Pike Creek Valley Running Club News

3/5/15: Banquet Recap, Awards, Onesie, C25K Starts 4/6, Snowball 5 Miler

PCVRC Annual Awards Banquet
A wonderful time was had by all at the Annual Banquet this past Saturday! It was a lot of fun getting to reconnect with friends and honoring some amazing people in our club! Lots of details below.

Many thanks to the Board members and especially to Rachel Perkowski for organizing the banquet while pregnant! It was great to have a snow date pre-arranged and ready when our initial date was snowed out. Hartefeld remains a beautiful facility to have the banquet with very helpful staff and wait servers. Special thanks also to Tom Jermyn for his A/V duties, supplying the laptop for the slideshow and presentation as well as providing his own screen.

Our guest speaker wasn’t able to attend the rescheduled banquet but has already requested to speak at next year’s banquet, a request the club is happy to oblige! We look forward to Kevin Tresolini entertaining us all next year. He’ll have to pack two years of stories into one evening so it will be quite a treat!

A highlight was Jim Steele reaching Rich Szymanski in Utah via FaceTime to present him with the 2014 Member of the Year award. Isn’t technology wonderful?!?

(Photo Credit: Mark DeNio)

PCVRC Onesie
My personal favorite moment from the banquet was a surprise presentation by Stacey Schiller to Ryan & Rachel Perkowski. A club-logo onesie was given to their newborn Logan, anointing the next generation of the club.

(Photo Credit: Nancy Fleming)

Rachel left this comment on the club’s Facebook page:
> Logan and I want to thank the PCVRC for giving him such a cute club onesie – He wants to know when we can sign up for the crib to 5k

(Photo Credit: Rachel Perkowski)

PCVRC Awards
The following awards were given out:

2014 Runner of the Year
Lori Culnane

2014 USATF Male Runner of the Year
Tom Steenkamer

2014 PCVRC Member of the Year (co-awarded this year)
Tom Steenkamer
Rich Szymanski

2014 USATF Female Runner of the Year
Sheri Sweigart

2014 Most Improved Runner of the Year
Michelle Zechman

2014 Most Improved Runner of the Year – C25k
Amy Temple

2014 Comeback Runner of the Year
Wes Stafford

2014 Volunteer of the Year
Mark DeNio

The membership info is noted below in every e-bulletin but let me answer the most frequently-asked question here. If you are a brand-new member and joined us on October 1st, 2014 or later then you are all paid up through 2015! Welcome welcome! We see no need to ask you to join then join again. Your initial membership gets you up to 3 more months to enjoy the club and its activities!

USATF
Ray Christensen created a section on the club website dedicated to the USATF Championships.
From Ray:
Dec 13 National Club XC Championships photos/recap
Photos, results, videos and recap of our bus trip to the race in Lehigh are now gathered together on a page of our website. See http://pcvrc.com/xc-championships14.php and share with any runners who may be interested – especially if they’d consider joining our club or USATF team.

Couch-to-5k Spring Session
The next C25k session will start on Monday, April 6th. Darlise is looking for volunteers to help coach. Previous graduates are especially sought as they can inspire participants and show what heights can be achieved! E-mail Darlise at if you can help.

One additional note is that Joel Schiller will be coaching the walkers so let your friends know if there are any that would like to train to walk a 5k! I will be using the sessions to improve my own walking, encourage people and get encouraged.

Race Results, Reviews and Accomplishments:
Dave Landon ran the Napa Valley Marathon, finishing in 3:24:36! Dave wishes he could have attended the banquet but forced himself to run in the warm sunshine. Thanks for taking one for the team Dave!

Kirsten Landon ran in the Kiwanis 5k race during Napa Valley Weekend. She finished in 34:50! Very impressive.

(Photo Credit: Dave and Kirsten Landon)

Carll Human ran in the Mercedes-Benz Half Marathon, finishing in 1:56:45! Great job!

(Photo Credit: Unknown)

Mike DiGennaro won the 2nd Attack Addiction 5k, finishing in 15:40.9, a 5:02-per-mile pace!

Tom Jermyn won his age group (finishing 15th overall) at the Attack Addiction 5k, completing the course in 20:19.0! Fantastic job Tom!

Mike Piorkowski came in 3rd in his age group at the same 5k, finishing in 22:19.3.

Betty Olmstead came in 3rd in her age group at the same5k, finishing in 43:05.3! Awesome job everyone!

Mike O’Brian won the JCC Snowball 5-miler, finishing in 27:25.1!!! Amazing running considering the icy and snowy conditions!

Matt Cutrona came in 2nd in his age group, finishing in 32:13.3!

Sarah Rusk was the 2nd overall female runner, finishing in 33:17.3!

Jake Landon (bib 7690) won his age group at the JCC 5-Miler, finishing in 31:27.8! Great job!

(Photo Credit: Unknown)

Kelly Horowitz won her age group, finishing in 36:05.3!

(Photo Credit: Jamie Graham)

Dirk Sweigart came in 2nd in his age group, finishing in a fast 34:46.0!

Sheri Sweigart also came in 2nd in her age group, finishing in 36:59.4!

Jerry Herman represented PCVRC in fine style, finishing in 56:13:14!

(Photo Credit: Jamie Graham)

2nd Annual Attack Addiction 5k
(February 22nd – New Castle, DE)

Mike DiGennaro 15:40.9 (Overall Winner)
Tom Jermyn 20:19.0 (1st AG)
Mike Piorkowski 22:19.3 (3rd AG)
Jim Steele 22:42.5
Daniel Wipf 25:35.0
Betty Olmstead 43:05.3 (3rd AG)

2015 Mercedes-Benz Marathon
(February 22nd – Birmingham, AL)

Carll Human 1:56:45

Central Y Tri-Scramble Duathlon
(March 1st – Wilmington, DE)

Amy Temple 55:34 (Duathlon)

Central Y Tri-Scramble Triathlon
(March 1st – Wilmington, DE)

Stacey Schiller 1:08:31
Noel Dietrich 1:13:51
Sharon Miner 1:17:36

JCC Snowball 5-Miler
(March 1st – Wilmington, DE)

Mike O’Brian 27:25.1 (Overall Winner)
Jake Landon 31:27.8 (1st AG)
Matt Cutrona 32:13.3 (2nd AG)
Sarah Rusk 33:17.3 (2nd Overall Female)
Dirk Sweigart 34:46.0 (2nd AG)
Kelly Horowitz 36:03.5 (1st AG)
Sheri Sweigart 36:59.4 (2nd AG)
Kelly Jones 38:28/5 (3rd AG)
Mike Piorkowski 39:12.4
David Baca 42:16.3
Rudy Antonini 54:22.7
Jerry Herman 56:13.4
John Schultz 1:05:16.4
Betty Olmstead 1:12:36.8 (2nd AG)

2015 Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon
(March 1st – Napa, CA)

Dave Landon 3:24:36

2015 Kiwanis 5k
(March 1st – Napa, CA)

Kirsten Landon 34:50

2/25/15: Banquet 2/28, YMCA Tri 3/1, Ugly Mudder recap, Renewal Deadline

PCVRC Annual Awards Banquet
From Interim President Joel Schiller:
We are sorry that we had to postponed last Saturday’s annual PCVRC banquet but we are indeed ON for this Saturday at 6PM at the Hartefeld National Golf Club, 1 Hartefeld Drive, Avondale, PA 19311. Ph: 610-268-8800.

If you have not already done so, please re-confirm your attendance by sending an email to .

Registration for the banquet has also reopened, and if you can now attend, you may register through Thursday Noon at http://www.pcvrc.com/banquet.php.

See you Saturday for a FUN evening!
Joel Schiller
Interim President, PCVRC

A friendly reminder to renew your membership if you haven’t yet. March 1st is the deadline after which you will stop receiving this newsletter as well as all the other benefits. Don’t let that happen! You can either print off the form or renew online!

USATF Off-Road Update – Ugly Mudder 2/22/15
From Tom Steenkamer:
Once again Mother Nature delivered epic conditions for the kickoff race of the USATF trail season. With Saturday’s snow storm adding another 8 inches of new snow to the already snow-covered trails of Reading’s Mt. Penn the race was going to deliver “more value and excitement” to participants. That last comment was made by the race director, Ron Horn, who always puts a sideways spin on his trail events.

Not quite as epic as the 2014 Ugly Mudder, which was held on 15 inches of new snow, this event provided its own unique entertainment for the 12 PCVRC runners.

Due to the trail conditions the race course was shortened from its usual 7m route.

299 runners managed to slip and slide across the approximately 6-mile trek around Mt. Penn. The first quarter-mile of the race was on blacktop but from there on the race leaders would have to “post hole” their way along the trail in wet snow. Temps were warming up by the 11 AM race start and the sun was starting to make it presence felt. That was nice but it just made the snow that much harder to navigate. Thankfully the PCVRC team emerged without injury and with many great performances.

The most interesting part of this race is that it is held on mostly single-track trails. The leaders blazed thru deep snow, packing it down for those who follow. Whilst passing opportunities existed they required blazing your own off-trail path over the snow-covered rocks, root and tree limbs.

The finish led to some unexpected results. It is preceded by the final steep climb of the day that is barely runnable under normal conditions. The race leader had been in the front since the very beginning. He slipped going up the final climb and was passed by 2 PCVRC team members. At the top of the hill a 150m sprint ensued to the finish line where the new leader lost his footing and fell a mere 3 feet from the finish. Seizing the opportunity and hoping to avoid stepping on him Mike O’Brian hurdled over the downed runner to win the event!

PCVRC participants:
Mike O’Brian 1st
Herv DaCosta 2nd
Mark Hannigan 6th and 1st AG
Paul Randolph
Tim Schuler 1st AG
Jessica Cataldo 1st Female
Tom Steenkamer 2nd AG
Keith Crispin
Lisa Jalot 1st Female Master and 3rd Female overall
Tom Jermyn
Rich Szymanski
Mark Holliday

USATF team scores have not been completed at the time of this note.

Central YMCA Indoor Triathlon/Duathlon
The race is THIS Sunday!
Joel Schiller is the race director for a very unique race. There are three stages: a 20-lap pool swim, a 15-mile SPIN bike ride and a 3-mile treadmill run. Start time slots run between 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM. You get to choose your start time and the order you do the stages in. Transition times do not count so you’re not penalized if your transitions are slower than most. If you do the duathlon you can choose from any of the three stage types!

Registration is only $20 (until January 31st, $25 afterward and day-of) and you get a tech t-shirt and a finisher’s medal! Here’s the link to sign up online. (Online registration closes on Feb. 26th. Day-of registration will be available, starting at 8 AM.)

Race Results, Reviews and Accomplishments:
Tom Steenkamer gave a great recap of the Ugly Mudder so I’ll just leave this picture here.

(Photo Credit: Theo Hardies)

12th Annual Ugly Mudder 7-Mile Trail Run
(February 22nd – Reading, PA)

Mike O’Brian 1:00:35 (Male Overall Winner)
Herv DaCosta 1:00:38 (2nd Overall Male)
Mark Hannigan 1:00:53 (1st AG)
Paul Randolph 1:01:22
Tim Schuler 1:01:33 (1st AG)
Jessica Cataldo 1:01:35 (Female Overall Winner)
Tom Steenkamer 1:01:36 (2nd AG)
Lisa Jalot 1:02:35 (Master’s Female Winner)
Tom Jermyn 1:03:09
Rich Szymanski 1:05:11
Mark Holliday 1:14:32

Pike Creek Valley Running Club Membership Fee Structure and Renewal Policy
The current dues are $25 per membership, which includes family members and significant others, and covers membership for the calendar year. The renewal period runs from October 1st through March 1st. If you are planning to remain a member of PCVRC, you must renew by March 1st. On March 1st, those who have not renewed are not eligible for club member benefits such as e-bulletin, member pricing at banquet, free Boston Send-off party, etc.

Any member who races for PCVRC in 4 or more USATF races, and is a member of USATF, will receive complimentary PCVRC membership for the following calendar year.

New members who join on or after June 1st but before October 1st will pay a reduced rate of $15 to cover membership for the remainder of the current calendar year, then are subject to same renewal policy as current members stated above. Anyone who joins on or after October 1st would pay $25 that would cover them for remainder of current calendar year and the entire following calendar year.

To sign up or renew you can to to the Join/Renew page in the below links section.

If mailing, send a check or money order (payable to PCVRC) to:
PCVRC
PO Box 3259
Wilmington, DE 19804

2/18/15: Banquet Sat…. Ugly Sun… Tyler Apr 11… C25K Apr 6

PCVRC Annual Awards Banquet
Save the Date! The PCVRC annual awards banquet will be held at Hartefeld National in Avondale, PA during the evening of February 21st.

We have a LOT to celebrate this year, so we hope you will all join us for an evening of fun, good food, and celebration of our achievements. Kevin Tresolini of The News-Journal will be our speaker. Kevin has over 30 years’ experience in journalism and will have many exciting stories to tell us!

The Tyler Arboretum Trail Run is April 11th but registration is closing soon! The race is capped at 400 runners and they were over 350 this past weekend.

USATF – From Tom Steenkamer:
USATF Tyler Arboretum 10k Trail Run – Selling out
It’s that time again – the annual Tyler Arboretum trail run is quickly approaching a sellout.
That’s correct this fun 10k is Saturday April 11th and already has over 350 registered runners.
The race is capped at 400 entries due to parking limitations.
We still need 3 members to field a full team for this event.
Please check your calendars and get registered.

Ugly Mudder, Sunday 2/22/15
The 2015 USATF Off-Road Season kicks off in Reading, PA with the Ugly Mudder 7-mile trail run. Always a good time and plenty of post-race celebration to go around at the LeiderKranz. Day of registration is always available. Full race information is available here. Car pools forming now, contact Tom Steenkamer at for more info.

Central YMCA Indoor Triathlon/Duathlon
Joel Schiller is the race director for a very unique race. There are three stages: a 20-lap pool swim, a 15-mile SPIN bike ride and a 3-mile treadmill run. Start time slots run between 10:00 AM and 1:30 PM. You get to choose your start time and the order you do the stages in. Transition times do not count so you’re not penalized if your transitions are slower than most. If you do the duathlon you can choose from any of the three stage types!

Race Results, Reviews and Accomplishments
(No submissions this week.)

2/11/15: Club Challenge XC, Ugly Mudder, Indoor Tri, Tom J.

PCVRC Annual Awards Banquet
Save the Date! The PCVRC annual awards banquet will be held at Hartefeld National in Avondale, PA during the evening of February 21st. Sign-up forms are now available at http://pcvrc.com/banquet.php. You can either register online or mail in your form with a check to the PO Box via snail mail.

We have a LOT to celebrate this year, so we hope you will all join us for an evening of fun, good food, and celebration of our achievements. Kevin Tresolini of The News-Journal will be our speaker. Kevin has over 30 years’ experience in journalism and will have many exciting stories to tell us!

The Annual Banquet is one week away from this Saturday! You only have until Thursday to sign up!

Got some USATF updates to pass along. Please note that pre-registration for the Club Challenge this Sunday is not required but strongly requested. If you decide that morning to take the challenge you are more than welcome! You can always warm up afterward at Schaefer’s Canal House.

The Broad Street Run lottery registration ends this Friday, February 13th! All 2015 USATF members are guaranteed entry but you must register for the lottery!

The Ugly Mudder 7-mile Trail Run on 2/22 kicks off the 2015 USATF Off-Road Season! Come kick it off in high style.

4th Annual Delaware Inter-Club Challenge 5k – Sunday February 15th, 1PM start
From Tom Steenkamer:
The date has been set for this year’s annual Inter-Club Challenge 5k. You may recall that we had to cancel last year’s event due to excessive ice covering on the Bellevue State Park course. This is a free run that attempts to solicit participation from as many of the Delaware running clubs in fun format. We hope to see a full contingent of our members out for a fun romp thru the park to be followed by a post-race celebration at Schaefer’s Canal House.

The host club this year is the Middletown Athletic Club who are anxious to entertain us with another 5k run on Sunday, February 15th at Lums Pond State Park. Start time will be 1PM. The race will be conducted on the marked 5k high school cross country course. Once again our good friends at NOVA Timing have volunteered their services and equipment for the day.

Scoring
From the inception of this race we have always viewed this as a chance for all of the running clubs to come together for camaraderie and socialization. However, there is also a club scoring component.

Scoring – age-graded as in the past.

Club team scoring to be calculated:
Top 7 point scorers, MUST include:
– Two females
– Two runners over the age of 50

Advance registration is required to facilitate the club scoring.
Please use the following registration link.

USATF From Tom Steenkamer:
Broad St Run 2015 registration deadline
The Broad St. 10-Mile Run Lottery is now open. All runners must enter the lottery to be considered for entry. The entry deadline is this Friday, 2/13/15.

Don’t delay! Lottery registration is here. Note that all 2015 USATF members are guaranteed entry but MUST enter the lottery.

Race Results, Reviews and Accomplishments:
Tom Jermyn won the Master’s race at the Run to the Plunge 5k on January 31st, finishing in 20:17! Awesome job Tom!

(Photo Credit: Paula Jermyn)

Run to the Plunge 5k
(January 31st – Rehoboth Beach, DE)

Tom Jermyn 20:17

2/5/15: Banquet Deadline, Club Challenge, C25K, DDC Thanks, BIG Day 5k

The Annual Banquet is two weeks away from this Saturday! The registration deadline has been extended to February 12th. The form is online. You don’t want to miss it!

The USATF Awards Banquet is this Saturday, February 7th!

The INTER-Club Challenge is February 15th, just over a week away! Details below.

Tom Steenkamer is looking for more male runners for the 2015 USATF Off-Road racing team. E-mail him at if you are interested!

Tom is also looking for an assistant to help with recruitment, racing, organizing teams, etc. E-mail him at the above address if you can help!

4th Annual Delaware Inter-Club Challenge 5k – Sunday February 15th, 1PM start
From Tom Steenkamer:
Happy New Year everyone,

The date has been set for this year’s annual Inter-Club Challenge 5k. You may recall that we had to cancel last year’s event due to excessive ice covering on the Bellevue State Park course. This is a free run that attempts to solicit participation from as many of the Delaware running clubs in fun format. We hope to see a full contingent of our members out for a fun romp thru the park to be followed by a post-race celebration at Schaefer’s Canal House.

Scoring
From the inception of this race we have always viewed this as a chance for all of the running clubs to come together for camaraderie and socialization. However, there is also a club scoring component.

Scoring – age-graded as in the past.

Club team scoring to be calculated:
Top 7 point scorers, MUST include:
– Two females
– Two runners over the age of 50

Advance registration is required to facilitate the club scoring.
Please use the following registration link. Registration

Delaware Distance Classic Donations
The club received a nice Thank You this week from Delaware City for our donation to their Playground Fund. Your participation in the Delaware Distance Classic also benefited the Ursuline Academy, the Daughters of the British Empire, Delaware City Police, the Bear YMCA and the Mike Clark Legacy Fund! All the recipients thank you profusely!

Race Results, Reviews and Accomplishments:
Dan Feeney was one of only 13 Elite Male finishers (plus 4 DNFs) in the 2015 Punta Guilarte CAMTRI Triathlon American Cup race in Punta Guilarte Arroyo, Puerto Rico this past Sunday!!! He did a 1,500m swim, a 40k bike leg and then a 10k run, all in 2:07:24! What’s more is the elite males didn’t even start until 3 p.m. in the afternoon! No cool race, just get up and get going for these guys. They were literally the last group to race that day and Dan rocked it!

Zach Chupa won the Race on the Big Day 5k this past Sunday, finishing in 16:58:3!

(Photo Credit: Mark DeNio)

Jake Landon came in 3rd overall in the Race on the Big Day 5k, finishing in 18:27.3! I have to apologize to Jake because neither my in-race pictures or awards ceremony pictures of him came out. Guess he’s just too fast for my camera!

Dave Landon, Jake’s dad, is not too fast for my camera. He finished in 19:01.3, winning his age group! Awesome job!

Betty Olmstead finished 2nd in her age group, finishing in 43:57.3! Great job Betty!

Punta Guillarte CAMTRI Triathlon American Cup
(February 1st – Punta Guilarte Arroyo, PR)

Dan Feeney 2:07:24

2nd Race on the BIG Day 5k
(February 1st – Wilmington, DE)

Zach Chupa 16:58.3 (1st Overall)
Jake Landon 18:27.3 (3rd Overall Male)
Dave Landon 19:01.3 (1st AG)
Mike Piorkowski 22:41.3
Noel Dietrich 29:16.0
Chrissy Hower 37:31.3
Betty Olmstead 43:57.3