Minutes from the General Meeting (March 2021)

General Meeting Minutes

Date: March 11, 2021

Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Virtual via Zoom

Treasury Report – Shaun Luther—114% of target. We have expenses now, comparatively, from last year. Donation checks were sent: $1400 for Nolde Forest, and $800 each to the Berks Cross Country Coaches, IM Able, and Schuylkill River Greenway, and have expenses for the Horseshoe Trail and Shiver by the River. The RRCA music license refund was still in contention—the issue was elevated to the president of the RRCA, Shaun resolved this, and a refund is pending.

Races:

  • Charlie Horse Half Marathon (May 29, 2021)—Shaun Luther—A group ran the new course last week. It was a shade short in distance, at about 12.8 miles. Some adjustments can be made to add a little distance. The course has about 2100 feet of climbing, and the group liked the new course. A few administrative details were needed: Brecknock Township officials wanted insurance verification and a few release clauses on the sign up form, which were taken care of. The t-shirts are designed, and Shaun is working on the swag. Sleepy Hollow credited the deposit from last year to this year. Will put in a request for a work (volunteer) day on the course. And will do at least one training run, about 9 miles. Awards of the painted horseshoes will be for the top 3 male or female finishers. Then something lighter (as in, not the weight of a horseshoe) for the age-grouper awards. (Congratulations to Shaun on achieving the status of Pop-Pop.)
  • Run for the Ages 10K Trail Run (June 27, 2021)—Donna Hey—She is opening registration for this race. Many thanks to Blair Hogg for volunteering to be co-director. Nolde is not officially open yet, but Donna has the ok to open registration for 100 people, plus a wait list, for a race at the end of June. Due to the iffy-ness of the race occurring, it will be a no-swag event for a cost of $25. Regarding awards, there will be fastest runner awards and limited age grouper awards, due to the low enrollment number. The Education Center will likely be closed, as the renovation hasn’t started yet. Probably she will not have any same-day registration. Donna and Blair are moving forward with plans, but Nolde is strict about re-opening. 
  • Grings Mill 5K and 10K—Steve Maguire, from Jane Setley—have the weekend set, but Grings Mill is still hedging about confirming the accessibility.
  • Blues Cruise 50K (Oct 3, 2021)—Steve Maguire, via Dan Govern—about 70 signed up so far.
  • Oley Valley Country Classic—no report.
  • Kris Kringle 5 Miler—Polly Corvaia—Coaches thanked the club for the donation. IM Able will do a ‘big check’ photo op. They will put our logo on their web page. Schuylkill River Greenways, March 27 is the clean-up day for their Reading area portion. Registration is required to volunteer. (If the registration is closed, please consider a monetary donation.)
  • Shiver by the River 5K and 10K (April 11, 2021):  Sue Jackson—The directors were able to hold a live race on 2/28, finally. Another one this Sunday (3/14). Need someone to bring the trailer—Steve will handle. Needs volunteers, will have a unique prize at each race. (Sue let the club know that Terry’s Trophies, a business we have associated with for several years, will close at the end of April.)
  • Jr. High Cross Country Fall Invitational: no report

Committee Reports

Social Committee:

  • Movie night at the Goggleworks—Larry Sundberg—he wants to show “Chariots of Fire” from the available list of movies at Googleworks. Saturday, April 17, at 6:30 p.m. The cost will be $10 per person with a 6-person minimum to secure the theater. Larry will give away the movie DVD as a door prize. The club will reimburse Larry the cost of the DVD, and there will be some other door prizes. Maximum occupancy is 25 people in the theater. They have a concession stand, with beer and wine (which includes a PB&J sandwich to cover the food requirement). The event will be publicized on the Facebook page. It is not a general public event, so a Pacer should be present with guests.

Communications Committee—no report

Community Service

  • Weekly runs—Attendance has been around 20 per evening. FYI—the parking area at the Fire Tower on Skyline Drive is locked. Matt will look into getting access to the area.

Charity Committee

  • Scholarship committee—applications due at the end of March

Membership committee: No changes, will discuss again in the fall. An email will be sent to the inactive people. Occasionally, Shaun gets someone asking for membership, who will not disclose his/her age. Shaun must refund the membership fee if he is unable to the person to disclose this necessary piece of information (required for insurance purposes).

Old business: None

New business: Goal is to have an in-person group meeting in April.

Race Report: Rock Your Socks 5k

by Robert Stichter

I ran this race on March 20th at Cairns University. The track club held its annual Rock Your Socks 5k. This was a benefit for World Down Syndrome Day. My son, Hunter, who will be 1 on April 6th, has Down’s. This was his first race! (Well, I pushed him in a running stroller.) The race was just a little longer than a 5K: 3.21 miles. 3/21 is World Down Syndrome Day. “3.21” also signifies the Trisomy 21. Trisomy 21 is the most common chromosomal anomaly in humans, affecting about 5,000 babies born each year and more than 350,000 people in the United States. If you look at the shape of the chromosomes of Trisomy 21, it looks like a pair of mismatched socks (hence, “Rock Your Socks”). So each runner was asked to wear a pair of mismatched socks, which Hunter and I did. We completed the 3.21 rolling hills race in 36 minutes. Not too bad for having fun, pushing a stroller, and oh yeah–taking a time-out to change a diaper. LOL!


Pacer Movie Night: April 17th

Come join the Pacers for a special showing of “Chariots of Fire” at the Reading Goggleworks movie theater on April 17th, 2021.

A classic running movie, Chariots of Fire won four academy awards; best picture, screenplay, soundtrack and costumes.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chariots_of_Fire

Tickets are $10. This is a private showing with a limited number of tickets for Pacer Club members and their guests so get yours before they are gone!

Doors open at 6:00 PM. Movie starts at 6:30 PM. Food, Beverage (incl. Beer and Wine) available for purchase at concession stand.

A door prize drawing will be held for the 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-Ray disc of the movie.

Per Goggleworks guidelines… Masks are required at all times, except when eating, drinking, and when seated viewing the movie.

To purchase tickets, click on the link to the Pagoda Pacer Store

runsignup.com/Club/Store/PA/Reading/PagodaPacersAthleticClub

Race Results (March 2021)

Email race results to Race Results Coordinator Karen Rule at raceresults@pagodapacers.com.

Ugly Mudder
65Tania Salaneck1:08:073rd F40-49
164Barbara Raifsnider1:28:26
210Kristin Schimp1:40:46
Shiver by the River
10k
2Mihai Sanchez38:202nd M Overall
4Justin Kratz41:14
5Jeff Fussner42:25
7Raine Fussner44:222nd F Overall
16Vicki Menet49:04
26Lisa Domeshek56:27
28Tony Argentowicz57:38
45 Barbara Raifsnider65:32
5k
16Mary Boggs27:48
27Julia Hagar31:30
33Tania Salaneck32:13
35Asher Sleppy32:34
36Preston Sleppy32:34
49Rose Hagy39:31
52Helene Horn41:07
Fools Run 10-Miler
9Mihai Sanchez1:05:573rd M 18-24
23Jeff Fussner1:12:562nd M 55-59
30Raine Fussner1:14:571st F Masters
41Beth Kohl1:19:053rd F 35-39
47Donald Mengel1:19:371st M 60-64
52Todd Dierksheide1:20:45
53Cody Harris1:21:13
97 Heather Nowicki1:31:50
99Jackie Snyder1:32:541st F 60-64
102Elaine Cook1:33:093rd F 50-54
123Lisa Domeshek1:39:16
Naked Prussian/Bavarian
40 Miler
14Rhoda Smoker7:27:421st F 1-39
32Michael Whalen8:41:462nd M 60+
59Jenn Guigley10:12:57
Marathon
53Francesca Mahalak5:11:26
180Jason Karpinski8:35:05
20-Miler
142Melissa Lin5:21:33
144Rick Moyer5:23:08
149Barbara Raifsnider5:37:29
2 Rivers Marathon
Andy Styer3:24:30
Rock Your Socks 5k
Hunter and Robert Stichter36:00

Wednesday Night Runs: April, 2021 Locations

We have daylight and warmer temps now–sounds like a good time to “Bring a New Pacer” to Wednesday Night Run! Starting this April, each 2nd Wednesday will be “Bring a New Pacer” night, starting at the Brentwood trailhead for the Thun Trail. This central location offers an easy out-and-back option for runners who want to do any distance at any pace–no need to worry about getting lost or left behind. Come run with us! All are welcome!

To keep these runs safe, it’s very important that we practice appropriate protocol. Please wear a mask for the pre-run sign-in and please maintain 6 feet of separation from other runners.

Reminder: We need everyone to sign in (and sign a waiver) before EACH Wednesday Night Run. This is necessary for our insurance and for contact tracing (if necessary). Make sure you familiarize yourself with the GROUP RUN GUIDELINES AND WAIVER before attending.

April 7: Rustic Park, Birdsboro

April 14: Brentwood Trailhead, Reading (Bring a New Pacer)

April 21: Scott’s Run Lake, French Creek State Park, Elverson

April 28: Blue Marsh Stilling Basin (upper lot), Leesport

Clean Up Mt Penn on April 24

Great volunteer opportunity the Saturday after Earth Day!

Help is needed to clean up trash along Duryea and Skyline Drives on Mount Penn! (Last year we also tackled Oak Lane.)

This is our chance to tidy up around the Pagoda, Pacers!

Meet at 8:30am on Saturday, April 24th at the intersection of Duryea Drive and Lombard Street.

Bring gloves, drinking water, and landscaping tools (if you have them).

Click HERE to RSVP to this event on Facebook.

See you there!

Final Shiver of ’20-’21 Season on Sunday, April 11th

Here it is April and consistent with the craziness of the last 12 months, we are STILL having Shiver races! We offered this race when we had to cancel the December race, due to Governor Wolf’s restrictions. We have only had 2 live races, each with a little less than 120 runners. We are hoping to reach our limit of 200 runners for our final race. So, if you are looking for a live race, come and join us on 4/11 at Jim Dietrich Park in Muhlenberg Twp. Registration is online only, at Pretzel City Sports. There is no race-day sign-up.  

When we canceled December, we offered runners the opportunity to request a refund, or to move their registration to one of the remaining races. I can’t state enough that we did not automatically move anyone from December to April! So, if you or one of your friends registered for December and didn’t do anything with that registration, this is your last chance and you must email shiverdirector@pagodapacers.com and request that we move your December registration to April.

As always, we are looking for Pacers to RUN the race, but if that isn’t an option, we always need volunteers. We don’t need as many volunteers prior to the race, since there is no race-day registration; and we don’t need anyone after the race, as there is no food.  However, we do need volunteers to park cars; direct runners at the various intersections; help in the chute; keep the water stop table filled with cups of water; and to furnish water and Gatorade after the race. The water/Gatorade table at the end will have 1 or 2 volunteers, wearing gloves, filling the cups and placing them on the table for the runners to take. This will prevent dozens of runners from touching the containers. To help in planning, it is appreciated if you can let us know in advance of your availability by directly contacting Sue, Georgine, or Tiffany, or by emailing shiverdirector@pagodapacers.com. However, if you can’t commit until race day, that is fine–just find one of the race directors at the swag pickup area. For those on the road, we can give you an intersection, so it is your choice if you want to come to the park or go directly to your intersection. Swag pickup opens at 8:30, so we ask that those parking cars or helping with swag pickup arrive around 8:00-8:15. The race starts at 10:00, so we ask those helping during the race to arrive around 9:30, or if going directly to your intersection, please be there by 10:00.  Swag pickup will be at the pavilion, near the farmhouse. We ask everyone to wear a mask. Gloves will be provided.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support of the Shiver, whether as a runner, or volunteer, or both. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we work through the ever-changing restrictions and regulations!! Feel free to contact us with any questions or comments.

Stay Safe everyone!!!!

Sue, Georgine, and Tiffany