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President's Corner Well Summer is here, and it's the time of year when everything starts to slow down and heat up at the same time. |
The Grand Prix race series and our regularly scheduled meetings take a breather but that doesn't mean the SJAC is taking a rest. We've got our summer series "No Frills" races which are off to a great start. We've got our annual 4th of July parade. And we have 12 hearty SJAC members training hard for the 210 mile Reach The Beach Relay in September. So we certainly have a lot going on. But summer has always been a good time to regroup mentally and come up with new goals as the fall racing season is far enough away that we need not obsess about our mileage and our training methods quite yet. For me personally I decided that 2 marathons a year are too much and am going to focus on a faster 5k/10k this fall. That's something I haven't done in years. I realized I was in a constant cycle of recovery and rebuilding for a marathon and haven't given myself the proper rest. Others I know are gearing up for their first marathon and look forward to the challenge ahead. But no matter what we choose to do, the summer is a good time to kick back and take stock of our running. A time to mix things up and try new things. A time to slow down and heat up at the same time. Come join us at one of our summer series races. And afterwards stop by the deck at Connie Mac's for good conversation and a cold beverage. You'll be glad you did.
See you on the roads,
Brandon Hamilton,
SJAC President
SJAC Leads Club Challenge
After four races in the 2005 edition of the Mid-Atlantic USATF Club Challenge, SJAC is in first place with a slim five point lead over the Pike Creek Valley Running Club from Delaware. While seven races remain to be contested, competition for the top spot has never been closer! The Valley Forge Striders and Philadelphia Athletic Charities round out the top four places in the standings. The Bryn Mawr Running Co. failed to renew their M-USATF membership until after two races were conducted and therefore was inelligible to receive credit for those contests. Haddonfield Running Co. and Pineland Striders fielded teams in one race each. The current standings are below.
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CLUB
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TOTAL POINTS
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| SJAC |
1639.66
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| PIKE CREEK VALLEY |
1633.60
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| VALLEY FORGE |
1536.04
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| PHIL. ATHLETIC CHAR. |
1471.05
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| BRYN MAWR |
811.12
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| HADDONFIELD RUNNING |
409.97
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| PINELAND STRIDERS |
359.26
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There are currently 80 Mid-Atlantic USATF members recorded as "attached" to SJAC. No less than 23 and as many as 47 of these members have turned out for each of these Grand Prix-Club Challenge races. This tremendous support by our club's membership is the major reason we are the three-time defending champions of the Club Challenge! The remaining seven races on the 2005 Grand Prix Circuit are listed below. We'll have a large group at each of these races. Join us to run or come to cheer on your fellow club members!
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Upcoming Grand Prix races:
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| Sun. Aug 28 - Stone Harbor Lions 10K |
| Sun. Sept. 25- Parkway Run for Children 5K |
| Sun. Oct. 9 - Delaware Distance Classic 15K |
| Sun. Oct. 30 - Penn Medicine at Radnor 5Mi. |
| Sun. Nov. 6 - Ben Franklin Bridge 10K |
| Sun. Nov. 20 - Philadelphia Marathon |
| Sun. Nov. 20 - Rothman Institute 8K |
Grand Prix schedule:
http://mausatfcom.readyhosting.com/GPrix05.htm
Description of our participation:
SJAC-Club
Challenge Info
| Mar 05 | Mark Drummond - Collingswood |
| Mar 05 | Rob Ferrante - Philadelphia |
| Mar 05 | Dan Hill - Collingswood |
| Mar 05 | Renee Marie Johnson - Haddonfield |
| Mar 05 |
Mike & Dawn McCarthy - Moorestown
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| Mar 05 | Jose Torres - Sicklerville |
| Apr 05 | Aida Marcial - Haddon Heights |
| Apr 05 | Brian Welsh - Barrington |
| May 05 | Kevin Fine - Barrington |
| May 05 | Greg & Amy Lupinski and Family |
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Haddonfield |
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| May 05 | David Moyer - Haddon Township |
| May 05 | Carmen Tierno - Marlton |
| Jun 05 | John "JT" Thomas - Medford Lakes |
| Jun 05 | Joe Clark - Merchantville |
| Jun 05 | Rodney Russen - Collngswood |
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On Monday morning July 4 at 10:00 AM, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts will be resting up for their gig at Cooper River Park. However, the SJAC will be well into the events of the day making our 2nd consecutive appearance in the Haddonfield Independence Day Parade! Following a successful 2004 "Drive 25" performance in last year's parade (click here for pictures), our "Parade Master", Jim Flanagan, has come up with the "American Idol or Idle American " theme for 2005! Final plans are in development. "Casting" for our version of Idol judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson is now open. Likewise, a prime spot on Jim Flanagan's spare couch for the ride down Kings Hwy. (think idle ...couch potato...get the idea?) is open for an interested party...some costume padding may be necessary for this part since we all run. There are several other "formal" roles to be filled as well as general club membership participation for the 1/2 mile route along Kings Hwy. distributing healthy goodies to the spectators. About 40 of us did this last year and it was a hoot! A post parade party/BBQ will be hosted by Ken Sheil & Faith Nathan at their home in Moorestown. So if you'll be in the area on July 4th, join us for this fun event! We realize many members like to run a July 4th race and this may present a conflict. There is a 5K close by in Haddon Heights on July 4th which begins at 8:00 AM...just a thought. Below is our committee to date. We can always use more help and ideas! Send an email or look for one of us at the Sunday group runs from the Haddonfield Running Co. Parade "Committee" **Parade Master - Jim F.**Marketing - Denise D. & Sue H. **Shirts - Ed & Sylvia **Post Race Party - Ken & Faith **Music - Open but thinking about kazoos **Pun-Meister - Brandon **Facilities Services & Technology (float creation from design specs) including power source - Open Haddonfield's July 4th parade Web Page Last year we had blue dri-release T shirts made up for this event and they doubled as a nice sweat wicking training T shirt. This year's version is grey in the same dri-release fabric...perhaps you've seen my emails? A bargain at $8. A non dri-release children's size version is also available for $4. Send Ed an email if you want one and haven't reserved it yet. |
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SJAC Singlets
A supply of SJAC singlets in a variety of mens and womens sizes are on order, in production at the Sugoi facility located in a "remote" section of Canada. We're hoping to take delivery in the near future. Examples of these singlets can be viewed in our last Newsletter ("Cusp of Winter Edition") - check out Joe and Mickey near the bottom of that page. The singlets are Coolmax, custom design (dyed in vs. screened on lettering) and are available at the club's cost of $27.50. If you're interested, see Ed Maher at a run or drop me an email. Many of you have reserved one of these singlets and several extras have been ordered. We currently have 3 women's small and 1 unisex medium singlets in "inventory" from previous orders.
2005 No Frills Race Series Kicks Off
June 7 award winners
The 13th edition of SJAC's "No Frills, Just Thrills" race series had a successful start on Tuesday evening June 7. Seventy-two runners competed in this one loop race on the Cooper River course. Two weeks later sixty-seven runners participated in the staggered start race where the faster runners are given a handicap, starting the race after those projecting slower times at 2-1/2 minute intervals.
2005 SCHEDULE
NO FRILLS RACE SERIES
Tuesday July 12, 2005
..................6:40 P.M. 1 Mile Run
..................7:00 P.M 1 Loop (3.65 Miles) or
..................................2 Loops (7.3 Miles)
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
...................7:00 P.M. 1 Loop Prediction Race
Tuesday, August 9, 2005
.................... 7:00 P.M. 10K (6.2 Miles)
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
......................6:30 P.M 1 Loop (3.65 Miles),
......................................2 Loops (7.3 Miles) or
......................................3 Loops (10.95 Miles)
Come out to run one of the remaining races (entry fee for SJAC members is just $3) or volunteer your services and help us put the race on. Our "race crew" heads over to the deck at Connie Mac's Pub for post-race food, beverages and socializing.
REACH THE BEACH RELAY TEAM
An SJAC adventure
Reach The Beach is a 210 mile relay from Bretton Woods to Hampton Beach, New Hampshire on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 16 - 17, 2005. At press time, all 12 spots on the SJAC team for this relay have been spoken for. Information about the relay can be found at the Reach The Beach Web Site and more specific info for SJAC, including our current team composition, can be found at this link: SJAC - Reach the Beach. Our team will have 12 runners and each runner will run a total of 14 - 20 miles spread over 3 relay legs.
There are currently several members of the club not running due to injuries. Fortunately, none of our 12 relay team runners have been bitten by the injury bug and hopefully we'll all stay injury free between now and September. However, if anyone is interested in being a backup in case someone on the team goes down with an injury before mid-September or is unable to make it for other reasons, let Brandon or Ed know by email or in person. The rules prevent us from bringing "spare" runners and replacing someone after the event begins but we can substitute if necessary before we go.
