Last Wednesday Morning Run 2008

Father Time just sent a reminder in that we all need to get one last run in before the New Year. Lets not disappoint the old man.


Wednesday Morning meet at the top lot of Squaw Peak Drive 5:15 AM for a little over one hour trail run in the Phoenix Mountains Preserve. Slow to moderate pace.


Good luck to those that are running in the Across the Years event. Robert Andrulis 72 hour, and in the 24 hour race The Coury Family (Nick, Jamil, Nathon and Peter). I think James Bonnett is running also?

You can follow along live right now!: http://www.acrosstheyears.com/cgi-bin/leaderboard.cgi

Santa Says Go Run 12/24/08

Santa just sent a reminder that he is coming to town and we all need to go for a group trail run in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve Wednesday morning. Meet at the top lot, squaw peak drive 5:15 AM. Plan on a little over one hour. A little rain, cold or snow wouldn't stop Santa so it won't stop us either. Be prepared.


Per Honey's post below. If anyone has the ability to spare a little change for the needy family it would be appreciated.


The 2008 Runner of the Year Awards announcements are approaching. Sometime in January. Be sure to review the categories in the Posting November 24th. You can submit Candidates to Cosmas, Higgins or Comments section on WMRC Blog.

Family In Desperate Need

Hi WMRC friends!

This is something I have never done before, so I hope it all comes out right.

My daughter Shea's friend since kindergarten, Jenny Shoulders' dad is dying from liver disease. He is on a list for a transplant but it doesn't look good. They give him less than a year, diagnosed over 3 months ago. His job of course had to let him go...in and out of hospitals constantly. They have 3 kids, 15, 17, and 20 years old. Their 20 year old son works and has been helping out financially as much as he can. The mom, Debbie, has always been a stay home mom, is working part time as a pet groomer. The rest of the time she is taking care of Jeff. Shea said Jenny hasn't talked about it much, but sort of fell apart the other day because she is so scared. The family is on welfare, getting food stamps, and is on the verge of losing their home. They do not have any other family, except for Jeff's elderly mom who lives in Aho, Arizona. They are also the type of people that would never ask for help. I know these are tough times for many of us, trust me, I know. With all this craziness going on in the world, I am so fortunate to have a healthy family and friends with some of the greatest people ever! SO fortunate!

Now, here comes the asking part...not good at this.

I promised Shea I would tell their story to you guys, hoping to get some small donations. You know, if this doesn't work out, I completely understand. Shea and I are going to make a gift basket for her family with some necessary items, (paper products, dog food, cleaning supplies, etc.) be cool to include a cashiers check from WMRC donations. We would deliver it on Christmas Day if possible.

Think it over, if you are able, I will be at WMRC next Wed. or you can send a check to me.
19836 N. 37th avenue
glendale, AZ 85308 Honestly I feel weird doing this, but it is one of those things where I don't know what else to do...
thanks!
Honey Albrecht

WMRC Run Reminder for 12/17/08

Reminder: We are on for a 1+ hour trail run on Wed am at 5:16 am. This will be slow to moderate and will be very chilly. Blue will be leading as he has recently ramped up his training. He likes hills. Just kidding.

Runner of the week goes to the trio of Jody, Honey and Laura Nagy. They were out on the Tonto loop this Sat clearing the way for a great trail run coming up in Jan. 25th. Jody's Tonto Run. This is a great training run for those gearing up for Pemberton and Old Pueblo. (see Jody's post in the blog archive 11/6/08)

First runner up is Candice for doing trail work Saturday and making the rest of us feel bad.

Second Runner up is the Arizona Wildcats basketball team. They ran #4 Gonzaga out of the gym Sunday to take the Desert Classic Showcase.

Losers of the week are the AZ Cardinals for taking the week off against the Minn Vikings. If they think they can coast into the playoffs and just turn it on they better think again. Get it going boys! Sorry, I had to rant.

See everyone this Wed. Let's have a good week of training as Klown and I are off to Vegas Sat to watch the Cats in hoops at 1pm and Football bowl game style at 6pm. A great day to be had by all in Sin City.

Cosmas

WMRC Run Reminder for 12/10/08

Reminder, we are on for a group trail run in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve tomorrow (Wednesday) at 5:17 AM. Mark in on pacer probation so you can be assured the pace will be slow to moderate for about one hour. Great running weather but bundle up a little bit. Head lamps are a must.

About 30 people showed up to to either run or work aid for the South Mountain 50K. See Robert's report on the previous post. Everyone who participated is deserving for Runner of the Week, but the individuals who completed the full 50K stand out. Great job Paul, Honey, Liz, Joe, Chuck, Brian, Melissa, Debbie, and Aaron

Congratulations to the 3 voters who correctly predicted the outcome of the Devils Vs Cats game. The vote was anonymous but I bet Mark, Jason and Blaine (maybe Michael) are the 3. The other 4 winners are the "I couldn't care less" voters. I should have changed my vote to that!!

Lastly, for those who still wait to purchase the annual Ultra Calender, Jamie Mieras will bring extras in the morning. They are $18.00.

Higgins

2008 South Mountain 50K Report

The skies were clear , the weather was as close at it gets to perfect for December, and South Mountain was just a superlative setting for Saturday's South Mountain 50k. We had more folks show up for this than in the last few years, with nine folks going the entire distance. With the start at Buena Vista, however, dropping after just the West out and back resulted in 5.2 more miles than last couple of years (about 21 miles from BV to San Juan point and back) Many folks managed to find something a bit shorter for their own tastes and current training goals.
A special Thank You to volunteers Matt Kalina (for manning the Pima Canyon aid station, where he was a welcome sight for those dry and dusty runners heading for the East turnaround) and for Aid Station newbie Michael Chen for doing nothing short of an outstanding job, at the West turnaround at the end of San Juan road, according to reports from the runners on the course.
We had several runners bring donations; Thank you to Honey for coke and mountain dew, Liz for the bananas, Sun Chips and pretzels, Brett for the home made chocolate chip cookies and Betsy and Keene Johnson for the wonderful homemade pumpkin bread. This is a fun tradition on the first weekend of December, where there just seems to be perfect weather (70's in December; need I go on?) And a good time was had by all. We also had enough folding chairs amongst us to have quite a circle to chat, tell stories, make plans and reminisce about all the collective good times on the trails. I hope to see everyone out there next year; though if we get any bigger, we may lose our `informal' status.
Finally, a sad goodbye for those of us from the Valley – Gary Culver is moving away :-( We wish Gary a fun time with the move and maybe an invite to runs some trails in his new stomping ground.
Happy Trails,
Robert

The FULL 50k Time – correct in a relative sense…
Paul Bonnett 5:27
Honey Albrecht 5:47
Liz Everly 6:05
Joe Galope 6:21
Chuck Spurling 6:26
Brian Weineke 7:15
Melissa Masteller 7:27
Debbie Leftwich 7:34
Aaron Mascarella 7:40
Shorter distances:
Laura Nagy
Brett
Carol
Betsy and Keene Johnson
Jamil Coury
Nick Coury
Nathan Coury
Gary Culver
John and Angie Bechtel
Lindsay Cavner got a ride out from her husband
Cliff Anderson ran from Pima Canyon to Buena Vista and back, ready to help out any of the final runners if they got into any trouble
Linda Van Tilbourg and Karen Berrigan ran from Pima Canyon to Telegraph Pass and back for a `25k' fun run of their own.

Central Cross Country / Up to $400 Tax Credit

Here is you chance to help out BIG TIME the Central Cross Country and Track Team at no actual cost to you.

Last year several of you helped out, which allowed me to enter the team in more invitational events, buy shoes, shorts, awards, knee braces, bananas, bagels and yoga training to help them stretch. This years cross country team was a unique group of students from several different countries: Somalia, Sudan Ethiopia, Columbia Mexico, Vietnam, Thailand, Liberia, Jamaica and the U.S.. Many were refugees with few resources. What they had was an enthusiasm to try out a new sport. They went on at the end of the season to win the Freshman Sophomore Nike Southwest meet and are excited to keep on training.

Any donation up to $200 for individuals and $400 for families the State of Arizona will pay you back dollar for dollar on you 2008 Tax Return. It's a money back guarantee. Any Tax Payer in Arizona can help and receive the tax credit.

Checks have to be mailed before December 31st. Make check payable to Central High Bookstore Memo: Runners Club. Send to Runners Club Central High School 4525 N. Central Ave. Phoenix, Arizona 85012. Make sure we have an address to send the receipt to you for your full refund on your taxes.

Any questions please contact me.

Thank You.

Paul Bonnett
Coach Cross Country / Track
602-703-4874
ultrazbonnett@hotmail.com

Location Change South Mountain 50K !!!

Due to popular demand, we will be moving the Start/Finish to Buena Vista parking lot. This is just up the road past Telegraph Pass; follow the signs and don't get lost. It is at the end of the road - if you get to the end of the road you are on and don't see a parking lot, you are not on the right road (if you can't find it on the map, email me and I'll gladly point you in the right direction.) All other times remain the same. I will try to have at least a water drop at Telegraph Pass, if not an actual aid station, as well as water at San Juan road crossing and Pima Canyon; semper gumby (be always flexible.) The only further update you will receive is if the run is cancelled for any reason. See you all at a little before 7 AM Saturday!

Happy Trails,
Robert

randrul@ihpc.net

WMRC Run Reminder for 12/3/08

Hey Turkeys, time to get back to some training. Reminder: Wednesday morning run 5:15 AM meet at the top lot Squaw Peak Drive. Plan on a little over one hour. You’ll need a headlamp and possibly a water bottle because the 40th street water fountain was out of commission this weekend. Rumor is someone attached a couple dogs to the 40th street water spigot and the dogs yanked on the leash and created a geyser. Would have liked to have seen that. Maybe we will run to Dreamy Draw Park for the turn around???
Typically a 10-mile road race wouldn’t produce the Runner of the Week but the Thanksgiving Day Classic did just that with a good showing of WMRC folks. Nick Coury wins ROW with a real fast time of 1:01:18 (6:07 mile pace) good for 8th overall. Nick just edged out Adam Hunt by 13 seconds who finished in 10th. Also making a showing were Paul Bonnett, Jamil Coury, Nathon Coury, Dave Cauthon and Joanne Hughes. Jeff McCoy paced a friend and Robert Huotari was seen helping out.

Photographer Jeff Jones is at it again, Check out the cool footage during his run with Jody Chase in Sabino Canyon over the weekend.

Sabino Canyon from Jeff Jones on Vimeo.

Only 5 more days until the big ASU vs. U of A football game. Still time to vote your prediction. According to the poll half the voters think the Devils are going to win. Interesting only 9% couldn’t care less.