Valley Stream Running Club News

Box #212 Valley Stream, New York 11582

Stanley Friedlander, President

Donna Hahl, Vice President

Carol Drucker, Treasurer

Joe Tito, Secretary

www.VSRunningClub.org

 

Vol. 27 No. 1                                                 Winter  2007

 

March 18 – Next meeting at the Empress Diner after the John Corrigan relay race, see Stan’s column.

 

Aphorisms from various running thinkers:

·        ‘Growing old is like being increasingly penalized for a crime you haven’t committed.’ – Anthony Powell

·        ‘For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.’ - Saint Paul

·        ‘The finish line is just the beginning of a whole new race.’ – Susan Saint James

 

Winter - Retirement

Carol T. and I are moving east to Ridge NY. Before the move can take place; we must paint, do electrical work, install a new garage door opener, replace bathroom vanities and god knows what else needs to be done. We are also selling our St. James home and taking our first cruise to the western Caribbean this February. I have joined a Model Airplane club, called Long Island Flying Eagles (LIFE) – I hope to solo someday with my NexSTAR 68.5 inch gas powered trainer – flying a radio control model airplane was one of my dreams.

To do all of these things and a little part time teaching for IBM, I have decided to retire as your editor and secretary from the club. I have invested into the Valley Stream Running Club Retirement Fund, managed by Stan. Stan has been investing our retirement fund into Enron Stock which has a great track record – They do something with derivatives. With the income from our retirement fund and social security (Which I will collect at age 75), I will have all the money I need. So, I have checked with Carol Drucker our new treasurer about the amount of money I will receive as secretary and runner. Carol D. suggested I stay on as secretary, put out a quarterly newsletter and invest more into VSRC retirement fund (In 2024 the stock should go up again).

Thank you all for giving me the opportunity to practice my writing skills and learn about the joy of Microsoft Word. See you at the next race, Joe Tito

 

Tip of the Month

Do not run with a cold. A cold means you are over trained. You have already run too much. Wait at least three days, preferably longer. Take a nap the hour you would usually spend running. Add an extra hour when in heavy training. Also arrange for at least one or two naps a week and take a long one after your weekend run.

 

What’s happening by Stan

Some changes: As you might have noticed the newsletter is quarterly now. There will be winter, spring, summer, and fall issues. This will make a lighter load for our returning secretary Joe Tito and we look forward to his excellent newsletters. Also we have a new treasurer Carol Drucker. Carol is a runner and triathlete who ran her first marathon at the Marine Corps Marathon this past fall. Carol runs with the 5 am group in Hendrickson on weekdays. We welcome Carol and thank her for taking on this job.

 

A report on the fall meeting: We met at the Colony diner after the holiday run/walk. We re-elected Donna and me and we thanked Lois and Joe for their work. As you know now, Joe returned to the job when the newsletter became a quarterly. We had a financial report from Lois who told us that we had $1200 in the treasury. I suggested that we spend some of the money for subsidizing club gear and for subsidizing member’s fees at club races and at marathons. Tony, Mike, and Tom Moore volunteered to work on the gear with Tony as the head of that group. I thank them. The first two subsidized races will be the Snowflake in February and the Corrigan 4 by 2 mile relay in March. Members will pay $5 for the snowflake and nothing for the Corrigan run. We will subsidize the LI half and full Marathons and ocean to sound. We will decide the amount of the subsidies for these races at later meetings. We will also decide at later meetings which additional races will be deemed club races and therefore subsidized.

 

On the club budget and expenditures: I received a thoughtful and pertinent email from our secretary. Joe wrote it in response to my email on the allocation of club funds.  I am giving Joe’s message here and adding my reply:

 

Joe’s email: I would question your item on the Snow Flake Race.  If the club picks up most of the race application amount, how does the member pay 5.00 dollars - submit a bill to the club?  Does the member still pay 5.00 dollars if they register late?  I guess they would see you first at the race - if you wish to do it that way.  It looks like a lot of administration work for you and/or Carol.  I would drop the whole idea and just pick up the race application fee for the John Corrigan relay and call the snow flake a club race.  To spend the club money - why not use it on our club BBQ?  I will wait on your rely.    JT


My reply: Joe: Thanks for your ideas and thoughtfulness. You make good points and I want to give you my ideas.

Budget; The main thing I keep in mind is that we have a very large sum in reserve and I don't want to end the year without spending it down a lot being sure to do it in ways which will help the members and the club. We will be taking in 2007 dues so we will soon have maybe $1500 and we won’t need anything remotely near that in the treasury. The money has no other purpose than serving the members each year. Since the club budget is so important I am going to communicate often with Carol to monitor how fast the fund is decreasing.  And the budget will be on the agenda for our next meeting with one item being setting a goal on spending for 2007.

 

Race fees: As to the club races I think it is important to increase our club's visibility at races and to encourage our members to race together. So it makes sense to me to pay part of club race fees. Even if only one person comes to a particular club race it is good as long as the person is wearing race gear. You hit a flaw on the system of payment for races and I thank you and Donna for pointing it out to me. Races have different prices and it would be too complicated unless we gave everyone the same amount. We already decided on three races: Runners at the snowflake will get the early price minus $5: Ocean to Sound is half price ($20 last year) and Corrigan is free. I recommend that other races will be the early price minus $10. I will be talking to Carol tonight (1/11/07) and this issue of how to reimburse people will be discussed. I will suggest that since race results for almost all races on the net, we can mail the money out in checks after the race results are in. At some races such as Ocean to Sound and Corrigan, I or an officer will be there to pay for the team(s) and Carol will reimburse them. I note that for some years I have laid out the money for ocean to sound and for Corrigan and I always waited for reimbursement from the treasurer.

I will recommend to the club that any member be allowed to ask the club for a different price for an upcoming race. If there is time to present the request at a meeting then the club will decide it at the meeting. If it is too close to the race for it to go to a meeting, then it will be decided by the officers and the decision will be reported to the club at the next meeting. 

 

BBQ: As to the annual BBQ, I regard it as a party for my friends at the club. It has been my pleasure to have hosted this party for over a decade. There is a wonderful family spirit involved when people bring the stuff themselves. We ask each person to bring something and if someone can't afford it, they can bring something that is in their budget or nothing. We never question or worry about it. If there is some extra last minute items to be bought, then I insist on reimbursing whoever who is nice enough to go out for it as I am the host of the party.  It would not be the same if club money is involved. So please no club money at the BBQ is what I want. I am very happy to pay for everything except the supplies and food brought by my club friends.

 

Thanks again for you insightful letter

Stan
 


Dues: We decided at the fall meeting that dues will be $15 for members which will include family. Out of towners will pay $10 which will include family. Please send your dues to Carol Drucker.

 

 The winter meeting: We will meet directly after the Corrigan relay on Sunday, March 18 at the Empress diner. The owner at the Colony was not nice to us at the last meeting and there was limited room. Donna, Lois, Terry, and I have a good relationship with the Empress diner since the walking club meets there every Saturday. It is on rte. 24 east of Eisenhower and a bit before the Wantagh parkway entrances. Look for it on the South side of rte. 24 just across rte. 107. It can accommodate a large group. Please send me agenda items for the meeting as you think of them.

 

Per-marathon dinner and the spring meeting: We will have a pre-marathon dinner on Friday, May 4 at the Alpine Garden restaurant. It is on the west side of Franklin Ave. just south of Hempstead Tpk. The food is good and the prices are reasonable. We will split the checks evenly with alcoholic drinks paid individually. The spring meeting will be held then. Any needed additional meetings will be set up as the need arises.

 

Condolences: We send our sincere expression of sympathy to the Zullos on the loss of Tom’s brother Robert.

 

New Years club celebration: Donna, Terry, Fred, and I celebrated the new year at the park at 7 pm. Unfortunately Tom Moore missed seeing us because he came a bit late and we were walking around the lake. Sorry, Tom!  Terry, Donna, and I went to the midnight run in central park and greatly enjoyed it. We walked a lot and saw a super fireworks display. As we walked to and from the 4 mile run we had to skirt Times Square and we had to walk through crowds of celebrators. The people on the streets were quite young and there were hundreds of police officers. The runners and walkers at the midnight run included many in costume and people of all ages from all over the world.

 

Best wishes to all for a wonderful new year 2007 and a quick and full recovery to all injured and ill.

Stan

 

A note from Harry – Joe Tito

I have received a note from Harry Feigenbaum, an old VSRC running buddy. Harry writes; ‘Dear Friends - I'm at a loss as to what to report.

All in all it's been a rough time for me culminating in an 8 day hospital stay in early to mid November.  Multiple blood transfusions, ejection from the study of the new pill supposed to be effective against metastatic bladder cancer and a collapsed lung leading to the aforementioned hospital stay. I intensified my study of hospice care, thankful, at least, I was feeling better for no longer having to ingest the chemo pills (Sutent), when, out of the ….’(I will end it here – I think you get the idea).

Harry’s note brings to mind Dr. George Sheehan who wrote about the mind soaring free when running. He was able to contemplate the link between body and mind. 

Dr Sheehan died of prostate cancer in 1990. His last book ‘Personal Best’ had a chapter on Death and Dying: The Final Combat. I like this piece from his book;

‘Death will not take me unawares. I expect now to be cut down in my prime, doing well at what I do best. Cancer has put urgency into my life. I, still unworthy, am about to return to my Creator. And I am learning something critically important about the human condition: No one, no matter their age, should ever retire from life.’

For me, running is not just about training, food, clothes, races and running shoes. Running has been a way of life, it allows me to see and feel things even when my running has slowed down. On my next morning run, I will invite Rambo the running dog, Dr. George and Harry to my 5 mile loop and we will have a great time.

 

 

Eddie Reports on his Las Vegas Runs

 

The Las Vegas Half-Marathon

 

    On December 10th I ran in the 1st Annual NEW Las Vegas Half-Marathon, which was an addition to the NEW Las Vegas Marathon, now in it’s second year. What is new about this race is the course and race management. The course was great. It began at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, which is located at the southern most part of the Las Vegas Strip. The first half of the race went straight north on Las Vegas Blvd. for about six and a half miles and was scenic with lots of Las Vegas landmarks to look at along the way. It then turned left on the Fremont Street Experience for a couple of blocks where the half and the full marathon split, with the full continuing straight and the half heading south on back streets returning to Mandalay Bay where the race started.     

    This race was held the same weekend as the Wantagh Snowball Run. I think it might have been colder on Sunday morning in Las Vegas than it was in Wantagh. The half-marathon started at 6:00 AM. It felt very cold with wind gusts up to 30 mph! Then the sun came out and it warmed up a little, so it was good for running. My chip time was 2:16:53, which is much better than I expected. I ran just like I did at the NYC Marathon . . . I walked A LOT! I am still taking it easy with my injured knee.

    The race was well organized except for mile markers. I couldn't get any good split times along the way. They had clocks every "mile" but they were not placed at the right locations. They placed a chip mat at 7.5 miles. Why? I don't know, except maybe just to make sure no one cheated running the marathon. It was not there to give you a significant split time, though there was a clock. The mile markers made no sense at all. The finish line was the same for the full and the half, but so was the mile marker the same for 13 miles and 26 miles. I don't know which one was right, I know one was wrong.

     There was no mistaking that I was running in Las Vegas. There were 75 Elvis impersonators running and 24 couples either got married or renewed their wedding vows at the mile 5 Run Through Wedding Chapel. The race went by really quick. I always find it enjoyable to run places I've never run before. There was also a "Quality of Life" expo which was pretty big and every bit as good as the one New York has at the Javits Center.

 

 

The Las Vegas Great Santa Run


    On the day before, I ran in a 5k run and a one mile walk which was held for a local charity and was also a warm up for the marathon. Fox 5 in Las Vegas put the race on. It was called the Great Santa Run. Everyone who entered the race got a 5 piece Santa Claus outfit to run in. There were over 4,000 Santa's running. They were trying to set a Guinness Book world record for the largest Santa gathering ever. The record is held by Liverpool, England with 4,300 Santa's in one place. I don't know yet what the final count was and if the record was broken or not. Siegfreid and Roy did the one mile walk. Roy Horn said he trained for a year for this event. He had a very difficult time. It was the furthest he had gone since his accident. His time for one mile was one hour and forty minutes. As he approached the finish has threw away his cane. It may sound funny but it really was very inspirational.

Happy New Year - Eddie P.

 

A note from Donna

Joe: The Miami, FL Half Marathon is on Sunday, January 28, 2007. This year Lois, Rochelle and I are registered to do the Half. We are leaving JFK on JetBlue on Thursday, 1/25 and return home on Monday, 1/30. My brother is also doing the Half.  We are staying Thursday, Friday and Sunday nights with my brother. On Saturday night we are staying in a hotel in Miami.  My brother lives in Lighthouse Point which is about an hour from Miami. Last year we all stayed with my brother the night before the race and had to be up at 3:00 am because of the drive. The race starts at 6:00 am. 

The race begins at Port of Miami which is where all the cruise ships are docked.  It's still dark and the ships are all lit up. It's quite beautiful.  After you leave the cruise ship area you run over causeways and get to see private islands and estates. Part of the race goes through South Beach. I'll write a paragraph about the trip and race when I get back. Joe Cataldo plans on coming to see us do the race. Maybe he will surprise us and do it with us.  I'm quite sure Gene & Theresa will be there also. They haven't committed to doing the race.

            Thanks for letting me know you think the Snowflake is on 2/11. I think it is also, but I'll give the Long Beach Recreation Dept. a call in about a week or two.

            Have a very happy, healthy new year. Donna

 

Long Island Marathon and 10k

It is time to register for the 2007 Long Island Full/Half Marathon and 10k race. The date is May 6th. Check out their web site for course details ( www.thelimarathon.com ). The early registration fee (by 2/28) is $35.00 for Marathons and $25.00 for the10k. I plan on doing the 10k - JT

 

 

Fun Runs, Speed Work, HILL WORK and Long Runs

·        Wednesday evenings. Group Runs / Walk at the Valley Stream pool at 6:00 PM.  Check with Donna, If new to club.

·        For Hill Work in Alley Pond Park on Sunday mornings we meet at 7:30 AM.  At Alley Pond we have a standard 8-mile loop and a lake loop which adds about 3 miles. For those who go directly to Alley Pond Park, parking is on Winchester Boulevard just off of Union Turnpike.

·        For Long Runs we will meet on Saturday mornings, time of 7:30 AM at the bridge in the park.  Be on time though, because after one loop in the park we sometimes go off to places hither and yon. Bring water as we often leave the safe confines of the park.

 

Race Results

·        Snowball 5-miler in Wantagh

Debbie Whitton    51:09,      Donna Hahl    55:34

·        Donna Hahl 32.57 –  5k in Bethpage - HoHoHo

 

Upcoming Races (Preliminary) 

Sun. Jan 8        Winter Run Series 5k                            Heckscher                                11:00

Sun. Jan 15      Winter Run Series 5k                            Caumsett                                  11:00

Sun. Jan 22      Winter Run Series 5k                            Sunken Meadow                      11:00

Sun. Jan 29      Winter Run Series 5k                            Jones Beach                             11:00

Sat, Feb 11     Snowflake 4 M                                   Long Beach                            11:00

Sat. Mar 4        Little Cow Harbor 4M              Greenlawn                                9:30

Sat. Mar 11      Kings Park 15K                                   Kings Park                              9:15

Sun, Mar 18     John Corrigan (5x2 Mile Relay)           Eisenhower Park                      9:00

Sun, Mar 26     Suffolk County ½ Marathon/5K           Selden                                     9:00

Sat, April          St James 5M                                       St. James                                9:30

Sat. April 1       ASPIRE 10k                                        Plainview                                 9:00

Sun, May 6      LI Marathon and 10k                            Eisenhower Park                    8:00

Sun, May 28    Long Beach 10M/5k                            Long Beach                             8:00

Tue, July 4       Bellmore 4M                                        Bellmore                                  8:30

Sat. July 8       Vytra Woman’s 5k                              Farmingdale HS                      9:00

Sun, Sept. 10  Ocean-To-Sound                                Start Jones Beach                  8:00

Sat, Sept 16    Cow Harbor                                         Northport                                 8:30

Sat, Nov 4       Rockville Ctr 10k                                 Rockville Ctr                            10:00

Sun, Nov 19    Mineola Mustang 5k                            Mineola                                    10:00

Sun. Nov 26    Rob’s Run                                           Syosset                                   9:15

Sat. Dec          Snowball 5M                                        Wantagh                                 8:00

Sat. Dec 16     Ho Ho Ho Run 5k                                Bethpage HS                           9:00