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Club Picnic 3M, Aug. 10 @ 5:00 PM; 20-Miler Volunteers Needed; Burke Lake 4.5M; Bunion Derby Updates

Club Members & Guests:

1. Next Race: The annual DCRRC Picnic Race will be held Sunday, August 10, at 5:00 pm on the grounds of the Landon School in Bethesda. See Calendar, and www.landon.net for more details and directions. The 3-mile cross-country race will be followed by the Club's annual picnic. All are encouraged to come and enjoy the challenging race course, and food and fun afterwards.

2. Final Bunion Derby Race: The final race of the 2008 Bunion Derby will be held Tuesday August 19, 2008, at Burke Lake Park, the Paul Thurston 4.5 Miler. The race starts at 6:45. There is a Family Team competition -- see the Calendar posting for more details.

3. Five Bunion Derby Races Will Score: We will continue to score a maximum of five (5) Bunion Derby races in this year's calculation of age-group winners. We provide eight races each season anticipating that at least may be cancelled due to weather, as happened to the Belle Haven 8K.

4. 20-Miler Volunteers Needed: This post has been up for a while, but now it's time to get serious! The team of Chuck Evans, and Bob & Delabian Thurston, labor mightily through the spring and summer to organize this event, one of the hallmarks of the DCRRC race calendar, indeed, of the entire racing calendar in the National Capital area. They do so purely for their love of the sport and devotion to the Club. Let's give them the support they deserve by signing up to volunteer, and to do so EARLY so that they are not beating the bushes in the final days before the race. See more race information below.

Delabian Thurston is coordinating volunteers, and can be contacted at delabian@aol.com

5. 20-Miler Registration Open: Registration is now open for the DCRRC National Capital Area 20-Miler, on Sunday, September 28, 2008. Registration forms will be available at Wednesday night workouts, Club races, and in many area running stores and sports clubs. In addition, there will be on-line regsitration through RacePacket at the link below.

Please note that there is a 4-hour time limit for completion of the race. Also, no headphones are permitted. Also, discounted registration will end on August 31, 2008, and there is a 500-person entry limit for this race. Thanks to race director Chuck Evans, and his "technical directors" Bob & Delabian Thurston for all the work they put into this race.

VOLUNTEERS ARE URGENTLY NEEDED FOR THIS EVENT! If you can volunteer, please contact Delabian Thurston at delabian@aol.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Also, if your school, church group, community group or other organization has "volunteer requirements" for high school students, this is an excellent opportunity to volunteer, get credit for the students, and get publicity for your organization. Please contact the Club President at president@dcroadrunners.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it if you can help in this way.

Registration link: https://www.racepacket.com/secure/regmain.php

Track Championships (7/30); Bluemont 5K (8/5)

Members & Guests:

Hope you are continuing to enjoy our new website. Please be sure to check the calendar for event updates.

EVENT CANCELLATION: We regret the confusion engendered by the cancellation of the Belle Haven 8K on July 23rd. Given the weather reports available to us in mid-afternoon, which clearly (and accurately) severe thunderstorms and a flash flood warning for early evening, the decision to cancel was prudent and correct. The severity of the predictions did not call for a "race-time" decision, as would be the case if the prediction was for the ordinary scattered thunderstorms that we experience on summer afternoons.

Due to a communication mix-up for which I take responsibility, neither the Race Director nor the club president were on site. That will be corrected in the event of future cancellations. This type of weather system is very difficult to predict, but in this case, the only uncertainly was exactly when the storm would hit, not whether it would hit, nor where. Had it come about 15-30 minutes earlier, the severe rain and lightning would have created a hazard for those competing and those gathered at the finish. As it was, some of those who attended the race faced severe driving conditions afterwards.

We will also endeavor to improve our electronic communication of such cancellations. Our website will remain the first and principal means. The SLR list received an email reporting the cancellation. As part of the website improvements, we hope to create an email distribution list that will be matched to all important website updates.

For those who did show up, and those who organized the "fun run" that took place, thank you both for your participation and your patience.

1. Next Race: Track Championships: Wakefield HS, July 30, 6:30 pm: The Club's annual 1-Mile and 3K track championships will take place Wednesday, July 30, starting at 6:30 pm at Wakefield H.S. in Arlington VA. Wakefield HS is located just northeast of the corner of Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) and George Mason Drive. We will begin with a mile race for younger persons (14 and under). Following that, there will be a 1-mile racewalk, and the mile events should be expected to start around 6:50 pm. Depending on registration, the event directors will organize and seed heats by gender, age group, and time. Based on past registrations, there will be Open races for men and women, as well as Masters (40 and over) races for men and women. Additional heats will be added as required.

After a short break, we will proceed to the 3K events. We usually run two heats. Expect these events to start not later than 7:40 in order to finish before sundown.

There will be no Track Workout at Washington-Lee HS on Wednesday July 30 due to this event.

2. Bluemont 5K, Tuesday August 5, 7:00 pm: The next non-track race will be Tuesday, August 5, 2008, at 7:00 pm at Bluemont Park in Arlington. Remember that we now start our Bluemont races at the "far" pavilion, located about 500M down the trail from the pavilion closest to Wilson Boulevard. Precise directions will be posted here and on the calendar closer to the date of the race. Race director Richard Rapine is seeking volunteers to help out.

3. 10-Mile/10K Training Programs Have Started!: The annual 10-Mile Training Program commenced on Saturday morning, July 12, 2008, at 8:00 am. The program will meet for the first 3 weeks (July 12, 19, and 26) at the Gotta Run store on So. Joyce Street in Arlington (Pentagon Row Shopping Center). After that, locations will vary. The "goal race" for this program is the Army 10-Miler.

This year, we will run a 10K training program in conjunction with the 10-Mile program. The "goal race" for this program is the Rediscovery 10K, run in mid-October in West Potomac Park.

If you have not signed up, there is still time. Peter Lamberton, the Club's VP for Training Programs, is the director of both programs. He can be contacted at: plamberton@ftc.gov