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

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.

2012 PCVRC Annual Awards Banquet 3/3/12
White Clay Creek Country Club At Delaware Park
Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 6:00pm

Please join us as we celebrate accomplishments of the 2011 running season.
This year we are privileged to have founding members of the club speak about the history and the reasons for starting PCVRC.

The meal selections are as follows:
– Macadamia crusted Mahi Mahi w/ roasted poblano pepper & caramelized pineapple relish
– Pork Tenderloin Calvados w/apple brandy sauce & spiced apples
– Pan seared chicken
– Vegetable pasta primavera (vegetarian option)
*All entrees come with a side of seasonal vegetables, red bliss potatoes, and black forest cheesecake for desert.

Enclose form (on Events page) + $35 per member guest or $45 per non-member guest, check payable to PCVRC. (Form is also attached to this bulletin.) You may include $25 club dues for 2012 if not yet paid.

RSVP to Rachel by Friday, February 24.
Any questions about this event please feel free to contact Rachel Bleacher at .

Share Your Accomplishments
Did you have a running related notable achievement in 2011 that hasn’t been reported in this eBulletin? (first Half or Marathon, PR at one or more distance, volunteer at one or more races, etc.). We’d like to know about it so please reply to this message with details.

Winter Run 1/29 10am: RSVP to Dirk
Come to our 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 Alapocas) 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 Events page.

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

Mark Vilardo Departing
To PCVRC members,
As you know we are moving to Chicago very soon. We’d like to have a get together before we leave for next week. How about meeting at the Wilmington Iron Hill on Friday around 6:30?

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 Szymanski for organizing!

For this first-time event, there’s no prize structure other than bragging rights. A mobile trophy will be incorporated if this event sticks. Each year another club will pick the venue (maybe incorporate winning team hosts?). We’ll consider incorporating a road version of this as well.

Race Results:

Road to the Super Bowl 5K:
(Wayne Kursh reported that the course, which was changed due to ice, was about 3.15 miles long.)
18:31 Greg Cauller, 2nd Overall & first master

Run With the Hawks 5K: The wisdom of trying to run a cross-country 5K in January needs to be questioned. Then event at St. George’s Vo. Tech. H.S. brought out only 38 people to attempt the slough through two inches of crusty snow. The winner was a 61 year-old man who only lost about two minutes off his typical 5K. He was the exception as the second place guy about 39 seconds behind was about six minutes off his typical time. This writer was also about six minutes off his typical 5K time, setting a Personal Worst of 31:08. I also lost the traction devices I had on my shoes and my quads took several days to recover from having to lift my legs more than I am used to. But I’m pretty sure that no more than a half dozen people north of the canal have the race shirt.

Membership Dues are due
This is the time of year when races are few and far between. Consequently there has been little news to report for the past few weeks. So this is a good time, as we are about to head into 2012 with fresh running dreams, to give some reminders.

Club Dues are due! Unless you recently joined the club (within the past four months), it’s time to renew your dues for 2012. However, not if you are a USATF member and ran for the club in at least four events. Simply send $25 to Pike Creek Valley Running Club, P.O. Box 3259, Wilmington, DE 19804. Don’t have us still reminding you in May to pay your dues. If, for some reason, you don’t wish to renew, let us know, either by replying to this message or e-mailing President Ray, . Please let us know of any changes to your address or e-mail address.

Club Award Nominations
At the next board meeting of the club, we will be picking winners of 2011 awards, which will be given at our awards banquet in early March. If you believe someone deserves an award let us know by replying to this e-mail, including your reasons why, so that we may consider the person.

Send Event Recaps
Club Members are encouraged to contribute to this bulletin. If you have a penchant for writing and would like to tell the club about a running event, please write and send to this editor, . Similarly, if you have race results that you would like others to know about, please send them. Generally, I try to report the results of all club members in longer distance events, such as the half and full marathons, all club members in USATF events, and a few prominent local events. There are too many results of 5Ks to report them all, so results of those are confined to club members who are among the top finishers. However, if a result of your 5K race is a PR or, perhaps one of the few times you won an age-group award, please let me know.

USATF Awards Banquet is set: The annual USATF Mid-Atlantic Award Luncheon to honor athletes whose performances in 2011 have been particularly noteworthy will be held on January 28, 2012. The flyer is online on the Mid-Atlantic LDR page. Space is limited and already half the tickets have been sold.

Free Gait Analysis
With the increased interest in barefoot running the past few years, club member, podiatrist Dr. Ray Feehery has been studying the issue. Below is his offer of a free gait analysis:
Barefoot running (traditional shoes vs. minimalist) / avoid injuries
Tuesday evenings in Jan/Feb – call 302-999-8511

Holiday Party Recap
Pike Creek Valley Running Club had another successful Holiday Party at Timothy’s in Newark last Wednesday evening. Despite a pouring rain, 65 people attended, equal to last year, including five people who signed up as new members.
Holiday Party pics taken by Kim are HERE

Hall of Fame coming soon
The club has finally started to work on its website to create a page for it’s Hall of Fame: http://www.pcvrc.com/members.php. Jerry Herman and Dave McCorquodale will be working on the bios. If you are a member of the Hall of Fame, we are asking you to send two pictures that you would like used to Ray Christensen: . If you don’t have any pictures as attachments, you can send hard copies to the club (P.O. Box 3259, Wilmington, DE 19804) and Ray will scan and size them. Let us know if you want any photos returned. If you are in contact with Hall of Fame members who are no longer active in the club, please contact them for us. If there is significant information you wish to add to your bio (as we will be working off the write-ups done when the awards were given), please send it to: .

Group runs continue throughout winter
Come out and run with us, even if you never have before. As long as it isn’t too icy, we’ll be out there at Delcastle Rec Area each Wed & Thurs 6pm and meeting in front of Panera on Main St Newark Sundays 8am. Plan to attend a special “Winter Run” on the Delaware Greenway Trail for Sunday, Jan 29 (see events page)

Haddonfield Adrenaline 5K
From Ed Maher of MA-USATF: Online registration for our first 2012 Grand Prix race, the Haddonfield Adrenaline 5K, is now open at: Run Sign Up for Adrenaline. USATF members for 2012 can utilize the $2 Grand Prix discount by entering “usatf” in the coupon code field. Club contacts please get this information out to your USATF Mid-Atlantic members along with encouraging them to renew their USATF membership for 2012 where applicable.

DDC & PCVRC Jackets
1. Contact Ray () asap if you’d like to order a jacket with either club logo or DDC 2011 logo. They’re sharp! Info at www.pcvrc.com/ddc.php and there’s another photo at our Facebook page: www.tinyurl.com/pcvrc

2. Discounted price on DDC Logo jackets: contact Ray to buy one of our remaining jackets for $65 in either Men’s M or Women’s M sizes. Ready for pick up anytime!

Seashore Marathon & Half
On this past Saturday the Rehoboth Marathon & Half-Marathon took place. A number of the Rebel Runners portion of the club went down to run the Half-Marathon. There were a few unfortunate glitches. When the course was being marked at 4 A.M., a gate was locked at the entrance to North Shores Park. One of the people came back later to mark the course, but the markings only guided people around the guardhouse, instead of proceeding into the park for a distance. Both the half and full marathon courses were off by somewhere between one and two tenths of a miles. Several club members may have missed out on a PR and a female marathon runner missed out in breaking her own age-group state record.

An individual problem was experienced by Andy Jacubowitch, who ran 1:17++ and would have been third overall in the half-marathon: (edited)

“A fellow Rebel Runner registered for the race, but was not able make it to the race, due to a business commitment. He suggested that I use his registration to race, and get into the after party. I accepted and wore his bib to run.

Since I had just run the Philly Marathon, and had not run since Thanksgiving, I had no intention of running well, or placing in the race. When I finished the half marathon in 3rd place overall, I knew I had to notify the race officials, so that I didn’t mess up the results, and cheat the Master runners out of their awards. I immediately went to the race trailer, explained my situation, and they edited the information for my bib number to reflect my proper age and name. At this point, I assumed that everything was OK and the results would be reorganized so I would be the top age group finisher for the 30 -35 age group. I was never notified that I was disqualified, even while talking to the timing officials…

The following was sent the next day in special eBulletin:
Seashore Marathon & Half Comments Clarification
In the previous issue of PCVRC’s E-Bulletin, a description, written by Andy Jakubowitch, was included, which created some feedback from club members of their disagreements with either his actions at the race or his opinion of the race management.

Accordingly, we are adopting this editorial statement, applicable to not only this particular story, but any and all individual accounts included in our E-Bulletins:
While PCVRC encourages members to write their own descriptions of racing events (within standards of civil language and legality), the inclusion of individuals’ accounts strictly reflects their own opinions and not that of the club. Articles may be edited for grammar, punctuation and continuity, but will not be censored if the above standards are met.

President Ray’s comments
I appreciate the concerns that some members have voiced about the Rehoboth race comments. Andy and I spoke about it. There was a miscommunication about whether his unedited comments were supposed to be the account he was writing for the E-Bulletin As races continue to grow with the popularity of running, our club can never support or condone infringements of the rules. If one runner is given special treatment, then what happens if 20 runners make the same request? If bib numbers are not transferable, or there is a procedure to be followed, it must be followed to be fair to ALL runners. In this case, I don’t blame Andy for asking, but if the Race Director permitted it, he’d be opening the door to greater confusion “down the road”.

(On a side note, I’d encourage runners who have a question or gripe with race officials to bring it up with them directly and not as an editorial. For example, we welcome comments & constructive criticism of DDC 15K but don’t want to be bad-mouthed in public before we get a chance to address them.) Also, please leave it to the club to take a position if questions are not addressed to your satisfaction – instead of inferring that PCVRC has taken a particular position.

I apologize to anyone who may have been offended, including the Seashore Striders, who put a lot of time into their many events. We absolutely invite members to submit accounts of races or events. Fair praise and criticism are fine, since we’re helping fellow runners decide if they should consider that event in the future. We’ll have recap of the rest of the Rehoboth weekend’s activities in next week’s eBulletin 😉

Race Results:

Rehoboth Marathon:
2:42:39 Enos Benbow, 1st 25-29

Rehoboth Half-Marathon (Gun times):
1:17:++ Andy Jacobuowitch, Unofficially 3rd Overall
1:30:09 Adam Shilling
1:32:30 Dirk Sweigart, 3rd 50-54
1:35:19 Sheri Herrmann, Ist Masters Female
1:40:19 Claire Neilan
1:42:37 Jim Steele
1:57:04 Lori Culnane
1:58:13 Darlise DiMatteo
2:04:09 Nina Smeltzer (first half marathon)
2:09:46 Lenora Wagner
2:17:04 Tricia Szymanski
2:17:04 Gelsomina Paolini
2:46:09 Rachel Bleacher
2:46:10 Ryan Perkowski

Wishbone Turkey Trot 5K:
27:08 Dan Feldstein, 4th 50-59

Jim Durkin had this remarkable set of race results in the space of about 39 hours:
Friday 12/2 – U. of Del. Reindeer Run 5K . 1st place 70+ Time: 24:56
Saturday 12/3 – Pineland Striders 4 Miler. 1st place 70+ Time: 32:29
Sunday 12/4 – Havre de Grace Reindeer 5K. 1st place 70+ Time: 24:42

Meanwhile there were a few other club participants at the first-time Reindeer 5K (which had over 450 finishers):
17:36 Matt Cutrona, Overall winner
18:56 Epi Camacho, 1st 55-59 & 5th Overall
25:08 Dave McCorquodale, 1st 65-69 (PB for year)
32:39 Carolyn Mccorquodale, 3rd 60-64 (PB for year)

Holiday Party Scheduled: Wed. 12/7 at Timothy’s
Club Social Director Rachel Bleacher has secured the upstairs room at Timothy’s, 100 Creek View Rd. off Paper Mill Rd. in Newark for the club’s Holiday Party. It will be on Wednesday, December 7 from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. This is always a good time to renew your dues for 2012. Invite prospective club members to come as well. There will be a donation box towards food in case they are not prepared to join at that time. Your input will be appreciated on potential award winners for 2011 and club events in 2012.

Get your club shirt if you’ve never received one. Club jackets will be on display for ordering. Qualifying USATF members can receive their free club singlet if you still haven’t. Please RSVP to Rachel (see Events page) so we have an idea of how much food to order. Last year, over 60 attended.

Group runs continue throughout winter
Come out and run with us, even if you never have before. As long as it isn’t too icy, we’ll be out there at Delcastle Rec Area each Wed & Thurs 6pm and meeting in front of Panera on Main St Newark Sundays 8am. Plan to attend a special “Winter Run” on the Delaware Greenway Trail for Sunday, Jan 29 (see events page).

A sweet gift
Club sponsor Harvest Market Natural Foods now stocks Ray’s “Christensen Farm Maple Syrup”. Say hi to Bob if you drop in.

MAUSATF Series Complete – Members get free club renewal
With the Grand Prix and Off-Road series of MA-USATF over, the participants who completed four races or more between the two series have been counted. These club members will automatically receive membership in PCRVC for 2012. However, remember to also check your USATF membership if you plan to continue racing in the series. If it expires at the end of the year, you need to renew. Sorry this list is not in alphabetic order:

Mark Vilardo Tom Steemkamer, Vic Zwolak, Dan Suher, Josh Loren, Epi Camacho, Deborah Compton, Lee Kaufman, Dirk Sweigart, Theresa Kauffman, Rich Szymanski, Jerry Herman, Ralph McKinney, John Schultz, Jay Coughenour, Matt Cutrona, Bob Kleszics, Sheri Herrmann, Ray Christensen, Chris James, Carole Feole, Lisa Jalot, Fred Shufflebarger, Don Monagle and Greg Cauller.

Because I can make mistakes, if I counted you as doing three races, you may have done four. Let me know if I missed you and what races you did. These people I have as having done three races: Andrea Rubinoff, Pat Boettcher, Enos Benbow, Austin Gee and Jim Durkin.

USATF Age Group Awards
With the results in for the Grand Prix series, the club had a number of people who placed in their age groups. However, no one participated in enough races of place high in the overall individual standings. Epi Camacho was the highest placed male in 11th place overall; Theresa Kauffman was the highest placed female in 16th place.

The following win awards in their age groups: Lynn Knothe, 3rd 30-34; Carole Feole, 1st 50-54; Dan Suher, 1st 25-29; Mike DiGennaro, 3rd 30-34; Mark Vilardo, 1st 35-39; Jay Coughenour, 3rd 40-44; Epi Camacho, 1st 55-59; Vic Zwolak, 2nd 70-74; and Don Monagle, 1st 80+.

The club finished in sixth place in the Grand Prix Club Challenge. While this was the same finish place as last year, the club improved it’s overall average score for its top five finishers in each race from 77 points to 81 points. A score over 80 indicates the runner is a National Class runner. The fact of the matter is that six teams in the challenge had national class averages of 80 or more, with the top two around 83.5. With this level of competition, and with the fact that nine teams altogether fielded teams for the entire series, I feel that the prize structure needed to be leveled out and spread out so that all teams are rewarded somewhat with less discrepancy between the top couple of teams and the other seven or so teams. I’ve written to the Long Distance Running Committee of MA-USATF about this.

Delaware Open XC Championship 5K
In the Off-Road Series the last race took place on Saturday, November 26 at Brandywine Creek State Park. It was a gorgeous day and usually warm for this late in the year, which made standing around afterward to the always long awards and random prize selections easier. The club ran well on the hilly course and held its third place in the Off-Road Series. Below are club participants and their times and age grades.

– Name – – – – – – – – – – – Time Age Grade

10 Greg Cauller York PA M 52 19:22 77.40

14 Josh Loren Wilmington DE M 31 17:57 72.21
22 Epi Camacho Wilmington DE M 55 21:21 71.97
21 Bob Kleszics Hockessing DE M 54 21:15 71.71
30 Carole Feole Wilmington DE F 53 24:58 69.73
32 Lee Kauffman Wilmington DE M 53 22:26 67.37
31 Dirk Sweigert Wilmington DE M 51 22:23 66.43
13 Lynn Knothe Wilmington DE F 34 22:30 66.21
18 Sheri Herrman Wilmington DE F 42 23:43 65.34
81 Jim Durkin Ardmore PA M 73 28:26 64.53
39 Lorri Fencer Wilmington DE F 50 26:06 64.23
36 Christopher James Wilmington DE M 37 21:02 63.48
87 Dave McCorquodale Wilmington DE M 67 29:20 58.25
96 Ralph McKinney Wilmington DE M 66 35:14 48.05
94 Philip Lavelle Wilmington DE M 52 32:42 45.84

Race Results:
MS Run 10K
44:18 Lisa Jalot, 3rd Overall Female Master