Club Members and Guests:
A busy weekend as we soon head into the spring racing season!
1. The Club needs runners for the annual Maryland 10-Mile Club Championship, 8:00 am Sunday, February 25th, at Howard County Community College. More info can be found at http://www.striders.net/races/rrca/index.php . For the online registration the password is cDsm55 for DCRRC (and is case-sensitive, so it needs to typed exactly as shown). Site is www.racetrakonline.com and should be pretty self-explanatory. The website does not always seem to be fully functioning so it might take more than one try or jsut registering at the race on Sunday. Also, please contact team coordinator Aaron Cheskis by email if you plan to run: aaron.cheskis@gmail.com
The Club pays the entry fee for this race!
2. 10K Training Program: The 10K Training Program will commence on Saturday, February 24, at 9:00 am. See more details under the "Programs" button to your left. Meeting point is the Lincoln Memorial. The program is under the direction of long-time training program volunteer Peter Lamberton. Peter can be reached at plamberton@yahoo.com Please contact Peter if you would like to volunteer as an assistant coach, or even if you would like to participate as a trainee. Our "goal" race this year will be in May -- the Capitol Hill Classic 10K. Please tell your friends about this program -- a great way to jump start spring fitness training, with a definite goal!
3. Belle Haven 25K: This annual fixture in the Snowball Series will take place Saturday, February 24th, at 9:00 am. Check the button to the left for further details.
4. George Washington Birthday Marathon: What a privilege it was to be out there last Sunday in Greenbelt and see so many volunteers help out the 200-plus runners who participated in the marathon and marathon relay. Weather is always chancy for this event, but this was clearly one of the tougher years we have had recently -- the wind was particularly bad on the back side of the loop, and no picnic on the final hill either. I'll have some more detailed thanks to add in a later post, but this was truly a team effort.
Let's make it a goal for 2008 to increase participation at this event! We are looking for ideas to make that happen, which could include making the marathon, and perhaps even the relay, qualifying events in the Snowball Series. As difficult a challenge as this race can be, it is one of America's oldest marathons (this was the 46th running). We had plenty of volunteer support this year -- so let's continue to build on that success.
Major thanks, of course, to race director Pat Brown for all he did to make this possible.
5. "No Headphones" Policy: A reminder that in conformity with a long-standing policy of the Road Runners Club of America, no headphones are allowed in DCRRC-sponsored races. For those with questions on this policy, see the rather lengthy discussion in the "Forum" section of this website that took place last summer/fall. If you show up to race with headphones, you will be asked to remove them on pain of disqualification from the event. Thanks for your cooperation.
6. National Marathon/Half-Marathon: DCRRC is now an official club sponsor of the National Marathon and Half-Marathon (March 24, 2007), along with the other major running clubs in the area. Please, when you enter the Marathon or the Half, indicate your DCRRC Membership so that we are credited with "referring" you to the race. Race director Keith Dowling has asked me to pass on that the Half-Marathon is not merely an "add-on" to this event; rather, this is truly a "double feature" with the Half-Marathon providing an excellent tune-up for those running in Boston on April 16th.
7. Banquet and Elections: I cannot reveal the name yet, but we are close to having a VERY exciting speaker for the banquet this year. But we need volunteers to support this event! Volunteers are needed for the following: (a) To help coordinate the Annual Banquet. This means contacting the site (usually Clarendon Grill) and making the necessary reservations and other arrangements. If you can help with this, please contact the Club President. (b) Nominating Committee: One or two Club Members (in addition to members who will be nominated from the Board) are needed to serve on the Nominating Committee to create a slate of candidates for next year's officers. Also contact the Club President on this.
Ed
