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Charlie Horse / Dirty Pony 2025 Recap

May 31, 2025 by pagodapacers

We’ve had a lot of rain this spring, but the forecast was on our side for the 28th running of Charlie Horse Trail Half-Marathon and Dirty Pony 5k that took place on May 25th. The weather was great for runners and spectators alike, and everyone stayed dry–until the last 3 miles of the course. (Or, for the Dirty Pony runners, until shortly after they started running, but hey, it’s called the DIRTY Pony for a reason!)

For the Charlie Horse, we had 117 registered runners, and 46 brave souls signed up for the Dirty Pony. With as much rain as we’ve had, the race directors considered providing life preservers and pool floaties for Charlie’s infamous section, but everyone made it through without issue and all who toed the line made it to the finish.

In the half, Alicia Keeler secured the top spot for women and Raymond Stoltzfus took first place for men. The top finishers for Dirty Pony crossed the line seconds apart with Heidi Bretz taking first place for women and David Goss for men. There were also quite a few people who ran their first official race, achieved distance PRs, or snagged personal bests for the day. Great job runners!

On behalf of my co-race directors, Shaun and Libby, I’d like to thank everyone who came out to support the race and the Special Olympics of Berks County. Whether you ran, cheered, or volunteered, we really could not have done it without the help of our Pacer community.

Important note: anyone who completed the Charlie Horse Half is one-third of the way through the Triple Trail Challenge and currently eligible to receive the awesome extra swag! Don’t miss out! Sign up for Run for the Ages 10k (June 15, 2025) to complete the next race in the series. Anyone who completed the Dirty Pony is one-third of the way through the Triple Trail Starter Pack, and Run for the Ages 10k is your next step in completing the challenge, too!

See you on the trails!

Kelly

Race Results (May ’25)

May 31, 2025 by pagodapacers

Want to see your race results in the newsletter?

Send them to newsletter editor Matt Brophy at Matthew.L.Brophy@gmail.com!

Charlie Horse Half-Marathon

3:16:27	Michelle Foley
3:16:31	Sandie Kincaid

Half Wit Half-Marathon

2:04

Kelly Ammon

2nd Female Overall

3 Days at the Fair: 72-Hour Race

160 miles

Tania Salaneck

3rd Female Overall

Tuesday’s in the Park Ice Cream 5k

17:53

Mihai Sanchez

1st Overall

Broad Street 10-Mile Run

1:12:00

Matt Brophy

This Month’s Membership Meeting: 6/12/25

May 31, 2025 by pagodapacers

** Please let us know if you will attend, so we can plan for food.**

We submit a headcount on the Monday before the meeting. You can mark yourself “Going” to the Facebook Event, comment on the event, or contact president@pagodapacers.com.

Mohnton Fire Company Social Quarters
100 E. Summit ST
Mohnton, PA 19540
https://goo.gl/maps/fukZK8BEGAsXUjDv5

The meeting is upstairs. Enter the front door and the stairs are on your left. No need to ring the buzzer for entry.

Food and drink at 6:30pm
Meeting starts at 7:00pm

All members welcome. Members are responsible for purchasing their own beverages.

Minutes from the Monthly Meeting (May 8, 2025)

May 31, 2025 by pagodapacers

Pagoda Pacer A.C. Monthly Membership Meeting

Thursday, May 8, 2025

Mohnton Fire Company

Steven Vida presided

Jennifer Pierdomenico recorded minutes

21 members in attendance

CALL TO ORDER at 7 pm

Minutes from the April meeting were accepted as posted.

REPORTS

Treasurer Report (Shaun Luther)

Balance is $93,934 which is 88.5% of target.
Scholarship awards were sent out and 2024 club taxes filed.

NEW BUSINESS

Danny Cabrera will join Jennifer Pierdomenico and Len Burton on the Oley race director team.

MEETING ADJOURNED at 7:20 pm

Race Report: Scranton Half Marathon

May 3, 2025 by pagodapacers

by Blair Hogg

The Scranton Half Marathon is one of the races that I consider every year for my race calendar, since it’s my hometown race. I grew up in the city, and ran track and cross country for West Scranton High School. I’ve done it several times, and a few of those were with Tony Agentowicz, who was a teammate of mine with WSHS XC.

I’ve tried over the years to get a few other Pacers to join me; however, no one other than Tony had until this year, when Lisa Domeshek gave in and registered for the race. We started training in January with a training program Lisa had used for the Philly Half. (She followed it better than I did.)

We started planning the logistics behind the race and decided that, given it’s a 2 hour drive to get there, it would be better to head up the day before and stay the night. This would allow us to pick up our bibs on Saturday for the race on Sunday. We stayed at the Radisson Lackawanna Station hotel, a wonderful old train station from the Erie Lackawanna railroad.

Lisa’s boyfriend Jerry and my wife Karen joined us on the trip. Jerry happens to be a fan of the TV show The Office, which was set in Scranton. We had a delightful dinner at Cooper’s seafood restaurant, which is also a bit of a museum, and where Jerry and Lisa found a gift shop full of Office-related items. But we were there to run, so it was back to the hotel for a good night’s rest.

Race-day morning greeted us with cool weather and light rain. Not the best running conditions, but not the worst. Lisa and I drove the short way to the starting area at Scranton’s Memorial Stadium, where I had run track meets many years ago. Parking was near impossible, but we found a spot and made our way to the starting point.

The race started at 8 a.m., with a light rain still coming down. Despite there being a small field of about 1,500 runners, the start was rather hectic. Lisa made her move to get out of the crowd about a half mile in, hoping for a PR. I didn’t try to keep up with her, as I was fighting a lingering knee issue and didn’t want to push it.

Despite the weather, the race was well-supported by volunteers and folks from the community cheering the runners on. About halfway through the race, the rain stopped, but at that point, it didn’t matter, as we were already fairly damp. The race winds its way around different neighborhoods in the city and through the downtown area, finishing on a paved rail trail that runs along Roaring Brook, a medium-sized creek which runs through the city. The actual finish is on the stadium track where I ran meets in high school.

The route took us near the hotel where we were staying, and Jerry and Karen were able to see us at two points during the race. They were also able to meet us at the finish.

Lisa ran a great race, finishing in just over two hours, but not quite enough for a PR. With better weather conditions, I think she would have done it. I came in at 2 hours and 18 minutes, a bit off my best time. Two years ago, I had finished this race in 1 hour 57 minutes. Hopefully next year will be better.

After the race, we enjoyed burgers and beers at the hotel pub, a well-earned reward for our efforts. It might have been an effect of just having completed the race, but I thought it was one of the best burgers that I’ve had in some time.

Maybe next year I can convince some more friends to join me in my hometown race!

Pagoda Pacers Athletic Club Awards 2025 Scholarships

May 3, 2025May 3, 2025 by pagodapacers

The Pagoda Pacers Athletic Club is proud to announce and congratulate its 2025 scholarship award winners. Each of the winning students will receive a scholarship of $1,000 toward their upcoming higher education plans.

Two scholarships are open to all high school seniors whose parents are current members in good standing for at least one year of the Pagoda Pacers. The recipients of the 2025 Pacer Member Scholarship are:

Griffin Beidler, a senior at Exeter Township Senior High School, who plans to attend Lebanon Valley College; and
Natalie D’Onofrio, a senior at Strath Haven High School, who plans to attend Drew University.

Two scholarships are open to all high school seniors who participated on a Berks County high school cross country team. The recipients of the 2025 Cross Country scholarship are:

Cameron Cohen, a senior at Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School, who plans to attend a secondary institution but is currently undecided; and
Garrett Hyneman, a senior at Governor Mifflin High School, who plans to attend Lehigh University.

The club received applications from many very strong and deserving students, and wishes all who applied the best in their future endeavors.

The PPAC Scholarship Committee members are Katie Beane, Beth Kohl, Cathy Unruh, Sue Jackson, Karen Rule, and Curtis Musser.

Charlie Horse and Dirty Pony Coming Up on 5/25/25!

May 3, 2025 by pagodapacers

April showers bring May flowers, and what do May flowers bring?? The Charlie Horse Trail Half Marathon and Dirty Pony 5k!

That’s right, May means your favorite Pagoda Pacer trail half-marathon is right around the corner on May 25th!

What makes Charlie Horse such a great race? It features scenic sections of single-track along the Horse-Shoe Trail–a fun challenge if you want to push your legs this spring, but less intimidating than those crazy long ultras!

Not sure if you’re up for 13(ish) miles of trail running? No worries–we’ve got you covered with the Dirty Pony 5k! I promise you, the Dirty Pony 5k is unlike any race you’ve run before, and while you might not run away with a PR, you’re almost guaranteed to walk away with a great story. (And maybe some mud.)

If trails just aren’t your thing, but you still want to have fun with your favorite Pagoda Pacers, we’d love to see you out there volunteering. (Or do BOTH! Just pick an early/late volunteer spot that won’t interfere with your race.) As many of you know, it takes a lot of manpower to put on a race, and we can’t do it without the support of awesome people like you.

Head to Ultrasignup to register for the race and/or sign up to volunteer. Hope to see you there!

Happy trails from your Race Directors,

Shaun, Libby, and Kelly

P.S. This is the first race of the popular Pagoda Pacer Triple Trail Challenge. (And new this year: Triple Trail Starter Pack!) Don’t miss out….