – 386.992 – 348.957 – 374.882 –
1110.831 – 370.277

Rosemont Running Club – 375.507 – 375.507 – 375.507

Philadelphia Masters

PCVRC individual Age Graded results, Top 5 used for the club team total.
Giampietro

Carol

1

8

4

81.954

Wiechecki

David

58

18

80.903

Coughenour

Jay

57

1

80.707

Belair

Kirsten

1

0

10

79.834

Simmons

Daniel

1

8

33

78.726

402.125

Steenkamer

Thomas

1

2

14

77.745

Camacho

Epi

1

5

39

75.654

Kauffman

William Lee

1

4

35

75.561

Antonaitis

Sarah

1

1

30

75.122

Suher

Daniel

56

34

72.746

Crispin

Keith

1

2

32

72.388

Howlett

Beth

1

22

41

72.203

Kauffman

Theresa

1

16

38

69.139

Fencer

Lorri

1

20

37

66.57

James

Christopher

1

9

0

62.126

Schultz

John

2

0

37

56.667

We are once again de-emphasizing the Radnor 5 mile race this year. This race will likely be counted as our dropped score for the season. We must field full teams in the final two events, the Bridge Run 10k on November 3rd and the Rothman 8k/Philly Half and Marathon weekend. USATF racers, sign up!

The next race is the Bridge run 10k on Sunday November 3rd. Online registration closes on October 18th. Please don’t miss the registration deadline since there is no “day of” registration for this event. Registration info is at https://runsignup.com/Race/Register/?raceId=1326

Call for participants! From the Prez…
Dear PVCRC member,
It is now only one week until our own Delaware Distance Classic race. Let me send a huge THANK YOU to those who of you who have already signed up to volunteer, or run! Looking at the statistics, we have less than 10% of club members signed up to volunteer, and less than 10% of our membership signed up to run. This is YOUR race, so please, please, help the club by participating. We are in desperate need of volunteers for some very specific tasks, so contact me (, 302-373-6060) if you can help out in with any of these.

Transportation:
· We need someone with a pick-up truck or large SUV to pick up water bottles on Saturday and then transport them to the Riverfront on race morning (early). It may take 2 trips depending what size your car is. We also need bottles to be shuttled to the water stations.

· We need someone again with (preferably) an SUV to pick up champagne glasses (I think there are 400 of them) from Frank’s Wine and bring to the race on Sunday. Registration opens 7am, that’s the time we would need the glasses to be at the race.

· We need someone to pick up bananas from ShopRite, and bring them to the race on Sunday, by 8.30am (we will call in the order)

Thank you! And hopefully, we’ll see many of you at the race.
Claire

Race Results, Reviews and accomplishments:
“Race for the Cure” 10K, Manchester Vermont, Sept. 21
Kelly Horowitz, 42:53 (2nd Overall Female)
Jack Horowitz, 47:45 (1st in AG)

Betty Olmstead, Bird-in-Hand Half Marathon, Sept. 7, 3:05:31

Dan Simmons, Bottle and Cork 10 Miler, Sept. 8, 1:13:18 (1st AG)
—————————–

Race Review – Another Lehigh Review but a First Time Marathon Runner!
Lehigh Valley Marathon Review by Jay Coughenour

This was my first marathon! My race was powered by my Tuesday night St. Mark’s track running group (thank you Coach Fischer!), my Sunday Panera group, my NB buddies, and the general Delaware running community who are always so encouraging. Special thanks to Keith, Tom, Andy, and many others who encouraged me to try a marathon! Also, special thanks to the Tuesday night track group who would shout a little “good job Jay” during endless interval sessions. That always helps! Finally, my wife and daughters were with me every step of the way – adjusting their lives at times for my training schedule, and who often had to put up with a grumpy old man stretching self-inflicted pain out of his legs at night in the middle of the floor.

Race day was surprisingly humid – and I underestimated how the humidity can sort of sit and hover along a river, which this course more or less followed the whole way from Allentown to Easton. Bart Yasso from Runner’s World gave the marathoners a little speech at the beginning, warning us to stay hydrated. Suddenly we were off! The course was fairly well maintained for what turned out to be mostly a trail run. I’d say the first 4-5 miles were on road/pavement, but after that it was almost completely packed-dirt and cinder trail running until the end. The trail was good enough to maintain target pace in most spots. However, I found the footing a bit uneven in many places, which probably added to my post-race soreness and a ‘tweak’ I felt in my right knee toward the end of the marathon. For the most part, the course was wide enough to handle the group running 6:30 pace, except for one spot around mile 12 where we were forced into single file along the trail for about 400-800 meters. There was minor elbowing at this point and at the water stops, but all the runners were always polite about it – saying ‘sorry’ if they forced you to break your stride.

This course is definitely for those who enjoy the solitude of a long trail run. Lehigh Valley must be the antithesis of the NYC marathon – a country run with few spectators, compared to a city run with mobs everywhere. I really felt like I was running the section of Creek Road trail between Hopkins Road and the bridge just south (past the pond) for 26 miles. The only sizable crowds were at the halfway mark and at the finish. At the finish they had a nice spread of pretzels, cookies, bananas, water, and beer. No complaints! It was great to see Keith Crispin at the finish, he had run the half marathon that morning.

I wish I could have run faster (don’t we all?) but after the halfway point I realized I would not run a negative split in that heat/humidity to reach my time goal. Knowing my time goal was unattainable at that point, I turned my focus to my primary goal, which was to BQ. So, around miles 14-15 I let my ‘pack’ drift ahead and I did some quick mental math to figure the pace I needed to assure early registration for Boston the following morning. Happily I attained that goal and my next (and probably last marathon) will be the 2014 Boston Marathon. Overall, Lehigh Valley has a good course that could probably yield very fast times as long as it is not hot and humid in early September and if the trail is dry – and all the volunteers at the expo, along the course, and at the finish were very helpful and friendly.

Events Calendar
Our “Events Calendar” page on the website includes all club-related activities including weekly group runs, USATF Series races (noted with blue stars), social events, and club meetings. We’ll also note events where PCVRC is affiliated in some way such as Delaware Marathon. The calendar is updated regularly.

Delaware Distance Classic!
The Delaware Distance Classic (DDC) 15K and 5K is fast approaching. The date is Sunday October 6th, at Frawley Stadium, with a 9am start time. This is the Club’s signature event, and the ONLY annual event that we raise funds for both local charities and our Club.

If you are not planning on running either of the races, please consider volunteering. It is extremely important that you all participate in some form, be it running or volunteering!! There is a wide variety of volunteer opportunities available and you can view these and sign up for specific tasks at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0D49ADAB2DA64-delaware. Even if you can only spare a short chunk of time, every little bit helps. And remember, more volunteers = greater success = more club funds generated = a better club for you!

What’s up with Hugh Campbell
I called Hugh this week to see how he’s doing. His positive attitude is very inspiring and he’s a very funny guy! Here’s a recap (mostly in his words with my edits).

“I had a tumor that grew between two disks of my spine and broke my back! It interfered with that big national 8K that I was invited to race in at Williamsburg. I got a mile into the race and I had so much sudden pain that I was forced to walk the whole damn thing! It took over an hour and my wife was really annoyed.

A week later I woke up totally paralyzed – I couldn’t move my legs. I went to the hospital of course and they took out the tumor and they put in some titanium rods to put my back together. That was in mid-June. Since then, I’ve had to have a “clean-up” operation plus radiation treatments. So now I just started on chemo and I’ll get that once a month for six months. I just go to Helen Graham and I get to sit in an easy chair while they shoot that poison in me. But so far I’ve had no pain and no ill effects.

I also have physical therapy two days a week plus vigorous PT at home. But I still can’t walk without a walker and my balance in not very good. Hey, I’m perfectly happy and I’ve really appreciated the club and all I’ve been able to do. Now I have to learn just to walk again!”

We’re on Meetup!
PCVRC has a new MeetUp site (www.meetup.com) with group runs already posted. If you haven’t already been on MeetUp, try it out and search for Pike Creek Valley Running Club. You don’t have to pay anything to register as a member.

Race Results, Reviews and accomplishments:
Here’s what’s been sent in…

Lehigh Valley “VIA” Marathon, September 7
Jay Coughenour, 3:02:12 (BQ)
Lori Culnane, 3:57 (BQ)

Lehigh Valley “VIA” Half Marathon, September 7
Keith Crispin, 1:29:04

The Last Chance for Beantown Marathon, Holly Ridge, NC, August 24 (7:30pm start!)
Dave McCourquodale, 4:15:53 (Read details at http://mccorq.blogspot.com)

Charm City 20-Mile NCR Trail Race, Hunt Valley, MD, Sept. 1
Theresa Kauffman – 3:00:24 (1st in AG)

HAC Plunge and Run Duathlon, August 25 (1/4 mi swim, 5K)
Kelly Horowitz 28:04 (1st female, 3rd overall)
Jim Steele 32:02

Bottle and Cork 10-Miler, September 7
Kristen Stump 1:09:12 (2nd in AG)
Kelly Horowitz 1:10:39 (2nd in AG)
Jack Horowitz 1:19:42

Lums Pond State Park, Sept. 7
Diamondman Youth Triathlon
Liam Kauffman, 17:35 (1st Triathlon!)
Ethan Shilling, 23:23 (1st Triathlon!)

Diamondman Sprint Duathlon, (Run 2, Bike 19.5, Run 3.3)
Dirk Sweigart, 1:39:16 (2nd in AG)
Theresa Kauffman, 1:48:43 (1st in AG)
Sheri Herrmann, 1:49:39 (2nd in AG)
Ron Kwasnieski, 1:53:01
John Schultz, 2:45:26 (1st in AG)

Diamondman Sprint Triathlon (Swim 1/2, Bike 19.5, Run 3.3)

Jim Steele, 1:51:19

Lums Pond State Park, Sept. 8 –
Diamondman Half-Ironman Triathlon
Darlise DiMatteo, 5:52:25 (3rd in AG)
Kevin O’connor, 5:26:44 (1st in AG)

Lehigh Valley Marathon Review – Part I (Lori Culnane, “Lori Loco”)
Following the Rebel tradition of writing about “meaningful” races, this is my story. This was a comeback marathon of sorts for me as I haven’t been running too well the last couple years. My last “decent” marathon time-wise and BQ was “10/10/10” in Chicago, before the new faster BQ qualifying standards. I now had 5:59 less minutes in which to qualify.

This race was fueled by Isagenix nutrition which enabled me to lose some weight and get leaner, powered by friend and trainer Kelly Jones-Reph, who helped tone me up and strengthen my core, and training-supported by my Rebel Girls – Tricia, Claire, Darlise and Barbara. Love my girls! Special thanks to Tricia who got me out there the last couple of weeks for tempo runs which I believe definitely helped me start strong and fast, especially because I slowed quite a bit during the last third of the run. Now that she has her own GPS watch, I won’t be needed for that anymore! But it reminded me of the advantage of doing those types of runs.

The Expo was held in Bethlehem, PA. where the old Steel Stacks are located – a very cool place. It was a small and informal expo. I had no problems picking up two other runners’ packets and even changed one from the full to the half- no questions asked. The official race shirt is nice. The only marathon-specific gear was a design-your-own booth where you picked the shirt and iron-on decals and they ironed them on where you wanted. Not the best quality but reasonably priced. I got a cute v-neck with two decals for $15!

The temps felt OK but a little warm. It’s warm for me if I don’t need at least a t-shirt throw-away before the start. You could definitely feel the humidity. The only thing that kept this from being a complete disaster humidity-wise was that most of the run was in the shade- thank God! Think of Creek Road.

The course is fabulous! Definitely one of the nicest of many courses I’ve run! After a “death-drop” at mile two (40′ in a quarter-mile) which brought us to a wooden covered bridge, the rest of the course was flat to slightly rolling. The only “ups and downs” were getting on and off the D&L Trail (not as drastic as the C&D canal!) and on and off of several small Lehigh River crossings. The surface was crushed gravel and paved towpaths with a few miles on roads. 16 miles total was on the D&L Trail. It reminded me of Creek Road back where the yellow pole used to be, but no rocks, sand or roots, just smooth and, in some spots, hardened mud. Some areas were only two to three people wide but most of the runners were pretty good about remaining to the right unless passing. Hardly any runners were chatting as it seemed most had one thing in mind- a Boston qualifier.

The only not-so-nice spot was between miles 12-13.5 which had us running up off of the Trail onto a road and circling a parking lot before going back down onto the Trail. It was sunny and we were so used to the shade at this point. The only spectators were at the relay transition areas of which this was the largest. I had a 1:53 first half so I was doing pretty good but knew I would start slowing down with the weather being what it was. It was strange but there were no timing mats here or anywhere else on the course. They were not really needed since there really was nowhere to cut the course except for this spot. I’m not even sure if relay runners got individual splits.

We stayed by the start in Allentown so John drove to the finish at Easton, PA. in the morning and rode his NEW mountain bike backwards on the course. He got to mile 16 but it was pretty narrow and with runners starting to appear he turned around and waited at mile 20. He was then able to pretty much ride right with me as the course widened from here on out. I ran with my fuel belt for the first time since the Rome marathon in 2005 so I was shedding water bottles and e+ shot bottles to him, which was nice. I finally gave him my whole belt at mile 24.5. I was definitely struggling by this time. I knew at mile 20 when I saw him that I had over 65 minutes to get in under 4:00 so it was do-able. I just needed to keep moving under 10 min/mile.

I crossed the finish line of my 33rd marathon in 3:57!! Happy, a little teary-eyed, and Lee Dresser was there to give me a congratulatory high-five!!! Not bad for a 52 year-old chick!! Then it was beer time!!!!

Lehigh Valley Marathon Review – Part II (Keith Crispin)

The marathon started in Allentown at the Lehigh Hospital and ran through the parkway to Bethlehem and finished in Easton. I ran the half marathon which started on Main Street in Bethlehem. The half had a 7 AM start time (a little early!) with a nice downhill start to the canal. From that point on it was 13.1 miles all the way to Easton. The course ran along the canal – it’s a hard dirt path and very flat. My time was consistent at each mile for all 13 miles. Not a second faster or slower! The course is wide enough for a car or two and has a nice tree line all the way. If it was a hot day then that could be a real plus.

A couple of downsides – for the half marathon, the water stops were OK but for the marathon they probably could have used couple more stops (not every mile had a water stop). Also, there were very few people along the course (maybe one person J) As Jay said… it was like running Creek Road for 26.2 miles. J

It’s a small race but not too small. There are always two or three people running around you. I believe there were over 1,000 runners in each race and there were many runners from the Delaware and Elkton areas. It’s a point to point race so you need to take the shuttle back. The hotels are close to the start so you don’t need to get to the starting line an hour before. They could have used a couple more bathrooms but I believe this year the race tripled in size so it may have caught them by surprise.

I liked the course and I would run the half marathon again. But then I could be little biased since I spent ten years living between Allentown and East Stroudsburg.

USATF (from Tom Steenkamer)

The fall USATF road reason resumes with the Delaware Distance Classic 15k on Sunday, October 6. This is the first race of the fall season and we look forward to fielding a very competitive team in our club’s premier event.

3 additional races remain after the DDC. We will be focusing our top performances for the Bridge Run 10k on Sunday, November 3rd, and the Rothman 8k on Saturday, 11/16. These two races represent our best scoring opportunities to maintain our current second position in the Grand Prix club scoring competition.

Once again this year we will be de-emphasizing participation in the Radnor five-miler, October 27th. It is a beautiful run but because of the very hilly terrain it presents a difficult course on which to score. Therefore this race will likely be counted as our dropped race for the year. Seven out of eight races count towards the final club score.

In addition, I am looking for verification from all club members participating in either the Philly Half or Full Marathon on November 17. If we can field a full team (5 club members with at least 1 woman to score) for either race we will be able to count the team score.

Finally the 2013 USATF National Masters 5k Cross County Championship will be held on October 20th in nearby Flemington, NJ. We are in the process of assembling a men’s 50+ team (50-59 on race day) for this national event. We need a minimum of 5 team members (7 desired) to compete as scoring club. This event is scored as a traditional cross country meet without age grading. (Team score computed by order of finish.) I am seeking additional team members for this nationally competitive event. The early registration deadline is September 30th. Please write me ASAP if you or anyone you know is interested in competing .

Running Book
Here’s an item that might be of interest to club members (from Joe Ellis):

My latest novel, The Old Man and the Marathon, is now available for a FREE download from www.smashwords.com (Nook, Kindle, iPad, iPhone, computer, etc.), or it can be downloaded from the Kindle or Nook store for 99 cents. A paperback version will also be available from online bookstores next week.

My work has been featured in Runner’s World magazine and reviewed by the Washington Post and popular running blogs. The story is modeled after Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea.

Here’s a synopsis of the novel:
The Old Man and the Marathon is a story about taking on a challenge despite the odds. Sixty-four year old Angelo Santiago has been a distance runner most of his life. However, he has never run a marathon because of a history of sciatica problems. This missing piece in his competitive career has always gnawed at him, reminding him of his inferiority among his running peers. After three months of pain-free running, he decides to train for his first marathon. With encouragement from his young friend, Emmanuel, he begins the arduous workouts that will prepare him for one of the most difficult ordeals of his life. Along the way he meets Rita Marling, a beautiful woman who stirs romantic embers dormant since the death of his wife ten years ago. He also encounters Jack Silvers, a local high school coach and marathoner who becomes his rival in racing and romance. On the day of the race, like everyone who takes on the challenge of a marathon, Angelo must reach deep inside to find the strength and courage to finish the race.

http://joecellis.blogspot.com/

Short Notice! PCVRC Thursday Run + Pizza & Beer
This Thursday, 8/29: 6 PM Run / 7 PM Eat & Drink

Location: Delcastle Park & Ray’s Yard: 2630 Crossgates Dr. Wilmington, DE 19808

6 PM: Group run at Delcastle Rec Area, followed by pizza, beer and soft drinks starting around 6:45pm just steps from the park in Ray’s yard. Beer/soda/water & pizza provided by the club. Members and prospective members are welcome to run, eat & drink. Originally known as McCorq’s Friendly Fun Run, we’ve held this event each of the past ten years on the Thursday before Labor Day Weekend.

You are not required to bring anything, but bring a couple lawn chairs if handy. Sides, cookies, wine won’t be turned away.

Please RSVP to Ray at 302-633-1482 or . If you’re not running, let Ray know if you can help (picking up/ordering pizza, directing people). Location is 2630 Crossgates Dr. Wilmington, DE 19808. Also, see information and location at http://www.pcvrc.com/eventlistitem.php?id=70

Race Results, Reviews and accomplishments:
Here’s what’s been sent in…

Annapolis 10-miler, August 25
Dan Simmons 1:14:13 (2nd in AG)
John Schultz 2:17:29

USATF
Off-road Series – Radnor 5K “Steeplechase” (Tom Steenkamer)

On August 23rd eight PCVRC club members competed in the 11th annual Radnor 5k Steeplechase run on the grounds of the Radnor Hunt club. As the race organizers like to say “it’s not your ordinary 5k”. The race continues to grow in popularity and this year over 600 completed the challenging run across the grass fields, water pits and obstacles.

The race begins on an open stretch of field in front of the main Hunt club lodge and follows the horse course around the back of the property. The first obstacles appear about 800m into the race. They are low enough to hurdle in full stride and the pack moves on toward the first water pit. Entering from the shallow end the runners bound out and head back to the grand stand area. The barriers are now getting taller and require a different strategy to cross as we head back towards the back section of the course. After a long section of barrier-free running, we proceed uphill through the parking area and get to the tough section. More barriers now appear and they are coming in quick succession as we turn the corner and head downhill into the 2nd water pit. This last section is a preceded by a short steep hill and followed by five large obstacles in quick succession. There seems to be more barriers than last year and we sprint home past the hound kennels to the finish. Post-race conversations confirm that the number of barriers increased from 13 to 20!

Four PCVRC runners took home the famed bobble horse awards. Congratulations to Lynn Knothe, Meg Hain, John Schultz and Bob Klezsics. Rounding out the PCVRC team were Keith Crispin, Andy Jabukowitch, Lori Fencer and me (Tom Steenkamer). PCVRC maintained our hold on 3rd place in the season-long club competition by narrowly finishing two points ahead of the Pineland Striders.

Team competition, 2013 USATF-MA Off Road Standings after 6 Races

81 – Greater Phila TC 2011.61
55 – Rosemont 1952.29
25 – Pike Creek Valley 1807.87
09 – Pineland Striders 1763.90
181 – TNT Int’l RC 830.98

Individual results:
27 TOM STEENKAMER Rising Sun MD M 54 21:38 70.44
32 BOB KLESZICS Hockessin DE M 55 21:59 69.90
20 ANDREW JAKUBOWITCH Wilmington DE M 35 20:51 63.21
40 KEITH CRISPIN Bear DE M 46 22:40 63.04
69 LYNN KNOTHE Wilmington DE F 36 24:47 60.50
68 MEGGAN HAIN Wilmington DE F 33 24:40 60.26
519 JOHN SCHULTZ Wilmington DE M 81 44:24 48.54
431 LORRI FENCER Wilmington DE F 52 38:33 44.59

USATF Off-road racing take a break now until the end of October. 2 races remain in the series – the Evansburg Challenge (10/20) and the DE XC Open (11/23).