Thursday, October 30, 2014

Autumn Leaves Pre-Race Info


Time, Place, Rules

Our race begins at 9:00am, Sunday, November 2nd at Lake Metroparks Farmpark at 8800 Euclid Chardon Road (State Route 6), Kirtland, OH.  You can look forward to a romp through pastures, barns and a corn maze, thanks to the Farmpark for this diverse venue for our race.  The use of their space comes with just a couple rules … NO pets and NO alcohol.  Pretty simple.

Kiddie Costume Run

We’ll have a bit of fun just prior to the 5 mile race at 8:45. Children aged 6 and under dressed in costume can participate in a FREE (approximate) 50 yard dash. All receive a participation ribbon. Costume judged “best original” is awarded a special prize… 4 tickets to the Farmpark, good on the day of your choice, compliments of Lake Metroparks! Costume can be anything you like but we suggest a farm or farm-animal theme!  Bring your kids and cheer them on before the start of your race.

Packet Pickup

Packet pickup is Saturday, 10:00am - 6:00pm at Achilles Running Shop (at 7439 Mentor Ave) in Mentor. The hats (SWAG) come in red and blue ...your choice while supplies of your color preference last, so stop by the store Saturday and come to the race Sunday morning ready to run!

If you aren't registered yet, you can sign up and get your SWAG and bib at Achilles as well.

Sunday packet pick up and same day registration will begin at 8:00am at the Farmpark.

Post Race

There will be refreshments, random door prizes, donated by Achilles Running Shop, and age group awards following the race.  Stick around to chat with your fellow runners and see if you’re a lucky winner.

More Time

Daylight Savings Time ends on Sunday at 2:00am.  Set your clocks BACK one hour before you go to bed, get an extra hour of sleep, and we’ll see you fresh and ready to run Sunday morning!  It’s going to be a great day for a run!

Many Thanks

… to our sponsors Achilles Running Shop and Lake Health.

… to Lake Metroparks Farmpark for hosting our event.

… to all the volunteers who give their time to make this event happen.

… to all of you.  Without our participants we would not HAVE an event.  Thanks for registering!

See you Sunday!

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

News from Kitty Consolo...

... long time NERC Member, Ohio running advocate, and former winner of the Cleveland Marathon.  Kitty was honored to carry the torch at the National Senior Games final ceremony this summer.

Running Against All Odds

by Anna Dickens
Severe asthma and a crippling spinal cord injury can’t deter runner Kitty Consolo from chasing down her dreams in the upcoming National Senior Games

Kitty with physical therapist Jon Plush
Kitty with physical therapist Jon Plush
Name: Kitty Consolo
Age: 55
Event(s): 5K and 10K
Listening to Kitty Consolo rattle off her various health woes, it’s hard not to cringe. “I’m allergic to dairy products, bananas, yeast,” says the 55-year-old runner from Granville, Ohio. “I have severe asthma, but I’m allergic to most standard asthma drugs. I use a nebulizer, and I have to do four breathing treatments before I run, four after I run.”
On top of that, Kitty has sustained a number of serious injuries over the years. “I’ve had spinal cord compression, which gives me nausea and intense fatigue. Sometimes I just feel like laying on ice all day and not doing anything,” she says.
But Kitty, who has been running for 38 years, refuses to let these health challenges keep her from lacing up her running shoes doing what she loves. “When I run, it’s a real spiritual experience. It’s like my disabilities totally disappear,” says Kitty, who is gearing up for the upcoming 2013 National Senior Games in the 5,000 and 10,000-meter events.
Kitty began her running career in 1975 as the sole woman on the Wake Forest University Men’s Cross Country team. Running in old leather tennis shoes because proper footwear for females was hard to come by at the time, Kitty astounded her fellow teammates by finishing 3 miles in under 18 minutes in an all-men’s meet—a time that qualified her for the Women’s Nationals. After that, she went on to win the Revco Cleveland Marathon in 1982 and again in 1985 and qualify and compete in the first Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials in 1984.
Now, in spite of all the obstacles that have been thrown in her path, Kitty is eager to revive her running career with a shot at taking home the gold in the 2013 National Senior Games 5K and 10K events. As much as she would like to win, however, Kitty’s main priority is just to be on the starting line. “With my body, I never know if I’ll have spinal cord compression or nausea or severe asthma,” she says. “So my goal is simple: I just want to be there and finish the race and enjoy every step.”
Because of her compelling personal story, Kitty was selected out of 10,000 athletes to carry the torch at the National Senior Games final ceremony. “To me, that is such an honor because I feel that I am representing the spirit of the national games—that I’m representing all of the incredible athletes ages 50-plus,” Kitty says. “Honestly, the race is secondary to all of that.”
As a tenured associate professor at Ohio University Zanesville, where she teaches health courses such as one called “Health of Aging,” Kitty serves as a powerful role model for young adults. She hopes that her personal story can give students the push they need to transform their health—and their lives—for the better. “I want to inspire people to not just study health but to live health,” Kitty says. “Any time I can get someone to change their behavior I feel like I’ve been very successful. That’s what’s so wonderful about what I do."



Kitty also shared a wonderful news clipping from the August 1st Granville Sentinel that this blogger cannot manage to publish.  If any reader can share the wisdom of how to post a .pdf, this blogger would be most grateful.
 
 
 


 
 

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Kenny Janosko Honored

Former NERC scholarshi​p recipient (and Winner of the 2012 Autumn Leaves Race) earns Capital One Academic All American First Team Honors

The BW website has a nice article on Kenny Janosko. The link to it is below:

http://www.bwyellowjackets.com/sports/mtrack/2012-13/releases/janosko_all_america_release#.Uco_HBgQfug.email

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Team Challenge...

To the local Cleveland running clubs:

 The July 4th Bay Days 5 Miler, a well organized event with a great tradition put on by the Cleveland West Road Runners Club, offers a running team competition.
 
The Strongsville Thursday Night Runners (TNR) will be sending one or more teams and are challenging other area running clubs to do the same.
 
Team categories are men, women, coed, and high school.

Scoring is handled by the CWRRC race organizers.

Details are on the race form/flyer attached.

Please share with other clubs/groups.

Hope to see you there!

Mike Ryan

Strongsville Thursday Night Runners (TNR)

strongsvilleTNRgroup@yahoo.com

BayDays2013form.pdfBayDays2013form.pdf
129K   View   Download  

Thursday, May 9, 2013

My Boston Marathon Experience



 by Donna Crooks
No, I didn’t run the Boston Marathon … but I was there as a spectator, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget the experience.


Bert and I arrived in Boston Saturday afternoon, navigated the T and checked into our hotel in Cambridge.  Having no particular plans, we decided to wander around Cambridge and find a place to eat.  We discovered the Miracle of Science Bar & Grill where we had great food and cold beer in a casual setting.  Upon returning to our hotel after dinner we ran into Diane Bosley and her sister, Nanczy (which is not really how she spells her name, but I mistyped it into my cell phone contacts, and almost every text thereafter we included unnecessary z’s into the messages).


Not a morning person, I meant to sleep in on Sunday (since I’d need to get up early Monday) … but didn’t sleep all that well the whole time I was there, and since I woke reasonably early, early enough to go for a run along the Charles River before going to the expo with Bert, that’s what I did.  It was cool to see all the runners out, wondered if it was a typical number of “college town” runners or if most of them were marathoners … had to think that since they were all passing me with ease they were probably mostly marathoners :-/


Packet pickup and the Expo were really pretty amazing, well organized and efficient.  We were surprised that among the thousands of people there, we ran into fellow NERC’s Jeannie Rice and Carol Knez, as well as one of Bert’s running buddies, Eric Molesky.  Since we had plans for an early dinner at Nico’s in the North End, we left the expo after a few hours (but not before I bought myself a nice orange cowbell to rattle during the race) and headed back to the hotel to drop off Bert’s race bag.  Actually, I sat at the Espresso Royale, near the T station while Bert trekked back and forth across the bridge to the hotel.


While hanging out at the coffee shop, I was examining my map of Boston and had picked out a place to meet Bert a little away from the finish line and the friends/family meeting area – I had no interest in wading into the mass of people near the finish line.  I had a chance to ask a college student about the scale of my map … wanted to find out if it was “walking distance” from the bike shop to the pond at Boston Common where I wanted to meet up with Bert.  I had plans to rent a bike and pedal to four points on the course to see the race (and hopefully arrive at these points in time to see Bert go by).  I wasn’t sure how timing would work out, but thought there’d be park benches by the pond and whoever arrived first after the race could just sit and wait.  I heard from Nanczy while I was enjoying my iced mocha.  Crystal Shinosky had arrived and Diane, Nanczy and Crystal were going to meet up with Bert and I to take the T to the North End for our dinner at Nico’s.


The T was always packed, and the trip to the North End was no different, but by now MANY marathoners had their official BAA Marathon jackets and they were all over the train.  There was lots of conversation among the runners, but I was busy mentally cataloging the T routes.  I was going to need to get myself to the bike shop in the morning, and the route to the restaurant was almost exactly the route I would need the next morning.

 

We met up with Jeannie and Carol at Nico’s where we all enjoyed fabulous Italian food and some pre-race discussion of the competition.  It was very well established that Jeannie REALLY wanted to beat her competition on Monday.  I think since we were all quite certain that she wanted to win, she did just that - Congrats, Jeannie! J    


Marathon morning, as Bert headed out to get to the bus to the start, I dragged myself out of bed … only to discover I was experiencing the aura “shimmers” of the onset of a migraine.  Fortunately, if I pop a few advil during the shimmers, I don’t get the headache … I just can’t see for about half an hour.  I wasn’t going to let a migraine spoil my plans … popped my advil, ate my oatmeal, and made my preparations to leave while my vision slowly returned.


Urban Adventours is on Atlantic Avenue near the Aquarium and Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park.  They opened at 9:00, and wanting to get on the road as soon as possible to get to Natick before Bert, I had rented my bike the night before (after our dinner at Nico’s).  I gave myself 2 hours to get from the hotel to the bike shop, since I didn’t know the train schedules and didn’t know how packed they’d be while all the runners were getting themselves where they needed to be.  I allowed plenty of extra time in case I missed a train or couldn’t fit on one and had to wait for the next.  Marathon morning the trains going my way were empty, and I mean completely empty.  I arrived at my destination at 7:30 in the morning … found a Starbucks in a nearby hotel, got a hot mocha and waited in the park, studied my directions and watched some locals throwing a stick for their dogs.  I was ready … but I waited … patiently ;-)


I was very well prepared.  I had turn by turn Google directions enlarged for easy reading in ziplock bags (in case of rain) to pin to my bike bag.  I had gloves and my “buff” to keep my hands and ears/head warm during the cooler morning hours.  I had my hydration pack, snacks and my cowbell … but when I sat on the seat of that rented bike, I immediately knew what I was going to regret having forgotten – my gel seat cover!  My plan was to bike 19 miles to Natick (mile 10 of the race), then skirting the course, bike to miles 13-ish, 19 and 22 … about 38 miles of biking in total for me, to see Bert four times (or not at all if my timing was off).  I hadn’t been biking since last summer, but while my legs and lungs handled the trip fine, my butt was not remotely happy with me by the end of my ride.


Once the bike shop opened, I was on my way in no time and quickly navigating the streets of Boston.  I was convinced I was demonstrating the most bad-ass city biking skills ever, weaving through traffic like a pro … the things that go through your head … but I didn’t get run off the road, and only one Bostonian cussed out his window at me.  I made one wrong turn on my way to Natick, but wasn’t off track for long before I realized the error of my ways, turned around and was back in business.  There was another scary moment when I thought I must have missed a turn.  I had been on a lot of rolling hills, and hoping I wouldn’t have to go back the way I came when at last I came to the street I was looking for (at the bottom of a long hill).  I was so excited, people in houses for blocks probably heard me hoot and holler.


I made it to Natick before receiving the text that Bert had arrived at the 10k mark … plenty of time to lock up my bike, have a snack and fish out my cowbell.  If you’ve never watched a marathon, by gosh you just gotta do it sometime – it’s the most amazing spectacle of inspiration!  I enjoyed the show … only worrying a little that in the crowd of runners, I might miss Bert going by.  I had told him I’d be on the south side of the course, so he ran as far to his right as he could … and I saw him at all four spots I planned.  After mile 10, I raced off to mile 13-ish, arrived there, locked up my bike, got to the edge of the course and 3 minutes later Bert ran by (only near miss of my plans).  As I “raced” to mile 19 another biker (on a much nicer bike) passed by saying he thought we were on the same course.  I asked him if he was heading for mile 19, he said he was going to Chestnut Street.  I hadn’t memorized far enough ahead in my directions to be sure that’s where I was going, but I told him I’d see him there … and I did.  
 Had time to fish out my camera and get a nice shot of Bert running by, then hopped back on my bike (avoiding sitting as much as possible by now) and headed to mile 22.  I had decided the night before that I’d hang out at mile 22 for a while in hopes of seeing other NERC’s before returning my bike and meeting up with Bert at the pond in Boston Common.  I saw Crystal, but no one else before I thought I ought to get back or I’d leave Bert waiting much too long.  I never had any intention of trying to get to the finish line … didn’t figure I could get anywhere near there with the bike.  It was challenging enough once I was back in the city proper navigating motor vehicular and pedestrian traffic on peripheral streets.


While I was on my way back to the bike shop, I got the text that Bert had finished.  I think I was riding another 15 minutes, but maybe more, before I was back returning my rental.  I talked with the shop employees for a little while about my adventures, saying that I had made it to all the course points I wanted to (and feeling pretty smug about it, since I had been told it couldn’t be done without a car and a bike).  I didn’t notice what time it was, but have to believe that the explosions had not yet occurred … these people knew I had been on the course, yet said nothing of any “news”.


I was only a couple blocks from the bike shop when I got a text from Nanczy … “Where are you? Are you okay?”  Maybe I should have known something was wrong … there were no extra “z’s” in her message … but I just figured she was worried about me biking through the city.  I told her I had just returned my bike and was heading to Boylston to meet up with Bert.  God bless her, she said nothing more, and I found Bert before I found out what had happened.




It was very bizarre being in the midst of such an event and knowing less about what was happening than family and friends.  It came as a huge surprise to me that people were worried about us.  I completely lost track of time as we gathered information and re-grouped with our friends.  We had found Crystal almost right after I had met up with Bert, but it was quite a while before we found Diane, and then Nanczy and Diane’s son.  I think it was close to 7:00 that night before we had walked back to our hotel and got cleaned up.



No, I didn’t run the Boston Marathon … but I was there as a spectator, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget the experience.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Monday Group Run

Due to a scheduled park improvement project at Chagrin River Park, http://www.lakemetroparks.com/news/projectsinyourparks.shtml, we will meet at the Rural Road entrance until the Reeves Road entrance is finished being "messed with".  It looks like the Reeves entrance will not be closed on the 13th of May, but parking may be very limited.  Let's meet at the Rural Road entrance near the shelter by 6:05 to allow for the additional travel time.  If you haven't heard about this group run, see the sidebar for details.  We've had some regulars running around a 9:00 min/mile pace and some at an 11:00 min/mile pace.  Come on out and join the fun!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Grand Prix Series News ...


Grand Prix Series - Participation Awards

This year in addition to awards for scoring and placing in the Overall and Age Group categories we are adding a new twist for our members.

Throughout the season we will give out some prizes just by participating.
  1. Participate in  a May race (West End Y5k or Madison Red Bird5k)  AND  Flag Day 5k (June)
  2. Participate in a July Race - Painesville Sunrise5m  or Bnai Brith5k
  3. Participate in an August  Race - St Gabriel5k or Mentor Fest 5m
  4. Participate in a September Race - Potato Stomp9m or Run for the Grapes5K
  5. Participate in Bridge to Bridge 11m or 5k
  6. Participate in  Autumn Leaves 5m (Nov)

Winning name will be drawn following the qualifying event when possible or at the following Club meeting.