This is quite the bargain for a race entry of only $30! However, the reduced registration price deadline is rapidly approaching. You have until Wednesday, June 8, to get the lower price and guarantee swag for the Sunday, June 26, 2022 race. After that, the entry will go to $35 — with no swag guarantee.
Run For the Ages 10k is run on the trails and service roadways in beautiful Nolde Forest near Reading, PA. The age-graded start gives any age-group competitive runner a chance to win the race outright.
The first 10 overall finishers get Nolde Forest Pottery plates, and Chester County Running Store certificates go to the top three finishers. Top age-group medals will also be awarded.
We do allow walkers. Same entry fee and swag as runners, but just not eligible for awards due to an earlier start time of 8 a.m., which will provide ample time to finish with the running participants. *If you are thinking of walking the course, please contact the race director prior to race day.
A portion of the race proceeds will be donated to the Friends of Nolde for park projects and improvements.
This year’s swag is a cool travel picnic blanket. It’s guaranteed to the first 100 registered; after that, availability will be based on inventory left for re-orders. Get registered to guarantee yours!
Treasury Report – Shaun Luther—180% of target. Not a lot of activity this month. Price of Constant Contact went up about 30%, so checking into that. The income taxes are prepared, and will be filed electronically via a service which the club can use for free.
Races:
Charlie Horse Half Marathon (Sunday, May 29, 2022) – Shaun Luther – Registration price increased, and registrations have picked up. Still need volunteers for the race.
Run for the Ages 10K Trail Run (Sunday, June 26, 2022) —Donna Hey – registration currently at 43 entrants. The swag is here, and is a nice, plaid packable blanket. Looking for young chasers and volunteers for Saturday, June 25, for marking the train, and the day-of activities.
Grings Mill 5K and 10K—Jason Karpinski – Registration entrants is at 9 right now. Andrea Thrush is doing some artwork for the slate awards.
Blues Cruise 50K – no report
Oley Valley Country Classic (November 5, 2022) – Lenny Burton – Oley Fair grounds. Won’t use their kitchen this year, so he’s looking for some food trucks. If anyone knows a contact, please contact Lenny with details.
Kris Kringle 5 Miler – no report
Shiver by the River 5K and 10K – no report
Jr. High Cross Country Fall Invitational – no report
Committee Reports
Social Committee – updates from Michelle Henry:
Thursday, June 23, run, bike, swim night – casual ride planned with Berks Area Cyclists, and a more experienced ride will be hosted by Swamp. Two distance runs will be available, starting around 7. The pool opens at 8 p.m., and the charge is $5 per entrant. The pool is owned by a private organization, so you can BYOB (no glass). Michelle is proposing to have snacks, etc., and pay the entry of $5 per person for any Pacer members attending. The aim is to making this inter-activity and family friendly event. Elite Fire and Water Restoration is providing the water. (This event is in addition to the regularly scheduled WNR.)
August 6, 9:30 a.m., Yoga by Yuriko, Fawn Hill Hop Yard, Shillington. We can’t charge for this event, so to limit the size, we request to keep this to Pacer members only and a plus one.
Pickle Ball, still in the planning stage.
Communications Committee
Website – As always, trying to keep all the club platforms up to date
Community Service
Weekly runs – Matt Brophy & Steve Vida – if anyone has a particular route in mind for a Wednesday, let Matt know – especially those who are hosting the WNRs over the summer. Question asked about downloading the run, Lisa will show the app that is used. Also, these are no-drop runs.
Hosted runs – there are still some evenings open. Check with Phil Lechner for open dates or other questions.
Trail Maintenance – Mike Whalen – Jason reports one tree down, which a team will try to get to.
Race mates – Run for Laney 5K – Mike Whalen and Kris Jacoby – Grings Mill race is scheduled as a race mate event. Open to pushers and changing up the running activity. If you know of an athlete who wants to run, contact “I Am Able” to put in contact with the group. Mike has a Facebook page for scheduling the pushers, so contact Mike so he can add you to the page. Discussion of child abuse clearances. Mike will delve into this further.
Charity runs –
Scholarship Committee – no report
Membership committee – no report
Old business
National Trails Day – a flyer was created with Pacers noted; Blair Hogg and Lisa Domeschik will be there, Fleet Feet is going to be there as a sponsor. If anyone is interested, plan on attending, June 5, Sunday morning (9:00). Berks Parks and Rec. Geared toward beginning trail runners.
Berks Trail Works, who could not make it for the May meeting, are rescheduled for June.
Velodrome repaving is not going well, so Pacer attending an evening there may not happen this year.
New business
June meeting at Mohnton Fire Company; July at Birdsboro Rustic Park
In the early morning hours of Halloween 2019, I sit at my computer, stretching my fingers, preparing myself for the frenzy of the Seneca7 race registration. The race is known to sell out within minutes, so I have to move quickly if I don’t want to miss out. True to form, my friend Emily types faster and fortunately secures our spot. We’re excited and have no idea that we won’t embark on this adventure for two and half long years.
The Seneca7 is an annual relay race held in April that spans 77.7 miles in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Teams of seven runners complete three separate legs ranging between 2.5 and 6.2 miles on roads surrounding beautiful Seneca Lake. The format is similar to a road Ragnar Relay with the team riding in a van during off-legs. The exchange points are often at local wineries and breweries, which the region is known for. There is also an option to form a bike team where you cycle opposed to riding in a van during your non-running legs. This would be quite the challenge as you are self-supported in either case.
Fellow Pacers Donna and Blair introduced me to the race. They had been participating for a few years and Donna had already formed a team, so I rounded up six other running friends. (The list of teammates ended up changing so many times before we actually got to run the race!) We name our team “Pour Choices” and make cute matching hats. We meet several times to plan the logistics, including renting a house and a van, planning what we want to eat, and exploring which wineries we might want to visit after race day.
It’s now March 2020. Our grocery lists are ready to go, we requested time off work, and we spent a decent chunk of change. But you know what happens next – everything is canceled. Our excitement quickly fades to disappointment.
The race offers a virtual option, but we decide not to participate. We receive the option to forfeit our money, with a portion being donated to charity, with an automatic entry for the following year, avoiding the morning registration frenzy. 2021 comes and the race is once again held virtually, which still isn’t how we want to participate. However, we still have automatic entry for the following year.
2022 rolls around and it looks like we are finally going to get to do this! But for various reasons, three of our team members have to back out. This shouldn’t be too big of an issue though; we have a great local running community, and this race sounds awesome. Donna’s team is going through something similar and is also looking for teammates. At this point, the race requires participants to be fully vaccinated. Also, we need runners who can get away for a weekend, preferably a long one, as the race is on a Sunday and takes the full day, and ughhh Hyner is the same weekend. Donna and I are both scrambling and asking the same pool of runners. By the beginning of March, we finally have our team together.
We found a house again, but no cute matching hats this time. My energy for planning and replanning this trip is really starting to wane. Two weeks out, a team member gets injured, which was way worse for her than it was for us. We double-checked but Seneca 7 won’t let us start the race with six runners. Desperately, we try to secure one more runner and with a stroke of luck we find the perfect fit three days before we must submit our final roster. Game on!
Our final team includes Karla Reppert, Jackie Snyder, Kate Willis, Jenn Guigley, Emily Trudel, Blair Hogg, and myself. Maybe we could have come up with a much funnier team name, but it’s too late for that now.
We get ourselves up to Seneca Lake and it’s finally race day with a 6 a.m. start and I am runner #1 — Eeekkk! The teams start in waves, and we are in the first. The race starts at the top of the lake in Geneva and runs counterclockwise around the lake ending back in Geneva. My first leg is beautiful. The temperature is in the low 50s, and I get to watch the sun rise over the water while I run 3.8 miles over a few rolling hills. When I finish running, I hand off a slap bracelet to runner #2, Jackie, and get on a shuttle to rejoin my team at the second exchange. Legs 1 and 2 involve a shuttle to help alleviate traffic; after that, you are in the van.
Our entire team is running well and having a great time. Then it’s time for my second leg. Now I am fully awake and ready to go. My second leg is 3.3 miles, and I am running my heart out. The first mile is straight downhill, and I am passing the very few runners that are ahead of us. We are all running better than expected. I get to a turn and some lively spectators partying on their porch yell, “Wait for It!!!” and sure enough I round a sharp turn to a very steep uphill. Ughhh — I was not prepared for this, and I don’t want to become “roadkill.” (Teams are tallying their “roadkill”–the number of runners they pass–and it is recorded in the results.) So straight up I go for a mile, finishing this leg on the flat main road and now it is HOT! The temperature rose to the high 80s with no clouds and a “real feel” of 90. Two years ago, it had snowed right before the race.
Everyone proceeds to run their second leg just as well, and it’s time for my last leg. I was originally a little nervous about being stuck in a van for such a long time but the day has flown by. Something was always happening. My last leg is 3.7 miles and feels flat, but is slightly downhill. I am very thankful that I have not been on a bicycle between legs at this point, as it feels so brutally hot. I finish, and it’s finally time for a beer! Blair is our last runner and we all meet up to run the final part of his leg as a team to the finish. Little do we know, he has finally passed the guy in front of him, and he plans on really running it in, so we chase him down, unprepared, which is a little comical.
Overall, this race was very well organized and a lot of fun. I can see why it sells out so quickly every year. Pour Choices placed 109 out of the 211 teams, at 12:31:17. Not too bad considering that we just wanted an excuse to have fun, drink wine, and visit the Finger Lakes.
Over the next few months, many of our club members will be hosting either the run, the post-run gathering, or both. Addresses will be posted on Facebook and the Pagoda Pacer website.
To say my first Hyner 50k experience was unique is an understatement. My day started bright and early around 3:45 a.m. with a shower. Michelle and I left at half past 4 (as planned) with an ETA of 7:27 a.m. All was going smoothly, and my mind was at ease…until my low tire pressure light switched on somewhere in the neighborhood of Minersville. One quick stop at a nearby Sheetz turned quickly to panic when their air pump was out of order, and I was able to put a dent in my tire with little effort. Frantically, I found a nearby Sunoco which was a mere 2.5 miles away. Unfortunately, as many of you may know, Pottsville’s roads are fairly unforgiving. Every bump in the road felt like a cramping hamstring (more of that to come later in the day). After paying $2 to attempt filling my tire, I faced the seemingly daunting task of changing my first flat tire. Luckily the donut was in good shape, and we were quickly back on the road.
Our ETA was now 8:02.
Did I mention that the race start was scheduled to start at 8:00??
Several deep breaths were needed to calm myself down to a reasonable level. The temptation to hit the gas was overwhelming; however, the desire to arrive safely was even greater. All was well, and I was confident I would be able to start a couple minutes late, even if it meant pleading graciously with RD, Craig Fleming. As our trip progressed, I proceeded to calm further, that is, until we hit a stretch of 45 miles on US-220. Since we had to limit our speed to 50 mph on the donut, we realized the ETA on my GPS app wasn’t accurate, as we saw it tick later and later. I felt my anxiety growing and growing.
By the time we arrived at 9650 Renovo Rd in North Bend, PA, it was nearly 8:30. By now I was significantly less confident I would even be given the chance to start the race. My saving grace was that the 25k started at 9 and there were already designated cut-off times which would force me to switch my race regardless.
Upon scrambling to find the appropriate personnel to get my bib (#1913), I was sent to find my way to the start line and officially start my race day. As the miles ticked away, I traversed the many named trails along the way: Carl’s Way, Humble Hill, Post Draft, Johnson Way, S.O.B., and Huff Run. During my miles I had the fortune of seeing many familiar faces and meeting many others. Luckily, my legs carried me through the miles with general ease until a downhill of what seemed like miles. During this downhill my right hamstring felt like it would either cramp until my heel touched by backside or simply tear in half. Small steps lend relief from danger, and I made it to the bottom. Mile 24 and I saw my car in the distance, with a brand spanking new tire, courtesy of our very own Pagoda Pacer President, Michelle Henry. Relief swept through my mind, and I was greeted by the joyous smiling face of Michelle. 7 miles to go and one more long climb to reach the finish line. Upon finishing, I checked to make sure my time was official (6:20:23), so that the quest for the Black List could continue.
There was one person missing from this race weekend, and this was unfortunately a result of his passing at the top of the first climb during last year’s race. This man was Carl Undercofler, a Hyner legend, and someone I unfortunately never got to meet. His presence was felt by everyone, however, as his face was appropriately plastered on every race bib. Throughout the day I was reminded how awesome the running community is. From volunteers and spectators to fellow runners, my day was filled with smiling faces and words of encouragement. It all culminated in a unique experience which I will never forget, and a race that I would highly recommend to all trail runners.
Pagoda Pacers News 