Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club: News

MHRRC Meeting Programs

MHRRC Vice President Fred Policastri has agreed to take on the task of coordinating speakers and programs for our monthly general club meetings. Please email Fred at fpolicastri@yahoo.com if you have any ideas for programs, speakers, etc. that would be of interest to our running community.

Also, please login and take a moment to vote on our poll (in the bottom right of the home page) on your favorite topics.

We want our programs to address your needs and interests and your feedback is much appreciated.

MHRRC Newsletter Deadline March 15

Deadline for the April MHRRC newsletter is Monday, March 15. Please email all your articles and contributions to Lance Smith at newsletter@mhrrc.org.

Remember: this is your newsletter and it is only as good as the articles you contribute.

Pilot of the Air Waves!

While you are lacing up for the Ed Erichson Memorial Races this weekend, tun into 1340 or 1390 WEOK at 7:30 am.

Club president Keith Axelrod and race director Susanne O'Neil were special guests on the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce radio show. The show promoted:

Upcoming races
MHRRC's health and wellness initiatives
The FREE 1 mile kids' races for all youth under 12.

Keep an ear out for future up and coming MHRRC radio updates and enjoy the broadcast.

Ed Erichson Races are Coming!

The last day to register through the shopping cart for the Ed Erichson Races is Friday, March 5. You can always register on race day, but you avoid the lines and get a pre-registration discount by registering through the shopping cart.

Don't miss these great races - there is a 5 mile (begins 9 am) and a 10 mile race (begins 9:15 am), starting from LaGrange Town Hall. Yes, it may be a little cold (or we could get a surprise in the weather), but here is a chance to chase away the icicles and get out there with your MHRRC running buddies for a fun race.

Can't run but still want to join the fun? Email race director Linda Stow and volunteer to help.

Link to race flyer for more details.

March 2010 Newsletter Emailed

If you are a MHRRC member and did not receive the March 2010 newsletter via email, please login and check/update your email address on this site under My Account>>My Information.

Several email addresses were rejected by the receiving email server as either invalid or, if your email address ends in "hvc.rr.com", the message was rejected with an error of "Too many recipients received at this hour." The hvc.rr.com spam filter considered our email messages with the newsletter as spam.

To fix this problem, you can:

Change your mail address to the correct address OR
Use an email address that does NOT end in "hve.rr.com" AND
View the newsletter on the MHRRC Web site under Members Only>>Newsletters

This will happen every month until you change your email address. Sorry, but we cannot control spam filters on the receiving server nor can we correct email addresses - but you can!

Age Graded Results from The Winter Run

From Winter Run Race Director Conni Grace:

My hope for this year’s Winter Run was to have age graded results. Up until race day everything pointed toward it actually happening this year. Unfortunately, last minute circumstances put an end to my dream!

Enter Tom Storey: after the race I asked him if there was any way he would be able to “massage” the results and turn them into age graded results instead. I thought maybe there was an easy way to enter a couple of formulas to get this accomplished. As it turns out, it is much more complicated than that. I can’t even begin to speculate how long it took Tom to get the age grading done. Nevertheless, he got the job done. Thank you so much, Tom!

Here are some of his considerations that went into developing the age graded results:

Interpretation of what age grading is seems to vary widely. The consensus seems to be that your age graded performance is calculated as follows:

Divide your race time by the world record race time for your age range and gender. This calculation yields a decimal which represents (let's say) effort. If it is greater than 1, you just set a world record.
Find the corresponding time for an open entrant using your "effort" from step 1 and this is your AG time.

The biggest problem here lies in the reference data used to perform the calculations--it has to be updated every time a new world record is set. There is also a question of what to do with in-between values (say when a runner is 43 and the record is for age group 40-44, the 43 year old should have a better age graded time than their 42 year old friend with the same actual time. There can be lots of solutions like using Riegel's formula, curve fitting or linear extrapolation).

I used Professor Pearson's 100% effort data by age to calculate the results. These are for 8k and not 5mi (less than .03 differences. I could prorate the finisher's times by an appropriate factor but I don't think that will impact the AG order at all.

The age graded results identify the person who had the best performance of the day - not necessarily the fastest time. Congratulation to Anne Gullickson for being the winner in the age graded results!

Complete list of age graded results is in : Race Results 2007-current.

I would love to get comments about what your thoughts are on the age grading. Please email me at: gra176@aol.com with comments.

Thanks,

Conni

Some interesting reading ...

MHRRC member Lynne Kopac sent in the following links from the New York Times:

Empire State Building race.

Slimmer doesn't always mean fitter.

Jane Brody's Personal health column from February 2: review of Michael Pollan's book "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual"

Two Key Volunteers Needed

The Sports Museum Hall of Fame will be opening a running room to show the history of running in the Hudson Valley. We need a volunteer to coordinate and manage this room (we all remember that someone volunteered for this in a previous club meeting but we can't remember who).

Also, the club has been in need of a program chair for over a year now. The program chair sets up the guest speakers and programs at our monthly meetings and then makes sure the guests have all the equipment and materials needed at the Knights of Columbus. We have a list of potential programs, but we need one person who will take on the responsibility (maybe an hour per month) of arranging all of this and sending the list of programs to the webmaster and newsletter editor.

If you are interested, please contact Keith or Deborah.

2010 Training Group is Organizing

The MHRRC Tuesday evening training group at Union Vale Middle School track will continue (even though Steve has moved to NC and can't be our coach).

Some MHRRC members have stepped up to the plate:

Wayne McDaniel and Conni Grace are the coaches and will be available to answer all your questions about the evening's workout
Lori Cassia-Decker will lead the pre-workout stretching
Polly Sparling will maintain the email list and send out the email messages.

For this first year-without-Steve, we will follow last year's workouts (they will be published on this site).

It is free (although we ask that you become a MHRRC member to participate and that you sign a disclaimer). MHRRC will rent a porta-potty again for the track. We anticipate that the sessions will start at the end of April and run until the end of August.

The training group is for runners of all abilities - although you should be able to run 3 - 5 miles before attempting track work. Contact one of the coaches if you have questions.

Check back to this website for more details - we'll publish them as soon as they are available. If you want to be included on the list, email Polly.

Sneakers for Haiti

MHRRC member Meghan Martin has started a "Sneakers for Haiti" drive. Three local Gold's Gyms will have boxes in their lobby areas where old/used sneakers (running shoes) can be dropped off. If the drop-box is not obvious, just ask the person behind the counter where it is.

If you cannot get to Gold's Gym, you can mail the sneakers to Meghan Martin, 23 Farm View Road, Wappingers Falls, NY 12590. Meghan will be at the Winter Run this Sunday (February 7) and the Ed Erichson Runs on March 7 - so if it is easier for you to just drop your old running shoes off at a race, you can take then to these races for Meghan to collect.

Thanks to Meghan for her efforts and compassion and to Gold's Gym for serving as a collection point.

Pre-register for the Winter Run by Friday, February 5

Yes, this race is free to MHRRC members and only $5 if you are not a member - but, please pre-register on the shopping cart to help us on race day.

It is much easier for Conni Grace (race director) and our scorer (Vince Veltre) if you have pre-registered; then, you can just walk in to LaGrange Town Hall, pick up your chip (yes, this race is chip scored), and be ready to go.

This is a thank you race to all our runners: free, free hot, home-made soup after, fun course, good socializing, and, for the first time at MHRRC, age-adjusted finish time. How can you miss it? See you there.

Volunteers needed for February 7 Winter Run

If you can help at the free February 7 Winter Run, please contact race director Conni Grace. Conni especially needs people to help with traffic control.

It's fun being out on the course, cheering on our runners, and directing traffic to keep the runners safe. And, at the end of the race, Conni provides free home made soup (yum!) and other snacks to runners and volunteers alike.

Even if you haven't kept up with your running this cold winter, this is a good chance to see all your MHRRC buddies, catch up with the news, get inspired for Spring training, and contribute to this sport we all love so much. Note: if you are running, ask your partner to volunteer at a traffic control spot to join the fun.

Free Kids Races in 2010!

MHRRC knows times are tough, especially for families with young children. To encourage our youngest runners to run some races, all MHRRC kids races will be free in 2010.

In order for your child to run free, please pre-register him/her/them using the MHRRC shopping cart (race day registrations pay the normal race fee). If your shopping cart order total is $0, you will NOT have to submit your credit card information, but our database will be updated so race day tasks (registration, bib numbers, etc.) will be streamlined.

Note: some races limit tee shirts and other give-aways to the first 25 pre-registrants, so register early if you want your children to participate. While you are at it, register yourself for the adult race!

The free kids races apply to all kids races (but not to young children running 5K's, etc.). MHRRC events with free kids races in 2010 include:

May 8: Miles of Hope
June 5: Joseph McDonald/Bill Crusie
September 19: Dutchess County Classic
October 2: Schlathaus Park
October 17: Billy Goat Trail Run
October 24: Dutchess County Sports Museum Hall of Fame
November 24: Turkey Trot
December 4: Knights of Columbus Holiday Run

If you have questions, contact us at webmaster@mhrrc.org or the race director.

Ultra runner is a medical miracle

Polly Sparling provided this link to a NY Times story about Diane Van Deren, an ultrarunner who had brain surgery for epileptic seizures ten years ago. The amount of running that Diane does is amazing and scientists are studying her to see how she does it.

Link to article.

MHRRC Winter Run is coming on February 7

Don't miss the MHRRC Winter Run 5 mile race from LaGrange Town Hall. This race is free (yes, FREE) to all MHRRC members - use the shopping cart to pre-register. If you are not a MHRRC member, that is okay - just use the shopping cart to add your membership and then you can register for the Winter Run for free.

Please: if you are planning on running, use the shopping cart to pre-register. If your shopping cart has a $0 total cost, you will not be asked to submit any credit card information, but we will have all your information to keep the race day registration going smoothly.

Race director Conni Grace is planning on having FREE hot soup and bread after the race (last year, Conni did cook for 100 hungry runners in her kitchen and it was delicious.

This race will be chip scored by Vince Veltre. Results will be published as both your finish time and your age-adjusted finish time (which makes it all the more interesting because the older runners get an adjustment in their time).

Onteora Runners Club Annual Banquet

The friendly running club across the river, Onteora Runners Club, invites us to their annual banquet. It's only $25/person, sign up by March 7, with a cash bar.

Good, healthy food, break the winter blahs, honor volunteers, and socialize with a great group of runners.

Link to banquet flyer.

Contact ORC president Karen Spinozzi with questions.

Newsletter articles requested by February 15

MHRRC has a new newsletter editor! New member Lance Smith has agreed to take on this responsibility - you can reach him at newsletter@mhrrc.org.

We plan to have the next newsletter out at the end of February - please send Lance any articles to the above email address. We could really use some original material for the newsletter - let's make this a great year for MHRRC!

Recover from the Holiday Run has many runners

It was cold. It was windy. It was snowy. Many of us lesser souls opted to bag this run, and yet, there was a good turnout and a good group who finished the entire 50K run. Race director Pete Colaizzo promises to have something in his Thursday column in the Poughkeepsie Journal about the run/race. We look forward to reading about it.

Results are published in Race Results>>2007-2009 Results and below:

2010 Recover From The Holidays (Fat Ass) 50km, Norrie Point

January 3, 2010

50K finishers

1. John Ehntholt (43, NY) 4:05:11
2. Jeff Edwards (39, NY) 4:08:42
3. Andrei Aroneanu (55, NJ) 4:38:35
4. Sue Dean (48, MA) (WOMEN'S WINNER) 4:40:44
5. Arthur Boyko (43, NY) 4:54:21
6. Jacque Schiffer (45, NY) 5:09:05
7. Bruce Goulart (59, CT) 5:14:14
8. Krys Wasielewski (56, NY) 5:20:50
9. Eliot Lee (47, NY) 5:25:21
10. Mary Denitto (61, NY) 5:25:22
11 (tie). Stewart Dutfield (54, NY) and Doug Freese (64, NY) 5:28:05
13 (tie). Patrick Nesbitt (43, NY) and Jason Bellamy (36, NY) 5:34:55
15. Jeanine Armbrust (43, NY) 5:42:52
16 (tie). Seth Ambruso (29, CT) and Frances Davis (31, CT) 5:53:15

Recover from the Holidays on Sunday

Yes, there are about 20 - 30 stalwart, dedicated runners who will do the entire 50K (30+ miles) on Sunday at Norrie Point.

For the rest of us mere mortals, come anyway and treat this like a training run. The course is a 5K out and back loop and you can do as many or as few as you like. It is a social race: you see everyone on the course as you complete the loops. Plus, you are back at the beginning every 5K for warm drinks, food, breaks, socializing.

See you there: to run, to cheer, to socialize. It's at Norrie Point, begins at 9 am. No race fee, just sign a disclaimer.

Link to race flyer for all the details.

Weather cancellation date is January 9 - check back here if the weather is bad, but for now, it looks to be fine and Sunday, January 3 is the date.

January MHRRC meeting is cancelled

The January 7 MHRRC meeting is cancelled.

There is not much activity during this time of the year - so check back with us for the February meeting.