The Pace Setter - Hudson Mohawk Road Runners Club

HUDSON MOHAWKROAD RUNNERS CLUBPresidentJON ROCCO862-9279•Executive Vice PresidentJOHN PARISELLA374-4190•Vice President for FinanceCHARLES TERRY482-5572•TreasurerPAM ZENTKO372-8275•SecretaryBARBARA LIGHT326-0313•Race Committee TreasurerNANCY BRISKIE355-32764 – The Pace SetterHMRRC COMMITTEECHAIRPERSONSMembership CommitteeDIANE FISHERhmrrcdiane@gmail.com•Race CommitteeMARK WARNER, 464-5698•Public RelationsROBERT MOORE377-1836 • rmoore4626@aol.com•HMRRC Web PageDIANE FISHERhmrrcdiane@gmail.com•Digital Clock & TimerBILL MEEHAN456-4564•Volunteer CoordinatorMARCIA ADAMS356-2551www.hmrrc.comby Jon RoccoJuly is now upon us. It is track season. It istime to have some outdoor fun, enjoy someadventurous trails, do some picnicking, perhapseven take a cruise. I think the HMRRCcan help in all these aspects.I imagine when I mentioned track season,you thought Saratoga and the thoroughbredexcitement on the one mile and one-eighthtrack. Certainly that is a fair assumption. However,it also means two legged people runningon a quarter mile track. HMRRC providesample opportunity for some fun on the track.Some people actually think the words ‘fun’and ‘track’ used in the same sentence are oxymorons.The club puts on a dozen track meetsthroughout the summer and we think we makethem fun and low key.We all know the Bryan Adams hit ‘Summerof ’69.’ However, brothers Don and Frank Myershad a different idea for the summer of 1969and thus began the Colonie Summer Track Series.Now in its 6th decade, it all started withseventeen participants. The series was takenover by HMRRC in 2010 and this summer willmark its 43rd year. 1969 also represents theyear Barry Brown ran a blistering 4:10.5 milein the inaugural meet year, a record that stillstands today.The track series, which started up on June14, is held for nine consecutive Tuesday nightsthrough August 9 and includes the running ofthe popular Colonie Mile on week four. Thefour lap run takes place on July 5 and althoughit is the shortest, it is certainly not the easiestGrand Prix event. The Summer Track Series isof no charge to all participants.The club holds three other track events inJuly, at no charge to club members. This includesthe Two-Person Relay, The Hour Run,and The Pentathlon.If you participated in last month’s ValleyCats Home Run 5K, you have earned four freetickets to see the defending New York-PennLeague Champion Tri-City Valley Cats play ata home game in August. The venue is a greatplace to watch local professional baseball andprovides for a nice day or night out with familyand/or friends.On the last day of this month, we will becombining trail racing and picnicking at ThacherPark, an Albany County gem near Vorheesville.On this final Sunday, the club putson a 15K trail race along with a 3.5M trail racedistance. It all ends with the HMRRC Club Picnicwith a tasty BBQ lunch at the scenic park.Many runners even make it a point to run bothdistances. Running one of the trail races is nota requirement to the picnic. Tickets can bepurchased for the picnic only.On Friday August 5, volunteers, fellow runners,and guests will be Rocking The River onThe Captain J.P. II. We will be heading off for athree hour tour on the Hudson(the co-foundingriver our club is named after) which will includemusic, buffer dinner, and no doubt…a lot of funand laughs. The cost is $20-$37 depending onyour volunteer points. Keep in mind, unlikesome of our events offering same day signup,you must pre-register here. July 18 is the cutoffdate. Don’t miss the boat on this one.Trail racing continues for three consecutiveMondays in August at another fine park in AlbanyCounty. Tawasentha Park in Guilderlandis the site of our three cross country races. Theseries, under the direction of John Kinnicutt,includes our only Grand Prix trail/cross countryevent on August 15. There is no fee entryfor club members at the three week series.Speaking of summer, high school has officiallyended for our 2011 Shrader Scholarshipwinners. However, they will soon be headingoff to college to pursue their dreams andcontinue on with their running endeavors.Congratulations go out to our female winners:Brianna Freestone from Saratoga SpringsHigh School and Jolie Siegel from VorheesvilleHigh School, and our male winners: SamuelPlace from Saratoga Springs High School andChristopher Herbs from Catholic Central HighSchool.I hope to see you out at many of our funevents this summer. As always, if you are notrunning, volunteering is always appreciatedand rewarding. rNote from theManaging EditorWhile I try to give heartfelt and frequentthanks personally to everyone whocontributes to The Pace Setter, it’s notoften that I take the opportunity to do itpublicly. So hopefully not long overdue,here is my gratitude to all the authors,photographers, feature writers and organizerswho make the managing editorjob fun, easy, gratifying and possible everysingle month. I appreciate everyone’stime, energy, expertise, effort and attentionto deadlines. Without each and everyone of you, The Pace Setter would not bethe quality publication that it is.With that, I would like to thank outgoingcontent editor Kari Gathen for herhard work and contribution for the past2+ years. Your diligence and attentionto detail have been an asset to the magazine.Thanks for making so much time forus when time has been such a preciouscommodity to you.And I would like to introduce our newcontent editor, Kristin Zielinski. Kristincomes to HMRRC with a backgroundas a grant writer for a national non-profithere in Albany and a desire to be moreinvolved in the local running community.Welcome aboard, Kristin!