From President Ray:
Critical: The club is short the number of volunteers it needs!
Delaware Marathon Course Marshals needed
For those not running a Delaware Marathon event, please contact Ray if you can volunteer to help keep runners safe in our Bancroft Parkway area of the course on Sunday May 13 7:15-9:30am, 9:30-noon, or both. It’s a critical place and we’ve barely had enough people to cover it in the past. You’ll get a shirt and you’ll have fun. Let me know soon if you’re in or can bring a friend! 302-633-1482
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Delaware Marathon Running Festival
Good Luck to all participating in the Delaware Marathon Relay Festival! Whether you are running the full marathon, the half-marathon, part of a relay team or a volunteer, it should be a great time and a celebration of running in Delaware!

Results of all club members will be posted if I find them. If you are a newer club member or a member of a relay team, don’t hesitate to alert me to your results and team names.

Race Results:
Delaware City Duathlon (5K run,16 mi. bike, 5K run), 4/21
(These are late; please clue me in to duathlons and triathlons if you are participating because I don’t normally check for those results.)
1:18:13 Josh Loren, 1st 30-34
1:33:36 Chris James, 3rd 35-39
1:34:10 Tom Jermyn, 3rd 50-54
1:38:08 Andrea Landany, 1st 45-49
1:41:01 Rich Szymanski
1:42:20 Darlise Dimatteo, 2nd 45-49
1:43:49 Don Ropp
1:44:31 Kyle Ropp, 1st <19
1:48:49 Kelly Jones-Reph, 2nd 35-39
1:49:51 Tony Chelpaty
1:51:55 Joel Schiller
1:56:09 Denise Boyle, 2nd 50-54
1:58:58 Paula Jermyn, 3rd 50-54, 1st Duathlon
2:48:31 John Schultz, 1st 70+

New Jersey Marathon
6:51:48 John Schultz, 1st 77-79

Broad Street Ten Miler
Apparently MA-USATF is having difficulty receiving the full results from the race organization. USATF results will be printed next week. Meanwhile, here are individuals times. Please send in your time if I missed it.
1:08:47 David Baca
1:08:54 Lee Kauffman
1:11:50 Michael Peyton
1:12:55 Sheri Herrmann
1:12:55 Dirk Sweigart
1:13:38 Don Ropp
1:14:29 Dan Simmons
1:21:22 Beth Howlett
1:35:48 Deborah Compton
1:33:31 Elena Kupchik
1:39:27 Jerry Herman
2:00:18 Ralph McKinney

Teal Ribbon 5K
17:43 Greg Cauller, 3rd Overall, 1st Master

Links for Club Members:
PCVRC Coming Events: http://www.pcvrc.com/eventlist.php
PCVRC News Bulletins: http://www.pcvrc.com/news.php

Wilkinson Roofing & Siding is a commercial roofer, represented by club member Rachel Bleacher! www.WilkinsonRoofing.com
New Balance Brandywine & Christiana stores offer a 20% discount to current club members. www.NBretail.com
Foot Care Group provides comprehensive care and treatment of the foot and ankle. www.FootCareGroup.org
Harvest Market provides organic and natural foods, nutritional supplements, and natural health care products. www.HarvestMarketNaturalFoods.com

From President Ray:
Delaware Marathon Course Marshals needed
For those not running a Delaware Marathon event, please contact Ray if you can volunteer to help keep runners safe in our Bancroft Parkway area of the course on Sunday May 13 7:15-9:30am, 9:30-noon, or both. It’s a critical place and we’ve barely had enough people to cover it in the past.
You’ll get a shirt and you’ll have fun. Let me know soon if you’re in or can bring a friend! 302-633-1482

Club Dues Payment can now be made online
We’ve created a PayPal button at www.pcvrc.com/join.php so new members and renewals can be paid using your credit card. There are still a handful of members who haven’t yet renewed for 2012, so check it out. Online dues are $26 to cover the credit card fee (but cheaper than Active.com!). New members are still requested to complete the member form and sign it.

Triple Crown recap From Tom Steemkamer:
This past Saturday marked the running of the 15th annual Triple Crown trail races sponsored by the Trail Dawgs. As the week progressed I found myself becoming more anxious about how we were would be able to fill out the team. As of Tuesday I had received entry confirmation from only four of the usual off road team. We had Lorri Fencer confirmed to fill the required female, but were still one short. As usual Rich told me not to stress and that we would be fine by Saturday. With injuries and other conflicts I was not as confident. Sure enough on race day we would place 12 PCVRC team members on the starting line.

The race director announced that the course would be run in the reverse direction for this year. This was going to be interesting. We’d now start with a short 200 meter sprint to a 180 turn around the tree line followed by a mad dash down the steepest hill on the course and into the single track. After the usual prerace instruction from the RD and a blessing of the runners the RD fielded last minute questions from the runners. In response to the question about mile markers on the course – the reply provided – “No, after all it does not matter. Remember, no matter where you go, there you are!” (Extra credit if you can identify the source of that quote.)

The runners received the start command and the mad dash to the trail head begins. I had good position on the outside to make a wide turn around the tree line and then gain some separation from the pack before we hit the downhill. At the bottom of the downhill a hard left and then right brought us onto the trail and immediately there was a casualty. At the base of the hill a small footbridge covers a shallow stream. A runner somehow caught his foot on the edge of the platform and performs a complete belly flop/slide across the bridge. He promptly bounced up and continued on. We applauded his effort and gave him a 9.5 for style! Passing him on the first hill climb we assessed the damage and noticed he was remarkably unscathed. The balance of the run proved uneventful.

In my opinion running the course counter clockwise provides a bit more of a challenge; the uphills are longer, the downhills shorter and that finishing climb from Hopkins Rd past the Arc Monument is a real beast. The best part of this event is the post-race BBQ. Burgers, dogs and cookies too. A great day on the trails. Thanks to all who supported the PCVRC off road team!
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Running on “home turf” a dozen club members participated in the Triple Crown 10K at Carpenter Recreation Area on White Clay Creek State Park on Saturday. The club tightened its grip on third place in the standings and narrowed the gap to less than 15 points with second place Rosemont. Fresh off his “jog” at Boston, Andy Jacubowitch was second overall in the event. Tom Jermyn, whose meniscus injury is confining his physical activity to more bike riding than running, post a few great photos of the event on the club’s Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/289855916248/

Triple Crown 10K
Time – Age Grade – Name
39:00 68.36 Andrew Jacubowitch
42:32 73.95 Tom Steemkamer
44:27 72.57 Epi Camacho
45:58 69.00 Bob Kleiszics
47:57 65.07 Dirk Sweigart
51.50 61.27 Sheri Herrmann
51.53 66.68 Dan Simmons
54.45 63.54 Lorri Fencer
54:51 54.96 David Baca
1:01:07 61.54 Andrea Rubinoff
1:03:28 56:03 Dave McCorquodale
1:38:16 43.47 John Schultz

Blog
I was pleasantly surprised to find that when I posted a link to my blog http://mccorq.blogspot.com/ and my latest article Boston Marathon Qualifying Standards: Time to Use Age-Grading on Facebook on April 26, that the blog was viewed 40 times that day. Apparently, the idea is of interest to people. However, no one left any comments. So I have no idea whether people agree. Now those of you who don’t connect to Facebook may read it also. Please feel free to comment (on any of the articles.)

No other race results to report from the weekend. But this coming weekend is jam-packed with the Broad Street Ten Miler and the Jersey Shore Marathon (John Schultz) plus eleven 5Ks in Delaware, eight of them in northern New Castle County.

Valley Forge Five Miler MA-USATF Grand Prix Series
Last Saturday seven PCVRC members towed the line to represent the club in the third race of the MA-USATF Grand Prix Series, the Valley Forge Five Miler. They scored well despite the expected depletion because some possible participants were still recovering from the Boston Marathon. The club scored 393.840 points and is currently in third place in the series. John Schultz has won his age group in all three events.

With MA-USATF’s overly liberal policy of allowing clubs to only score in seven events and with the events on Philadelphia Marathon weekend possibly allowing clubs to accumulate three team scores on that weekend, clubs could skip up to four events during the series and still place well in it. So standings are sort or irrelevant until late November. Am I a being a little too obvious here that I don’t like this policy? Consistency in participating in the events, which PCVRC has demonstrated for years, has less influence on the scoring than a few great performances by a small number of top runners if they show up for some of the events.

The next event in the Grand Prix series will be the Broad Street 10 Miler on May 6 in Philadelphia. The next event in the Off-Road series is the Triple Crown 10K Run at 10:00 A.M. at the Carpenter Recreation Area of White Clay Creek State Park off of Rt. 896, outside of Newark.

Valley Forge Five Miler Results:
30:09 81.537 John Costello
30:54 80.906 Tom Steemkamer
32:24 79.115 Epi Camcho
39.17 77.429 Beth Howlett
36:43 74.852 Dan Simmons
50:41 56.264 Jerry Herman
1:08:34 49.514 John Schultz

More Boston Recap
A longer version of this editor’s account of the 2012 Boston marathon, including the things Mark Lozier and I did and the people we met, before, during and after the race, is now posted on my blog: http://mccorq.blogspot.com/

From President Ray:
Delaware Marathon Course Marshals needed
For those not running a Delaware Marathon event, please contact Ray if you can volunteer to help keep runners safe in our Bancroft Parkway area of the course on Sunday May 13 7:15-9:30am, 9:30-noon, or both. It’s a critical place and we’ve barely had enough people to cover it in the past.
You’ll get a shirt and you’ll have fun. Let me know soon if you’re in or can bring a friend! 302-633-1482

Water Table at Delcastle 4/25
Club will have a table set up to offer spring water to runners, walkers, dogs at Delcastle Rec Area on Wed 4/25 530-730pm. It’s to show our banner, pass out brochures and introduce us to the community. Group run at 6pm as always. Drop by at any time for a couple laps or to socialize. Let Ray know if you can definitely man the table for any length of time.

Race Results:
Ronald McDonald 5K:
20:32 Lynn Knothe, 3rd Overall female, 1st 30-35
20:38 Michael Peyton, 2nd Male Master
20:49 Lisa Jalot, 1st Female Master

DVRTF One Step At a Time 5K
17:54 Greg Cauller, Ist Master, 3rd Overall
20:18 Lynn Knothe, Female winner
26:39 Rachel Bleacher, 1st 19-29, New PR!

From President Ray:
Delaware Marathon Course Marshals needed
For those not running a Delaware Marathon event, please contact Ray if you can volunteer to help keep runners safe in our Bancroft Parkway area of the course on Sunday May 13 7:15-9:30am, 9:30-noon, or both. It’s a critical place and we’ve barely had enough people to cover it in the past.
You’ll get a shirt and you’ll have fun. Let me know soon if you’re in or can bring a friend! 302-633-1482

Water Table at Delcastle 4/25
Club will have a table set up to offer spring water to runners, walkers, dogs at Delcastle Rec Area on Wed 4/25 530-730pm. It’s to show our banner, pass out brochures and introduce us to the community. Group run at 6pm as always. Drop by at any time for a couple laps or to socialize. Let Ray know if you can definitely man the table for any length of time.

Hamptons Marathon/half marathon with B+
Rich Szymanski passes this on from Katie Wilson, Program Director of the Andrew MacDonough B+ Foundation. Unfortunately this bulletin is getting out after an informational meeting.
http://www.bepositive.org/marathon.html

We have 50 slots reserved in the Hamptons marathon/half marathon. If people choose to run with B+ and reach their fundraising goal, they will receive:
a trainer from club 26.2
free travel and lodging
free registration
free pre-race meal
free post-race refreshments
official Hamptons marathon shirt and race number
finishers medal
B+ running shirt
From our marathon page there is a link to the sign-up to run with us. On the site each runner receives their own online donation page where they can personalize all information.

The 2012 Boston Marathon: The Water Stop Tour
The latest edition of the Boston Marathon, the 13th I’ve done, is now the most memorable one for me. Various sources said the temperature reached 87 to 89 degrees, which was a few degrees above the temperature in the 2004 marathon. But the big difference was the humidity. In 2004 the air was very dry with a westerly wind at our backs. This year the morning dew point was 58, indicating more moisture in the air, even though the breezes in the upper eighties evaporated water applied to the skin in a few minutes. Below are some comments from club members who completed the event, mostly culled from their Facebook pages. Afterward, I’m posting some personal commentary.

Adam Shilling: stayed out of the Medic tent and may have avoided black toes too, bonus.

Andy Jacubowitch: It was a couple degrees hotter than 2004 (the year I got heat stroke), but without a noon start, which helped a little.

Claire Neilan : Today was a crazy marathon day in Boston! But goal was to survive the record heat and cross the finish line without ending up in medical tent. Goal achieved!

Dirk Sweigart: Just ran my first Boston Marathon and I really don’t know what to make of it. Terrible hot day and I was soo slow and walked. My quads were shredded…but I think that’s the course not the heat. I had a great first half (1:40) and then it all fell apart. Sheri had an awesome race…how’d she do that? Beat me for the first time, 3:45 to my 3:57. Hope she gets over THAT quickly, ugh!

Sheri Herrmann: My time was about 30 seconds slower than last year. I ran cautiously and stopped to drink at every water station. I was really just out to finish safely! It was brutally hot!

Sarah Rusk: I’m always a very positive runner. I always keep negative thoughts out of my head, but I couldn’t do that this time. I had a tough time out there. It was brutal.”

I knew at mile two there was no way i was going to run my best. In fact, it was my personal worst. That was the most difficult race I have ever run. It took all the mental strength I had to get through it. Thank goodness for the fans who were, handing out ice, cold towels, freeze pops,oranges, etc. They were amazing.

Although I ran nowhere close to my goal pace, it will be a race I’ll remember forever. I found out how mentally strong I am, which is so important in the marathon. After running that “race,” I now know I can survive anything.
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How many times have I watched the weather forecast for a particular race change from a moderate, favorable one to something that’s going to present a challenge? For marathons, it seems about in one out of three cases, the forecast has gone awry. Sometimes it becomes more cold and blustery. Sometimes it’s rain. And sometimes it’s heat. Usually when a trend starts to go in one direction six days out from the event, it just continues to get worse as race day approaches.

And so it was with the 2012 Boston Marathon. A forecast in the low 70s a week out became a prediction of high 80s and no cloud cover with two days to go. By Saturday the Boston Athletic Association had decided to let registrants opt out if they picked up their number, but didn’t start. About 400 took advantage of that. But the other part of the decision was to extend the time in which a runner could be officially scored to seven hours from six. (In actuality, it appears everyone who finished was scored, even over eight hours.) The irony of this change was that club member Mark Lozier had been contacting BAA about extending the hours or an early start several times in the weeks leading up to the race, but kept being denied. But the weather changed all that.

Mark’s dilemma: Back up to last summer. Mark had stumbled going down steps at home and injured his right knee. He got the meniscus operated on in August and 10% was removed. Having qualified at Mohawk Hudson Valley in October 2010 (where I also got a BQ), Mark registered for the marathon in September. But as he tried to run again, he was experiencing pain. Visits to the doctor showed the knee had developed some arthritis at the point of the surgery. He took a series of fluid injections. But the knee never came around. By early this year, he determined that he’d begin walking and shortened a 12 week program to eight. The last month he covered 200 miles and got in two 20 milers. He had decided to WALK the Boston Marathon. He figured at his walking pace it would take about 6 hours and 40 minutes and thus the angst when BAA denied him, but relief when it decided the field could have an extra hour.

Meanwhile, I figured this race was going to be similar to 2004 when the temperature reached 86. Then I told myself it was like another long run at the beach and I ran about a minute a mile slower than I was capable of on a good day. So this time, I figured I could do about 4:45, a time I did in June of 2010 at a warm marathon. But my calculations were off. The humidity was higher than in 2004 and in mid-April there was no opportunity to be acclimated to the heat as I was by June of 2010.

So when the race started I noticed early on the things were going to be different. After the two initial downhill miles, my pace slowed in chunks of time on each successive mile. By the first water stop, I was thirsty and I slugged back both water and Gatorade and then went to the water stop on the other side of the road a hundred or so yards up for more water to throw on my head, neck, back and chest. My legs never felt “runnerish”. My arms got goose bumps (a sign of overheating). It probably took a third of the distance before my body was starting to properly deal with the heat.

Meanwhile I noticed how quickly the enthusiasm of the participants had dissipated. By 5K it was quiet amongst the runners. People had already withdrawn into their focus on keeping going. There were no easy early miles. It became the Water Stop Tour. The water thrown on the body evaporated in less than five minutes and by the time the next water stop appeared (only a mile down the road), the clothes were dry and the hands were hot. People weaved from one side of the road to the other for the two aid stations at each mile. BAA had doubled the amount of water available for each runner from five gallons to ten. Misters and sprays from hydrants had the runners veering to the sides of the road. Volunteers and ordinary citizens handed out ice cubes, water paper towels, small sponges, and shot water guns at willing runners. The focus was not the next mile or 5K split, it was the next bit of fluid to consume or throw on one’s body.

It was a group effort – runners, volunteers and the hundreds of thousands of civilians. We runners could not have made it without them – those who weren’t running, but who were also there out in the sun for hours and hours, handing out water cups, or gels, whatever individuals got out of their houses. One woman had a small stand of all sorts of small things runners might need – vaseline, pens, ibuprofen. Little kids stood and held small dixie cups of water their parents had poured.

And. of course, there were endless words of encouragement, particularly if one penned a sign on like I did _ “Go, Dave!” I must have heard it 5,000 times. Sometimes, in other events, I’ve gotten tired of it. But not this time. Every “Go, Dave”, even if from a guy who had already had one too many beers, was helping to will me forward.

The Wellesley co-eds, just past the 20K split, seemed to be more competitive than ever with their “Kiss Me” signs. “Kiss Me, I’m from Maine”, “Kiss Me, I’m from Cali”, “Kiss Me, I’m a Senior”, “Kiss Me, I’m Graduating”, and my personal favorite (No, I did not kiss her) – “Kiss Me, I’m a Nerd”. For 300 yards, I probably came out of the 12 minute pace I had settled into and “sped up” to a ten minute pace. So did everyone around me, and when we were past, we settled back down into our ever-slowing slog.

After passing Newton Falls, the lowest spot on the course before getting into Boston, the four successive hills, combined with the effort one was going through to keep the body cool, really slowed us all down. First a 13 minute mile, then 14 minute mile, then two 15 minute miles. Eventually everyone was walking. When I stopped “running” to walk on the third hill, I was breathing so hard that it took me five minutes of walking for my breathing to slow to a semblance of moderate breathing.

Having gone uphill so slowly, the downhills and on into Boston were a bit faster, if you consider 13 and 12 minute paces “faster”. Eventually, I finished in 5:25, over an hour slower than what I felt capable of doing if the weather had been nice. But what an experience! I’ve got many memories. I’m going to write about some of the people we met. Some were inspiring. This I’ll post on my blog in a few days.

Mark had his own interesting experiences back among the last few hundreds of participants. Most notably, he met a woman, J. Jill Cummins, who had dealt with an issue similar to his. She had damaged a tendon in a foot and had decided to walk. She had a protective boot on the foot. Mark said she had a totally positive attitude about the situation. It became even more inspiring to Mark when she mentioned at some point that during the last year she had had a double mastectomy. She ended up finishing right behind Mark, who hit his 6:40 prediction.

Race Results:
2012 Boston Marathon
2:52:29 Enos Benbow
3:06:32 Andy Jacubowitch
3:23:31 Keith Crispin
3:28:38 Sarah Rusk
3:34:28 Matt Cutrona
3:45:39 Sheri Herrmann
3:45:51 Lee Kauffman
3:57:13 Carol Giampietro
3:57:34 Dirk Sweigart
4:16:59 Mike Brown
4:45:25 Claire Neilan
5:24:57 Dave McCorquodale
6:40:22 Mark Lozier

Four Miles of Hope Run
23:11 Greg Cauller, Overall Winner
28:22 Kristen Stump, Female Winner
28:35 Dan Simmons, 1st 60-69 with a 7:08 pace, Dan appears to be reaching his pre-injury form
30:45 Jack Horowitz, 3rd 40-49
30:46 Kelly Horowitz, 1st 30-39 Running with hubby Jack, this is Kelly’s first race since the birth of their twins

Thin Mint 5K
17:49 Greg Cauller, 2nd Overall

Newest & Oldest Member Hugh Campbell
Rich Szymanski and I met Hugh Campbell on Monday evening. In case you are not aware of him, Hugh is 87 years old and has only been running for a little over a year. Last summer he set the state record of 30:15 for the newly created 85-89 age group. This past Saturday at the Cherry Blossom 5K, he broke his own record with a chip time of 28:49! This time equates to an age grade of 90.75, which is considered world class. Indeed, at the National Masters Championship last year, the winner in that age group had a time of over 33 minute, which Hugh could easily attain.

Rich and I told Hugh about the club and about the USATF competition. Hugh is intrigued and may attend the send-off party this evening. We are hoping Hugh can train up to five miles in order to compete in a few of the events this year. Hugh has already joined the club.

USATF update 4/10/12 From Tom Steemkamer:
The next race in the USATF Grand Prix (road) series is the Valley Forge 5 miler, @ 8:30 on Sunday 4/22. This is a well-organized and exciting course run through historic Valley Forge park on rolling terrain. We seem to be challenged with fielding a team for this event since it occurs less than a week after Boston. Hint – we need more racers! Note that all the other clubs have this same issue and last year PCVRC came home with several age group award winners.

There is no day of registration for this race nor will there be onsite registration for the USATF. (Due park regulations regarding cash transactions.) The last day for online registration is next Monday 4/16. Check out the web site for additional details on registration.

If you are considering competing @ Valley Forge and we’d love to have more folks join us, please ensure your registration is complete and USATF membership is current.
Please contact Rich or me for any questions.

The off road series resumes on Saturday, 4/28 @ our home course with the Triple Crown 10k sponsored by the Trail Dawgs. This course is the fastest 10k in the off road series and we always manage to enjoy the home course advantage. The 1st 4 miles are mostly flat with only 2 hill climbs in the final stages of the race. Registration is now open – check here for details. I’d like to hear from anyone interested in completing a modestly paced pre run of the course next week. I’m thinking about doing the pre run on Wednesday, 4/18 or Friday 4/20. Meeting at the Carpenter Rec. area on Rt. 896 @ 5:45, run to start @ 6. Note annual park fees are now in effect.

Please RSVP with interest and preferred date for the TC pre run to Depending on interest we can head into Newark for some post run food and refreshments.

Boston Send-Off / Spring Social Party Recap
The Boston Send-Off Party at Six Paupers last evening was well attended with approximately 40 people although only four of the fourteen club members who are running the Boston Marathon were there. However, many other former Boston runners were there, as well as Doug White, who will be completing his 38th consecutive Boston Marathon. Doug gave out caps, accumulated from the various Delaware Sports Club trips, to people who had been one of those bus trips.

New club member Hugh Campbell and his wife Naomi attended their first club event. Ralph McKinney immediately got to work to increase Hugh’s endurance by treating him to a hour’s worth of running related conversation.

Dirk Sweigart noted this: Six Paupers gave me a tan fleece jacket which was left on a bar stool at the Boston send-off and if somebody wants it they should contact me at 302-545-7047 or .

This editor will be in the Boston area until next Wednesday, so the next bulletin will be later next week. I hope some of the club participants are eager to share their accounts of the event.