October 2016 Volume 19 – Issue 10

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– President's Pen –

We are a month out from the Beat Santa 5k in Portsmouth on Dec. 17 at 4 p.m. As you know, this is a fundraiser for our club, and it is a ton of fun. As always, we can use your help. You can handle any of the usual 'race volunteer' positions, or – and as im-portant – you can be Santa's helper and bring a small gift for under the tree. This low-key run is more of the fun variety than the competitive kind. Dress festively, bring your Christmas spirit, and plan to spread the cheer after the race.

It's that time of the year to share our appreciation, and I'd like to thank Eric for his tireless work on the Grand Prix and this newsletter; Pat for her work on the website; Nels, Solange, and Sam for their pacing leadership; Don for his cookout help; Kate, Christy and Scott for their work as club officers, and all of you that have volunteered at various races through-out the year. You all represent the best about run-ners – giving back to the running community. Happy Thanksgiving!

-- Kevin Brennan

– RIRR Meeting Minutes – November 8, 2016

(Editor’s Note: The club did not meet in October.) Meeting called to order at 7:39 p.m.

Membership Report Sept. 2016 -- 173 (77F, 96M; still unscrubbed of July non-renewals, expect about 8-10)

Oct. 2016 -- 175 (78F, 97M) 2015 -- 171 (95M, 76F) 2014 -- 195 (82F, 113M)

Treasurer’s Report Oct. 2016 -- $2,652 ($1,527 Citizens Bank, $1,035 PayPal, $90 cash) No October revenue. October expenses were: $31 Adopt-a-Spot, $168 Constant Contact annual, $25 domain name annual, $21 Quickbooks, $10 Citizens Bank for a total of $257) Nov. 2016 -- $2,830 ($1,496 Citizens Bank, $1,164 PayPal, $170 cash) November revenue: $35 new memberships, $25 membership renewal, 4 Beat Santa 5k entries; $80 pacer singlet sales, November expenses: $21 Quick-books, $10 Citizens Bank. 2015 -- $3,196 ($1,883 Citizens, $25 cash, $1,288 PayPal) 2014 -- $3,171 2013 -- $3,065 (included $1k Beat Santa 5k sponsor-ship)

Grand Prix Report -- Two races left in 2016: The Trot Off Your Turkey 5K on Nov. 26, St. Luke’s School, Barrington, and the Christmas 10K on Dec. 11, at Rogers H.S., Newport.

Website Report -- October -- 428 hits, average of 2.94 pages viewed per visit.

Old Business -- Beat Santa 5k – Slow response, joint marketing opportunity -- Hyannis Marathon room interest – Club will get club room.

New Business -- Boston Marathon entries – No word from BAA as of meeting time. -- Banquet location – Planning for Davenport’s in early March. MaryAnne will call. Planning for week-end night, -- Awards stewards – Solange volunteered -- Elections in February – Current officers have been in roles for more than a term. Members dis-cussed preparation for elections. Need candidates to run for officer roles. Need to identify officer re-sponsibilities/succession planning. Members dis-cussed possible restructuring of officer roles Adjourned: 8:15 p.m.

Members in attendance: Christy Brennan Kevin Brennan Don Clukies James O’Reilly

Kate McGowan Bryan Ganley Pat LaChance John Santillo MaryAnne Donato Rick DiLibero Susan Rancourt Lisa Meehan Paul Pare

– Next Club Meeting – Tuesday, Dec. 8, 7:30 p.m., Fratello’s

(formerly Sons of Italy/Spirito’s Restaurant), 99 Hicks Street, East Providence, R.I.

– New Members – Cheryl and Greg Pannone, West Warwick, RI Jim Ferns and Shawn Finnerty, Cranston, RI

– Magnificent Milestone! – Congratulations to longtime RIRR member Woody

Wilson on running in his 1,000th career race on Oct. 30 at the Greater New Bedford Track Club's Spooky

5K/10K at New Bedford’s Buttonwood Park!

Smeg’s Legs 5-Miler <

Quincy, Mass. – October 8, 2016

I was looking for a Saturday race and found this one that I had heard of, but never run. I had already signed up to help the club with a water stop at the BAA Half Marathon on Sunday and then the Grog & Dog Jog on Sunday afternoon and I needed a run. Interestingly enough, there are very few races on this weekend. The cost was $30 day-of-registration, with a long sleeve t-shirt and an easy ride up Route 24/93 to Quincy. This race is in memorial for Chris Smeglin, who was killed on a bicycle in Texas when he was in Navy jet pilot training in 2008. Apparently, he was quite a local athlete, having done Ironman and marathons, as well as being a star in the local school sports.

The race is held at the Broadmeadows Middle School in East Quincy, a part of the state that I had not been to, much less raced in. The race is in an old neighborhood and goes partly along the water, with rolling hills mostly on residential roads and marsh-lands in the Houghs Neck area. I have never seen so many policemen on a course. They were in patrol cars, unmarked vans, on foot, and on motorcycles at every intersection and street crossing. You could tell that this race has been going on for years, as the volunteers and management were excellent. There were mile markers and three water stops. A young

girl, presumably from the school, sang the national anthem. This is the kind of race that takes you back to the good old days of running.

The post-race festivities were corn chowder, chili, taco soup, bagels, sports bars, chips, and a couple of stands with Yasso frozen yogurt and Vermont jerky samples. Prizes went three deep in 10-year age categories, and I managed to get a prize that consisted of a glass mug and a winter embroidered hat for my second-place finish. Just another hollow victory, as there were only two of us in the 70+ divi-sion.

This is a race that I would highly recommend to place on your calendar next year.

-- Don Clukies Don Clukies 46:24 9:17 2nd 70-plus

111 finishers

RIRR members Nancy Gendreau and Poyee Oster get ready to lead the Minions into battle at this year’s

Grog & Dog Jog at Providence’s Wild Colonial Tavern!

Grog & Dog Jog <

Providence, R.I. – October 9, 2016

The Wild Colonial Tavern in Providence host the Grog & Dog Jog each year. Each runner pays $25 and you get a shirt, hot dog, and beer out of the deal. Poyee Oster, Brian and Andrea Moore (my daughter and son-in-law) and myself dressed up as Minions to join in the Grog & Dog. (This was our first year.) Each member of the team completes 1.25 miles and finishes a hot dog and a beer (or gin-ger ale) before being able to pass the baton to the next runner. The hosts do advertise it as the “Bad Idea that Keeps Getting Worse” and I think they nailed it!

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Nancy demonstrates the proper technique for chug-ging a drink and quickly eating a hot dog at the Grog & Dog Job, which drew another big crowd this year!

Our competition were teams with Pat LaChance, Shawn Finnerty, Cee Vallee, and Don Clukies – all donned costumes of the Cat in the Hat. Mike Vallee was a devil, and I am not sure who his teammates were. The weather was a soaker, but we braved it. I have no idea how we faired, but after running, be-ing wet, and stuffing a hot dog and beer in our mouths, no one cared! See you next year!

-- Nancy Gendreau

Gallop for Greenlock 5K<

Rehoboth, Mass. – October 16, 2016

I chose this race to support Deryl, the race director, and her group at Greenlock, an organization that uses horses to help kids with disabilities. My sense of this race was that there would be good home-made snacks post-race, and I was not disappointed.

Thank God for my GPS in finding this race in the woods of Rehoboth, especially since at the same time, the half marathon of Jay Paganelli was being run from the Swansea Mall, and many of the roads were closed to get to the start. Well, anyway, when you get to Greenlock, there are horses, one donkey, some simple stables with plenty of volunteers, and sure enough, great snacks. The cost day of race was $30 without a shirt.

The race starts on Summer Street and goes out in a lollipop configuration, with lots of rolling hills, and ends at the horse entrance to the stables. The weather was great, as was the company as Sabina, Graham, Kelly, Chris, Bethany (hopefully to become a member sometime soon), and my arch rival, Woody Wilson, who just turned 70 and showed up to compete. I think Graham was Mr. Mom for this race, as Kelly was pushing a stroller. Post-race amenities were squash soup, chili, pizza, bagels, homemade brownies and pumpkin muffins, soda, and of course, cans of Narragansett beer. I was able to garner a second place (after Woody), and this consisted of a medal with a picture of a horse on it naturally – a unique prize. Of course, the kids had a one-mile fun walk and a chance to meet and pet the horses.

I would highly recommend this race for your calen-dar next year, especially as a wind-down run if you have done the 10k in South Foster on Saturday or a recent marathon/half marathon within a week.

-- Don Clukies Chris Dyson 24:37 7:56 2nd 40-49 Woody Wilson 27:52 8:59 1st 70-plus Don Clukies 28:47 9:17 2nd 70-plus Kelly Powers 31:16 10:05 4th 30-39

54 finishers

Ghost Train Rail Trail Races <

Brookline, N.H. – October 29, 2016

I had an amazing time at the Ghost Train Ultra. It's a great low key race up in Brookline N.H. put on in part by the Trail Animals Running Club. It's a simple, few frills race. You go and do as many out-and-backs of 15 miles as you can and they mark you wherever you end up. I had my eyes on the full 100 miles, but this summer of injury really derailed my training. I decided to set my expectation just to get to the starting line injury free, and stay in as long as I could.

Let's start from the beginning. The weather called for rain. Then it stopped calling for rain. Then it called for rain both days. And so on and so forth. It was being very "Fall in New England" and was mak-ing weather stalkers increasingly frustrated. I spent the week prior packing everything into individual Ziploc bags: basically all the socks I owned and a dry change of everything to be safe. And it was good

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It looks like Shannon met someone on the course who did not survive one of the past ultra races!

that I did. It rained. Then, just for fun, we got some arctic wind coming off the lake at the camp ground. Because of the rain, we waited until Saturday morn-ing to set up camp. Some brave souls camped over-night in the downpour at the race start. The race started at 9 a.m., so we had more than enough time for an easy morning wake up and set up. Except I noticed that every time I bent over, my hydration pack seemed to be leaking at the valve. I did a quick tape over and hoped for the best.

I started in the back. I planned to do intervals of eight minutes running and two minutes walking, and wanted to avoid starting and stopping in front of people on a crowded trail. This also let the fast people go do their thing, and I felt the crowd thinned out nicely and early. I went out easy, took my time and stuck to my intervals. Obviously I had a bit of fun taking pictures of the Halloween decora-tions before the rain set in, and while it was still daylight. I did the first two loops basically self-suffi-cient, not stopping at aid in order to bank time. I carried my hydration pack and drank during my 2-minute walk breaks. It was still leaking, but slowly. Nothing to worry about, I figured get through this race and deal with it later.

Loop 2, I came into camp and stopped at my tent to refill the bladder with some Pedalyte and the mouth valve completely fell off. I put it back on, but it was hardly secured on properly. From here, the pack became useless: I couldn't get anything to flow out of the bladder. My hydration bag basically be-came a glorified bookbag to carry my extra gloves, batteries, and hand warmers. The aid stations were

Here’s a look at one of the trail deep in the woods of the Ghost Train Rail Trail Races in Brookline, N.H.

between 3-4.5 miles apart, so I now needed to stop and take the time to drink/refuel at all of them so my loops began to slow.

My amazing pacer met me after dark and brought me in on loop 3 and paced me for the remainder of my race. If there was ever someone who needed a raise for exceeding job expectations it's this woman. She put up with and got me through quite a few meltdowns, a temper tantrum about not wanting to do any more loops, and me hallucinating from sleep deprivation in the woods. I thought there was a stray litter of kitties running around, and I wanted to save them, but they were just leaves and were not looking for a new home. When I warned her I can get emotional late in a race, well, I wasn't kid-ding. She brought the 80's music and we rocked it out through the night and really had a blast. The course was very dark and very lonely, and this year very wet and muddy.

This race is or all intents and purposes, fairly easy and flat. There is one hill that's pretty technical, and there's a steep drop after a road crossing, but all in all nothing outrageous. That being said, I felt the course beat me up a lot. The old pain I worked through this summer in my Achilles and medial knee were not happy. My final loop, I did 15 miles in almost 6 hours. I was hurting. I came in at 75 miles at 24.5 hours, then faced with the decision of whether to go back out or call it quits. It was morn-ing now. Still cold, but light out. I could now see fur-ther than a dim headlamp distance in front of me. I was hurting. I had applied Real Time Pain Cream to my legs (literally just everywhere on my legs at this

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Some campers braved an overnight downpour before the start of the Ghost Train Rail Trail Races.

point) twice at this point just to get through the fi-nal two loops. It was a really, really tough decision, but I called it a day. Timing told me that had I been within better shot of finishing, they wouldn't have even asked if I was continuing; they would have told me to get my butt back out there and stop whining. It was really tough to justify one more loop to only be at 90 miles, and I felt like I could live with the de-cision to stop at 75 after 24½ hours on the course. Although I didn't go as far as I would have liked, I hit a few awesome milestones on the way, including 50k and 100k PR’s, plus a new distance PR. This race was beautifully done and a ton of fun. Jack-o-lan-terns lined the trails after dark, and fun decorations helped cut the monotony of running the same out-and-back over and over. Plus, there’s nothing better than literally spending a day with friends in the woods.

-- Shannon Plesh Shannon Plesh 24 hours, 29 minutes – 75 miles

366 finishers

Dublin Marathon <

Dublin, Ireland – October 29, 2016

A second trip to Ireland with Marathon Tours and Travel and a second chance at the marathon in Dub-lin. The weather was great sunny and 60 with no wind. Their spectators are great. They line the whole way, cheering and looking like they are hav-ing lots of Guinness – I mean, fun! They cheer all the spectators on, saying "Well done," even at the first mile and throughout. The course is a nice one, scenic and rolling hills at places. The water stops are

That’s Nancy posing for a picture with the Eiffel Tower – in Ireland before the Dublin Marathon!

only every three miles, so you are better carrying your own. I learned that the hard way from the first marathon I did over in Dublin. The medal and shirts were the usual we see in marathons. The after par-ties were all over different pubs, starting at the fin-ish and beyond.

I would recommend Marathon Tours and Travel for overseas runs. They definitely know their stuff. The guides you have run the marathons. They have gone to the same countries many times, so they’re famil-iar with the races and logistics. They extensions to see the rest of the country are guided and great. There is also enough time on your own that you don’t feel smothered.

The day before was an International Fun Run. We were encouraged to wear costumes, or as they call them, “fancy wear”. We were also encouraged to bring a running shirt from our part of the world. I brought the Run to Home Plate, sponsored by Bos-ton Red Sox and Mass. General Hospital. Once I got to the convention center where the fun run started, I asked what to do with the shirts we brought. They said, "I don’t know. It is kind of haphazard" So I quickly noticed a Frenchman dressed as the Eiffel

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Tower. I couldn’t believe it and wanted to see how he was holding that. I assumed it had to be card-board, but it wasn’t, it was thin metal. His costume was the hit! And yes, he ran the fun run with it and during the marathon the next day. Anyway, I took a picture with him and gave him the Red Sox shirt. He was thrilled. In return, I got an Eiffel Tower keychain and a Paris marathon running shirt. This event was definitely a FUN run.

-- Nancy Gendreau Nancy Gendreau 4:38:59 2:07:04

16,759 finishers

Gloria Gemma 5K <

Providence, R.I. – October 2, 2016

Paul Savickas 18:52.2 6:04 4th overall! Kelly Savickas 28:45.2 9:15

2,793 finishers

Providence College Friar 5K <

Providence, R.I. – October 2, 2016

Al Campbell 33:29 10:46.6 2nd 70-plus 717 finishers

Ocean Road 10K <

Newport, R.I. – October 2, 2016

Elizabeth Dolce 53:31.4 8:37 1,057 finishers

Smuttynose Half Marathon <

Hampton Beach, N.H. – October 2, 2016

David Simmons 2:13:21.6 10:11 3,707 finishers

Maine Half Marathon <

Portland, Maine – October 3, 2016

Eric Benevides 1:55:47 8:50 x-Bozena Chmielewski 2:29:33 11:25 x-pacer

1,862 finishers

Go Big Green 5K <

Dartmouth, Mass. – October 3, 2016

Woody Wilson 27:11.71 8:45 1st 70-plus 120 finishers

Hartford Half Marathon <

Hartford, Conn. – October 8, 2016

Solange Morrissette 2:10:35 4,882 finishers

Officer B.J. Voss Memorial 5K <

Somerset, Mass. – October 8, 2016

Jim Ferns 21:48 7:02 2nd 60-69 Eric Benevides 22:57 7:24 Bruce Tavares 27:27 8:51 Woody Wilson 27:27 8:51 2nd 70-plus Julie Henry 34:44 11:12

482 finishers

Bobby Bell 5-Miler <

Haverhill, Mass. – October 9, 2016

David Pember 41:13 8:15 3rd 70-plus 148 finishers

Chicago Marathon <

Chicago, Illinois – October 9, 2016

John Santillo 4:10:42 MaryAnne Donato 6:10:08

37,182 finishers

Granite State 10-Miler <

Concord, N.H. – October 9, 2016

David Simmons 1:42:32 10:16 242 finishers

Newport Marathon & Half <

Newport, R.I. – October 9, 2016

MARATHON Meriam Traya 4:33:59 2:08:55

809 finishers

HALF MARATHON Cheryl Pannone 1:40:01 8:10.2 5th 45-49 Mike Proto 1:53:42 8:40.8

2,306 finishers

Ronald McDonald House 5K <

Providence, R.I. – October 9, 2016

Jean Rainwater 28:40.00 5th 60-69 Penny Catalano 28:42.18 6th 60-69 Bozena Chmielewski 29:54.77

232 finishers

Tufts Health Plan 10k for Women <

Boston, Mass. – October 10, 2016

Julie Henry 1:02:47 10:07 3,826 finishers

(Editor’s Note: A special thank you to those who submitted race reports and pictures. If you want to

submit one to the next newsletter, please send an e-mail to EricBen24@cox.net so we can publish them!)

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Roger Gosciminski has really taken the men’s 40-49 age division by storm! Not only did he take first place in his age group in seven straight 5Ks since turning 40 in late-August, but he also picked up his first career overall victory at the South Foster Firefighters 5K!

South Foster Firefighters 5K/10k <

Foster, R.I. – October 15, 2016

5K Roger Gosciminski 21:11 6:50 1st overall! Poyee Oster 30:18 9:46 2nd 50-59 James O’Reilly 35:56 11:35 1st 60-69

75 finishers

10K Mark DiFranco 47:27 1st 60-69 Cordell Cudworth II 48:51 2nd 50-59 Harry Carter 51:58 1st 70-plus Cecilia Vallee 51:59 1st 60-69 Kate McGowan 52:47 3rd 40-49 Pat LaChance 53:25 3rd 50-59 Sabina Gellrich 54:12 4th 50-59 Michelle Colicci 59:16 6th 30-39 Bozena Chmielewski 1:00:59 Don Clukies 1:02:14 3rd 70-plus

72 finishers

St. Pius V 5K <

Providence, R.I. – October 15, 2016

Jim Ferns 22:23 7:13 1st 60-69 Shawn Finnerty 31:03 10:01 2nd 50-59

153 finishers

Baystate Half Marathon <

Lowell, Mass. – October 16, 2016

Karyn Gallivan 2:08:00.7 9:47 1,282 finishers

Paddy’s Pub Shillelagh Shuffle <

West Newton, Mass. – October 16, 2016

David Pember 23:40 7:54 2nd 70-plus 1,649 finishers

Victoria Sousa 5K <

Bristol, R.I. – October 16, 2016

Penny Catalano 27:13 8:46 1st 60-69 217 finishers

Crate Escape 5K <

Pawtucket, R.I. – October 16, 2016

Linda Dewing 30:32 9:50 1st 70-plus Paul Pare 32:44 10:32

187 finishers

Narragansett Fall Half <

Swansea, Mass. – October 16, 2016

Bruce Dube 1:41:49 7:46.3 2nd 50-59 Mike Proto 1:48:03 8:14.9 5th 50-59 Mark Schwager 1:55:44 8:50.1

319 finishers

Citizens Bank Pell Bridge Run <

Newport, R.I. – October 23, 2016

Philip Greene 27:25 6:51.2 4th 50-54 Chris Dyson 31:46 7:56.5 Cecilia Vallee 33:36 8:24.0 2nd 60-64 Carlos Aguiar 34:28 8:37.0 Penny Catalano 35:19 8:49.8 1st 65-69 Linda Chichester 42:11 10:32.8 Bryan Ganley 1:16:20 19:05.0

2,671 finishers

Freaky 5K <

East Providence, R.I. – October 23, 2016

Paul Savickas 18:52 6:05 2nd overall! Mike Proto 21:11 6:50 5th overall! Kelly Savickas 21:29 6:56 2nd female! Jim Ferns 22:08 7:08 1st 60-69 Eric Benevides 23:36 7:37 3rd 40-49 Shawn Finnerty 31:28 10:09 5th 50-59 Paul Pare 33:19 10:45 5th 60-69 Pat Kurzynski 33:26 10:47 3rd 60-69 Stan Kurzynski 34:10 11:01 6th 60-69

176 finishers

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Newburyport Half Marathon <

Newburyport, Mass. – October 23, 2016

Brian Quigley 1:49:28 8:21.4 2,300 finishers

Gansett Half Marathon <

Narragansett, R.I. – October 23, 2016

John Lariviere 1:29:43.81 6:52 1st 40-49 Mark Schwager 1:54:41.56 8:47 Jean Rainwater 2:15:03.65 10:21 5th 60-69

559 finishers

Great Osprey 10K Ocean Run <

Freeport, Maine – October 29, 2016

Jack Howley 1:08:00 10:57 176 finishers

Black Goose Half Marathon <

Seekonk, Mass. – October 30, 2016

Libbi Gaiser 1:45:03 8:01 3rd female! MaryAnne Donato 2:41:18 12:20

148 finishers

Marine Corps Marathon <

Arlington, Va. – October 30, 2016

Beth Avery 5:30:04 19,682 finishers

Pet Partners’ Great Pumpkin 5K <

Warren, R.I. – October 30, 2016

Paul Savickas 18:55 6:06 3rd overall! Roger Gosciminski 20:26 6:36 1st 40-49 Kelly Savickas 21:13 6:51 1st female! Jim Ferns 22:05 7:08 1st 60-69 James Cole 22:39 7:19 3rd 40-49 Allyson Cole 22:51 7:23 1st 18-under Eric Benevides 24:19 7:51 5th 50-59 David Pember 24:37 7:57 2nd 70-plus Chris Dyson 24:48 8:00 6th 50-59 Kate McGowan 25:52 8:21 2nd 40-49 Sam Burling 27:37 8:55 Don Clukies 28:44 9:16 4th 70-plus Michelle Colicci 28:58 9:21 4th 30-39 Bozena Chmielewski 29:50 9:38 5th 30-39 Shawn Finnerty 30:53 9:58 Linda Karppinen 31:45 10:15 1st 60-69

79 finishers

-- Club Officers -- Kevin Brennan – President 401-246-2237 kevin@kevinbrennan.info

Scott Caldwell – Vice President 401-633-2539 runirel@yahoo.com Kate McGowan – Secretary katemcgowan@hotmail.com Christy Brennan – Treasurer 401-246-2237 christy@christybrennan.com Christy Brennan – Clothing 401-246-2237 christy@christybrennan.com Eric Benevides – Newsletter 401-248-3653 ericben24@cox.net Eric Benevides – Grand Prix 401-248-3653 ericben24@cox.net Pat LaChance – Webmaster plo@ams.org

The Fall/Winter Pub Schedule

All pub runs take place on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. at a pub/restaurant in Rhode Island. Nov. 24: NO RUN THANKSGIVING Dec. 1: Pizza J, 967 Westminster Street, Providence, RI (Graham Powers) Dec. 8: Newport Storm, 293 J.T. Connell Highway, Newport, RI (Graham Powers) Dec. 15: Square Peg, 51 Miller St., Warren, RI (Deryl Pace) Dec. 22: Ladder 133, 133 Douglas Ave., Providence, RI (Chris S.)

Upcoming RIRR Grand Prix races

Trot Off Your Turkey 5K – Nov. 26, Barrington, RI Christmas 10K – Dec. 11, Rogers H.S., Newport, RI

www.rirr.org

2016 RIRR Grand Prix standings

(As of Nov. 15, 2016, 11 of 13 races completed)

MEN 1. Paul Savickas (3 points) 2. Mark DiFranco (4 points) 3. Robert Johnson (5 points) 4. John Santillo (10 points) 5. Sam Burling (12 points)

WOMEN 1. Solange Morrissette (2 points) 2. Allyson Cole (4 points) 3. y-Pat Kurzynski (8 points) 4. x-Bozena Chmielewski (8 points) 5. Elizabeth Dolce (8 points)

(x-holds age-graded tiebreaker)

(y-holds double age-graded tiebreaker)

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