November 2014

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Lake Grapevine Runners & Walkers | November 2014 Dear Lake Grapevine,

Welcome to November's edition of the Footprint! We have A LOT of news for you this month!

Double Trouble was a smashing success breaking club records thanks to our Race Director, Chris Morris, and all of our volunteers. Their efforts allowed 670 plus participants to have an outstanding race day.

We also celebrate our fellow RAW members with their achievements that stretched across the globe, into the trails, back on the roads and even have representation at Ironman World Championship by our very own Jim Lukanich. At RAW, we have runners and walkers of all levels at our fine club and celebrate everyone's achievement with great pride.

Happy reading and don't forget to note our "save the date" section so you can mark your calendars for more RAW activities!

Calendar of Events Join us for our scheduled run/walk gatherings!

LGRAW Breaks Record With Double Trouble 5K &10K!

Quick Links contact us

Saturdays and Sundays 7:00 AM RAW Clubhouse * Weekend start time changes to 8:00 AM on 11/8

membership renewals volunteer sign-up water duty instructions RAW forum like us on facebook

Trail Run/Walk Wednesdays and Fridays 6:00 AM and 7:00 AM RAW Clubhouse

Track Workouts Tuesdays 5:00 - 6:30 PM Grapevine Middle School Track (subscribe to grapevinetrackies Yahoo Group for schedule and/or location changes)

Newbie Sunday Sunday, November 2nd 7:00 AM RAW Clubhouse

Time Change Breakfast Sunday, November 9th 8:00 AM RAW Clubhouse Bring a dish!

Gaylord Hotel Employee Wellness Fair Sunday, November 9th

My Membership Expires: LGRAW

LGRAW board of directors

RAW Privileges

By Chris Morris Double Trouble Race Director It can be difficult to keep people interested in a race that has had virtually the same concept for 15 years. But this year's LGRAW Double Trouble 5K and 10K on Saturday, October 25, has shown that it is possible.

We kept the traditional 5K/10K format, where runners can run either race or both. We also added a family-friendly Kids K and 2K Fun Run and offered our Couch to 5K program to help interest a more diverse population in the race. To try to bring in the elite runners from throughout the Metroplex, we added cash prizes for the overall finishers in each race, as well as in

Dallas Athletes Racing 15% discount on all 2014 races/triathlons. Coupon code: Raw15. Limited time only: Special RAW member 20% discount entry to the Blue Red Run Nov 16th. Email PR@lgraw.com for the discount code.

Luke's Locker 10% off most purchases with your membership.

Running Warehouse enter LGRWD at checkout (exclusions apply).

RunOn! 15% off purchases on the day they come out to RAW for a shoe demo.

Contact Chris Morris to sign up for a shift and promote your club!

Board Meeting Monday, November 10th 7:00 PM RAW Clubhouse

Blue Red Run 10K & Half Marathon Aid Station November 16, Campion Trail, Las Colinas

Lunch Bunch Tuesday, November 18th NOON Red Dog Right 3311 W. SH 114 Southlake Anti-Turkey Trot Thursday, November 27th 7:00 AM Rockledge Park

SAVE THE DATE!

December 4th Parade down Main Street with your RAW friends at the Grapevine Christmas Parade - theme is holiday pajamas December 6 Christmas Party Cross Timbers Winery

December 14 Metro PCS Dallas Marathon Aid Station

December 16 Holiday Lights Run Southlake

January 10, 2015 Bold in the Cold 5K & 15K Registration now open!

Footnotes Congratulations To Laura Pruett on the arrival of her Granddaughter Jemma.

Condolences To Doug and Courtney Noell on the loss of Courtney's Father.

To Laura Pruett on the loss of her Grandmother.

Speedy Recovery to Staci Sauber Marci Sims

Thank you To all RAW water duty volunteers who take just a few minutes of their time to stock the course with cool water and Gatorade

the combined "15K." It didn't hurt that Grapevine Craft Brewery supplied commemorative glasses to race finishers and came to serve beer after the race. The kids weren't left out, with their own custom Double Trouble cups filled with root beer. In case that wasn't enough, we also served banana bread from BreadHaus, a longtime LGRAW sponsor.

So when you put all of this together, you get a race where 673 individuals registered. Nearly 200 of those competed in both the 5K and 10K. The weather cooperated to help our racers accomplish some outstanding finishing times.

Patrick Strong of Arlington earned a $100 prize for winning the overall male 5K prize with a time of 15:56. Kristin Swisher, McKinney, took the overall female 5K prize with a 17:31. In the 10K, Southlake's Colby Lowe, who spent time as a collegiate and professional runner and is now the assistant manager at RunOn! Southlake, came in with an amazing 30:10 to earn the $150 overall prize. Laura Nelson of Grapevine, an LGRAW member and strong Metroplex master's competitor, took the female 10K prize with a 43:03.

Jason Trevino of Dallas came in second in both the 5K and 10K but put in a strong enough performance to win the combined 5K/10K $200 prize for males with times of 16:04 and 34:08 respectively. New LGRAW member and new Grapevine resident Shantel Cloud took the female combined prize with times of 20:30 and 43:33 respectively.

We couldn't have done it without the outstanding LGRAW volunteers, who have a longtime reputation for putting on an expertly executed race. A special thanks goes to Kelly Richards, the social media coordinator, and Kathryn Gleghorn, the volunteer coordinator. Even with all the moving parts, everything came together to make it a fun event for the hundreds of people who converged on the LGRAW clubhouse on race day.

Our generous sponsors help us make our events some of the most affordable in the Metroplex. Many of them pitched in on race day to make the experience even better for our participants. Grapevine Craft Brewery served their Lakefire Rye Pale Ale and Monarch Wheat, along with providing commemorative Double Trouble pint glasses for participants.

BreadHaus baked the banana bread. St. Onge Chiropractic and Sports Therapy offered kinesiology taping, as well as ART treatments. Fusion Whole Body Recovery pitched in with post-race massages. Rainforest Cafe's Cha! Cha! congratulated the kids as they finished their races. Baylor SportsCare provided medical support for the race. Foot and Ankle Associates of North Texas staffed the second 10K aid station. Luke's Locker provided start and finish line signage, as well as providing raffle prizes for the race participants.

Additionally, those sponsors as well as Taqueria Burritos Locos and Metro Mobile Electronics provided generous financial support to the race.

Thank you to everyone who made the 15th Annual Double Trouble 5K and 10K such a great success! Can't wait until our next club race, Bold in the Cold 5K/15K, on January 10, 2015!

Club Stuff November Board Meeting

Sunstone Yoga (First Sunday of the month) FREE Yoga classes at ALL DFW area Sunstone Yoga locations.

Print this newsletter as proof of your membership.

FOOTPRINT Submissions Share your race or training experiences with RAW! We are always looking for content to include in the FOOTPRINT. If you have a running/walking related story or photo you'd like to share with the club, consider submitting it for the FOOTPRINT Access submission guidelines for details!

The deadline for the December article submission is November 15th.

Footnotes: Want to give a shout out to your running buddy in the footnotes section? Send your buddy's name and a note to PR@lgraw.com by November 15th to be included in the December FOOTPRINT. You can send congratulations, condolences, get well, speedy recovery wishes, or wishes of good luck.

EVERY Saturday and Sunday! Without your kindness, there would be A LOT of thirsty RAW runners on the course!

Lost & Found Left something at the clubhouse? Check to see if we found it. All unclaimed items are in the clear tote along the north wall of the clubhouse (just outside the bathroom).

Join your RAW board members for the November board meeting. All members are welcome!

The next meeting will take place at 7:00 PM Monday, November 10th at the clubhouse.

Do you have an agenda item you would like have added? Send an email to secretary@lgraw.com by November 5th and we will get your item added to the agenda.

RAW will be attending the Gaylord Texan Wellness Fair on Sunday, November 9 from 11 am - 3 pm.

Over 1,000 Gaylord Texan employees and their families will be participating in a 5K Run/Walk that day, and we have been asked to represent our club. We will need a few volunteers to staff our booth.

Volunteers will receive free lunch, parking, and unlimited beverages.

Please email Chris Morris if you are interested in volunteering.

Can you predict your time?

Join fellow RAW members on Saturday, November 15th for a Prediction Run/Walk!

Beginning at 8:00am at the RAW clubhouse, you estimate how long it will take you to walk 4 miles or run 8 miles. No watches, phone apps or GPS devices are allowed.....basically, no cheating!

Prediction Run

on November 15th!

Fun prizes to the winner closest to their predicted time for both the walk and the run! And

for the rest of us who didn't guess correctly we will have one more prize drawn at the end of the day. See you there!

It's Not Happening....

Don't even think an Anti-Turkey trot would occur on Thursday, November 27th at 7:00am and there is no way it would be located at Rockledge Park.

We would not even think to have a donation bin for Santa Cops where you would not bring an unwrapped toy. This event would not even fathom participants to bring a dish and beverage of their liking and running a distance of ones choice.

Nope - would not even be a thought.

The run and walk that is not happening.

You and a guest are cordially invited to the Lake Grapevine Runners and Walkers Holiday Party on Saturday, December 6th at Cross Timbers Winery in Grapevine.

Festivities start at 6:00 PM with a cocktail hour, followed by heavy appetizer selections and salad bar at 7:00 PM. The evening wraps up with dancing to DJ music and karaoke until 11 PM. Advance ticket purchase is required.

Tickets cost $20 for RAW members and $35 for non-members. Stay tuned to email and the LGRAW Facebook page for payment information.

Tickets are limited to 150 for this adults only event.

Wine is included in your ticket price and BYOBeer service is available through the bartender.

Mark your calendar for the 17th running of

LGRAW's Bold in the Cold 5K & 15K happening on January 10th, 2015.

Register now. http://www.lgraw.com/boldinthecold

Volunteers Making It Happen

By Kathryn Gleghorn, Double Trouble Volunteer Coordinator After serving as the "Volunteer Coordinator" for both of RAW's 2014 races I believe I can unequivocally say it is our dedicated volunteers who make race day go off without a hitch. And as a past race director (RD) I feel confident our race directors would agree that it is the volunteers who make race day a successful and enjoyable event for our participants. If you have never volunteered on race morning or at packet pick up I think you just might be missing out on part of the race experience.

In this day and age where so many races are put on by "forprofit" racing companies, our RAW races are put on entirely by Finish Line/Timing Chip Removal Crew (L-R) our club members and our friends and family, whom we Kat Sparks, Alan Walker, Sakina Vidacak, Tammy Balagot and Kris Ryan affectionately call "volunteers". Let's see what goes into putting on a race and how our volunteers help RAW continue to put our best foot forward and give back to the sport.

It all begins with our race director. For this year's Double Trouble (DT), RAW board member, Chris Morris, decided to add his name to the short list of RAW race directors. He began his planning back in late spring and utilized RAW's "Race Director Manual" as a reference. In addition to the very informative manual, he also sought the expertise and guidance of past RAW RDs. I offered to serve as the race's "Volunteer Coordinator". Having a designated volunteer coordinator allows the RD to dedicate his time and efforts to the race with logistics, marketing, obtaining sponsors, race registrations, race supplies and so much more.

The volunteer coordinator is responsible for recruiting volunteers to cover two days (18 hours) of packet pick up and late registrations at Luke's Locker in Colleyville. These ten plus volunteers are in addition to the 80-100 volunteers we need to successfully execute race day and quite often some of the packet pick up volunteers volunteer again on race morning.

While our BITC event is typically maxed out at our capacity of 1,000 participants, DT is continuing to grow, so for now, we utilize the lower end of the volunteer number of 80-ish.

Most of our veteran race day volunteers know Gary Howsam as RAW's Parking Czar. He's been overseeing race day parking for years and always does a top-notch job in directing his parking team to get all of the racers parked in our limited parking area. Rain, sleet, cold and dark morning hours, Gary and his parking crew do a great job whether they are parking 200 cars or 900 cars.

The second team of volunteers participants deal with on race day is likely our Race Day Registration/Packet Pick Up & Timing Chip team. Kelly "K2" Richards does a great job working with this team. Perhaps you bit off more than you can chew (or run) and would like to switch to a shorter race distance? This group can get this taken care of for you.

Once the gun goes off there are so many more volunteers at work making sure the racers stay on course. Ray Harris and his Course Marshals are scattered along the racecourse to help with this critical task. RAW also uses a bike lead to lead the front runners along the course. Michelle "Drum" Blackard returned for her second stint as Bike Lead and I heard she was a welcome sight to many of our speedy racers.

DT utilizes two aid stations, while BITC requires three. We have an Aid Station Captain who is responsible for supplying

each aid station with all the necessary supplies to support the runners. Sakina Vidacak, who is returning to co-RD the 2015 BITC, wanted to see firsthand what goes into supporting aid stations so she volunteered to serve DT aid stations along with her husband, Dubrakov. Good thing they have a minivan and a friend with a truck because it takes a lot of tables and 5 gallon jugs of water/Gatorade to supply the aid stations.

Evelyn Luccioni has been a reliable Aid Station 1 crew chief for both races for many years. I'm not sure if it's because she makes the task seem like fun or if it's the mimosas or both? Maybe it's the mimosas that make it seem like fun? I don't know, but it's great to know that Evelyn and her team can always be counted on to support our events! I always hear how much fun the aid station volunteers have, it's no wonder so many of the volunteers return to Mami Ev's aid station race after race.

Liz Wedemeyer was our Aid Station 2 crew chief and had great support from RAW members and perennial race sponsor, Dr. Marybeth Crane and her staff from Foot & Ankle Associates of North Texas (FAANT). Beginning with our 2013 BITC race we began a successful partnership with North Texas Striders based out of Flower Mound. This awesome group of volunteers oversees Aid Station 3 at BITC.

Once racers cross the Finish Line, they are congratulated by our Finish Line crew. These hardworking volunteers remove the participant's timing chip and return the chips to be reorganized in numerical order. Kat Sparks has been great about heading up this group of volunteers who spend a lot of time crouching down to get the timing chip, but they never utter a complaint.

RAW's race timing team is led by Jack Hase who has a small team with the very critical job of recording accurate times for our events. With a timing clock, laptops, timing mats, electrical plug-ins and race day registration there are a lot of items to check off before the gun off goes to ensure we record correct times. And then these preliminary race results are printed and hung on the clubhouse door so racers can see how they placed in their age group. By the time you have male/female awards going three deep in age groups and have overall awards for the race and add in overall for masters and grand masters, that's a lot of hardware to be sorted and accounted for before the awards presentation.

Once the last racer has crossed the Finish Line and all the awards have been handed out we need to return the race course and the Oak Grove Park area back to it's pristine condition. Here's where we recruit any and all RAW members who are still on site to help us with clean up. Ideally, by the time the RD leaves the clubhouse, everything is cleaned up and put back in its place.

I'm sure you are thinking, "Man! I had no idea it takes all of these volunteers to put on our races." Well, it does indeed take a village to put on a race and RAW is fortunate to have so many members who choose to give back to the club.

So now that you know how much we count on our volunteers I hope you'll consider volunteering for our winter race, the 17th annual Bold in the Cold 5K & 15K on Saturday, January 10.

Double Trouble Grows Couch Potatoes into Runners

By Tony Flesch, C25K Coach By the time this issue gets to your mailbox, our group of dedicated C25k'ers will have completed their training and crossed the finish line at LGRAW's Double Trouble. LGRAW's fall C25K program kicked-off on September 20 with an eager group, and culminated with participation in LGRAW's Double Trouble on October 25.

C25K (Couch to 5K) is a program to get people off the couch and into a healthy lifestyle through running and walking, and introduce them to LGRAW and the benefits of running with a group. In fact, LGRAW now has several new members as a result of this program! The C25K group met each Saturday morning at the clubhouse for our RRCA coach-led group run, and then participants had workouts to do on their own during the week customized by RRCA Certified Coach, Tony Flesch. We had a dozen participants representing five different cities, with a good mix of male and female, and a wide variety of ages from 60 to 12, and everyone did great!

We had two families participate, and also had one repeat

Pictured L-R: Coach Tony, Jared Barron, age 12 (Jared ran the kids 2K then ran the 5k with his mom), Tammy Barron, James Noyes.

member from our last program, Jennifer Provence. Our youngest member, Jared Barron, completed his first race ever at the Double Trouble Kids 2K! Watch the Footprint and web site for information on future C25K programs at LGRAW.

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."

(John Bingham)

Thank You A tremendous thank you goes out to RAW member Chris Morris! Chris as you know is our 2014 Double Trouble race director. ....and yes, we are trying to talk him into doing it again for 2015!

He spent many hours planning and reviewing every finest detail in bringing to life yet another amazing RAW race! Chris did not do this alone however so need to give a tremendous shout out to our volunteers! Thank you Chris and Thank you to all volunteers for making Double Trouble a continued fantastic event!

Double Trouble Race Director Chris Morris

And we have another special Thank You! Thank You to Jay Jones for our new RAW sign at the clubhouse! You can't miss us now! Stop in the club and high five Jay for his time and an awesome sign!

Alle Sieger, alle Läufer, alle Zeiten (All Winners, All Runners, All times)

By Checkpoint Charlie

RAW runners, along with 45,000 of their closest new running friends, completed the Berlin Marathon on September 28th. Troy and Laura Pruett, Brad and Michelle Liles, Doug and Mary Keeffe, Kristine Hinojos, and Kelly Richards all flew across seven time zones to participate in the once-in-a-lifetime running extravaganza.

In addition, they also experienced the marathon world record being broken, not by one, but two different runners. The new record now stands at a blazing 2:02:57.

The RAW gang arrived in Berlin on the Friday before the marathon and immediately began their trek through the city. After some food in a quaint German café, they took the subway to the historic Berlin Tempelhof Airport for the RAW gang enjoying the sights and sounds of Berlin. expo and packet pick-up. The expo spanned several airplane hangars, with the race numbers being at the last hanger, and was nearly a marathon in itself before it was all over.

Saturday morning events kicked off early. The RAW crew took trains and busses to cross town to the Schloss Charlottenburg for the start of a casual 6K Breakfast Run. The finish line? The world famous Olympiastadion.

As Kelly "K2" put it, "This is a chance to run on the same track where Jesse Owens won his gold medals!"

And the experience of running out onto the track from deep inside the stadium was a special moment none will forget.

After breakfast of Berliner doughnuts, coffee, and fruit at the race, the gang was off again. This time, they took a five-hour walking tour led by a Berlin native highlighting some of Berlins most famous, and infamous, sites. With hundreds of years of history, the walk was a mesmerizing excursion of times past. The tour concluded at the famous Brandenburg Gate, which would also serve as the marathon finish line fewer than 24 hours later. After a fun dinner at a local Italian restaurant near the hotel, it was time for some much needed pre-race rest.

Sunday morning could not have been more spectacular. Early temperatures were in the mid-40s, slowing rising with the sun to around 50 degrees at the start. The elite runners started at 8:45 AM and the other runners began in multiple waves behind them. The marathon, after months of planning and training, had finally begun.

The marathon scenery was stunning. Starting with the Berlin Victory Column at the start, the runners also traveled past or near the Reichstag, the Berlin Cathedral, Potsdamer Platz, the Kaiser-WilhelmGedächtniskirche along the Kurfürstendamm, and the Brandenburg Gate. Nearly everywhere they looked, there was a piece of German history. And, of course, what marathon would be complete without taking some pictures along the way?

After everyone finished, they were greeted with - what else? - beer! Unfortunately, it was the alcohol-free kind. Hard to believe that it even exists in Germany. The "real beer" would need to wait until the following day when the group flew from Berlin to Munich for the final week of Oktoberfest.

The week following the marathon included a couple of days in Munich, a rainy tour of Neuschwanstein Castle, a quick jaunt to the Black Forest, and a spectacular tour of the Heidelberg Castle and the old city below. The next day, the group traveled back to Berlin for flights home.

The day after the marathon, the Berliner Morgenpost had a special marathon section inside the paper with the words, "Alle Sieger, alle Läufer, alle Zeiten," which means "all winners, all runners, all times." That's what makes running so special - everyone who lined up at the start and finished a few hours later was a winner.

Or, as our new German friends might say, "Genau!"

Walk To End Alzheimer's Reflection

By Ray Harris, Honorary Chairperson

The forecast wasn't good all week. Rain and thunderstorms were a distinct possibility. The setup on Friday was under bright blue skies and very warm and humid temperatures. But as we all know in Texas, just wait a few minutes, things can change.

And they did. The forecasters were right about the storms and rain but, fortunately, were wrong about the timing. The majority of the rain had passed before set-up began well before sunrise.

By the time that light started to filter in, only clouds and a little mist remained.

There was no sunshine but that sure didn't affect the attitude of Walkers braved the weather and brought cheerful, can do attitudes. the crowd. And it was a crowd. The participants braved the overcast and chilly temperatures but they were all in a festive mood and had a can do attitude.

The ceremony was moving with several people sharing about their personal encounters with Alzheimer's. The Honorary Chair, yours truly, had the toughest time delivering his speech. I got through it but it was difficult and I only said about half what I had intended. My Mom was a saint and my few words did not do her justice.

But I have been told by several people that it was okay because she heard them all.

I can't thank my wife, Susan, enough for all her support during the months leading up to this event. And Christine Bassano gets special thanks and recognition for spearheading the effort within LGRAW. Also a big THANK YOU to Jeff Barnhart for being the official photographer for the the walk; the pictures were great and I know the Alzheimer's Association really appreciated you volunteering.

From a fundraising standpoint, the Walk was a huge success. The target was to raise $85,000. Although not official on event day, the total will surpass $135,000. Add that to Walks taking place across the country and maybe sometime in the near future we will see the elimination of this terrible disease.

Again, thanks to all of the LGRAW family for your thoughts, prayers, support, involvement and generosity.

This is really a great club!

If you have questions about services available locally or would like to make a donation post event, please go to www.alz.org/northcentraltexas.

There's No Place Like Home

By Bridget Smith

It's safe to say that "The Wizard of Oz" is one of, if not my absolute favorite movie. I don't know what made me think of it but when asked to write about my most recent marathon (Rochester, NY - September 21, 2014), this movie came to mind.

I had always wanted to run this one, being my hometown and all, and my experience was nothing but wonderful. But to tell the tale in a different way, I want to look at it through Dorothy's eyes.

The "twister" came down with the weather forecast. All week long, right up to race day called for thunderstorms. Every day the chance edged higher, with the day before actually calling for 90 - 100% chance!

So I wished upon a star and woke up race day on the other side of the "I found my courage in finishing marathon number nine". Bridget Smith rainbow! "Munchkinland" was full of sunshine and no rain in sight. The "Wicked Witch" was dead! As I started my journey down the yellow brick roads of Rochester, I was greeted by so many smiling faces and cheering voices, the miles seemed to melt away.

The enchanted apple trees and flying monkeys showed up at miles 18 - 22 and I was forced to slow down, but in hindsight, this only helped to serve me later by putting me in the right spot and the right time. That turned out to be at Mile 24. Here I met "Tony", who was melting as fast as the wicked witch after she was hit with water. It was his first marathon, and he was showing signs of hitting the wall. I stayed with him for the rest of the race.

As we passed the sign for Mile 26, if music were playing it would have been the song "you're out of the woods; you're out of the dark; you're out of the night... step into the sun; step into the light"! I can't remember when I enjoyed the last 2.2 miles of a marathon as much as I did that day! I had forgotten that feeling of elation and sense of total accomplishment and being able to see it through the eyes of a "first-timer" brought it all back.

This marathon taught me an important lesson. It is not about the miles or the pace. It is about the people that you meet and the sights that you see along the way. I found my "heart" in seeing my family on the course and surprising me at the finish. I used my "brain" in recognizing when someone needed a hand and drew on my knowledge to be able to help. I found my "courage" in finishing marathon number nine - as it is courage that gets us through any journey that life offers to us, be it a marathon, a move across country, or something as simple as saying hello to someone new. All it takes is that first step.

Rocking the Rugged and Raw Trail

By Leana Sloan

Yes, I "rocked" the Rugged and Raw Trail!

Cooler than average temperatures (46F) greeted around 200 runners on the fun but challenging scenic trails at Cedar Ridge Preserve on Saturday morning October 4th, 2014.

This years race was my third return to run the Rugged and Raw 10K trail event. Somehow the 'Back On My Feet' charitable organization appeals to me. They are dedicated to helping disadvantage people resume a Leana rocked the course and brought mainstream lifestyle. home 1st place in her age group!

The 10K course started of with a mini loop before running the main loop. I was positioned near the front at the start, but the speedsters quickly disappeared down the rocky trail! I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not that fast and young anymore! After the mini loop I was feeling already winded! This trail is one of those that have you work hard on the short but very steep climbs and descents!

I was hanging out somewhere in the top 20, running by myself most the way. I was feeling pretty fast, actually, not so fast.... After about a mile of challenging trail, I approached an enjoyable .8 mile section of rugged dirt road. The 1st aid station was near a little pond. Friendly volunteers were ready with all kinds of drinks and treats. I don't eat on races but took Gatorade. Since no trail runner ever trashes on trails, I deposited my used cup in the trash bag provided.

The next 3.5 miles were tough and technical. Hiking the ups and flying the downs made sense at the time...I reached one more aid station at the base of a short but steep grade. I kept going and thanked the volunteers.

The weather was perfect and no need to stop to hydrate.

I finished the loop in 1:03, more than a minute faster than last year! First in my AG group and 5th Overall Female. The awards presented were natural River Rocks personalized with an encouraging word from "Back On My Feet" members. My rock says ' INSPIRING' by ESG ( the person's initial who painted my rock).

Thanks to peer pressure and a somewhat silly feeling of invincibility, I recently found myself at the start of the 2014 Cedar Ridge Run. Not really a big deal, except that I had signed up for the 36K. Not one, two, or even three laps of 5.63 extremely hilly miles, but four....in July.....in Texas.

Giving Back To The Sport Giving Back To The Sport - John Studebaker

By Byron Beniot

This is to be read in Meatloaf's "I Would Do Anything For Love" lyrics. Substitute "I Would Do Anything For a Friend".

Need someone to take pictures of you at a race? Stude is your guy.

Need someone to pace you in a race? Stude is your guy.

Need someone to get you to that race on icy roads? Stude is your guy.

Need someone to swim with? Stude is your guy.

Need someone to walk along the shore while you swim? Stude is your guy.

Need someone to road bike or mountain bike with? Stude is your guy.

Need someone to wait in the emergency room with you when you separate your shoulder? Stude is your guy.

Need someone to go to a percussion concert with you? Stude is your guy.

Need someone to bounce training ideas off of? Stude is your guy (he's better at giving training advice than following it (-;).

Need someone to volunteer at a race? Stude is your guy.

Need someone to pick up nutrition bars from his many trips to Austin? Stude is your guy.

About the only thing he won't do for a friend is bring you bail money because most likely he'll be in the jail cell right next to you.

Would you like to nominate someone to be featured for Giving Back or In Step With? Send us an email!

GBTTS - John Studebaker

RAW Represents at IronMan World Championship

By Jim Lukanich It seems we have quite a few triathletes in LGRAW these days. If you are one of those, then you already know what a privilege it is to have the opportunity to participate in the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona on the big Island of Hawaii. For those of you non-triathletes, it is an almost out of reach dream for triathletes to someday participate in this event. In the running world it would loosely be the equivalent of running Boston, but far more difficult to gain entry. Entry is only by qualification, a very small lottery system, a legacy system in which athletes completing 12 ironman distance races can apply, 5 physically challenged spots, and a handful of celebrity spots. There are no charity spots. Qualification is not easy. It is not based on time but on slots allocated to the age group at another Ironman event. You might have to win your age group to qualify.

Being in Kona on race week and watching this small tourist town being transformed into the triathlon mecca is quite spectacular. Sponsor banners hang from every building, fit athletes are everywhere, and there is an energy that is hard to put into words. Quite frankly, it is much more fun to be there while not racing, as I was when my wife Laurie competed in 2012.

There are a lot of fun things to do during the week if simply sitting down enjoying a coffee or beer while watching the carnival of athleticism parade by isn't enough. The Underpants Run (UPR) is one of those things you simply must do. UPR was started 17 years ago as sort of joke pointed at the Europeans who would parade around town in nothing but speedos and mesh or mankini tops. These days it is simply a crazy little charity event which has become part of the must-do things in Kona during race week.

The swim course is marked with buoys so competitors and anyone else can swim the course. The water is very clear with lots of fish to keep you JIm Lukanich on the bike company. If you are lucky you may even get a dolphin escort. Our condo was at the one mile point on the swim course and I could frequently see individuals swimming alone waiting to be eaten by a tiger shark. To my knowledge that has never happened, though I did receive a painful sting in the eye by some sea creature during the week. The town is buzzing with activity all week and the bars are packed every night until the eve of the race

when it gets pretty quiet.

This was my fourth time competing in Kona. Last time I had a bit of issues with some food borne illness and had to call it quits after the bike so I felt really fortunate to get another opportunity. Some of you know the past year has not been the best health wise for me. Last year my atrial fibrillation (AFib) began to become troublesome again and I was really lucky to have qualified at Ironman Wisconsin since I had several episodes during the event. I didn't ride pretty much all winter and got sick in February and developed a chronic cough and some breathing difficulties as a result. In March I underwent a heart procedure for AFib which took a couple months to recover completely from. The procedure also tends to permanently lop off a bit of your high end performance for some reason, which happened in 2002, after my first procedure. It is a good trade off though since competing at all with AFib is not really possible. In spite of my health I was able to train well most of the summer and I was reasonably fit to finish the event with a decent time if things went to plan.

Race morning is much like any other race morning except you are in Kona racing against some of the best 140.6 distance athletes in the world. If you qualify by winning your age group at another Ironman event like I did, you just may well be a mid or back of the pack racer here. It is quite humbling when you think about it, but it sure takes the anxiety out of race morning knowing that even if I had a great day I would be lucky to get in the top twenty.

So how did my day go? For starters, the swim can be interesting as there are no wetsuits allowed here. The water is very clear so really no reason to sight much as you can just follow everyone else. The water can be choppy or smooth, flat or with swell, or with or without a lot of current. Smooth and flat with little current is rare, though I experienced those conditions in 1993. This year the water was a bit rolling but not very choppy, so decent. There was a bit of cross off shore current so after the turn things tended to slow a bit for those of us riding a bit low in the water. This year, for the first time, there was not a total mass start of amateur athletes. They started the pro males first, then the pro females, then the men, and finally, the women. It takes a bit of the brutality out of the start. Getting everyone into the water before the start is a challenge, especially if you were in no hurry like me. It is a deep water start so the sooner you get out to the starting point, the longer you have to tread water. I got out just barely in time for the gun to go off, so really perfect timing. The first half of the swim was uneventful. At the halfway point, which is about 100 yards after the turnaround, I was at 37 minutes so I thought I was having a good swim. It was about that time the fast females started swimming over the top of me, so it really threw me off a bit since I was trying to be considerate and stay out of their way. Needless to say, it took me about 8 minutes longer to do the second half. The current was slowing me down a bit as well. There is no catching up after the swim and making up time on the bike in Kona. Those that come out of the water in less than 1:001:10 are in the majority here and the almost unavoidable nose-to-tail draft fest that ensues is quite depressing to watch when you are suffering in solitude.

I felt okay after the swim and felt I could have a decent bike. That was until about the time I got on the Queen K and just out of town when we were hit with a gusty head/cross wind of about 20 mph gusting to 35 mph. For those of you going here, wheel choice is important! I chose poorly. I rode dual 808's. I could not control my bike well and struggled to keep from losing it. Taking hand ups at aid stations was a challenge and I was afraid of taking someone else out. The struggle in the wind took my mind off nutrition, so I drank way too much Perform which later caused a rebellion. It was comforting to know a tailwind would be waiting on the way back. Or would it? There is about a seven mile stretch up to the turn at Hawi which is all uphill. We had a headwind most of the way and a cross/tailwind back down. Heading downhill at over 45 mph I almost lost it several times and have never been that frightened on a bike. I was leg ruddering in an effort to stabilize my bike, which for the non-cyclist, is hanging your leg off your bike like tight rope walker balancing pole. I finally just rode the brakes. I didn't come here to die. So heading back to town what was supposed to be a tailwind was now a cross headwind again as the wind had shifted around. Did I say it was also awfully damn hot that day as well? The pros and fast swimmers tended to avoid most of the wind shift which is normally the case anyway. Not a good bike day for me. Lesson: Either 808 or 404 rear wheel okay, but a 303 or 202 front wheel is recommended. That choice would have saved me at least 25 minutes and a tired upper body. There were several accidents due to the wind and the neutral support was getting pulled over for wheel exchanges. There were several people on the side of the road with mechanicals and I stopped to offer help as I had extra CO2's and tubes, but they were not fixable problems.

I was dealing with bouts of nausea after about mile 80, but aside from being tired of battling the wind I was okay. It was nice to see that ahead in town, clouds had moved in so it would be a comfortable run. Coming out on the run my legs felt good but my upper body was beat. I took some Pepto in transition for the nausea and greeted Laurie, my wife, and my friend, James, with a cheerful pink smile. I wasn't feeling so well but ensured them I would be finishing but with a new time goal. I would rather not bore you with all the details but let's just say my run was a challenge. It was a good thing it was cloudy with temperatures in the low 80's. Not bad for a Kona marathon. When I could run, I ran very well, but I would have to walk quite a bit to deal with bouts of nausea. In the later stages of the run, chicken broth and King's Hawaiian rolls really brought me back to feeling much better and I finished under the adjusted goal I had set going out on the run. I have really never really struggled so hard to complete an event like I did this day.

It was not my best day, but rewarding. There are a lot of things that keep you going when the day gets tough. . For some it is pride, for others, it is deeply personal. For me, on this day, I kept thinking how lucky I was

just to be there. So many would gladly trade me places feeling lousy or not. I thought about my friend Gary Holmes who had completed over 25 ironman distance races and who was in Kona with me in 1993 and how we crossed the finish line together in Canada in 1997 and how he would never get that opportunity again. He was struck by a car on purpose several years ago and received massive head trauma resulting in him essentially being nonfunctional. Ironically, he gave up his battle just a few days after Kona.

If you love triathlon, Kona is the only place to be in October. So be there! Aloha!

Tri-guy Jim Lukanich on the run at Kona

RRCA Kelly "K2" Richards, RRCA Director-at-Large

I've been involved with the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) Kids Run the Nation Fund since its inception in 2007. By the time you read this, I'll have finished my annual work as part of a committee that selects grant recipients. A responsibility I'm proud to have even though I consider it one of the most difficult tasks I have as a board member. I hate that we have to say no to some, but hundreds of applications are received and there simply isn't enough money for all of them.

A RRCA program that I have only recently become particularly fond of is the Roads Scholar® program. Since 1996, the RRCA has awarded grants totaling over $480,000 through the Roads Scholar® program. The goal of the program is to assist American post collegiate runners who show great promise to develop into national and world-class road running athletes. The grants awarded by the RRCA go directly to the athletes to help support their goals and training needs.

The RRCA has done exceptionally well at selecting athletes to receive these grants. Some recent results of grantees include: Both winners of the USA Marathon Championship at Twin Cities: Tyler Pennel (2:13:32) in his marathon debut and Esther Erb (2:34:01).

Ethan Shaw was the top American finisher in the B.A.A. Half Marathon in Boston, MA. Shaw finished eighth overall with a time of 1:05:10.

Deena Kastor set the Masters' World Record at the Philadelphia Half Marathon in a time of 1:09:36. Over a professional career spanning nearly two decades, Kastor has set American records in every distance from 5K to the marathon. Her half marathon American Record of 1:07:34 and her 2:19:36 marathon record still stand.

Talk about an investment with long-term gains!

If you'd like to learn more about or support either of these programs go to http://www.rrca.org/about/support/.

RAW Around Town... and Beyond!

Evelyn Luccioni and her Aid Station 1 team (L-R) Diane Ferguson, Evelyn Luccioni, Barbara Martin, Monica

Ortigoza, Joel Moss, Veda Miner, Matthew Miner and Eileen Pontaoe.

Note: Bob Ferguson is hiding behind his wife, Diane

Club President Joe Luccioni stops traffic for the 10K racers

Randy and Danielle Bobe and their boys

Double Trouble 2014 - A Success from participants to volunteers!

RAW Member and recent Berlin Marathon Finisher Kristine Hinojos has great support for her running passion! Kristine's students at Bear Creek Intermediate in Keller made signs and banners celebrating her accomplishment!

BGR mixing and mingling on a beautiful fall day

Black Girls Run (BGR) representing in their signature pink and black

BGR visits RAW with rave reviews of our wonderful club!

Palo Duro Trail Runners! Pictured L-R, Monica Waite, Leana Sloan and Diane Ferguson

Now that's how you feed hungry trail runners! Great aid stations at Palo Duro.

The 2014 Palo Duro Trail Race was well represented by RAW!

RAW members are all over the map. Look who Byron Benoit found in Chicago?

Our very own Lorraine and Kevin Wessels! Pictured L-R: Byron Benoit, Lorraine and Kevin Wessels

Noreen and Staci said they did not plan their outfits on a gorgeous fall morning.....hmmm. Pictured L-R Noreen Henry and Staci Rivero

Ragnar Trails were conquered by this RAWsome Swig Pigs Team!

(L-R) Chris Barnwell, Staci Rivero, John Studebaker, Erin Connor, Laura Greuner, Michelle Blackard, Stacy Marchiori and Troy Pruett

The girls of RAWsome Swig Pigs Team. Pictured L-R Front: Staci Rivero, Michelle Blackard. Back Row: Erin Connor, Stacy Marchiori and Laura Greuner

John Studebaker crosses the finish line

Michelle Blackard shows her hard-earned medal from the 2014 Inaugural Ironman

at the 2014 Inaugural Ironman Chattanooga.

Chattanooga.

We hope you enjoyed the November issue of the Footprint. Our friends at Runner's World hit the nail on the head. Go Run or Walk! See you at the clubhouse!

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