Tag: Races

The 31^st Shiver by the River is finally complete! It was a crazy year. Of the 4 original dates, the March race was the only race held on its original date. Once we added an April race, it was also held, as planned. As part of our Covid changes, we gave finisher awards in lieu of age group awards, and each runner received a swag bag of pre-packaged snacks instead of the snacks normally offered after each race. Here’s a recap of 6 attempts at live races.

• Three days before the December race, Governor Wolf placed a 50 person limit on outdoor events.  We had 205 runners registered who were given the option to switch to another race, or request a refund. We also decided to hold a race in April to give the runners another opportunity for a live race.
• Due to the state of affairs, we made January a virtual race. Again, runners were given the option of switching their registration or requesting a refund. The finisher award was a unique COVID-themed medal. Swag bags were available for pickup on the original race date, at Jim Dietrich Park. Only 34 runners gave us results.
• On the Wednesday prior to the February race, after much deliberation between the race directors and Muhlenberg Parks and Recreation, we decided to postpone the race for 2 weeks. We had had a lot of snow during the previous week, and most of the race course was only plowed enough for 1 car, not a car plus runners. The parking lot at Jim Dietrich also had minimum parking. Everyone gave their best effort for snow removal, but after several days of snow, there was just nowhere to put it. We sent an email to the February runners, explaining the situation, offering to move their registration or to send a refund.  
• We FINALLY had a live race on Feb 28^th.  113 runners braved the cold rain. Our finisher award was a head-wrap or gaiter, with a COVID-themed design. We had lots of positive feedback!   
• On March 14^th, we finally had a live race on one of the original dates!  114 runners participated.  The finisher award was a tumbler, with an infuser and a COVID-themed design. Once again, the runners loved the award.  
• On April 11^th, we had our final race. We had heavy downpours (fortunately the temps were warm) prior to the race, but only light drizzle during the race. Unfortunately, over 60 pre-reg runners were no-shows. However, 98 runners finished the race. We were very happy to have an adaptive runner from IM ABLE with 3 Pacers (Dale Wiest, Michael Whalen, Evan Falk) pushing the athlete through the 5K. Once again, we offered COVID-themed medals to the runners.      

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!  We can’t thank everyone enough for their flexibility during the last few months!!!!!

We hope to be back in ’21-’22 with another 4-race series, possibly with some changes due to everything we have experienced in the past year. Stay tuned for more details! 

Sue, Georgine, and Tiffany  

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

Normally at this time of year, I am begging for donations for the Shiver banquet and begging for volunteers for the March Shiver, since we need more volunteers than other Shivers. However, nothing is normal right now.  Instead, by the time you read this, we hope we have had our first live race on Feb 28^th. And that will be followed by another live Shiver two weeks later on March 14^th.  

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 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

We are planning to have a REAL, LIVE race on Feb 14^th!!!!!!  That will be followed by 2 more races on March 14 and April 11!!!! Yes, something new – a Shiver race in April! Thank you to all the runners for their patience and flexibility as race plans were constantly changing.  Registration for all of the Shiver races is online only, via Pretzel City Sports. We continue to limit our races to 200 runners.  

The January race was virtual and many runners chose to run the actual course after picking up their swag at the Jim Dietrich pavilion. Virtual race results are posted on our website.

When we cancelled the December race, we sent an email to all runners, asking them to let us know how to handle their registration (switching to another Shiver race or a refund). In January, another email was sent to all outstanding December runners, notifying them of a deadline of January 31^st, after which we will not refund race fees from December.  

Once again, we will be looking towards club members to volunteer. We don’t need as many volunteers prior to 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; man the water stop in the park; 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, weather permitting; otherwise, it will be in 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, 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