Three Club Challenge was a rousing success
With beautiful weather for February and temperatures in the 40s, the first Three Club Challenge proved to be a rousing success. At least 100 people were in attendance although it is unclear exactly how many ran since there was a problem with some of the chip-timed results not being recorded. Scoring is a bit too complicated to explain here, but suffice it to say that there had to be so many finishers for each club from different age groups and both sexes.

Led by eight year-old Anthony Avila, Delaware Running Club made a strong showing. (in recent national competition in December, young master Avila posted a 3K time of 10:38, whicj age-grades at WORLD CLASS.) PCVRC was second team and Middletown Athletic Club was second. However, in the aftermath of the race and at the gathering at the Deer Park for food and drink, any thought about which team won appeared to be secondary to the camaraderie of enjoying the company of other runners. Many of the participants knew that their time on a XC course would be off from their road race times, and so, instead, enjoyed the effort of a good workout.

At the very bottom of this bulletin, the database of results is attached. If you participated, but your results are not included, contact Rich Szymanski, .

We thank Kim Riccio for her great photos of the event that can be found by link at www.pcvrc.com/photos.php

Rich Szymanski has confirmed with Mike Monagle that Pike Creek Valley Running Club won the Three Club Challenge race. The plaque will be engraved and on display at the Delaware Running Company store.

Scoring was done in the usual XC manner: The finishing place for the first runner of each of the club in each of the required categories is counted. The lowest total wins. Here are the results:

Pike Creek
Under 30 Austin Gee (27)
+50 Geg Cauller (3)
+50 Tom (5)
Female Sarah Rusk (21)
Female Beth Howlett (8)
Next two finishers regardless of category
Herv Dacosta (4)
Fred Shuffleberger (7)
Total Score = 73 for these seven scores

Delaware Running Club
Under 30 – Adrew Avila (1)
+ 50 Carol Giampietro (16)
+50 Mike Koenigbauer (33)
Female Liz Sweirzbinski (25)
Next three finishers regardless of category
Steven Garrett (2)
Mike Flanagan (10)
Mike Ward (14)
Total Score = 101 (Note – Carol filled two categories – +50 and female; therefore, another extra finisher was counted.)

Middletown:
Under 30 – Marshall Hawkins (6)
+ 50 Paul Lebanik (63)
+50 Joe ward (67)
Female Joyce Medieros (56)
Female Kalli Riley (57)
Next finisher regardless of category
Rob Goodman (9)
John Townsend (12)
Total score= 270

Banquet last call
Meal choice forms and payment are due to Rachel by 2/24, so please mail it today if you haven’t already. Cost to members is just $35 since the club is subsidizing the remainder of the $55 per plate price! Info and form download at: http://www.pcvrc.com/eventlistitem.php?id=57

Broad Street Run Lottery thru 2/24
From the event directors:
Registration for the May 6, 2012 Blue Cross Broad Street Run is now closed.
Registration for the Blue Cross Broad Street Run has exceeded our wildest expectations with over 30,000 runners registering in a record five hours. We apologize for the many runners who have tried repeatedly today to enter into the race and because of this we are going to have a second chance lottery for an additional 2500 runners to be permitted into the event.
The lottery link will be posted on the front page of www.BroadstreetRun.com later this evening and runners may enter the lottery at any time between now and February 24th. With the lottery chosen over the following weekend.
It is with deep appreciation to the entire running community for making this event the success that it is.
We are committed to put on a first class event as we have in the past. Additional opportunities to enter the race are also available through the official charity of the Blue Cross Broad Street Run, the American Cancer Society and you may access their link here acsdetermination.org/broadstreetrun
Please visit www.broadstreetrun.com for more information.

Annual Gore Gear Sale 3/31
Tom Steenkamer passes this along via the Trail Dawgs:
If you’re looking for some new gear at some great prices, check out the following PDF link.
This semi-annual sale is quite busy, so get there early if you’re definitely going to attend.
http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/4118389/1545228341/name/Tent+Sale+2012.pdf

Register early for Tyler Arboretum
Rich & Tom remind everyone:
It seems crazy to be talking about pre-race registration for a trail run, but the popularity of trail racing is growing. The Tyler Arboretum race has very low entry number due to parking restrictions.

The race director for the Tyler Arboretum race wants to let everyone know the he expects to sell out well in advance of race day � Saturday, March 31st. The race has become very popular due to its wide trails, and is probably one of the most runnable trails runs on the circuit. Last year it sold out 2 weeks prior to the race date.
Please let Rich know if you are able to participate and complete either the online or paper registration as soon as possible.

Running Into Yoga: Free Yoga Sessions for members
Club member Caitlin Reilly is getting certified as a Yoga instructor and has offered to lead free sessions for members. She’ll lead one after each of our coming Wednesday 6pm group runs, starting at 7pm at Ray’s house (short walk from Delcastle parking). 2630 Crossgates Dr., Wilmington, 19808
Please RSVP to Caitlin at

Three Club Challenge 5K
2012-02-19 Sunday Feb 19 at 2:00pm
Location: White Clay Creek State Park

5K trail race team competition between PCVRC, Delaware Running Club and Middletown Athletic Club will be held at White Clay Creek State Park’s 5k XC on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 2pm. There is no park entry fee nor will there be a race entry fee. Afterwards, we can all head to the Deer Park for drinks, food, etc…

If you haven’t done a trail race, this would be a good way to check it out since course is not technical. It will be age graded and all are invited to participate. Come out to run or to just support our team.

As “official sponsor” of this “unofficial race”, NOVA will be providing chip timing (laced into shoes)! You don’t have to be “fast” to support our team. If you expect to run, please email both Rich and Tom with your age so that the age-grading will be easier:

Scoring will be as follows…
Seven runners score.
One runner under 30
Two runners over 50
Two females
An under 30 female would count as two requirements, as an example.

Meet at Carpenter Recreation Area parking lots at White Clay Park (see map at http://www.destateparks.com/downloads/maps/white-clay-creek/carpenter.pdf) Entrance is on New London Road (896).

Runners should arrive by 1:30 to get organized. Meeting area at the Pavilion for:
Brief course orientation for anyone who is not familiar with the layout.
Distribute chips for timing,
Process any day-of registration.

Bring a second pair of shoes and socks if you are joining us afterward at the Deer Park.

The Broad Street Ten Miler registration closed out in six hours yesterday. Those USATF members who still wish to register should e-mail Ed Maher at . He will provide each person with a unique code to enter on a website that will allow you to register. But you only have until the beginning of next week, so act ASAP.

Dues Due
Does anyone still need to pay their dues? Yes! Remember – $25 and mail to PCVRC, P.O.box 3259, Wilmington, DE 19804.

Have all who intend to go to the banquet filled out their forms and sent them to Rachel yet? No! Rather than print the form here, go to: http://www.pcvrc.com/eventlistitem.php?id=57.

The Ugly Mudder Seven Miler, the first event in the MA-USATF Off-Road series for 2012, will be Sunday, February 26. Those interested in participating, who still haven’t registered for the event, can do so here:

http://www.pretzelcitytiming.com/uglymudder.html. For those who are not yet members of USATF who wish to participate, you should know that a USATF representative is available at each event in either series for you to sign up in advance of the race.

Running Into Yoga: Free Yoga Sessions for members continue 2/22
Club member Caitlin Reilly is getting certified as a Yoga instructor and has offered to lead free sessions for members. She’ll lead one after each of our coming Wednesday 6pm group runs, starting at 7pm at Ray’s house (short walk from Delcastle parking). 2630 Crossgates Dr., Wilmington, 19808

Additional sessions may be available…
The 1/2 hour workshop isn’t too fancy or serious — just a good cap on the run. For those with sore joints or muscles, they may prevent the “ow” with some “om!” It would include:
– stretching
– strengthening (including core work)
– a cool down

Participants should bring:
– water
– layers (preferably exercise pants or long sleeve shirts with shorts or t-shirts underneath)
– an exercise mat
– (optional) yoga blocks or stretching rope
Please RSVP to Caitlin at

Caesar Rodney Team Discount
I’ll (Ray) again arrange teams for CR (3/25) for potential discount and potential medals. Club members or non-club members, doesn’t matter.

If you have not yet signed up, current price is $60 but team competition info is below. Each member runs the entire 13.1. Team cost is $250, so cost is
5 runners = $50 ea
6 runners = $42 ea
7 runners = $36 ea (we’ve ended up with 6-7 per team every time so far)

If you can commit to a team entry, email me () just your name / sex / age by Feb 21.
Team registration is online only this year, so at that time, we’ll determine team composition(s) to try to cover as many categories as possible such as Female Open, Male Masters, etc. Then one person from each team will register and pay as team captain and the other members will complete their info online and sign a waiver. No guarantees which category you’ll be in.
So send me your info if you’re in, and pass this message to friends who wish to represent Delaware.
CR website: http://action.lungusa.org/site/TR?fr_id=5030&pg=entry

Three Club Challenge 5K
2012-02-19 Sunday Feb 19 at 2:00pm

Location: White Clay Creek State Park
5K trail race team competition between PCVRC, Delaware Running Club and Middletown Athletic Club will be held at White Clay Creek State Park’s 5k XC on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 2pm. There is no park entry fee nor will there be a race entry fee. Afterwards, we can all head to the Deer Park for drinks, food, etc…

If you haven’t done a trail race, this would be a good way to check it out since course is not technical. It will be age graded and all are invited to participate. Come out to run or to just support our team.

As ‘official sponsor’ of this ‘unofficial race’, NOVA will be providing chip timing (laced into shoes)! You don’t have to be “fast” to support our team. If you expect to run, please email both Rich and Tom with your age so that the age-grading will be easier:

Scoring will be as follows…
Seven runners score.
One runner under 30
Two runners over 50
Two females
An under 30 female would count as two requirements, as an example.

RSVP to Rich with your name/age as far in advance as possible:
— and thank-you to Rich for organizing!

I’m not sure whether you want to do the following run if you plan to race in the Three Club Challenge, but I’m posting it again for those who are interested:

Tower Hill Fun Run 2/18
Delaware Running Club invites PCVRC members to join them on Feb 18th for a 10 Mile marathon-paced run. Tower Hill – 7 AM. Each mile is marked for an out and back run(up to seven miles on RT. 52 for those who want to do a 14-miler).

Everyone goes off in 5 minute increments based on goal time. Starting at 85 minutes (for 10 miles) then the 80 minute group and so forth. OPEN to EVERYONE! No cost to anyone. Hot Chocolate and Coffee available at the finish (unless it is pouring rain).

Awards Banquet
The form for the banquet is attached at the bottom of this bulletin. Please that the following people have been added to the previous list of Notable Achievers: Jay Cougenour, Lori Culnane, darlise diMatteo, Carole feole, Karin Pszczola and Mark Vilardo.

Dues! Dues! Dues! We received six renewals this week, but there are more to go. You know who you are, but if you don’t, look in your check register to make sure you’ve written a check to the club in 2012. Please renew your dues or otherwise let us know your intentions about belonging to the club. $25 to PCVRC, P.O.Box 3259, Wilmington, DE 19804. You can add the money for your dues in with the money for banquet reservations.

Running Into Yoga: Free Yoga Sessions for members start 2/15
Club member Caitlin Reilly is getting certified as a Yoga instructor and has offered to lead free sessions for members. She’ll lead one after each of our coming Wednesday 6pm group runs, starting at 7pm at Ray’s house (short walk from Delcastle parking). 2630 Crossgates Dr., Wilmington, 19808

Additional sessions may be available…

The 1/2 hour workshop isn’t too fancy or serious — just a good cap on the run. For those with sore joints or muscles, they may prevent the “ow” with some “om!” It would include:
– stretching
– strengthening (including core work)
– a cool down

Participants should bring:
– water
– layers (preferably exercise pants or long sleeve shirts with shorts or t-shirts underneath)
– an exercise mat
– (optional) yoga blocks or stretching rope
Please RSVP to Caitlin at

Caesar Rodney Team Discount
I’ll (Ray) again arrange teams for CR (3/25) for potential discount and potential medals. Club members or non-club members, doesn�t matter.
If you have not yet signed up, current price is $60 but team competition info is below. Each member runs the entire 13.1. Team cost is $250, so cost is
5 runners = $50 ea
6 runners = $42 ea
7 runners = $36 ea (we’ve ended up with 6-7 per team every time so far)
If you can commit to a team entry, email me () just your name / sex / age by Feb 21.

Team registration is online only this year, so at that time, we�ll determine team composition(s) to try to cover as many categories as possible such as Female Open, Male Masters, etc. Then one person from each team will register and pay as team captain and the other members will complete their info online and sign a waiver. No guarantees which category you’ll be in.
So send me your info if you�re in, and pass this message to friends who wish to represent Delaware.
CR website: http://action.lungusa.org/site/TR?fr_id=5030&pg=entry

PCVRC Board Chooses Members to Receive Awards at Banquet
After careful consideration, the board chose an expanded group of people to receive award for their 2011 running achievements. The following will receive awards at the Banquet to be held at White Clay Country Club on Saturday, March 3. See the banquet form at the very bottom of this E-Bulletin:

Hall of Fame inductees: Gerald Herman and John Schultz
Member of the Year: Ray Christensen
Major Awards: Epi Camacho, Greg Cauller, Matt Cutrona, Sheri Herrmann, Fred Shufflebarger, Dan Suher, Dan Weintraub and Vic Zwolak.

Notable Achievers: Denise Boyle, Deborah Compton, Dave Farren, Jordan Fridman, Chris James, Lynn Knothe, Josh Loren, Carolyn McCorquodale, Claire Neilan, Ryan Perkowski, Nina Smeltzer, Wes Stafford and Tom Steenkamer.

Dues! Dues! Dues! Lots of club members have yet to renew. Please renew your dues or otherwise let us know your intentions about belonging to the club. $25 to PCVRC, P.O.Box 3259, Wilmington, DE 19804. You can add the money for your dues in with the money for banquet reservations.

The Winter Fun Run at Can-Do Park introduced some of us Pike Creekers to the some of the Greenway Trail on the north side of Wilmington. From that site one could run into Wilmington, out to Brandywine Creek St. Pk., or all the way out to Fox Point St. Park on the Delaware River. Even though I only run about six and a half miles, my quads paid for the hills. About a dozen came to the brunch afterward at Kid Shelleen’s and a quorum of the board even made a decision on an award at the meal was ending.

Broad Street Run – From Ed Maher of USATF:
Following is information regarding Broad Street Run registration that was discussed during our “Club Call” phone conference yesterday evening.

The Broad Street Run opens for registration on Wednesday Feb. 15, 2012 at 10:00am. his race has reached its entry limit of 30,000 runners in increasingly shorter timeframes in the past few years. In 2011 the race sold out within five days. If the race sells out in an even shorter timeframe this year, we realize it’s possible some USATF Mid-Atlantic members may be unsuccessful in registering.

To address this possibility, the Mid-Atlantic LDR Committee, in cooperation with the Broad Street Run race organizers, have established the following process:

1. This process only applies to 2012 USATF Mid-Atlantic members of record as of Feb. 14, 2012. i.e. the day prior to Broad Street opening for registration. Not sure if you are a member? You can check your membership via the National USATF web site here: Membership Number Lookup We will also periodically update the “2012 USATF Mid-Atlantic Members” link on the Long Distance Running page on the Mid-Atlantic web site. It currently reflects Mid-Atlantic members as of 1/12/12.

2. USATF Mid-Atlantic 2012 members who are unsuccessful in registering for the race before registration closes due to the race reaching its entry limit should immediately notify our Grand Prix coordinator, Ed Maher, by email at:

3. Our Grand Prix coordinator will verify the individual’s membership (USATF membership record as of midnight Feb. 14, 2012) and provide the member with a code, specific to that member, which will enable them to register for the race within five days after the race closes due to reaching its entry limit.

Please pass this information along to your Mid-Atlantic club members. This information will also be posted on the Grand Prix page on the USATF Mid-Atlantic web site and distributed by email to members of record by email similar to the distribution of the mid-Atlantic Newsletter. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of individuals ensuring their 2012 Mid-Atlantic membership is current by Feb. 14, 2012 in order to be accommodated with this process.

___________________________

Three Club Challenge 5K
2012-02-19 Sunday Feb 19 at 2:00pm
Location: White Clay Creek State Park

5K trail race team competition between PCVRC, Delaware Running Club and Middletown Athletic Club will be held at White Clay Creek State Park’s 5k XC on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 2pm. There is no park entry fee nor will there be a race entry fee. Afterwards, we can all head to the Deer Park for drinks, food, etc…

If you haven’t done a trail race, this would be a good way to check it out since course is not technical. It will be age graded and all are invited to participate. Come out to run or to just support our team.

Scoring will be as follows…
Seven runners score.
One runner under 30
Two runners over 50
Two females
An under 30 female would count as two requirements, as an example.

We may even have professional timing done by NOVA!

RSVP to Rich with your name/age as far in advance as possible:
— and thank-you to Rich for organizing!

Winter Run 1/29 10am: RSVP to Dirk
We’re planning a 5K fun run along the Delaware Greenway Trail for Sunday morning, Jan 29 to be followed by socializing over lunch or brunch at Kid Shelleen’s.

This is an out-and-back run so people can go as far as they like. It is a 4.5 mile mostly-paved path with occasional road crossings in one direction (to Bellevue Park) and a hilly trail run (through Alopocas) in the other direction – so runners can choose their terrain. We’ll start together at 10:10, so try to be on time. This is a free event for members AND non-members, so bring friends. Location, directions at www.pcvrc.com/eventlist.php

Contact Dirk Sweigart at to give us an idea of number or especially if you can assist in any way.

Club Awards Banquet 3/3 6pm at White Clay Creek Country Club
Please mark the date on your calendar to attend our annual club banquet on March 3. Menu items and keynote speaker info coming soon. Plan to attend to celebrate a new year of running, honor our award winners, vote for club officers and enjoy good food with good people. Last chance to submit nominees for club awards (by 1/23).

Tower Hill Fun Run 2/18
Delaware Running Club invites PCVRC members to join them on Feb 18th for a 10 Mile marathon-paced run. Tower Hill – 7 AM. Each mile is marked for an out and back run(up to seven miles on RT. 52 for those who want to do a 14-miler).

Everyone goes off in 5 minute increments based on goal time. Starting at 85 minutes (for 10 miles) then the 80 minute group and so forth. OPEN to EVERYONE! No cost to anyone. Hot Chocolate and Coffee available at the finish (unless it is pouring rain).

Club Membership Reminder
Please mail in your 2012 $25 member dues if you haven’t already (unless you ran at least 4 USATF events as a USATF member last year). PCVRC has renewed its club memberships with both RRCA and USATF for 2012.

Icicle Run Recap
Below are the results of the Icicle Run 10-Miler. This race is always in mid-January and provides a welcome venue for those runners who long to compete at distances longer than a 5K. This race provides a good mid-point from some early December races to the Caesar Rodney Half-Marathon in March. In particular runners get to gage their fitness on a course which closely resembles that of CR.

PCVRC had 25 runners participate in the event and several other members volunteered, ran a few miles with one of the participants or hung out at the post-race party at Washington St. Ale House. Personally this is the only race in which I have run every year since I started racing, making 18 straight now. Of course, club member Bruce Hubbard has done something over 30 straight.

The day was crisp and cold, about right for mid-January, but with the mild winter, probably many were probably not used to dealing with the conditions. Nevertheless, most runners had on layers and had more of their head and face covered than usual. Still with a good northwesterly breeze, it made warming up difficult until one turned around and began heading back in Pennslyvania Ave. With no ice on the course, as has happened a few times in the recent past, most people seemed fairly pleased with their times.

Results:
Icicle Run 10 Miler (chip times):

  53:15 Mike DiGennaro, 2nd Overall, 1st 30-34
1:01:36 Herv DaCosta, 1st 45-49
1:02:51 Greg Cauller, 1st 50-54
1:05:00 Keith Crispin
1:08:04 Epi Camacho, 2nd 55-59
1:08:40 Tom Steemkamer
1:10:41 Chris James
1:11:06 Adam Shilling
1:12:34 Dirk Sweigart
1:12:44 Lynn Knothe, 3rd 30-34
1:15:26 Dave Baca
1:15:59 Ray Christensen
1:16:44 Sheri Herrmann, 1st 40-44
1:23:56 Jim Steele
1:28:10 Jack Horowitz
1:28:53 Elena Kupchik
1:30:42 Bruce Hubbard, 3rd 65-69
1:31:17 Dave McCorquodale
1:35:00 Andrea Landany
1:35:00 Darlise DiMatteo
1:37:40 Tricia Szymanski
1:50:35 Stacey Schiller
1:50:35 Joel Schiller
2:03:26 John Schultz, 2nd 70+
2:06:51 Ralph McKinney

Rehoboth Half-Marathon
2:21:28 John Patrick Bradley