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Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2001 6:26 PM
Subject: Incline Club V6 LR #1
It’s time! Time to start the 2002 Incline Club season! I love this time of year because after a good off season the “buzz” slowly starts to build for our first club run. Over the last couple of weeks it has been fun to see the increase of “I can’t wait to start!” e-mails from current ICers. In addition the club got more than 20 newbie sign-ups in the last month alone. Everything points to another incredible season for the Incline Club!!! The important thing is NOW is the time to come out. Don’t use the “I’m not in shape” excuse because as some find out every year the IC gets in shape faster as a group than you can as an individual. Bottom line: things will only get worse if you skip the first couple of runs. Hope to see you on Sunday:-)
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Sunday, November 25, 8:00 a.m. meet at Soda Springs Park
Run out the Ute Pass Trail and turn right and then cross Hwy 24 and do the
Waldo Canyon lollipop loop in *either* direction. Cross back over Hwy 24 (be
careful) and return via the Ute Indian Trail. 2-3 hours. If it would take
longer (or you thought the off season meant no running) do an out/back
instead of the whole loop or try the “bail trail” which will bring you back
through Williams Canyon right back to your car!
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It has been amazing to watch the club take shape over the years and as we start our 6th year I can’t help but wonder where the season will take us. The average size of last year’s runs (53) is already bigger than the size of some of the races I read about! One look at last year’s “*” board makes it clear how dedicated we are and that dedication has paid off. Our success at the races is incredible no matter if it is looking at overall, age-group or just ICers setting PRs and reaching goals no matter where they are in the pack. This is what it is all about. As most of you know our training runs are not social runs. There are many other days in the week where we can run social runs. The club’s commitment to hard training means that we consistently attract the type of runner that is good for the club. Not just fast runners but serious runners — of all abilities. Those who view their running as more than just exercise and want to push themselves to the limits. This was reflected in that while we had about the same number of total runners the last two years (284 runners came out in 2001 vs 307 in 2000) we put up almost 700 more workouts (3,204 in 2001 vs 2542 in 2000.) Both years had 60 workouts in the season which means each runner averaged over 11 workouts last year vs 8 in 2000. Again we averaged 53 runners a workout last year vs 42 in 2000. But it is the “core” group which is growing the most and they put up amazing numbers with 44 runners coming to 30 or more workouts!!! To me that is the best sign that we are on the right track. I would be worried if it were the other way around and we had more total runners but less workouts per runner because that would be a sign that our dedication is lacking or that we are getting way too many “one timers.” In short the IC club is finding it’s niche. I think we have successfully spread the word that while we welcome runners of all abilities, the runners we welcome are dedicated and somewhat hardcore — OK sick;-) By building on that principle I feel we have the best chance of pushing each other to new highs. To me who we get is more important than how many we get. To that I want to thank all of you for being such a great group of runners! For you newbies I hope that you want to be pushed to be the best runners you can be. If so, you have joined the right club:-)
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In just some of the off season IC news I heard about:
- Congrats to Anita Bower for finishing her first 100 miler.
- Congrats to Connilee Walter who is still in the running to appear on a Weaties cereal box. See text below. She has already been named Colorado’s “Everyday Champion.”
- Congrats to Laura Mitchell for winning the PPRR Fall Series.
- Congrats to the Incline Club for getting named “top dog” by the Trail Dogs. This trail maintenance group, headed by Gail Allen, selects the individual or group that worked the hardest on Barr Trail maintenance. To those of you that put in 5 or more hours of trail work and did not come to the Friends of the Peak Meeting last Friday I have your shirts. 11 of the 19 5+ hour people showed and it was neat to see the club recognized for the 193 hours we put in on our adopted top mile of the Barr Trail last year.
- Congrats and thanks to Fred Wright for hosting a successful set of off season runs.
Feel free to catch me up on some more off season happenings.
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Have a great Thanksgiving and remember that all that food you put down on
Thursday you will have to carry on Sunday;-)
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Go out hard, when it hurts speed up...
Matt Carpenter
www.skyrunner.com
Barr Trail Mountain Race
www.runpikespeak.com
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Wheaties says Springs woman is state’s ‘Everyday Champion’
By Bill Radford/The Gazette
A Colorado Springs runner may be racing toward cereal-box stardom.
Connilee Walter, 28, has been named Colorado’s “Everyday Champion” by
Wheaties Energy Crunch. She and other state winners will be listed next year
on the Energy Crunch box.
She also has a shot at having her picture on the box — and winning big bucks as well.
Wheaties will name five national winners next month; first prize is a spot on the front of the box and $5,000, plus $25,000 for charity. The runners-up will appear on the back and win $2,500 each plus $2,500 for their charity. Friend Amy Heater nominated Walter after learning of Wheaties’ search for community-minded athletes.
“I think the letter was already in the mail when she said, ‘Oh, by the way, I nominated you for this,’” Walter recalls with a laugh.
Both work at Young Life, a Christian ministry for teens. Walter also coaches the Coronado High School cross-country team.
Last year, she turned running the Boston Marathon into a fund-raiser, raising more than $4,000 through pledges to send Pueblo youths to camp. Heater calls her friend “disciplined and determined.” Walter won this year’s Steamboat Marathon and was third among women in August’s Pikes Peak Marathon.
Walter grew up in the heat of Phoenix where, she says, “running had zero appeal.” But moving to Colorado Springs seven years ago inspired her. “I really fell in love with the beauty of Colorado, and it encouraged me to spend more time outdoors.”
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