Tag: Races

Dates:  2^nd Sunday:  Dec 11^th, Jan 8^th, Feb 12^th, March 12^th 

Time:  10:00 a.m.

Location:  Jim Dietrich Park  

Apps have been mailed by Pretzel City Sports and can be found online by clicking HERE.  Pre-registration is only available for the series; however, we will have race day registration for both the series and individual races. Online registration, for the series, can be found at www.pretzelcitysports.com. New this year: we are offering a knit hat and gloves instead of a shirt with registration. Once we make a final decision, we will post pictures on the Pagoda Pacers Discussion Group Facebook page.

Each race includes a post-race buffet of soup, pretzels and snacks. End-of-year party includes a hot/cold buffet, lots and lots of door prizes, and overall awards and 5-year age group awards. As always, this buffet is free to any runner who registers for the series or runs at least 3 races. There is a nominal charge for all others.

Come out and join us for our 33rd season!!!!!!

Race Directors,

Sue Jackson, Georgine McCool, Tiffany Pantoja

The 32nd Shiver by the River is complete. We had 448 individual runners, with 161 runners completing the series. Results of each race, plus the series results, can be found on pagodapacers.com. Awards which were not picked up at the banquet are at Fleet Feet (formerly A Running Start), 705 Penn Ave, West Reading. These numbers are lower than normal, but who knows what normal is any more. After a season (2020-2021) with 4 individual races, we were happy to return to a series, including the awards banquet.  And we thank every runner and volunteer who joined us!

As always, THANK YOU to all the Pacers who participated either by running, volunteering, or both! We sincerely appreciate all of our volunteers, whether you helped us at one race or every race; everyone was so willing to do whatever was needed to make this series another success! I don’t want to mention specific names for fear of forgetting someone, but volunteers, you know who you are, and runners, you know who they are – you see so many of the same volunteers parking cars, at the water stop, at the same registration table, at the same intersection, or inside the farmhouse supplying soup and pretzels.  And this year we saw some new volunteers!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!  

Thank you to Andrea Thrush who created and hid small rocks along the course, each with a Shiver by the River design.

The awards ceremony was again held at the Temple Fire Company, in Muhlenberg Township. THANK YOU to the following for the donation of door prizes:  

Rose Hagy – a stationary bike stand; hanger for race medals; head lamp; compression socks; air purifying bag for gym bags; bike lock; reflective vest; running belt to carry gels

Joanne Patti – handmade afghan

Ron Horn & Pretzel City Sports – 2 hats; 2 mugs each with a gift certificate

Donna Hey – free entry to Run for the Ages race (check it out on the Pagoda Pacers website)

Michael Oetting – $25 Amazon gift card

Fleet Feet – (120) $10 Gift Certificates

Kris Jacoby – a book of Running Trivia

Tiffany Pantoja – handmade shawl; 2 pair of handmade earrings; 3 handmade bracelets; handmade bracelet w/ matching earrings

Georgine McCool – 4 bags of miscellaneous items

Road-ID – Gift Certificates

THANK YOU to our sponsors:  

Dieffenbach’s

Home Light – a real estate broker / referral company

Please contact Sue Jackson at shiverdirector@pagodapacers.com if any door prize donors were missed.

If anyone has any comments, concerns, or questions concerning the series, please feel to contact one of the race directors. We do value your input, and we do read the surveys, making modifications when possible.   Below are some of the survey comments, along with our responses.

Survey:  Separate awards for the 5K/10K, or a separate course for the 10K instead of 2 loops.  

Response: What makes this race unique is that runners can decide, mid-race, whether they are doing a 5K or 10K; hence runners can do the same distance each month or mix it up. Allowing that flexibility means the 10K must be 2 loops of the 5K. It also means awards have to be combined.

Survey: More usable awards, such as glasses, mugs, hats or a snow-related ornament.

Response:  We have done mugs in the past. Maybe it’s time to do something other than the trophies.

Survey:  Bring back the shirt with the hood. Tech shirts instead of cotton. Offer running shorts instead of shirts.

Response:  We have offered tech shirts and of course the shirt with the hood. The Shiver by the River has existed for over 30 years, so we try to mix up the type of shirt. The last 3 years was a similar shirt – since we got a lot of good feedback. Look for something different next year.  

Survey: Don’t want to run the same course each month; either switch it up, or maybe run one course 2 months and another course for another 2 months. Go back to the course on Tuckerton. Run along the river.  

Response: When the Shiver by the River was created 30+ years ago, it was held at Laurel Run Park and did run along the river on River Rd. However, we outgrew that location. We were then offered Jim Dietrich Park. We initially had a course that exited the park, turned right, running on Tuckerton Rd, Whitner Rd. etc. The township became concerned about the traffic on the bridge to the right of the park, and the 4-way stop sign was a treacherous intersection. For a few years, we hired fire police to help with the traffic on the bridge and at the stop sign. But after a few years, for the safety of the runners, we had to change the course. Hence, the course we use today was created. Therefore, our options are somewhat limited.

Once again, thanks for all of the Pacer support, both runners and volunteers!!!!!!!!!   We hope to see all of you next year.
Sue, Georgine & Tiffany

Thank you to the 139 5k runners, 71 10k runners, and the many volunteers who helped us have another successful Shiver by the River on February 13^th.   Because of all the changes and uncertainty of COVID, numbers have been down this year, so we say a SPECIAL “Thank You” to runners and volunteers who have supported us!!!!!!

Shiver#4 will be held March 13^th.   Take note – this is the beginning of Daylight Savings Time!!!  

As always, we need more volunteers for this race. Specifically, we need 3 or 4 people willing to take results off of the board, so that the race directors can calculate results as soon as possible. We also need the usual help parking, registration, on the road, at the finish line, clean up, water stop, and within the house serving soup. Anyone helping with registration should arrive at Jim Dietrich Park between 8:15 & 8:30; anyone helping during the race, should arrive by 9:30; either way, look for one of the race directors and we can find something for you to do. However, for as much as we need volunteers, we would really like to see more PACERS run the race!!!! 

The awards ceremony will be held immediately after the 4^th race at the Temple Fire Company, 4963 Kutztown Rd, which is about 3 miles from Jim Dietrich Park. This is the same location as the last couple of years. We are looking for more door prizes. If anyone can donate personally, or secure a door prize, please bring it to the 4^th race or the March Pacer meeting. Donations can be given directly to any of the race directors or dropped off at the front table where we are selling old shirts, etc. To be eligible to win a door prize, simply complete the survey at the awards banquet. A cold buffet, including a hot vegetarian item, will be served starting around 11:15, followed by door prizes and then the awards. Due to the costs associated with the party, we will follow the guidelines we established a few years ago.   

The party is FREE to everyone who has either:

1. Finished 3 or more races in this year’s series – please bring your race number from the 4^th race to the party, it will be your ticket for free entry.  We will place an additional label on the back of your number which will indicate your eligibility.  
2. Assisted with any of the races.
3. Paid for the series.  

We will be charging all others (including Pacers who do not fall into one of the above categories) a $10.00 fee to help cover some of our costs.

Remember, to help us maintain accurate results, DO NOT COMPLETE ANOTHER REGISTRATION FORM if you already ran this year.   If you paid for the series, registration is in the front room of the house. If you are paying race by race, we have a number for you at the ‘single race registration’ table in the 2^nd room. If you have not previously registered for the 2021-2022 series, registration is at a different table, also in the 2^nd room.  

Thanks for all the support we have received! We hope to see many of you at the Shiver, either running or volunteering!!!!!

Sue, Georgine & Tiffany

Thank you to the 115 5K runners, 54 10K runners, and the many volunteers who braved the cold on Jan 16^th!  It was sunny and there was no wind, but with single digits, it was still COLD!!!   We appreciate everyone’s flexibility and patience as we postponed the race from Jan 9^th, due to the forecasted ice storm.  Once again, the Pacers came through to help!!!  We had several volunteers who were unavailable on the rescheduled date, but we had several Pacers jump in to help!  Thank you!!!!

Shiver #3 will be held on Feb 13^th.  Come and join us!  Registration opens at 8:30; both races start at 10:00.  If you don’t want to run, we can use your help!!  We would like someone to volunteer to bring the Pacer trailer to the race, if at all possible.

Looking ahead, our 4^th race in the series, will be held on March 13^th.   The awards banquet will be at the Temple Fire Company immediately following the race.  It is free to all runners who completed 3 or more races and free for volunteers; there is a $10 charge for everyone else. 

We are always looking for door prizes to be given at the awards ceremony.  If you own a business, or know someone who owns a business, or you would like to donate something yourself, we would be very grateful for merchandise, gift certificates, gift baskets, or any small item that a runner would appreciate. Door prizes can be brought to either of the next 2 races or the February or March Pacer meetings.   We plan to send thank you notes to all of our donors, so if you donate or secure an item for us, we would appreciate knowing exactly what was donated, by whom, and an email address for the donor. 

We also need more volunteers during the March race so we can compile results for the awards. We very much appreciate the Pacers who come out month after month, year after year; however, we have a few hundred members in the club, so if you haven’t volunteered for a race lately, consider helping at Shiver #3 and/or Shiver #4.   

Volunteers for registration should plan to arrive around 8:00-8:15; volunteers for the road should plan to arrive by 9:15-9:30 and look for one of the race directors; or if you don’t want to come into the farmhouse, contact one of us and we can give you an intersection so you can just go directly there.    

Please help us by patronizing our sponsors: Dieffenbach’s Chips and Home Light Home Sales. 

Sue, Georgine & Tiffany