July - Calumet Region Striders

1
July 2008
Volume 30, Issue 7
VICE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
UPCOMING GOLD CUP
RIES EVENTS:
SE-
Brickyard 5 mile
July 4th @ 7:30 am
Trinity Lutheran Church
900 Luther Dr.
Hobart, IN
Dale Polomchak 219.942.2183
Friendship Race 5k
July 9th @ 6:30 pm
Dowling Park—Jean Shepherd Building
3031 Mahoney Dr.
Hammond, IN
Joe Mis 219.931.6587
Running Wild for Washington Park Zoo 5k
July 12th @ 9:00 am
Washington Park Zoo
115 Lakeshore Dr.
Michigan City, IN
Johnny Stimley 219.870.1859
Buckley 5 Miler
July 26th @ 7:30 am
Buckley Homestead County Park
3606 Belshaw Rd.
Lowell, IN
Adam Hudak 219.743.2232
Rotary Ramble 5k
August 9th @ 8:00 am
DeMotte Elementary School
100 S. Halleck
DeMotte, IN
Char Groet 219.987.2875
INSIDE
THIS
ISSUE:
Getting to Know a Strider
2
Rumor Has It That
3
Girls on the Run—They Ran!
3
Meet the Board
4
Gratitude & In Our Thoughts
4
Junior Strider News
5
Race Applications
insert
Greetings from the back of
the pack. Summer is now
in full swing. The Gold
Cup Series is half way
done with 15 races completed. Congratulations to
the winners of the "I wore
my Striderwear" promotion: Sherry Robison &
Bob Hogan at the Gallery
Gallop, Marylin Ahner &
Elizabeth Schlichting at
the 2 Big Hearts, Polly
Theising & Tom Kekelik at
the Trail Run Extreme,
Danielle Solis & Tom
Magill at the Field Station
Frenzy and Launa Colon
& Linda Bennett at the
Munster Rotary Run-ARound Our race raffle
prize is a fuel belt. They
and everyone else who
wore their Striderwear are
entered into the Grand
Prize at banquet for a free
2009 Strider membership.
June/July also is the
time for Clydsdale/Athena
weigh-ins. Between June
1 and July 31 is the mandatory weigh-in for that
division of the GC series.
Stop by the GC table to be
weighed and officially recorded before 7/31/08.
Failure to have an official
recorded weight in this
division will forfeit all races
already completed to date.
Summertime is when
we enjoy being outdoors.
It is a time for picnics and
baseball. So, we have
brought those fun summer
events to the Striders. We
have organized some outings at the Gary Steelyard
to see our 2007 Northern
League champions play
some semi-professional
baseball. Last year we had
a great weather day on our
night with the Railcats. On
6/7/08 we had our first
game night of this summer. Yes it was the night
of the three tornados spotted in Richton Park, Lansing and Hammond. Needless to say, the game was
delayed for two hours. We
had 60 Striders with tickets
to that game. In the two
hour delay we lost half our
group. After the storm
passed the weather was
absolutely beautiful. Those
who stayed did enjoy a
complete 9 inning game
and not another drop of
rain. The Railcats lost and
the game ended at
11:30pm. We did a Striderwear raffle at the game.
The Strider hand towels
that were the prize came
in extra handy to dry off
those wet seats. Congratulations to Sasa Sekuloski
(hand towel), Tom Nedza
(Railcat softy ball) and
grand prize winner Joe
Huber (hand towel & Railcat softy ball). The Railcats also have a raffle for
all the groups that were
there. Of all the groups
present that night Diane
DeTorrice from the Striders won the Railcat raffle.
That night was supposed
to be fleece blanket night,
but due to shipping problems, the promotion for
that night was changed to
baseball bat give-a-way to
the first 1500 children.
Almost all of our Jr Striders were able to get a bat.
Most of them even had
them signed by the players
during the rain delay. So of
those who did not actually
get to stay to see them
play, did still have fun in
other ways. That night was
also a jersey auction to
benefit the Red Cross.
Both the give-a-way bat
and the players jerseys
were red in honor of the
Red Cross. Tom Nedza
bid and got a one-of-a-kind
red Railcat palyer jersey
right off the players back
after the game. All in all,
considering the nasty
weather at the beginning
of the night, along with the
lateness of the game, our
group got smaller and
smaller by the end. Striders are a tough bunch and
we are used to events in
all kinds of weather, everyone seemed to find a way
to have a good time.
Because the Railcat
organization felt bad that
we were all ready for
fleece blanket night and
the
promotion
was
changed. They have given
us discounted tickets to
the new fleece blanket
give-a-way night on August 23. Tickets are $5.00
per person. The order form
is in this newsletter for the
8/23/08 6:00 pm game
against the Joliet Jackhammers. You can't beat a
fun family outing with your
Strider pals for such a
great price. To all those
who registered for the
beachtowel promotion
game and picnic on
7/12/08 game, I look forward to seeing you. Wear
your striderwear.
Enjoy the journey
in each race.
Robin Benson-Harvey
2
PRESIDENT’S
CORNER
Thank you to Sue BrownNickerson, Coaches, and
Volunteers for making the Outdoor
AAU meet a SUCCESS and Congratulations to all the Jr. Striders
who competed. Next month is our
Annual Strider Survivor picnic it is
on Saturday August 16, immediately following the Hometown run.
This years theme is Pirate, we will
also have our Strider wear for sale,
and the Gold Cup premiums will
be available for pick up. Please
RSVP by the deadline date so we
can be prepared for everyone. Last
year we had over 100 participants I
am hoping to double that this year
and give our grill masters a challenge. Any one attending and not
GETTING
TO
Strider Membership:
I joined Striders in the middle of
2007 in hopes of losing some weight.
Now 80 pounds lighter, I am also
participating in the Gold Cup Series
f o r
t h e
1 s t
t i m e .
Most Memorable Run:
The 2008 Indy Mini. It was on my
RUNNER
PROGRAMS
Speedwork
Where: Wheeler Middle School
Crown Point
When: Wednesday nights at 7pm.
Please contact Misty Chandos at
runnergirl26.2@sbcglobal.net
MICHELE
HALE
running the Hometown race that
would like to help we are in need of
water stop volunteers as The Hometown run goes through Central Park.
Please see me at the race before it
starts foe instructions.
S p eak i n g o f wat er s t at i on s :
Once again we will be manning an
aide station at The Chicago Marathon
this takes 300 plus volunteers. We
will start sign ups in August, so start
asking friends and family if they
would like to help out. This is Nike's
first year as the Sponsor so I expect
the jackets and hats to be great! Only
volunteers receive them.
KNOW
Meet Sean Funkhouser
Bio:
Sean is 32, lives in Westville with
his wife (Aimee), two kids (Gavin-8,
Gracie-4), and their golden retriever
Charlie. Sean has lived in Westville
for 11 years and has been employed
with US Steel for 8 years. He is a
Solution Tender on the Pickle Line.
BY
A
STRIDER
BY
JOHN
32nd birthday and it was my 1st 1/2. I
ran a 1:27:43 and placed 372nd! I was
so excited I was yelling at the finish
line as I realized I finished in the Top
500 and qualified for special medal.
The moment still brings a HUGE smile
to my face!
Running Goals:
I would love to run a sub 18 minute 5K,
but just being able to run and finish is
very satisfying to me either way.
Besides Running:
I like to spend lots of time with Aimee,
Gavin, and Gracie. We love to swim,
watch movies, and any other family
stuff you can think of. We do everything together as a family. I am also
BY
MISTY
Your Mood: Restless
You need some serious shuteye before the big day.
Your Meal: Nonfat popcorn
half an hour before you go to
bed
Here's Why: The carbs will
induce your body to create serotonin, a neurochemical that
makes you feel relaxed. "Make
sure it's fat-free, because fat
will slow the process of boosting serotonin levels.
Stride O!
Michele
ARREDONDO
remodeling our house, so that is
taking a LOT of time!
Words "on the run":
I have learned that in the past
year that runners are some of
the kindest people. Everyone
that I have run with has given
me a little bit more drive and
motivation to run harder and
faster. Don't be afraid to ask a
runner any questions, wether
it's about stretching, diet, programs, etc. It doesn't matter if
your in the back of the pack or
leading the race, we're all out
here for the same reason, the
love of running and friends. See
ya' at the races!!
CHANDOS
Please welcome new Strider Members
and fellow runners of Southlake YMCA’s
“Y-Run” program. Calumet Region Striders is a cornerstone for runners in our
community, and through the introduction
of programs, events, and other runners,
we inspire others to run and accomplish
feats they once only dreamed of
completing. Ask your local YMCA
about running programs, share
Gold Cup Race applications with
them, and continue to encourage
others to run.
3
RUMOR
HAS
IT
THAT
BY
ALL
OF
YOU
Jr. Strider membership makes up
A couple of the Dirty Red Girls assisted
division, and qualified for the U.S.
for almost 20% of the entire Strider
in pacing one of their own, Jill Storm,
Masters National Marathon with a
membership.
to a Boston Qualifying 3:38:50 at the
2:59:23!
Green Bay Marathon.
Richard Gutierrez was named 2008
Approximately 600 volunteer hours
Paul Stofko, a Strider out in Love-
Calumet College Academic Scholar
were compiled at the AAU Meet.
land, CO, will be presenting/guest
As a result, Joe Mis has made an
speaking for Intro to Ultra Running
extra monetary donation to CRS
weekend in Estes Park, CO in Sep-
Don’t miss out on
running the Chicago
Marathon with OE.
Spots still available!
for the outstanding volunteer report from Chesterton.
Strider Wear has been spotted all
over the city of New York thanks to
this Spring during track season for
having maintained a 3.5 GPA
member Tom Cheslik - Way to
Represent!
Amanda Hill of Portage is off the
Dave Ahner broke 3 hours at
injured runner list.
Grandma’s Marathon, won his age
GIRLS
ON
THE
RUN
Girls on the Run of Lake County completed its second season on June 7 at the
Wondergirl 5K in Chicago. The Wondergirl is put on by GOTR of Chicago, and
had over 3,000 runners participating. Wondergirl races are put on by
GOTR chapters across the country. It is
the second largest race series behind the
Susan Komen Race for the Cure series!
Once again, several
Striders came out to
support us by volunteering as running
buddies for the
girls. Thanks to Betty
Funkhouser, Patrice Lawson, Jane Fuller,
Linda Kovacs, and Ida Hay! The race is
not timed and is all about finishing and
having fun, which all the girls did! The
highlight for me at the race was finding
my quietest girl at the finish. She looked
very hot and tired, so I asked her how she
felt and she said "Proud!"
A very enthusiastic thank you to Cassandra Langley who applied for and was chosen to be a part of the Goody StayPut
Team! Goody (think hair do-dads!) is a
sponsor of the Wondergirl race series. They chose 225 women from across
the Continent to represent Goody at Wondergirl races and endurance events. We
(GOTR)
BY
JILL
The Doodlebops will be performing at
the Porter County Fair on Saturday, July
19 at 4 pm. If you know a preschooler,
he or she will want to see this show! A
portion of all ticket sales using Promotional Code 4463 will benefit Opportunity Enterprises’ All About Kids program. You may order online:
www.portercofair.org
or visit the Porter County Fair box office. Be sure to use code 4463!
SCHLUETER-KIM
all knew Cassandra could run, bike,
swim and lead a local running club, but
did you know she could do hair? Part of
her responsibilities as a Goody StayPut
Team member is going to the Wondergirl 5k races and artfully applying colored hair spray and various hair ties,
barrettes, and headbands to the
girls. She did an awesome job, and was
only slowed down slightly by being
knocked out by a rogue boy runner who
thought he was supposed to run the race
backward. Thanks Cassandra!
Thanks for all the women's running apparel donations at the Muster Rotary! We
will be at a Fall race to be announced! A
special thanks as well to Michele, the
Strider Board, and Striders for being such
great supporters of Girls on the Run!!
THANKS! Jill
gotrlakecounty@gmail.com
jilart7@sbcglobal.net
With the addition of a site in East Chicago, and the original Highland site, 39
girls participated in GOTR this season. We are expanding again in the Fall
with a new site at Eads Elementary in
Munster. Also in the works is the addition of Porter County to our service area
and hopefully a site there by next
Spring!
Two of our girls, Paige Stange and Casey Olah, have become Junior Striders
and are having a very successful track
season! Way to go girls!
With all of the expected growth, we are
always looking for more coaches, running buddies and volunteers. If you are
interested, please contact me or Mary!
Pictured Left to Right at the Goody
Happy Hair Station:
Ashley Wolski, Hayley Kim, and
Caitlyn Tanner—Members of the
GOTR Lake County, Indiana Chapter
4
MEET
THE
BOARD
Joanne Kagler:
Your Chairperson for the By-laws,
Nominations, and Disabled Runner
Committee
Joanne resides in Valparaiso and has
been a Strider since 2005. She began
running in 1996 and has completed
12 marathons, 15 or more half marathons and many other races of various lengths. Joanne graduated from
Valparaiso University in December
2004 with a Joint Degree in Law and
a Master of Arts in Psychology. This
Strider Board Member practices law
full time for a large firm that specializes in Bankruptcy.
She is an active member of St. Teresa
of Aviala Catholic Student Center. In
WELCOME
NEW
JR.
UNDERSTAINDING
&
OFFICER’S
addition to running Joanne loves to
watch sports of all kinds, enjoys reading,
sewing, baking, and listening to country
music. Joanne is the mother of four children: Steve(27), Terry(24), Alex(21),
and Julie (20).
Joanne brings her vast knowledge and
experience to our board. Her committee
and board position encompasses the
framework for the business operations of
our RRCA Member club. Each year the
By-laws Committee reviews our by-laws
and the standing rules for club operation.
In addition, the Nominations portion of
her committee assists in identifying Striders just like you for our Annual Board
Elections or position openings as they
occur. You would be amazed at how our
STRIDER
IN
Thank you Shirle Kowalsyn for helping out
at the Field Station Frenzy GC table!
THANKS GO OUT TO ALL STRIDERS &
AAU PARENTS WHO ASSISTED AT THE
OUTDOOR AAU MEET TO SUPPORT
OUR JR. STRIDER PROGRAM!
STRIDERBUCKS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED SOON.
Special thanks to the Strider volunteers
that stepped up to help at the Valpo Hershey Meet: Steve Kearney, John Arre-
OUR
ROLE
existing and past Strider Board
Members were nominated...just
ask any of them.
One PastPresident was elected to the
board by having their name written on a napkin at a Gold Cup
Banquet!
Along with attending our monthly
board meetings, Joanne helps out
at the Gold Cup Table, and runs a
pretty good race. Just ask the
other ladies in her age group.
Next time you see Joanne at a
Strider event be sure to say hello.
Feel free to ask our Board Members what they like about volunteering for our club and what
their committees are all about!
MEMBERS
Nicollette Mirabelli
Zachary Mirabelli
Anthony Albomonte
Joseph Albomonte
Matthew Martinez
Nate Wontorski
Porter County:
Chima Ndukwu
Hayley Krieter
Madalynn Crowder
Adrien Hall
Allison DeTorrice
Amy DeTorrice
Brooke Isroff
Nicole Isroff
Lake County:
Jade Gutierrez
Abel Linares
Alec Madden
Brett Sefcik
Morgan Shoemaker
Allison Wortel
Eric Bishton
Evelyn Reder
Paige Stange
Justin Moreno
Brooke Winter
Rebecca Iwinski
Tatiana Lazic
Alexis Mirabelli
GRATITUDE
EACH
Jacob Linn
Brandon Reyes
Lindsey St Peters
Joel Thompkins
Josh Thompkins
Emily Walsworth
Trevor Conley
Morgan Overstreet
Trevor Overstreet
Danny Rockley
Iasaih Smith
Elyssia Logsdon
Katie Miller
Ryan Cutter
Danny Cutter
THOUGHTS
dondo, Betty F, George Nietert, Norm Eikman, Dan Sturgill, Kathy Mangel, Paul
Jankowski, and Jim Nickerson.
Thank you Striders for your INSTEP submissions. Your news and comments are what
make this publication an integral part of our
club. Keep sending the great information to
our Editor. News@calstrider.org
Continued well wishes for a speedy recovery
to Polly after her quadruple bypass surgery.
Even fit people are encourage to
monitor your heart health and cholesterol. Polly was seeing a doctor regularly but knew something was wrong.
The Board has accepted the resignation of Ruth Bonacci, Chairperson of
the Volunteer and Membership Committee. Thank you for your dedicated
service to the Striders. We wish you
well and we will miss you on the
Board. You did a fantastic job!
5
JUNIOR
STRIDER
I am excited to announce that
approximately 110 kids joined Summer Track and participated at practices; 82 kids entered either the
Schererville or Valpo Hershey's
Meet, and 86 kids competed in the
AAU meet.
Structured practices
were offered twice a week led by
team coaches in both Lake & Porter
County. On the final night of practice, the coaches treated the kids
to pizza & handed out donated
tshirts. The girls received free
Goody hair products from Cassandra Langley who is on the StayPut
Team sponsored by Goody.
Junior Striders Advancing to Hershey’s State Meet in Muncie on
June 28th; GOOD LUCK!
(LAKE COUNTY) Casey, Olah, Paige
Stange, Emma Weissbeck, Kyra
Marriott, Evenlyn Reder, Morgan
Shoemaker, Kristy Hodor, Jade
Gutierrez, Eric Bishton, Brooke
Winter, Alexis & Nikki Mirabelli,
Hallee & Alaina Willis, Colleen
Ogren, Allison Wortel, Shannon
Freedom, JC Silverman, Jade &
Joule Tazbir, Rebecca Iwinski,
Alyssa Stepney, Briana Johnson,
Tatiana Lazic.
(PORTER COUNTY) Kadie Spoor,
Elyssia Logsdon, Adrien Hall, Brooke
Isroff, Allison DeTorrice, Danielle
Solis, Madalynn Crowder, Hope Myroup, Allison Rockley, Mariah Mateo,
Liz Schlichting, Mikalah Lambert,
Brittany Stepp, Felicia Sytsma,
Chima Ndukwu, Nicolas Solis, Josh
Thompkins, Garrett Stiller, Danny
Rockley, Brandon Reyes, Aaron
Miller, Isaiah Smith, Patrick
Treacy, Cody Sytsma, Danny Cutter,
Nick DeMass, Andrew Jankowski,
Adam Sandberg, Dylan Logsdon,
Travis Conley, Kevin Mangel.
NEWS
BY
SUE
BROWN-NICKERSON
AAU Meet
SATURDAY JUNE 14th
Hot-hot-hot!! As the temperature
reached 93degrees, the 12 & unders kept making their way around
the track collecting medals and
ribbons faster than Coaches could
keep track of.
Meanwhile, the
Strider coaches, the official timer,
Sandy Hackett, and staging volunteers worked overtime behind the
scenes to make sure the Jr Striders and other athletes were accurately re-entered in their events
due to a power surge creating lost
data base entries. The boys and
girls ran up to the coaches’ expectations or better and were awesome! Our 5-8 year olds were truly
a delight to watch as they competed in their first meet and following instructions to the “t” even
staying in their proper lanes. Our
last little runner Emily Walsworth
even got a standing ovation coming
down the track on the final leg of
the 4x100!!
AAU Meet
SUNDAY JUNE 15TH
Happy Fathers Day! Stormy, cold
and windy weather forced team
tents to be taken down and shelter
to be taken for a 30min storm delay. Some of us actually bunkered
under our carport team tent for
cover! The sun finally come out and
it warmed up and so did our team.
As tradition, we continue to dominate in the distance events in all
age groups, but also have some
strong sprinters and numerous
middle distance runners also. Our
kids all ran beautiful 800m races,
and just about each team member
got to participate on an award winning relay.
Almost everyone qualified for AAU
Regionals in Bloomington/Normal IL
on July 5-6 in at least one or more
events! I am very proud of each of
every one of our Jr Striders, and I
truly enjoyed meeting and working
with
each
of
them!
Next month: Strider top 10 District
performances and Regional AAU
results due to the these results not
being available for print deadline.
Thank you to all of our COACHES
& COACH ASSISTANTS!!!!
Lake County was led by Team
Willis (Mike Willis, Jayne Willis,
Strider President Michele
Hale, and Coach Assistants Darrell
Hale, John Tazbir, Linda Kovacs,
Duncan Marriott, Glen Shoemaker,
Teri Clark, and Sean Willis. Porter
County was led by Sue BrownNickerson, Steve Kearney, Carlos
Mateo, and Coach Assistants John
Arredondo, Jim Nickerson, Kathy
Mangel, and Kristy Galinsky. A special thanks to Heather Henderlong and TH Timing for timing and
providing the final Valpo Hershey
Meet results. Everyone put in a lot
of volunteer hours and did a great
job!!
Coach Sue
Brown-Nickerson
6
NON PROFIT ORG
US POSTAGE PAID
GRIFFITH, IN
PERMIT NO. 225
A RRCA Member Running
Club serving Northwest
Indiana & Northeast
Illinois for 30 years
Check Out Our Site: WWW.CALSTRIDER.ORG
NOTICE OF BOARD
VACANCIES:
Polly’s Thank You:
“...for all the flowers, cards,
phone calls, and visits...from
the bottom of my new heart!”
CALUMET REGION
STRIDERS TO HOST
RRCA CERTIFIED
COACHING CLASS
We need your help and
input to keep our club
the best it can be.
September 20 & 21
POSITION:
8:00 am
Social & Sponsorship
Committee Chair
Hammond, IN
rrca.org/programs/coaching
POSITION:
503.692.5126
Membership &
Volunteer Committee
Chair
Each year Striders
sponsors a Strider to
attend a coaching certification class. One
Strider will be selected
to be sent to the
course via the application which is due to our
PO Box by July 31.
See website for details
Please submit nominations or position questions to Joanne Kagler
by July 10th via email
jbaitup@hotmail.com
ABOUT THE RRCA
COACHING
CERTIFICATION
PROGRAM:
The RRCA Coaching
Certification program
seeks to provide trained
individuals to work with
adult road runners at all
levels, beginner to advanced. By offering a
coaching program for
road running, it is hoped
that more individuals will
be attracted to the sport,
and more importantly, by
working with a coach to
train intelligently, these
individuals will be able to
extend their running careers, have more fun
running, and minimize
the risks of overuse injuries.