Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club: News

Sherry Arnold's Sad Story: A Cautionary Tale

This is a link from Runners World about a woman who went out for an early morning run, alone, and never returned. There is a memorial run for Sherry Arnold this weekend and even a reproducible bib to wear while running. Just run your own route, thinking about this horrible incident that occurred in Sidney, Montana.

Link to Runners World Story.

Many of us in the Hudson Valley have gotten a false sense of safety out there - but this could happen anywhere, any time. Stay safe and take some prudent precautions.

Join Team Malaria in 2012

This is from Casey Baker, a part of Malaria No More. They have open spots on some popular races in 2012. If you are having trouble getting in, here are the races:

NYC Half Marathon on March 18, 2012, Manhattan
Marine Corps Marathon, October 28, 2012, Washington, DC
ING NYC Marathon, November 4, 2012

Link for more information.

Contact Casey Baker at casey.baker@malarianomore.org for questions.

Note: there is a fundraising requirement to participate ($1,000 to $3,000 for ING NYC Marathon).

Free Registration for Pete Sanfilippo Winter Run ends February 3

The Pete Sanfilippo Winter Run 5 Mile race on Sunday, February 5 is free to all pre-registered MHRRC members. Use the shopping cart to pre-register and save some $$$! If you don't pre-register by Friday, February 3, you will have to pay to run this race.

Note: this race is no longer free to race day registrants, even if you are a MHRRC member. So, take a few moments and use the shopping cart to pre-register.

If your membership has expired or you are not a member, simply login to the web site and purchase a membership while you register for the race and the race fee will be $0.

This is a fun winter race followed by home-made soup and bread. It is free to MHRRC members as a "give back" to all our loyal runners.

Race Director Conni Grace also needs a few more traffic control volunteers. Email her at gra176@aol.com if you or one of your cheering fans could help out on the course.

Be there or be square.

Learn To Run

Polly Sparling will be starting a Learn to Run Group to begin Thursday, March 1 until Thursday, May 17 at Spackenkill High School from 5:30 to 6:30 pm (12 consecutive Thursday evenings). By the end, you will be able to run a 5K just in time for the new MHRRC Women's Run on May 19 on the Dutchess Rail Trail.

Note: we are waiting for official permission to us the Spackenkill High School Track; we should get permission, but there is a process. Check back here for official location.

Sign up through the MHRRC shopping cart! This is a free program (although we hope you will join MHRRC if you participate). The shopping cart registration provides the typical waiver and gives Polly a way to communicate with participants via email.

Here is Polly's plan:

The reason for holding the class is to encourage new and non-runners (especially women) to train well enough to complete the 5K at the club's new Women's Run on May 19. As the organizer of the Saturday training runs, I am constantly approached by women who are interested in getting involved in running, but aren't quite sure how to go about it. I'm hoping that this class might be able to get some of those people excited about running (and about being part of the club).

My plan for the class is as follows: We'll meet on Thursdays from 5:30-6:30 p.m. for 12 weeks, from March 1 through May 17, at the track at Spackenkill H.S. (I will contact the school administration prior to the start of the class to be sure we can use the track and their rest rooms, if necessary.) I'll help the participants learn to run by using the walk/run method outlined in Run Your Butt Off!, a book for novice runners published by Runner's World last year. In essence, the plan incorporates short segments of running into a 30-minute walk; as the runner gets stronger, the run segments get longer, and the walk segments shorter. By the end of the 12 weeks, the participants should be able to run a full 5K without walking (or at least that's the plan). Hopefully, most of the participants will then sign up to run their first 5K at the inaugural Women's Run.

Link to flyer.

Recover from the Holidays: Balmy for a Change

This from race director Pete Colaizzo:

What a difference a year makes!

After slipping and freezing our way through the 2011 edition of the Recover From the Holidays (FA) 50-kilometer race a year ago, Saturday’s 17^th edition of the race might have featured the most beautiful weather we can ever imagine for early January. Most of us agreed that last year was the worst conditions we have ever had. However, payback was quick and decisive, as this year it felt like a 60-degree spring day at Norrie Point. At one point, I swear we heard birds chirping. Amazing.

The sweet weather and strong local turnout produced an all-time record field of finishers. There were a total of 29 runners who completed the entire 31-mile course. This is seven more than the previous high of 22, set way back in 2002. It was great to see.

Ulster County runners stole the headlines on this day:

Brian Hickey of Kerhonkson was the race winner, 14 years after his first victory at our event. In 1998, he ran 4:01:54; in 2012, he was 20 seconds faster, at 4:01:34. Talk about consistency: That’s less than a 1-second per mile difference in pace over 31 miles!
Jacque Schiffer of Olivebridge extended her race record with her fifth victory, the most all-time at Norrie. Schiffer, 47, finished seventh overall in 4:51:20.
Doug Freese of Saugerties extended his event record with his 10^th consecutive finish. No runner has completed more miles on the course than Freese, who topped the 300-mile mark up and down the endless hills at Norrie.
Steve Schallenkamp of Kingston – a ubiquitous presence at local road races for the past four decades – notched his first-ever ultra finish. The 57-year-old was fourth overall in 4:41:50.
MRRC member Art Boyko finished the race for the third consecutive year, notching a personal-best time of 4:45:02 and placing sixth overall.
Congrats to first-time finisher Paula West of Poughkeepsie. Paula trains with and is coached by Gold’s Gym and MHRRC guru Leo Saposnick, who ran with her most of the way and also finished on Sunday.

Thanks to the following:

Norrie Point, for allowing us to have the race there every year.
Three-time race finisher Jason Bellamy, for providing finisher’s T-shirts again this year.
MHRRC photographer Bob Kopac, for posting wonderful pictures quickly on the club Web site, as always.

For complete results and more race details, see Pete Colaizzo’s On The Run column in Thursday’s Poughkeepsie Journal.

Shopping Cart Fixed for Pete Sanfilippo Winter Run

The MHRRC shopping cart seems to be fixed. If you registered for a race in the last few days, please check Upcoming races>>Race Registrants to make sure you are listed as expected. If you have any further troubles with the shopping cart, please email webmaster@mhrrc.org.

The Pete Sanfilippo Winter Run is free to MHRRC members.

PLEASE register only once for this race.

You can always check if you are properly registered by going to:

1. Upcoming Races>>Race Registrants (for a list of everyone registered to date through the shopping cart)

2. After logging in, go to My Account>>My Races to see what races you have registered for through the shopping cart.

Note: you will also get an email confirmation when you register for any race, even free races.

Not yet a MHRRC member? Is your membership expired? You can purchase a membership and get the free race registration at the same time in the shopping cart.

Newsletter Deadline is Sunday, January 15

Time for the February newsletter! Please submit all articles to our newsletter editor, Jen Melitski, at newsletter@mhrrc.org. Our newsletter can only be as good as your submissions - so please contribute.

Any articles related to running are welcome by Sunday, February 15, 2012.

Starting out 2012 at MHRRC

With the new year, we are starting to get race registrations for 2012 through the shopping cart. Welcome back, runners!

In addition to all our great races, Wayne and Conni are planning on continuing the track practices in the spring. Look for more information via the web site and newsletter.

There is also a new Women's Run in May for new and experienced women runners on the Dutchess Rail Trail. There will be special awards for new runners. Race director is Deb Dyle, with help from Sue O'Neil, Polly Sparling, and Denise Dollard. Polly is planning on starting a "Learn to run" group for people who have always wondered how to start. The web site and newsletter will give you more information about this.

2012 will continue the free kids runs, which has been so successful the past few years. MHRRC views this as a way to get children interested in running without breaking the budget of our young families (many with several budding runners). So, sign up for some kids races in the shopping cart for some free, fun, family adventures.

The shopping cart continues to be the best place for you to register for races - and it certainly helps with our volunteer resources. In 2012, it will cost you $5 extra to register on race day, so use the shopping cart, save some bucks, save us from some volunteer angst, and save yourself some time on race day.

Hope to see you at the Recover from the Holidays run this weekend or at the Free-to- MHRRC-Members Pete Sanfilippo Winter Run in early February.

On the Run back weekly at Poughkeepsie Journal

This is from Pete Colaizzo:

In this era of budget cuts, staff reductions, furloughs and difficult economic times, bad news is all too common. Such was the case back in June, when we were notified that the weekly On The Run column in the Poughkeepsie Journal would be reduced to every other week as a cost-saving measure at the newspaper.

And so it is with gratefulness and appreciation that I announce to my friends in the Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club the following GOOD news: The weekly On The Run column has now been restored! On The Run will be published each and every Thursday in Players again, as it had for many, many, many years – starting this week.

Listen: In this day and age, it is fashionable to bash the media in general and the newspaper industry in specific. It should be noted when our local paper, the Poughkeepsie Journal, does something good and positive.

It’s very easy to be angry at the local paper, no matter where you live; having worked at the Journal for nearly 25 years before my departure in 2009, I can tell you that often you only hear from readers when they are upset about something. So it might be nice to let the fine folks at the Journal know how much you appreciate their reinstating all the Players columns – not just my running one, but also the Bill Conners’ Outdoors, DJ Reese on Fitness, Ralph Ferrusi on Hiking, and other seasonal columns.

Contact Dan Pietrafesa, Sports Editor or the Players Section Editor to let them know you appreciate this decision to return these weekly columns.

I was thrilled to receive this news a few days ago, and I hope to be able to write on a weekly basis in the Journal for a long time to come.

Take care,
Pete Colaizzo

MHRRC Supports Turkey Trot in Afghanistan

MHRRC contributed pins, bibs, and a few other race day things to Major Mark Baaden's group in Afghanistan. Here is Mark's race summary:

We started at 6:00am our time which is 9 1/2 hours ahead of Lagrange time. We had a good showing of about 30 runners.

The race numbers donated by MHRRC and start/finish banner donated by Festival Foods added a great touch as a reminder of Turkey Trots being run back home.

For the remainder of Thanksgiving day we will stay vigilant on duty and will try to take a break from the normal high tempo routine as the situation permits. We hope to enjoy a nice Thanksgiving spread put on by our chow hall and possibly be able to watch football if we can get the TV satellite signal to cooperate. The officers will serve chow to the troops and thank them for their outstanding service, perseverance and professionalism which they have been providing for us and all of you good folks back home.

We appreciate the support which the MHRRC provided for our Afghan Turkey Trot. It was great for morale and camaraderie.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Major Mark Baaden
US Army

Turkey Trot Has 985 Finishers!

This is a note from Keith Axelrod, MHRRC president:

I must say that this year's Turkey Trot with a combined total of 985 finishers is truly amazing. What a great job Vince Veltre and his team did! WOW! What a huge success! The Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club is truly accomplishing its mission of getting people out running. The free kids races have really become a success as well.

Many thanks to all the volunteers who made this event such an success. With this number of runners, the logistics of getting all the gear and runners to the right place at the right time is challenging. This could not have been done without the volunteers.

Race director Vince Veltre put in countless hours planning this event and organizing all the volunteers - including getting to Arlington High School at 5:30 am with a rented van full of race stuff: food, trophies, tech tee shirts (which got many compliments), scoring equipment, etc. In addition, as any of the volunteers working race day registration and the pre-registration tables could tell you: this is a stressful volunteer job. There are so many people with so many exceptions, many wanting to sign up to run on race day, that it is tough to help out everyone and still do the volunteer job with a friendly face. Thank you to all of our volunteers who chose to come help out when they could have been sleeping in.

The Turkey Trot has become a real family affair and we are pleased to see many families, with members from many generations, making this part of their holiday tradition. Congrats to all the runners who came out and made running a part of this holiday. We are looking forward to seeing you next year.

Shopping cart registration for Holiday Run ends Tuesday, November 29

The Knights of Columbus Holiday Run is this Saturday, December 3.

This is a great 5 mile course with a kids run, too. It starts in the Village of Wappingers and ends with some holiday cheer at the Knights of Columbus in Wappingers (including hot chocolate and hot dogs).

Pre-register for the race in the MHRRC shopping cart by Tuesday, November 29. You can register on race day, but if you pre-register, you save some money, save some waiting in lines, and save some work for our volunteers.

Turkey Trot Results Published

Results from all four Turkey Trot races (5 mile, 25K, 2 mile, kids) are published to Race Results>>2007-Current Results.

Photos from the Turkey Trot, by Bob Kopac, are in Race Results>>Race Photo Albums.

2012 MHRRC Race Calendar Available

The 2012 MHRRC Race Calendar is now published as a PDF file in Upcoming Races>>MHRRC Schedule.

MHRRC will continue the free kids races in 2012. In addition, you can save at least $5/race if you use the shopping cart to pre-register rather than registering on race day.

2012 MHRRC races are also on the web site calendar and most race flyers are on this web site and in the shopping cart. Missing races will be added as soon as all the information is available.

Turkey Trot Last Online Registration Date is Tuesday, Nov. 22

Turkey Trot pre-registrations though the shopping cart end at midnight on Tuesday, November 22.

You can still register on race day, but there is a higher price and longer lines to get all your registration information. In addition, you risk missing the great high tech tee shirts going to the pre-registrants if you wait until race day.

Plus - it makes it really hard on our volunteers to process all the race day registrants. So, please, use the MHRRC shopping cart to register!

See you there for a great day of races.

Turkey Trot Routes

You can see the routes for the 5-Mile and 25K Turkey Trot Races in Upcoming Races>>MHRRC Race Routes.

Actually, you can see all MHRRC race routes here, which provides a link to USATF maps showing routes, elevation, etc.

Race Registrant Email Confirmation Issue Resolved

Our ISP has made some changes to our email server. We think all email confirmations sent from the shopping cart are now getting to recipients. If you have registered for a race through the shopping cart, beginning Monday morning, November 14 and you did NOT get an email confirmation, please contact Deborah at webmaster@mhrrc.org.

The race registration database table is correct - the problem only affected email messages. You can confirm your race registration by going to Upcoming Races>>Race Registrants, choosing the race in the drop down, and checking for your name. Preregistrants are listed alphabetically.

If you have any questions or concerns, contact the race director or Wayne McDaniel at orders@mhrrc.org.

Pre-register for Turkey Trot and Get High Tech Running Shirt

While supplies last, runners in the 25K, 5 Mile, and 2 mile races will get the shirts. When you pre-register, you have a better chance of getting a shirt in your preferred size. The free kids race participants will not get the shirts (but other goodies are planned for the kids).

The Turkey Trot has four distances:

Challenging 25K for serious distance runners
5 Mile Run
2 Mile Fun Run (no hills, no awards)
Kid's Fun Run (less than one mile).

All races start and finish at Arlington High School on Thankgiving morning. You can see more race details on the race flyer. MHRRC is working to make this a fun, smooth and comfortable experience for you and your family. We will be Chronotrack D-tag scoring these races. When you pre-register through the shopping cart, you really help us and the other runners have an enjoyable race day experience.

Don't miss out on running at this family holiday tradition. Pre-register online in the MHRRC shopping cart and save some money over race day registration.

Please contact Race Director Vince Veltre at vincerun@aol.com if you have any questions.

Turkey Trot Volunteers Needed

Volunteer positions are still open for the 2011 MHRRC Turkey Trot. Help is still needed in the following areas;

Kids race turn-around (1
Directing runners from Dr. Fink Rd into High School parking lot/finish (2)
Handing out water at finish of 5 mile and 25K (3-4)
D-tag instructors at registration area - help out those who have never put on a D-tag (2-3)
Finish line support (3)

Please e-mail Vince Veltre at Vincerun@aol.com if you can help out. All volunteers will receive a long sleeve tech running shirt.

MHRRC Supports Running in US Army in Afghanistan

About two years ago, Mark Baaden of Hopewell Junction ran in many of our MHRRC races. He is currently the CO of an Army unit in Afghanistan.

Mark recently emailed Turkey Trot Race Director Vince Veltre, asking for MHRRC support for a road runners club he started on his Forward Operations Base. Mark writes,

I started a Road Runners club on my Forward Operations Base and it has picked up steam, has been great for morale and has had physical and psychological benefits while i this difficult place. We run 5K's twice a month and we just hosted the Army Ten Miler shadow run. To put the course in perspective, our running course is a one mile loop at 3500 ft. elevation with a 35% grade. We quite literally live on the side of a mountain.

Mark went on to ask for some bibs and pins to support the races he organizes for his runners. Needless to say, Vince is sending him 30 leftover bibs and pins so he can have a Turkey Trot on his Forward Operations Base in Afghanistan. Conni Grace picked up some energy bars and some dry sports drink packets to include in the shipment.

MHRRC is proud to support running in the US Army! As you run the Turkey Trot this year, think of Mark and his runners own Afghanistan Turkey Trot.