UP CO M I NG EV E N T S 8/2/15

Sunday

Grings Mill Run, 9;00am

5K or 10K Run, ½ mile kid run

Tulpehocken Rd, Reading, PA

Volunteers needed by 7:00am

8/13/15

Thursday

General Membership Meeting

7:00pm, Trooper Thorn’s

451 Morgantown Rd, Reading

G R O U P R U N S Start Time: 6:15pm Wednesday

www.pagodapacers.com/group-runs/group-

runs.aspx

August 5, 2015

Run & Eat: Jon Durand’s home

2539 Grant Street, Reading

(Running to Neversink Mountain trails) ——————————————————————————–--————–--------------——-------——–-——- August 12, 2015

Run & Eat: Deb & Brad Seaman’s home

1281 Pineland Road, Birdsboro

(Running to Daniel Boone Homestead) ——————————————————————————–--————–——---------------------——–-——- August 19, 2015

Run & Eat: Caroline Hill’s home

63 Preston Road, Wernersville —————————————————–——————————--——--------------——------—————–—— August 26, 2015

Run: Nolde Forest (parking lot TBA)

Eat: Butch & Michelle Ulrich’s home

377 Church Road, Mohnton ——--———————————————————————————————-----------------———--———— September 2, 2015

Run & Eat: Liz Glass & Jeff George’s home

50 Smoketown Road, Mertztown (Bowers) ————————————————————————————————------------------—————————- September 9, 2015

Run & Eat: Brian Stoltzfus’s home

408 Arrowhead Trail, Sinking Spring ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---

SATURDAY MORNING RUNS

Blue Marsh Stilling Basin -

8:00am

Check facebook for updates

August • 2015

G E N E R A L MEET I N G M I NU T E S By Benjamin Shultz Location: Trooper Thorns, July 9th, 2015 Summary:

Motions - Donate $1,500 to Friends of Nolde - Sponsor the Berks County Cross Country Championship race for $500 Items tabled until next meeting - None Old Business items closed - None President’s Report: Brett Lynch announced that Lenny Burton has purchased volunteer shirts. They are long sleeve with a camouflage design. Treasurer's Report: Shaun Luther reported that the check for the Charlie Horse has to go out and income from Grings Mill will be coming in. Brett Lynch would like to develop a budget for the newly formed committees. Race Director’s Report: Shiver by the River - Sue Jackson reported that the race will be the second Sunday of each month. Mt Penn Mudfest - Ken Seale announced that he will step down as the lead race director. For next year they will be working with the land owners in that area to create an easier course. Charlie Horse Half Marathon - Sean Williams gave thanks to the volunteers, especially those who stepped up to help with the food at the last minute. Run for the Ages 10k - Ted Andrus reported that there were 142 finishers. This is lower than last year due to the rain causing fewer walk ups. The profit was around $1500. Grings Mill - Jeff Hills reported that the race will be August 2nd. The number of runners preregistering is up. Blues Cruise 50k - Mike Yoder reported that preregistration is on pace with last year. The finisher award will be a three quarter zip jacket. Junior High Cross Country Fall Invitational - Tom Chobot is looking for volunteers to help with the High School Cross Country Championship on Wednesday, October 21st in the early afternoon. Oley Valley Country Classic - Lenny Burton was not present. Kris Kringle 5 Miler - Polly Corvaia reported that she will be order-ing red hoodies for the race and an additional 50 hoodies for the volun-teers. (continued on next page)

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ME E T I NG M I NU T E S , CO N T ’D Community Service: Phil Lechner reported that this month’s charity run benefit-ting Mary’s Shelter went very well. He thinks it is due to having the charity runs every other month instead of every month. Communications Committee: Polly Corvaia, Beth Auman, and Jon Durand reported on their progress. Beth drafted a welcome letter to be sent to all new members when they join, along with a magnet and a list of our races. They will be posting more regularly on Facebook, including the club meetings and the Saturday run at Blue Marsh. They are also looking into using Twitter and Instagram. Race Director’s Committee: Brett Lynch is looking for someone to chair the Race Direc-tors Committee. It would involve coordinating among the race directors Beth Auman suggested having a booth at all races to sell old race swag, to promote the club, and sign up new mem-bers. Karin Durand suggested buying a banner for each race with the race name and the Pagoda Pacers logo for people to take pictures in front of. Membership: Dave Gallen was not present. Membership stands at about 440 members, down about 30 from last year.

Scholarship Committee: Beth Auman reported that all scholarship checks have been mailed. Social Events: Polly Corvaia reported that the Wine and Cheese party had 114 attendees. It cost about $1,000. It has been booked for the first Saturday in June next year. Mike Yoder gave a reminder that the Barn Yard Challenge will be Saturday July 11th. It is free of charge. Participants will be placed on 5 person teams with people they don’t know and given a series of tasks. Pleas bring a covered dish to share afterwards. Ken Seale announced that he will be hosting mountain bike polo at his house on Sunday July 12th. RRCA: Jeff Hills had nothing to report. Old Business: None. New Business: Ted Andrus made a motion to give $1,500 to the Friends of Nolde Forest. The motion was seconded and passed. Phil Lechner reported that Ultra Running Magazine pub-lished an article about Jim Blandford winning the 50 mile Bull Run Run race. Sean Williams requested that, as was done last year, the club purchase home brewing kits for club members to be used for the Pacer bonfire. The request was approved. Tom Chobot made a motion for the club to sponsor the Berks County Cross Country Championship race for $500. The money will be used to hire a DJ and possibly other amenities. The motion was seconded and passed.

A 2-mile dog and owner event

Sunday, September 13th - 9:00am Birdsboro VFW

321 E. Main St., Birdsboro

www.makebreak.com

610-775-4614

BAMBA is working directly with the DVO to up-date trail maps for all of the trails on Mt. Penn, front and back. They are working on providing kiosks at many of the trail heads as well. If you haven’t been on Mt. Penn lately they were the group that replaced all of the fire gates and made the new parking area at Camp Lily. Like the Pacers, BAMBA too is looking to make Reading a destination location for activity and fitness and is presently waiting for the International Mountain Biking Association’s thought and ranking. The City and the organization ReDesign are look-ing to create a safe, key here, walking route from the Oakbrook area to the SRT over by RACC. It would also provide access to the Wyomissing Trail system essen-tially keeping people off the streets. They are also making bold attempts at making the City itself more people friendly by starting a corridor/directional ap-proach to bike/runner commuter traffic. It is in the ear-ly planning sessions now. How the Pacers role can be played is knowledge. We as a group know the roads and trails quite well. Having a voice and knowledge of what’s going on in the city and county can only help us develop new run-ning locations, new contacts for races (see permission and access), providing inside knowledge on areas we run in, and above all else broaden other groups’ knowledge of what we’re all about and what we pro-vide for the community. Overall the Group has a good focus and is open to ideas and progressing on actually making things happen.

Greater Reading Trail Partnership By Erik Leeds

I attended the Greater Reading Trail Partnership meeting earlier this month. For those not in the know, it is an organization made up of a varied community group. The Berks Conservancy hosts and chairs. Other members would include BAMBA (Berks Area Mountain Bike Assoc.), City of Reading Recreation, Berks County, The City of Reading, ReDesign Reading, Schuylkill River Heritage Assoc (SRT proponents), Delaware Valley Ori-enteering (DVO), Pagoda Pacers (now) and DMVA to name a few.

The general premise of the group is opening up Reading and Berks County in general and making it more user friendly to those of us that live here and make it a more viable destination for visitors. The dynamic is very interesting as all in-volved believe that there should be more and better networking of trails, paths, and roads. Of course the overriding theme always comes back to two things; mon-ey and access.

With that there have been some positive steps over the last year or so that show a much better working re-lationship between the above organizations and land owners in general. The Conservancy itself is making the An-gelica Center into a destination area, offering courses and awareness for children and adults alike. They are also working on extending their trail network to link to Nolde Forest and it already has quick access to the SRT. There is also talk of widening the bridges at Neversink to allow more access; think hand bikes and strollers NOT ATV’s which frequently poach that trail system.

On Trail with Scott Jurek

By Michael Heimes

Ben Hatt and I went to the intersection of

the Appalachian Trail and Reservoir Rd to

wait for Scott. Waiting with us was Scott's

wife Jenny and Karl Meltzer. A friend of

Scott's named Russell from NYC came

down to meet him and run with him

through the weekend as well. Scott ar-

rived around 8PM with a group of locals

and Pagoda Pacers. Jim Blandford had

been with him most all day and he and

the rest of the group were stopping there.

After we all posed a group photo in front

of the AT sign, Scott, Russell, Ben and I

shuffled down the trail with Scott eating

some food his crew just gave him. Scott

asked Ben and I about Reading and the

running community. We told him about

the Pagoda Pacers and the many races

held in the region. I told Scott that his

book got me interested in running Ultras

and that I was a vegetarian for 15 years

when I read it, so it reassured me that

athletes can do well on that diet. The rain

started, light at first, as we made our way

up the mountain. As we approached the

boulders near Pulpit Rock, Scott got his

headlamp ready and asked Ben and I to

take the lead so that he didn't have to pay

attention to the trail markings. The fog

prevented us from seeing the view from

Pulpit rock and the same for the Pinnacle.

We continued on and Scott apologized to

us for holding us up when he had to stop.

This was both very nice and ridiculous at

the same time! We were out there for 9

miles and he had 41 miles behind him as

well as weeks of 30-60 miles days! The

fact that he was moving at all was an ac-

complishment and the pace we moved

along at was surprising at times. We

made our way across the ridge and the

rain slowly picked up. Down the other side

we went and made the sharp let turn onto

the narrow section of trail that ends at

Hawk Mountain Rd., which was were he

planned to stop for the day. When we

could see the road ahead, Ben and I let

Scott in front of us because we assumed

his crew and others would be waiting

there for him. Much to our surprise, there

was no one there! Ben lent Scott a dry

sock he had in his pack so Scott could

wipe the rain off of his phone and call

Jenny. A few minutes later Jenny arrived

and we got this great photo! Scott

thanked us for our help and offered us a

ride back to our cars. Both Scott and Jen-

ny were surprised when we turned their

offer down. Ben and I planned on running

back as it was just 5 miles if we took a

shortcut. We said our goodbyes and

made our way back to the cars running

through shin deep puddles with shoe

grabbing mud at the bottom while talking

about what a cool experience the night

was. Ben lamented that he didn't get the

opportunity to have Scott sign his copy of

Eat & Run. We agreed that when Scott

succeeds and writes the book about his

epic journey, Ben and I will track Scott

down at a book signing, remind him of the

night we ran through a hurricane together

and have him sign both books!

Pacers Share Record-Breaking Miles

with Ultra-legend Scott Jurek

The journey of Scott Jurek from Georgia to Maine to break

the speed record for traversing the entire 2,189-mile Appala-

chian Trail (AT) by foot over the last few weeks caught the

attention of many in the trail running world. Jurek, 41, a

well-renowned ultramarathoner, completed his feat in 46

days, 8 hours, and 7 minutes, finishing at Mount Katahdin on

July 12, 2015, and breaking the prior record by a mere 3

hours. Several Pagoda Pacers (Jim Blandford, Jackie Palmer,

Jeff Merritt, Anna Piskorska, Mike Reddy, Michael Heimes)

were successful in venturing out to the AT when Jurek was

expected to pass through the trail’s section in Berks County

near Hamburg, and shared some miles with him.

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Michael Heimes, Scott Jurek, and Ben Hatt

The colorful domes of the tents were lined up like those candy dots on paper. And then they weren’t!

Ragnar Relay - Appalachians WV May 19th & 20th By Bill Buchanan We arrived Thursday to set up our camp site. We knew it was going to rain but I don’t think anyone was pre-pared for the severe thunderstorm that blew through that evening. Thunder, lightning, and sideways rain. Cold wet and a bit out of sorts by morning, we made it through with little damage... Not all competitors were that lucky. One of our teammates said “that was the worst night of my life.” In true Pacer fashion, we pulled together as a team and prepared ourselves for the start of the race.

Ragnar Trail Relays are set up differently than the road relays. Each team has 4 (ultra team) or an 8 man team. Each team must supply a volunteer for one 3-hour shift. All teams camp in the same area and all runners start and finish each loop at the exchange point. The course is made up of three different loops of 3, 5, and 7 miles. The runners each run all three of the loops. Runner one loop one, runner two loop two, runner three loop three, runner four loop one, runner five loop two, and so on until all 24 loops are completed. And yes over-night in the dark. The trail is well marked with LED lights. The trail itself was great. It would have been a fast course to run without the rain and mud. It was hard to tell rocks from mud. Some sections of the trail were turned into streams with all the rain. Someone said “this is a 15 mile course that runs like a 50K!”

Kristi Schurr started us off with her 3 mile loop at noon, followed by Garrett Place. Matt Kellum (Kristi’s co-worker) was next. He exchanged with Sean Williams who handed off to Bryan Scibilia, one of 2 runners from CT. Rick Perucki, also from CT, and his first trail run, was at the ex-

change next. Danny Govern and Rick traded places and I took over from Dan as anchor. We ran in that order until the injuries started at night. Nothing serious thank good-ness. That’s when Brett Lynch stepped up to fill in. Brett was our Ragnar volunteer but he filled in for our injured runners and ran two loops for time. Brett paced Sean on his night time loop. He really came through for us. Danny’s young son Ryan also came along for the ride and even paced his dad for a loop. (future pacer?) In spite of Mother Nature’s wrath “Yeah she’s with us” bib #270 finished strong. This was my third Ragnar Relay. First time doing a trail relay. Second time as a cap-tain and, as in the past, we had another great team. I am looking forward to more Ragnar Relays. Teams like these make being a captain easy and more importantly so much fun. Happy Trails!

RA C E RE S U L TS Email Results to Race Results Coordinator Karen Rule at racere-

Laurel Highlands 50K

Jeff Dorko 8:51:46

Ten Hours of Trexler

1 Jim Blandford 51 miles 9:25:51

3 Donny Mengel 34 miles

Coal Cracker 10K

5th Jim Blandford 39:57 1st M45-49

Garry Rarer 47:13 3rd M40-44

Troy Seitzinger 49:28 2nd M50-54

Marsha Latimer 54:48 1st F50+

Kathy Seitzinger 59:51 2nd F50+

Third Thirsty Thursday 5K (6/18/15)

7/327 Jim Blandford 18:17 1st M40-49

18 Jon Durand 19:32

23 Michele Gallen 20:02 1st F20-29

24 Brock Kline 20:03 4th M30-39

25 Duane Renninger 20:06 4th M40-49

30 Mark Yourkavitch 20:15 2nd M50-59

32 Jess Gockley 20:20 1st F30-39

35 Dana Seitzinger 20:35

36 Colin Luther 20:38

46 Don Mengel 21:11

60 Troy Seitzinger 21:39

63 Raine Fussner 21:49 1st F50-59

70 Melanie Marinaccio 22:08 2nd F50-59

72 James Barnes 22:09

77 Karen Rule 22:25 3rd F30-39

80 Tom Chobot 22:40

83 Mike Ranck 22:53 3rd M60-64

84 Todd Witkowski 22:54

90 Amanda Gross 23:12

186 Kathy Seitzinger 27:27

191 Joanne Patti 27:57

193 Barbara Raifsnider 28:04

199 Colleen Fitzpatrick 28:26

200 Janine Beidler 28:27

207 Kathryn Barnes 28:46

211 Ian Gross 29:03

215 Steven Holgate 29:09

224 Kelly Garrity-Haldeman 29:48

247 Karin Durand 31:19

Ephrata Firecracker 5 miler

23 Katie O'Regan 30:45 1st F

46 Jon Durand 32:49 4th M30-34

60 Jess Gockley 33:48 1st F30-34

70 Duane Renninger 34:39 3rd M45-49

107 Melanie Marinaccio 36:41 1st F55-59

Rustic Rage Duathlon

10 Mark Yourkavitch 2:00:37 1st M50+

Team Results

3 Team IPA 1:47:16 1st Male team

Bernie Resch/ Bill Buchanan

4 Odd Couple 1:53:04 2nd Male Team

Jeff Merritt/ Chris Lerch

10 Master Mammas 2:02:45 1st F team

Beth Levengood/ Jen Seale

11 Grunt and Squid 2:03:42

Matt Stofko/ Jim Borden

12 Reckless Couple 2:03:50

Jeff George/ Liz Glass

World Gym Firecracker 5K (Shillington)

6 Steve Koch 17:52 1st M50-54

9 Brian Stoltzfus 19:01 2nd M50-54

13 Jeff Merritt 19:28 1st M30-34

15 Don Mengel 19:40 1st M55-59

19 Ryan Watts 19:53 2nd M35-39

22 Steve Maguire 20:37

55 Ruthie Vanderbeck 23:01 2nd F30-34

57 Sarah Schaeffer 23:03 3rd F30-34

58 Michelle Ulrich 23:05 2nd F45-49

70 Michele Rentschler 24:30 3rd F40-44

98 Joanne Patti 25:52 2nd F55-59

108 Ellie Vanderbeck 26:45 3rd F55-59

132 Steven Holgate 29:24

140 Chris Rentschler 30:21

Track Workouts!

Come join some Pacers on Tuesday nights at 6:15

at the Wyomissing High School track

Check Facebook for details!

Run for the Ages- Actual order of finish Adjusted time

5/118 Michael Ranck 1:08:13 5th overall 52:13

9 Brian Stoltzfus 1:09:55 9th overall 46:55

10 Heidi Moebius 1:10:02 10th overall 1:10:02

14 Don Mengel 1:11:07 2nd M55-59 51:07

17 Erik Leeds 1:13:52 1st M40-44 46:52

25 Claude Mervine 1:15:57 55:57

28 Caroline Hill 1:17:06 1st F55-59 1:04:06

30 Matt Hottenstein 1:17:32 1st M35-39 49:32

58 Donna Ornosky 1:23:13 1st F50-54 1:07:13

72 Barbara Raifsnider 1:28:53 2nd F50-54 1:12:15

74 Sue Jackson 1:30:22 1:17:22

93 Charlie Crowell 1:36:06 2nd M65-69 1:24:06

94 Ben Delp 1:36:17 1:20:17

107 Matt Arner 1:42:37 1:15:37

Run For The Ages Recap

First time ever we had a repeat winner for the Run For The Ages. Congratulations to Gene Dykes on an-other stellar performance winning handily even after starting a minute behind his age group. Also for the first time we had two age groups dominate the top overall places with the 60-64 and 65-69 year old males holding off the younger competition taking the top 5 places. Previous years we had an even spread among age groups and genders. The handicaps will be reviewed to see if these guys got a little too much head start or are really the rock stars of trail racing! Overall it was a good turnout despite a threatening forecast which kept walk-up entries lower and no-shows higher than previous years. The rain held off and cooler temps made for good racing conditions. Next year's race is tentatively set for Sunday, June 26. Come on out to see who really is the fastest among your family and friends! -Ted Andrus

Bouncing Buns 7k Trail

Helene Horn 56:54 fully clothed:)

Harbor Hustle 5K Stone Harbor

Helene Horn 35:28

Ron Horn 37:17

Double Trouble 30K

10/48 Lori Johnson 3:11:21 2nd Female

19 Mike Ranck 3:23:02 1st M60-69

21 Tom Chobot 3:25:19 2nd M50-59

24 Elaine Cook 3:31:21 2nd F40-49

36 Liz Glass 3:47:19

37 Joanne VanHorn 3:47:24 2nd F50-59

42 Sandie Reynolds 3:58:11 2nd F30-39

48 Dean Johnson 4:28:36

Double Trouble 15K

47/229 Andy Keegan 1:30:32

115 Don Mengel 1:48:21

152 Paul Makurath 1:57:15 1st M60+

199 Tracey McGee 2:13:05

222 Gwyn Chobot 2:35:37

Pottstown Half Marathon

16/391 Duane Renninger 1:31:50

20 Jeff Merritt 1:33:19

37 Garry Rarer 1:40:12

70 Donna Ornosky 1:48:07 1st F50-59

101 Marsha Latimer 1:52:20

239 Barbara Raifsnider 2:16:51

268 Niki Lawrence 2:24:31

276 Colleen Fitzpatrick 2:26:01

Pagoda Pacers Athletic Club

P.O. Box 4115

Reading, PA 19606

www.PAGODAPACERS.com

Meetings: 2nd Thursday of each month

Annual Dues: $15 Individual; $25 Household

2015 PPAC Officers

President …………………………….. Brett Lynch

president@pagodapacers.com

Vice President ……………………… Leonard Burton

Treasurer …………………………….. Shaun Luther

Secretary …………………………….. Ben Shultz

Race Results Coordinator …….. Karen Rule

raceresults@pagodapacers.com

Run/Charity Coordinator …….. Phil Lechner

Race Management ………………. Ron Horn

Membership Coordinator ……… Dave & Mike Gallen

Youth Coordinator ………………… Tom Chobot

Newsletter Editor ………………….. Beth Auman

editor@pagodapacers.com

Webmaster …………………..………. Ed Recker

webmaster@pagodapacers.com

The newsletter is published monthly. To submit an article for publication,

or inquire about advertising, email editor@pagodapacers.com. The

deadline for submission is the 15th of each month.

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