Great Western Half Marathon Almost Closed
The Great Western registration was over 760 on 3/15/07 and registration may be closed by this weekend (3/18/07). If you haven't signed up and want to run this race, do it now. If you miss out on registering, we are going to need some volunteers, so please contact either Al Edgecombe or myself. We have ordered some great custom running hats with our new logo that will be a premium to the first 50 volunteers. Everyone will also get a Great Western technical race shirt. To Register Online, click here. |
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Register Now for Viking Sunset Family Night!
This year is the 10th Anniversary of the Viking Sunset Family Night. The Fox River Trail Runners are offering an even deeper discount for our members. Fox River Trail Runners who pre-register on line can do so for only $15. Date of event: Wednesday, July 25th at 7PM. The 5k race starts at 7PM, followed by the Jamie LaForce Youth Mile for kids 12 and under, the 400 M Junior Jog for kids 9 and under, and the 100 M toddler trot for kids 5 and under. Click here to register now! |
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Trail Runners Adopt Portion of Fox River Trail
Stay tuned for details on our April cleanup. If you haven't seen our sign lately, you haven't been running the Fox River Trail in Geneva! |
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Important Note: Due to the move to Daylight Savings Time, Wednesday Evening runs are now back at The Great Western Trail in St. Charles at 6pm
Meet in the Parking lot (south side of Dean Street) of the Leroy Oaks Forest Preserve. For a map, click here.
Saturday Mornings 8am Fox River Bike Trail South of IL 38 at RR Bridge For a map, click here. Morton Arboretum
Usually from Thanksgiving to Boston
Groups go out 7am and 7:30am
There is a cost of $7 per person to get in if you do not belong to
the Arboretum. If you are on
the FRTR distribution, you will receive information
from Steven Richey for the upcoming weekend run
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Winston Rasmussen, President
Tom Jurgens, Vice President
Bob Brown, Treasurer
Ann Brady, Secretary
Directors
Dave Helmick, ARD, Viking Sunset
Carolyn Kovash, Foxtales
Editor/Marketing/Sponsorships
Krista Mikulski, Education/Viking Sunset
Al Edgecombe, Membership, CRD Great Western
Dan McMahon, Marketing/Sponsorships
Gene Boehm, Race Director, Viking Sunset
Joe Arnold, WebMaster, Circuit Results, Banquet | |
Dear Tom,
You are receiving this email as a member of the Fox River Trail Runners, or you may have signed up for this newsletter from our web site. If you are receiving this from a forwarded email and would like to join this list, you go to www.foxrivertrailrunners.org |
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 Letter from the President
Greetings Fox River Trail Runners,
I'm looking at the 10 day forecast and I like what I see. This morning at the Morton Arboretum it was 18 degrees with a refreshing little wind at the start. By the time we finished the first mile everything was good and it was a great day to run. I started running occasionally on Tuesday mornings with a small but terrific group that calls themselves the "Run-to-Eat" club. I think a lot of us use running as an excuse to eat, or eating as an excuse to run. It's kind of a chicken and egg thing.
We have been working on a new website and if you haven't had a chance to check it out, please do so. Right now you will find us at www.FoxRiverTrailRunners.org. Our old website at www.frtr.org will be retired and the domain name redirected to the new site. When the conversion is complete we will have both the above domain names as well as www.FoxRiverTrailRunners.com. I hope you will find us at one of these, check it out and offer suggestions.
The old website has served us well, but it didn't have some functions that we needed to improve communications with our members. Joe Arnold has done an outstanding job of managing our previous site for several years, and now he gets to learn a new web builder tool. There are several new features as well as a huge benefit to the new hosting service. The host site has all the tools so that we don't have to keep purchasing and updating expensive software. We can designate more than one individual to maintain and update the site.
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The Race Place 
by Winston Rasmussen This is my favorite time of the year because you can find a good race just about every weekend. Here are a few to consider over the next six weeks. For a more comprehensive list, go to www.CARAruns.org. March 18th Cary March Madness is sold out so if you didn't register in January you can rest easy. I know there are a lot of club members who did sign up on time and we wish them well. This is the one with lots of hills, so if you haven't been doing some serious training, it will be tough. If you are looking to carpool, check out the message board topic for the race. March 25th LSB Shamrock Shuffle 8K party is also sold out, but the last I heard you could still go to the CARA website, join CARA and they had a few entries. The Shamrock Shuffle is a designated FRTR club circuit race, so it counts toward your seven required races. Check out our Message Board for the Packet Pickup topic. If possible we could coordinate pickup without having everyone drive to the city and try to park at Navy Pier. March 31st
The Chicago Lakefront 50K is a little too long for me at this point, so I'll have to see Steve Richey for a few pointers.
March 31st
Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon in Springfield is a little out of our neighborhood, but Joe Arnold and I and a couple of friends from the Windrunners are going down to run that race. I have heard some good things about it and it is a lot of fun traveling with some running friends and trying a new race.
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Wacky Snacky 5K  Submitted by Joe Arnold
This March warmup 5K is held annually at the Plumber's Union headquarters at Ashland and Washington on Chicago's near west side. The name derives from a combination of Wacker when it used to run on lower Wacker and national snack month. Four years ago it moved above ground and has become a popular cold Spring starter in Chicago. 1,300 runners were registered this year (same average for years) to run on a flat circular neighborhood course. The weather has traditionally been cold and windy making the post-race festivities extra nice in a large, roomy and warm meeting hall with abundant food (mostly snack types) and drink.
This year we spotted several FRTR members that joined the run - myself, John Quinton, Phil and Susan Nolte, Carlos Viramontes, Brian and Victoria Bentley, Carl Hays and probably half a dozen more that I didn't spot. |
 Ask the Doctor If you have a question you would like to ask, email our newsletter editor (subject: Ask the Doctor)and we'll try and get an answer from a qualified medical professional. This month's question is for Dr. David Ginsburg: I often experience tightness just on one side of my back and sometimes only in my right hamstring or buttock. It isn't there all the time but usually after I have done a long run or have begun to run more regularly like when the weather gets warmer in the spring.
Dr. Ginsburg Replies: Most runners realize that it is important to have good strength in the hamstrings and quadriceps, and that these muscles must be somewhat flexible or at least balanced in order to help prevent injury. But what many of these same runners fail to recognize is where these muscles attach. More specifically, the muscles in the front and backs of your legs that move the hips and knees attach into the pelvis, which makes up part of your lower back. Read the rest of the story... |
 Steve's Ultra Corner
Why would Anyone Run an Ultra?
By Steven Richey
"Any idiot can run a marathon. It takes a special kind of idiot to run an ultramarathon." - Alan Cabelly
A better question, of course, might be why does one run at all.
If you read the typical running magazine (you know, the ones with same article every month on "8 secret tips on how to run a 5K PR on reduced mileage and loose 10 pounds while remaining injury free"), you'll find the usual "reasons": loose weight, to stay fit, endorphins, competition, social interaction, love of the out doors, etc. All of these "reasons" have at least some merit and probably apply to all of us to some degree. However, I suspect that none of them are enough to really drive one to the long term life style of endurance training that we do. We all see runners who (briefly) come and then go..
At some point, you have to fall in love with the training. The inevitable injuries are merely temporary detours and annoyances. Races are merely necessary milestones --to bring a rhythm, a phase, and a time of recovery for the training. Yes, I'm competitive on race day, but that really isn't the object. Those early on (masters) goals of breaking 19 in the 5K, breaking 40 in 10K, qualifying for Boston, etc. were OK for a season, but not for the long haul. And yes, I nearly always run with friends -- lots of groups in fact (trail clubs, track clubs, long run groups, coworkers at lunch time, etc.). And yes, I prefer to not be fat (and like most, don't really care for dieting, though like most endurance folks, I eat a fairly healthy diet). Like most, I find the treadmill to be some sort of medieval torture device. But..the real bottom line is the life style of endurance training simply suits me. I'm not someone to go binge for some special event and then quit. Rather, I need the everyday-ness of running. Obsessive excessive compulsive? Anal retentive? Yeah, I suppose all of those apply to me. That, I suppose is one of the real reasons that I do distance running. It fits my personality. Ultimately, this is probably the real reason that I run, and why I run ultras.
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 I am a Runner
by Carolyn Kovash
Everyone has a runner story. I think that's why, as runners, we all like to hang out together. To share our stories and talk about our PR's. God knows our spouses or significant others are tired of hearing them all the time! Last week was National MS Awareness week, and so I feel it would be fitting to tell my story now. I happen to have MS. And most importantly, I am a runner.
You probably could never tell by looking at me that I have MS. In fact, many people with MS have symptoms that are invisible to others. The most common symptoms can include numbness, paralysis, or even temporary blindness and symptoms vary widely between individuals who have this incurable disease. For those diagnosed with Progressive MS, the symptoms get progressively worse over time. For those diagnosed with Remitting/Relapsing MS, symptoms are more likely to come and go. People with MS experience these symptoms as a result of one's own body attacking the Myelin, a sort of fatty tissue that protects your Central Nervous System. Without Myelin, your body's electrical impulses are disrupted and thus it produces the various symptoms of MS. Read on... | |
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