News
Year-End Awards for HRW Prez
As 2011 draws to a close, more awards came to HRW President Alan Poisner. Because of his record this year of taking Gold Medals in the USATF National Masters Indoor 3000-meter racewalk in Albuquerque in March, the 1500-meter and 5K racewalks in Houston in June and the 5000-meter and 10K racewalks and 10K team race in Sacramento in July, the USATF National Masters Racewalk Committee selected Alan as the NATIONAL RACEWALKER OF THE YEAR in the 75-79 age division. Some age divisions had no one selected because of criteria that had to be met.
In addition, in each of these races his age-graded times were greater than 80% and thus qualified for the ALL-AMERICAN AWARD given by the USATF National Masters Committee to runners and walkers.
Finally for the second year in a row, Alan received the PHIDIPPIDES AWARD from the USATF Long-Distance Running Committee for successful completion of a significant number of road races, including two half-marathons (track races do not count). Although Alan only racewalked in races that were open to runners, he did win Gold in all but two of the 16 road races that he entered this year. In two he got a Silver when the Gold medal winner was a runner. This was the second year in a row that Alan entered 25 races and it was his most successful year since he started racewalking in 1985. He attributes his success to luck (not getting injured), a supportive spouse, and the help of many national racewalking coaches who have visited Kansas City over the years. The Heartland Racewalkers have been a major support and inspiration for him as well.
A picture of some of these awards and medals can be found at the site below. Clicking on each photo will bring up a description. http://s1095.photobucket.com/albums/i465/apoisner/Racewalking%20awards/ or http://www.flickr.com/photos/racewalker/sets/72157628528184201/
In addition, in each of these races his age-graded times were greater than 80% and thus qualified for the ALL-AMERICAN AWARD given by the USATF National Masters Committee to runners and walkers.
Finally for the second year in a row, Alan received the PHIDIPPIDES AWARD from the USATF Long-Distance Running Committee for successful completion of a significant number of road races, including two half-marathons (track races do not count). Although Alan only racewalked in races that were open to runners, he did win Gold in all but two of the 16 road races that he entered this year. In two he got a Silver when the Gold medal winner was a runner. This was the second year in a row that Alan entered 25 races and it was his most successful year since he started racewalking in 1985. He attributes his success to luck (not getting injured), a supportive spouse, and the help of many national racewalking coaches who have visited Kansas City over the years. The Heartland Racewalkers have been a major support and inspiration for him as well.
A picture of some of these awards and medals can be found at the site below. Clicking on each photo will bring up a description. http://s1095.photobucket.com/albums/i465/apoisner/Racewalking%20awards/ or http://www.flickr.com/photos/racewalker/sets/72157628528184201/
2011 Annual Holiday Party and Election
Heartland Racewalkers celebrated their 23rd year on Dec. 3, 2011 at the home of BJ and Jerry Thornburg in Overland Park. 28 members and guests attended this event, including once again our honored guest, Dick Ross, the racing community photographer extraordinaire. Dick was presented with a memento of appreciation and made some a generous comments about the racewalkers. Photos from the previous year taken from our homepage on the Internet were shown on a large-screen TV. Many had been supplied by Dick. Thanks to Jerry Thornburg and Alan for setting this up. After a delicious brunch, it was time for announcements, awards and elections. The newcomer of the year award was announced as Mitch Kranitz and he received a club jacket (and our thanks). The volunteer of the year award was BJ Thornburg who devoted a lot of time to support our club while she was recuperating from a back injury (not sustained from racewalking). The Dandis received an award for the outstanding family. Other point winners were Julie Haller and Denise Donaldson. Door prizes were selected with the help of Lakshmi Dandi, our designated number caller. A number of members showed off the medals that they had won at national competitions. The state of the club report was delivered by Alan and a hard-copy was distributed. Our Historian, Jean Brunnenkant, brought scrapbooks showing historical events in the last few years. A highlight was the book on profiles of our members that BJ Thornburg had prepared. Alan thanked the officers and board for the work that they had done to support the club during the past year.
Elections for the 2012 year were held with the following results (resulting tenure in office-no term limits)
President Alan Poisner (17)
Vice-President Chuck Zarrelli (1)
Treasurer Tom Oakes (6)
Secretary Sarah Justice (9)
Clinic Director Fred Adams (11)
Historian Jean Brunnenkant (14)
This was another banner year for HRW, especially with the large number of medals at national and international competitions, and with our outreach to the community. News, results and pictures of the 2011 year can be found at the respective links on our website. We thank BJ and Jerry for allowing us to celebrate the year in their home and thank all of those who helped make it possible. We expect HRW will continue the tradition of racewalking excellence and camaraderie in 2012.
Elections for the 2012 year were held with the following results (resulting tenure in office-no term limits)
President Alan Poisner (17)
Vice-President Chuck Zarrelli (1)
Treasurer Tom Oakes (6)
Secretary Sarah Justice (9)
Clinic Director Fred Adams (11)
Historian Jean Brunnenkant (14)
This was another banner year for HRW, especially with the large number of medals at national and international competitions, and with our outreach to the community. News, results and pictures of the 2011 year can be found at the respective links on our website. We thank BJ and Jerry for allowing us to celebrate the year in their home and thank all of those who helped make it possible. We expect HRW will continue the tradition of racewalking excellence and camaraderie in 2012.
Blue Springs 50/50 Marathon Relay-2011
Oct. 30, 2011. Heartland Racewalkers returned again to the Little Blue Trace Trail in Independence with a new starting point this year. The team captains were Alan Poisner (Perpetual Pedestrians-PP) and Fred Adams (Walking Wonders-WW), who picked up the packets, bibs and shirts on Saturday evening in Independence and also explored the new starting point behind the shopping center. Again this year, Alan and Eileen McManus walked the first two legs (in the dark) and then Fred Adams joined Alan for the next two legs. At that point, the two teams were half-way and reached the exchange point together, just a minute short of the pre-race prediction. The other walkers were Floyd Delon, Raj and Lakshmi Dandi (PP) and Mitch Kranitz, Phil Jacobs and Lee Debault (WW).
After almost six hours, PP came in 9 minutes before WW and took the first prize of a bottle of champagne. The second prize was the same and we will share this at our annual holiday party in December. We congratulate all of the walkers, especially our rookies: Lakshmi, Lee and Mitch. We thank BJ Thornburg and Lee for doing some of the critical driving that allowed walkers to get to the proper locations.
Pictures and Results can be found at the respective links.
Cliff Hanger 5K & 8k
Nov. 6, 2011. HRW provided racers in both the 5K, which had a racewalking division, and the 8K in this 26th edition of the race in an historic district of northeast Kansas City. Two personal bests were set in the 5K. Lakshmi Dandi made a PR and was the fastest overall racewalker in a time of 34:20.9. She also took 2nd overall of the girls in the 12-14 running division. Mitch Kranitz made his PR in the 80+ division in a good time of 42:22. Fred Adams was the first place male racewalker and bettered his 2010 time by 2 minutes in 36:58.1. Entering a race with very little recent training was Chuck Zarrelli who hopes to get in more racewalking activity now that his retirement is just a month away.
In the 8K, Alan Poisner took 1st (75-79). He used his frequent strategy of being the only one in his age division but bettered the time that he walked last year in a fast time of 55:28 (81% age-graded). We thank Raj Dandi for being our club volunteer and helping with the photos. Over 1000 racers and volunteers enjoyed the traditional pancake breakfast afterwards. A bonus was the door prize that Fred Adams won (gift certificate to Macaroni Grill). We express our thanks to Sue Robinette and the KC Track Club for once again sponsoring this excellent event. We also appreciate the photos that Dick Ross took of us at various times during the morning. See Results and Pictures.
Be-A-Walker Predicted-Time 2-mile Race
Oct. 1, 2011. This year for the second time our predicted-time race was 2 miles on the paved trail around Roe Park in Overland Park. We also had a nice cool start and dry weather for the 4+ laps around the athletic fields. The top three in predicting ability were (1) Julie Haller, (2) Martie Delon and (3) Tom Oakes. The top walker in the age-graded division was Mitch Kranitz. Raj Dandi was the fastest walker. We want to thank the volunteer timers (Fred Adams and Alan Poisner) and those who brought the delicious refreshments and helped with the setup and cleanup. Awards were made following a great feast. Some corrections have been made afterwards. Check out the Results and Pictures links.
Kansas Senior Olympics 2011: HRW takes more Gold and Silver
Sept. 25, 2011-Hummer Sports Park, Topeka. Once again, Heartland Racewalkers hauled in the bulk of the racewalking medals at the Kansas State Senior Games. Our 10 walkers came away with 13 Gold medals and 4 Silvers in the 1500-meter and 5000-meter races. Also, Dave Couts set a record in the M55-59 1500-meter walk. Other walkers included Nancy Perih (60-64), Lee Debault and Chuck Zarrelli (65-69), Julie Haller (70-74), Alan Poisner and Fred Adams (75-79), Floyd Delon and Martie Delon (80-84), Tom Young (90-94) and our reigning queen, Jean Brunnenkant (95-99). Many of these members had won medals at the National Senior Games in Houston in June and they showed that they still are speedy. Results and pictures can be found at the respective Links our homepage.
Heartland Racewalkers Stroll Again at the Patriots Run
Sept. 11, 2011. The Patriots Day Run (Relay for 9 hours 11 minutes) was held again at the Great Mall of the Great Plains in Olathe. The Westminster Walkers (WW: BJ Thornburg, Captain) completed 38 miles and the Walking Marauders (WM: Fred Adams, Captain) did one more (39 miles). Martha McCarter did 9 miles for the WW team and BJ did 6. Lee Debault, Raj Dandi and Nancy Perih did 6 for the WM. There were a couple of guest walkers: Judy Swofford, Dwayne and Nate Gentleman. Proceeds go to the Salvation Army. All who participated in this unique event should be commended. Check out our Pictures and Results links.
HRW excels at World Masters Athletics Championships
After winning a number of medals at the National Senior games in June, HRW sent two of its walkers who had been training together to compete at the international level in Sacramento in July. BJ Thornburg and Alan Poisner entered this biannual event that attracted 4600 track and field athletes from 64 countries.
On July 7 they raced the 5000-meter walk at Sacramento City College. It was hot but not as bad as in Houston two weeks earlier. BJ came in 11th out of 26 of the best walkers in the world in the 65-69 division. There were 12 countries represented outside the U.S. Alan jumped out to a big lead in his race and was able to hold it to take the Gold in the 75-79 division. Trailing him for the Silver and Bronze were walkers from Russia and Great Britain and then 6 other countries as well as 6 from the U.S.
The next Race was the 10K on July 12 in a park near Sac City College. The weather during the 10K was uncharacteristically cool (in the mid 60’s) and this led to some fast times. The course consisted of 6+ loops on a relatively flat road. BJ came in 14 out of 24 and beat walkers from Australia, Russia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Sweden and the U.S. Alan raced later (8:20) and walked side by side for 6 miles with the Russian who had trailed him in the 5K race on the 7th. Once again the Russian could not match Alan’s sprint at the finish and that gave Alan his second Gold Medal at the meet. The U.S. had the 3rd and 4th fastest walkers so the U.S. won the team championship in the 75-79 division (and another Gold Medal). Alan attributes much of his success to the fact that one of his sons and his three grandchildren live in Sacramento and he has been there many times, including races. A bonus was that his son David and wife Roselle were there to cheer him on and take pictures.
So HRW followed up its success at the national level in June with success at the international level in July. Our next goal is to take on the Martians.
Results and pictures will be posted to the respective links soon.
On July 7 they raced the 5000-meter walk at Sacramento City College. It was hot but not as bad as in Houston two weeks earlier. BJ came in 11th out of 26 of the best walkers in the world in the 65-69 division. There were 12 countries represented outside the U.S. Alan jumped out to a big lead in his race and was able to hold it to take the Gold in the 75-79 division. Trailing him for the Silver and Bronze were walkers from Russia and Great Britain and then 6 other countries as well as 6 from the U.S.
The next Race was the 10K on July 12 in a park near Sac City College. The weather during the 10K was uncharacteristically cool (in the mid 60’s) and this led to some fast times. The course consisted of 6+ loops on a relatively flat road. BJ came in 14 out of 24 and beat walkers from Australia, Russia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Sweden and the U.S. Alan raced later (8:20) and walked side by side for 6 miles with the Russian who had trailed him in the 5K race on the 7th. Once again the Russian could not match Alan’s sprint at the finish and that gave Alan his second Gold Medal at the meet. The U.S. had the 3rd and 4th fastest walkers so the U.S. won the team championship in the 75-79 division (and another Gold Medal). Alan attributes much of his success to the fact that one of his sons and his three grandchildren live in Sacramento and he has been there many times, including races. A bonus was that his son David and wife Roselle were there to cheer him on and take pictures.
So HRW followed up its success at the national level in June with success at the international level in July. Our next goal is to take on the Martians.
Results and pictures will be posted to the respective links soon.
HRW shines at National Senior Games
HRW made another impressive showing at the biannual National Senior Games. This year the events were held in the Houston, TX area in late June.
The 1500-meter race was held on the 24th at an excellent high school track about 30 miles north of Houston. Despite the challenge of navigating to the remote site and dealing with some hot Texas weather, our intrepid pedestrians took a number of medals and ribbons. Gold Medals were won by Jean Brunnenkant (in her 5th different age division: 95-99), Tom Young, Alan Poisner (in his second different age division: 75-79) and Dave Couts (55-59). Silver Medals were taken by Eileen McManus (55-59) and Fred Adams (75-79). BJ Thornburg won a Bronze Medal, her first medal at a national competition, In addition, top finishing ribbons (5th-8th) were captured by Martie Delon (80-84), Julie Haller (70-74) and Floyd Delon (80-84).
The 5K racewalk was held the next morning on a course around the Reliant Arena parking lot. The four lap course had some ups and downs and was held in the extreme heat. Gold Medals were earned by Dave Couts and Alan Poisner; Bronze Medals were taken by Fred Adams, Eileen McManus and BJ Thronburg; Julie Haller garnered a 6th place ribbon. The most suspense was whether Alan could get to the race on time since his car battery had died overnight. Fortunately, his hotel was only 2 miles away and he had time to walk (fast) to the starting area. The other item of interest is that the course organizers repeated the mistake from the Senior Games in Tucson by providing a shortened course. This did lead to some fast times and to the lore of the National Senior Games.
All of the finishing times are shown in the RESULTS section and pictures will be posted. So once again, HRW made a significant impact at the national level.
The 1500-meter race was held on the 24th at an excellent high school track about 30 miles north of Houston. Despite the challenge of navigating to the remote site and dealing with some hot Texas weather, our intrepid pedestrians took a number of medals and ribbons. Gold Medals were won by Jean Brunnenkant (in her 5th different age division: 95-99), Tom Young, Alan Poisner (in his second different age division: 75-79) and Dave Couts (55-59). Silver Medals were taken by Eileen McManus (55-59) and Fred Adams (75-79). BJ Thornburg won a Bronze Medal, her first medal at a national competition, In addition, top finishing ribbons (5th-8th) were captured by Martie Delon (80-84), Julie Haller (70-74) and Floyd Delon (80-84).
The 5K racewalk was held the next morning on a course around the Reliant Arena parking lot. The four lap course had some ups and downs and was held in the extreme heat. Gold Medals were earned by Dave Couts and Alan Poisner; Bronze Medals were taken by Fred Adams, Eileen McManus and BJ Thronburg; Julie Haller garnered a 6th place ribbon. The most suspense was whether Alan could get to the race on time since his car battery had died overnight. Fortunately, his hotel was only 2 miles away and he had time to walk (fast) to the starting area. The other item of interest is that the course organizers repeated the mistake from the Senior Games in Tucson by providing a shortened course. This did lead to some fast times and to the lore of the National Senior Games.
All of the finishing times are shown in the RESULTS section and pictures will be posted. So once again, HRW made a significant impact at the national level.
June is Racing Season
June is busting out all over-with races. On June 11 and 12, HRW was represented at the Missouri State Senior Games in Columbia by 6 walkers who brought back a number of medals (1500-meters on Friday and 5K on Saturday). Then, 24 hrs later, a number of them joined some other club members in the USATF Mo. Valley-Ozark Association Border Challenge in Liberty, MO (William Jewell College track). We took more medals in the 1500-meter race (after waiting around for 4 hours) but did not hang around for the 5K (4 hours later). Our youth corps, Santosh and Lakshmi Dandi, did the 3000-meter walk, and also entered some other events. The annual Father’s Day race in Overland Park on June 19 had a 5K with a competitive racewalk division and we supplied the winners, as well as a 10K race (no racewalking division but we also took first place in the 70+ division). The last weekend of the month found 10 HRW members in sunny Houston for the biannual National Senior Games-see the separate report.
Even more racing opportunities will be found in July. These include the region 19 Junior Olympics qualifying meet in Lawrence (9th & 10th) when our youth corps will be trying to qualify for the national Junior Olympics (to be held in Wichita the last weekend in July). Also in July is the World Masters Association meet in Sacramento. There will be a 5,000-meter race on July 7 and a 10K on July 12, with athletes from all over the world. HRW will be represented by BJ Thornburg and Alan Poisner. This event has not been held in the U.S. for 16 years and this is probably the first time that HRW has been represented in this prestigious track meet. Results from some of these races may be found at the RESULTS link on our homepage and the others will follow soon.
Even more racing opportunities will be found in July. These include the region 19 Junior Olympics qualifying meet in Lawrence (9th & 10th) when our youth corps will be trying to qualify for the national Junior Olympics (to be held in Wichita the last weekend in July). Also in July is the World Masters Association meet in Sacramento. There will be a 5,000-meter race on July 7 and a 10K on July 12, with athletes from all over the world. HRW will be represented by BJ Thornburg and Alan Poisner. This event has not been held in the U.S. for 16 years and this is probably the first time that HRW has been represented in this prestigious track meet. Results from some of these races may be found at the RESULTS link on our homepage and the others will follow soon.
Brew to Brew 2011 or 'Gone with the Wind'
This year HRW again had two teams with the same names and captains as in 2010 in the Brew to Brew Relay that started at the Boulevard Brewery in KC and ended in Lawrence (43 miles) a few blocks from the Freestate Brewery: Perpetual Pedestrians (PP) and the Walking Warriors (WW). A similarity to the 2007 race was that we experienced sustained wind speeds of 20-30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph but it was dry and much warmer. Our stalwart group of walkers managed to get to the starting line before 6:00 am (in time for pictures) and reached Lawrence about 10 hours later. Another similarity to 2007 was that one team (PP) finished within 2 minutes of the pre-race prediction but the other team (WW) finished exactly to the minute according to the printed pre-race prediction by Alan. This was a record in the prediction category-not bad after 616 minutes! Unlike 2007, Alan wore only two layers on leg 10, not the record 8 he used in 2007 when it was sleeting.
We had 7 veterans this year (Alan Poisner, Phil Jacobs, BJ Thornburg, Raj Dandi, Nancy Perih, Mark Landry and Chuck Zarrelli) and 3 rookies (Lakshmi Dandi, Lee Debault and Julie Haller). Nancy Perih gets credit for the most mileage for the day since she drove in from Topeka for the start and returned to KC after the race to pick up her car for the return trip. Each walker did two relay legs totaling 6.5-9.9 miles. The race was scored with age- and gender-based handicaps. PP finished 31 min before WW but after the handicaps were factored in, WW was 14 min faster than PP. Both of their net times were faster than 7 running teams. Congratulations to all of our members who competed in this 11th year that HRW has participated in this unique event. Also, Thanks to Lee, Bernice and Liz for serving as volunteers. After the race, a celebration was held at the usual restaurant in Lawrence.
Pictures from this event can be found at the PICTURES link on our homepage (click on the PICTURES link, then the SETS and then on the Brew to Brew set). Captions can be seen by clicking on the individual pictures. Results can be found at the RESULTS link.
We had 7 veterans this year (Alan Poisner, Phil Jacobs, BJ Thornburg, Raj Dandi, Nancy Perih, Mark Landry and Chuck Zarrelli) and 3 rookies (Lakshmi Dandi, Lee Debault and Julie Haller). Nancy Perih gets credit for the most mileage for the day since she drove in from Topeka for the start and returned to KC after the race to pick up her car for the return trip. Each walker did two relay legs totaling 6.5-9.9 miles. The race was scored with age- and gender-based handicaps. PP finished 31 min before WW but after the handicaps were factored in, WW was 14 min faster than PP. Both of their net times were faster than 7 running teams. Congratulations to all of our members who competed in this 11th year that HRW has participated in this unique event. Also, Thanks to Lee, Bernice and Liz for serving as volunteers. After the race, a celebration was held at the usual restaurant in Lawrence.
Pictures from this event can be found at the PICTURES link on our homepage (click on the PICTURES link, then the SETS and then on the Brew to Brew set). Captions can be seen by clicking on the individual pictures. Results can be found at the RESULTS link.
March Madness for HRW
Heartland Racewalkers started off March with some impressive walking. Mark Landry and Phillip Jacobs went South to Little Rock on March 6 for one of their many marathons. Also going South was Alan Poisner who entered the USATF National Masters 3000 meter walk in Albuquerque, New Mexico on March 4. His time of 19:47 was good for the Gold in the 75-79 division (80.4% age-graded) and would have earned a Silver in the 65-69 or 70-74 divisions. HRW now looks forward to April excitement when they send two teams to the Brew to Brew 43-mile relay from Kansas City to Lawrence on April 3. Stay tuned.
All-American and Phidippides Awards
The National Masters News and the USATF provide awards for achieving certain marks in track and field and for long-distance road races. The required marks for the ALL-AMERICAN Award for racewalking are shown in the PICTURES link, together with a picture of the award that Alan received for his 2010 award.
The PHIDIPPIDES award, inspired by the historic masters runner, is based on points accumulated over the calendar year for road races. A runner (or walker) is eligible for one award per year. Points are earned based on the following basis:
1 Point 5 km to 5 miles
2 Points 10 km to 10 miles
3 Points 10 miles to ½ Marathon
4 Points 25 km to Marathon
***Age****40-59**60-79***80+
Gold*******20******16*****8
Silver******16******12*****4
Bronze*****12*******8*****2
This table and a picture of the award achieved by Alan Poisner for 2010 are in the photostream under the PICTURES link. http://www.flickr.com/photos/racewalker/
2010 Annual Report
We started off 2010 on Jan. 1st with our Annual New Year’s Day walk with the KC Track Club in Overland Park on the trail in the snow. 8 members made a 30-min trek and afterwards had the first brunch of the year at La Peep. Our monthly meeting the next day featured a tutorial by Alan on using our homepage to get information on racewalking, with the help of Pamela’s laptop and projector. This was followed up at our February meeting by showing a Power Point Presentation that Dave McGovern gave to the USATF on the status of racewalking in the US.
At our March meeting, we some more of the Jeff Salvage video on racewalking (always good to get a refresher lesson).There were two races in March indoors at Johnson County Community College (sponsored the Heartland Athletic Services-not a subsidiary). Racing the 1-mile and/or the 3000-meter walks were Fred Adams, Chuck Zarrelli, Mark Landry, Alan Poisner, Nancy Perih (in from Topeka) and Barb Schwartz (her first racewalk). Bo Kremer came to support our efforts and also took some video footage.
In April, Barb Schwartz, a new member, talked to us about what it takes to become a personal trainer. Barb has been very active in the club, including recruiting new members. On the 6th, Alan and BJ made a presentation to the KC Express, the women’s running/walking club (part of our community outreach). The big race event in April was the Brew to Brew where we once again field two teams, beat several running teams, finished within a few minutes of Alan’s pre-race prediction and ended up, as usual, at the Mad Greek’s restaurant. We had unusually friendly weather this year. Maybe we can have three teams in 20111.
The speaker at our May meeting was Chuck Zarrelli who told us about the history of the railroad in the U.S., a fascinating presentation on one of Chuck’s many specialties. HRW once again hosted the WNR for the KC Track Club, using the large shelter house at Leawood City Park-good food and fellowship with our friends in the running community. We had another outreach event on May 26 at the 15th Annual In Step and In Shape Walk & Health Expo sponsored by the Johnson Co. Parks & Rec. Martie Lykens and Alan were our representatives once again at the large event at the Ritz Charles.
In June, Floyd Delon made a presentation on genealogy. This was partly inspired by the gene study that some of us began at the National Senior Olympics at Stanford. DNA testing is a new addition to learning about family history. There were lots of races in June and HRW was well represented: the All-Comers 1600-meter race at JuCo, Missouri Senior Games in Columbia, the USATF Missouri Valley Association Outdoor Meet in Liberty, the Iowa Senior Games in Des Moines, the Heartland Athletic Services at JuCo (1000) and the Father’s Day race in Overland Park. Several of our members raced the 1500-meters in Columbia of Friday evening and then returned to the area to do the Missouri Valley USATF 3,000-meter walk in Liberty on Saturday afternoon, delayed due to a storm.
On July 10 we had our annual picnic with awards. 21 members enjoyed the food and festivities. Awards were announced for Barb Schwartz, Charlotte Haupt and Denise Donaldson. Youth awards were presented to Lakshmi and Santosh Dandi. Another outreach event was held at the Matt Ross Community Center. Alan, BJ, Tom Y and Jean B represented HRW and also did some demonstrations on the track. A number of people came to our table for information. Races in July included the Sunflower Games in Topeka and the ShowMe Games in Columbia. HRW picked up medals in both of these and thus qualified for the National Sate Games of America that will be held in 2011 in San Diego.
Our speaker in August was Mike Goodman from the KC Area Safety Council. He emphasized pedestrian safety. This Metro agency also sponsors several of the races that we enter, including the Gobbler Grind. The big event in August was the full weekend World Class Racewalking Clinic offered by Dave and Loretta McGovern. We had 22 people attending, including walkers Iowa, Illinois, Arkansas, St. Louis, and out-state Kansas. Dave had previously presented a clinic here in 2000. Dave & Loretta provided instruction, video picture taking, drills and stretches over the 2.5 day period. BJ and Jerry Thornburg generously served as hosts for the Friday evening get-together. The outdoor part was held at Shawnee Mission South High School and the indoor events were at Fitness Plus. His clinics are popular all over the country and we enjoyed this special experience.
Our September monthly meeting focused on a Jeff Salvage DVD concentrating on technique. This was a good lead-in to our big Patriots Day Relay on 9/11. Once again we had two large teams who kept the course busy for the full 9 hrs and 11 min. The Patriotic Pedestrians (BJ Thornburg-Captain) beat out the Perpetual Pedestrians (Alan Poisner-Captain) by 1 mile (40 vs. 39). BJ and Alan had been at the Great Mall of the Americas in Olathe since before Noon and finished their last laps in the dark. HRW continues to get good PR from this event and were also awarded a special plaque. The last week of September found us competing in the Kansas Senior Games. The following members won medals and qualified for the nationals to be held in Houston next June: Couts, Poisner, Haller, Zarrelli, Sells (renewing member), Adams, Delon (Floyd and Martie), Brunnenkant, Young. We hope to collect a lot of medals and ribbons to equal what we achieved at Stanford in 2009.
October start off with our annual Be-A-Walker Predicted-Time Race. This year it was a 2-mile race around the path at Roe Park, near our fitness center. We had a great turnout (19+4 volunteers) and good weather. Winners were Santosh Dandi, Charlotte Haupt, Vijaya Dandi, Chuck Zarrelli. Santosh finished just 2 seconds off his pre-race prediction and also was the faster walker of the day (a first for this event). In Utah, Fred Adams walked away with three Gold Medals in the Huntsman Games (1500-meters, 3000-meters and 5K)-a busy week in a beautiful part of the country. HRW has done well in this walker-friendly event in the past and we encourage all to give it a try. The last day of October (Halloween) featured the Blue Springs 50/50 Racewalking Marathon Relay. We had three teams this year with 13 members walking in the period from 7:00 am to about 12:30. The first team to cross the finish line was the Walk-y, Talk-y Racewalkers (Eileen McManus, Captain), followed by the Perpetual Pedestrians. This is a fun event and gives walkers a chance to try some distances longer than a 5K. Thanks to Lou Joline for organizing this unique series of races.
Our speaker in November told us about efforts to promote children’s health and nutrition and emphasized the need to stop the current obesity epidemic showing up in kids as well as adults. We came into November with 58 members (our high point for the year). Matt and Martha McCarter finished the Athens Marathon on its 2500th anniversary (plus or minus a few years). We will get a full report at a future meeting. The racewalker-friendly Cliff Hanger race was held in the historic northeast district of Kansas City and followed by the traditional pancake breakfast. HRW won medals in both walking and running divisions. We appreciate the volunteering by Pamela Felton and Chuck Zarrelli at this event. Later in the month, HRW was represented in both the 5K and the half-marathon at the Gobbler Grind with racewalking divisions in both. We thank Rusty Collins for continuing to offer these events for us.
Finally, I want to thank the 2010 club Board for their efforts behind the scene that other members do not see: Pamela Felton, Peg Armstrong, Leah Luckeroth, Phil Jacobs, and Chuck Zarrelli. I also want to thank the officers who have spent many years serving the club:
Secretary; Sarah Justice finishing her 7th year
Treasurer: Tom Oakes finishing his 4th year.
Vice President: Floyd Delon (first year as officer; many years as board member);
Clinic Director Fred Adams: finishing his 8th year.
Historian and Assistant Clinic Director: Jean Brunnenkant 12th year as historian.
Last year, in my Annual Report, I mentioned some Prospects for 2010 for our club. If you look back at them (listed on our homepage) you will see that we did achieve our major goals and, as I said then, “With the dedicated members that we have now, there are good reasons to be optimistic. I hope that we can continue to observe our main club rules: Don’t get hurt AND Have fun.” This applies to 2011 as well.
Finally, beginning my 16th year as President (no term limits) and a member of the club since its founding in 1989, I admit that it has been a labor of love to see so many in our community take up this life-long fitness activity that keeps them fit physically and mentally.
At our March meeting, we some more of the Jeff Salvage video on racewalking (always good to get a refresher lesson).There were two races in March indoors at Johnson County Community College (sponsored the Heartland Athletic Services-not a subsidiary). Racing the 1-mile and/or the 3000-meter walks were Fred Adams, Chuck Zarrelli, Mark Landry, Alan Poisner, Nancy Perih (in from Topeka) and Barb Schwartz (her first racewalk). Bo Kremer came to support our efforts and also took some video footage.
In April, Barb Schwartz, a new member, talked to us about what it takes to become a personal trainer. Barb has been very active in the club, including recruiting new members. On the 6th, Alan and BJ made a presentation to the KC Express, the women’s running/walking club (part of our community outreach). The big race event in April was the Brew to Brew where we once again field two teams, beat several running teams, finished within a few minutes of Alan’s pre-race prediction and ended up, as usual, at the Mad Greek’s restaurant. We had unusually friendly weather this year. Maybe we can have three teams in 20111.
The speaker at our May meeting was Chuck Zarrelli who told us about the history of the railroad in the U.S., a fascinating presentation on one of Chuck’s many specialties. HRW once again hosted the WNR for the KC Track Club, using the large shelter house at Leawood City Park-good food and fellowship with our friends in the running community. We had another outreach event on May 26 at the 15th Annual In Step and In Shape Walk & Health Expo sponsored by the Johnson Co. Parks & Rec. Martie Lykens and Alan were our representatives once again at the large event at the Ritz Charles.
In June, Floyd Delon made a presentation on genealogy. This was partly inspired by the gene study that some of us began at the National Senior Olympics at Stanford. DNA testing is a new addition to learning about family history. There were lots of races in June and HRW was well represented: the All-Comers 1600-meter race at JuCo, Missouri Senior Games in Columbia, the USATF Missouri Valley Association Outdoor Meet in Liberty, the Iowa Senior Games in Des Moines, the Heartland Athletic Services at JuCo (1000) and the Father’s Day race in Overland Park. Several of our members raced the 1500-meters in Columbia of Friday evening and then returned to the area to do the Missouri Valley USATF 3,000-meter walk in Liberty on Saturday afternoon, delayed due to a storm.
On July 10 we had our annual picnic with awards. 21 members enjoyed the food and festivities. Awards were announced for Barb Schwartz, Charlotte Haupt and Denise Donaldson. Youth awards were presented to Lakshmi and Santosh Dandi. Another outreach event was held at the Matt Ross Community Center. Alan, BJ, Tom Y and Jean B represented HRW and also did some demonstrations on the track. A number of people came to our table for information. Races in July included the Sunflower Games in Topeka and the ShowMe Games in Columbia. HRW picked up medals in both of these and thus qualified for the National Sate Games of America that will be held in 2011 in San Diego.
Our speaker in August was Mike Goodman from the KC Area Safety Council. He emphasized pedestrian safety. This Metro agency also sponsors several of the races that we enter, including the Gobbler Grind. The big event in August was the full weekend World Class Racewalking Clinic offered by Dave and Loretta McGovern. We had 22 people attending, including walkers Iowa, Illinois, Arkansas, St. Louis, and out-state Kansas. Dave had previously presented a clinic here in 2000. Dave & Loretta provided instruction, video picture taking, drills and stretches over the 2.5 day period. BJ and Jerry Thornburg generously served as hosts for the Friday evening get-together. The outdoor part was held at Shawnee Mission South High School and the indoor events were at Fitness Plus. His clinics are popular all over the country and we enjoyed this special experience.
Our September monthly meeting focused on a Jeff Salvage DVD concentrating on technique. This was a good lead-in to our big Patriots Day Relay on 9/11. Once again we had two large teams who kept the course busy for the full 9 hrs and 11 min. The Patriotic Pedestrians (BJ Thornburg-Captain) beat out the Perpetual Pedestrians (Alan Poisner-Captain) by 1 mile (40 vs. 39). BJ and Alan had been at the Great Mall of the Americas in Olathe since before Noon and finished their last laps in the dark. HRW continues to get good PR from this event and were also awarded a special plaque. The last week of September found us competing in the Kansas Senior Games. The following members won medals and qualified for the nationals to be held in Houston next June: Couts, Poisner, Haller, Zarrelli, Sells (renewing member), Adams, Delon (Floyd and Martie), Brunnenkant, Young. We hope to collect a lot of medals and ribbons to equal what we achieved at Stanford in 2009.
October start off with our annual Be-A-Walker Predicted-Time Race. This year it was a 2-mile race around the path at Roe Park, near our fitness center. We had a great turnout (19+4 volunteers) and good weather. Winners were Santosh Dandi, Charlotte Haupt, Vijaya Dandi, Chuck Zarrelli. Santosh finished just 2 seconds off his pre-race prediction and also was the faster walker of the day (a first for this event). In Utah, Fred Adams walked away with three Gold Medals in the Huntsman Games (1500-meters, 3000-meters and 5K)-a busy week in a beautiful part of the country. HRW has done well in this walker-friendly event in the past and we encourage all to give it a try. The last day of October (Halloween) featured the Blue Springs 50/50 Racewalking Marathon Relay. We had three teams this year with 13 members walking in the period from 7:00 am to about 12:30. The first team to cross the finish line was the Walk-y, Talk-y Racewalkers (Eileen McManus, Captain), followed by the Perpetual Pedestrians. This is a fun event and gives walkers a chance to try some distances longer than a 5K. Thanks to Lou Joline for organizing this unique series of races.
Our speaker in November told us about efforts to promote children’s health and nutrition and emphasized the need to stop the current obesity epidemic showing up in kids as well as adults. We came into November with 58 members (our high point for the year). Matt and Martha McCarter finished the Athens Marathon on its 2500th anniversary (plus or minus a few years). We will get a full report at a future meeting. The racewalker-friendly Cliff Hanger race was held in the historic northeast district of Kansas City and followed by the traditional pancake breakfast. HRW won medals in both walking and running divisions. We appreciate the volunteering by Pamela Felton and Chuck Zarrelli at this event. Later in the month, HRW was represented in both the 5K and the half-marathon at the Gobbler Grind with racewalking divisions in both. We thank Rusty Collins for continuing to offer these events for us.
Finally, I want to thank the 2010 club Board for their efforts behind the scene that other members do not see: Pamela Felton, Peg Armstrong, Leah Luckeroth, Phil Jacobs, and Chuck Zarrelli. I also want to thank the officers who have spent many years serving the club:
Secretary; Sarah Justice finishing her 7th year
Treasurer: Tom Oakes finishing his 4th year.
Vice President: Floyd Delon (first year as officer; many years as board member);
Clinic Director Fred Adams: finishing his 8th year.
Historian and Assistant Clinic Director: Jean Brunnenkant 12th year as historian.
Last year, in my Annual Report, I mentioned some Prospects for 2010 for our club. If you look back at them (listed on our homepage) you will see that we did achieve our major goals and, as I said then, “With the dedicated members that we have now, there are good reasons to be optimistic. I hope that we can continue to observe our main club rules: Don’t get hurt AND Have fun.” This applies to 2011 as well.
Finally, beginning my 16th year as President (no term limits) and a member of the club since its founding in 1989, I admit that it has been a labor of love to see so many in our community take up this life-long fitness activity that keeps them fit physically and mentally.
Annual Holiday Party and Election
Heartland Racewalkers celebrated their 22nd year on Dec. 4, 2010 at the Kingswood Manor in Kansas City, MO, hosted by Floyd and Martie Delon. 30 members attended this event, including our honored guest, Dick Ross, the racing community photographer extraordinaire. Dick was presented with a certificate of appreciation, a gift certificate and a special cake (see pictures). A banquet feast was enjoyed by all with special help from Leah Luckeroth and Peg Armstrong. Awards for the top point winners were given to Barb Schwarz and Charlotte Haupt. The Dandis received an award for the outstanding family members and Pamela Felton received the Volunteer of the Year Award. Door prizes were selected with the help of Lakshmi Dandi, our designated number caller. Matt McCarter described the experience that he and Martha had at the Athens Marathon and Fred Adams reported on the Huntsman World Masters Games (he won three Gold Medals). The state of the club report was given by Alan (see separate report). Our Historian, Jean Brunnenkant, handed out a special abbreviated History of the Club document and also put on display the many picture books from her collection. Thanks to Jean for all of her dedicated work.
Elections for the 2011 year were held with the following results (resulting tenure in office-no term limits)
President Alan Poisner (16)
Vice-President BJ Thornburg (1)
Treasurer Tom Oakes (5)
Secretary Sarah Justice (8)
Clinic Director Fred Adams (10)
Historian Jean Brunnenkant (13)
After the party, a number of members were able to take a tour of the Delon home-a real treat. This was a wonderful way to end a very successful year. We thank all of those who made it possible. View selected pictures from the event: http://www.flickr.com/photos/racewalker/sets/72157625542749924/detail/
Elections for the 2011 year were held with the following results (resulting tenure in office-no term limits)
President Alan Poisner (16)
Vice-President BJ Thornburg (1)
Treasurer Tom Oakes (5)
Secretary Sarah Justice (8)
Clinic Director Fred Adams (10)
Historian Jean Brunnenkant (13)
After the party, a number of members were able to take a tour of the Delon home-a real treat. This was a wonderful way to end a very successful year. We thank all of those who made it possible. View selected pictures from the event: http://www.flickr.com/photos/racewalker/sets/72157625542749924/detail/
Gobbler Grind 5K and Half-Marathon
Nov. 21, 2010. The Gobbler Grind this year was blessed with an unusually mild November day (over 60) and Alan set a record by wearing only three layers (after a half-mile). HRW actually had more members in the half-marathon than the 5K this year. The 5K saw Fred Adams taking 1st in the men’s race and Nancy Perih (who came in from Topeka) and Charlotte Haupt taking 1st and 2nd in the women’s. Fred also took 2nd and Charlotte also took 3rd in their running divisions.
The half-marathon also saw HRW taking awards in both racewalking and running divisions (although they only walked). The top men racewalkers were: Alan Poisner, Mark Landry and Phil Jacobs. The top women were: Eileen McManus (fastest overall), Martha McCarter and BJ Thornburg. Alan and BJ also took 1st place in their age divisions in the running category. Martha had recently returned from Greece where she and Matt had completed the fabled Athens Marathon. This race was just a short one for them and for Mark, who is working on his second 50-state marathons. So HRW is making its mark locally, nationally and internationally in these longer races. See results and pictures.
The half-marathon also saw HRW taking awards in both racewalking and running divisions (although they only walked). The top men racewalkers were: Alan Poisner, Mark Landry and Phil Jacobs. The top women were: Eileen McManus (fastest overall), Martha McCarter and BJ Thornburg. Alan and BJ also took 1st place in their age divisions in the running category. Martha had recently returned from Greece where she and Matt had completed the fabled Athens Marathon. This race was just a short one for them and for Mark, who is working on his second 50-state marathons. So HRW is making its mark locally, nationally and internationally in these longer races. See results and pictures.
Cliff Hanger 5K & 8k
Nov. 7, 2010. HRW provided racers in both the 5K, which had a racewalking division, and the 8K in this 25th edition of the race in an historic district of northeast Kansas City. We had one out-of-town competitor who came in from the St. Louis area, Dave Couts. He took 1st in the 5K racewalk as expected for a national champion. The first woman was Julie Haller (all the way from Olathe). Fred Adams took second for men in the racewalk and 2nd in the running division (75-79).
In the 8K (no racewalking division), Martie Delon took 2nd and Floyd Delon took 1st (both 80+), while Alan Poisner took 3rd (75-79). Floyd and Martie had intended to do the 5K but they were having so much fun that they decided to push on for an extra 3K. Mark Landry not only added this short (for him) race to his portfolio but also brought along his wife and son to race. We thank our club volunteers, Pamela Felton and Chuck Zarrelli, for their help. They were able to join all of the assembled record number of racers in the traditional pancake breakfast afterwards. We express our thanks to Sue Robinette and the KC Track Club for once again sponsoring this excellent event. See results and pictures.
In the 8K (no racewalking division), Martie Delon took 2nd and Floyd Delon took 1st (both 80+), while Alan Poisner took 3rd (75-79). Floyd and Martie had intended to do the 5K but they were having so much fun that they decided to push on for an extra 3K. Mark Landry not only added this short (for him) race to his portfolio but also brought along his wife and son to race. We thank our club volunteers, Pamela Felton and Chuck Zarrelli, for their help. They were able to join all of the assembled record number of racers in the traditional pancake breakfast afterwards. We express our thanks to Sue Robinette and the KC Track Club for once again sponsoring this excellent event. See results and pictures.
Blue Springs 50/50 Marathon Relay
Oct. 31, 2010. HRW returned to the Little Blue Trace Trail this year for the marathon relay and fielded three teams: Primary Perpetual Pedestrians (Alan Poisner, Captain), Walk-y, Talk-y Racewalkers (Eileen McManus, Captain) and Fox Trotters (BJ Thornburg, Captain). The captains walked the first two legs (9.1 miles) starting at 7:00 am while it was still dark. They were followed by Nancy Perih, Katrina Everhart, Fred Adams, Barb Schwartz, Raj Dandi, Santosh Dandi, Charlotte Haupt, Phil Jacobs, Mark Landry, and Floyd Delon. Chuck Zarrelli was a late scratch because of a kidney stone problem but his slot was taken up by Alan. Pictures can be found at the PICTURES link and the official RESULTS will be posted soon.
Be-A-Walker Predicted-time Walk 2010
Oct. 2, 2010. This year for the first time our predicted-time race on a newly paved track around Roe Park was 2 miles. Another first was that the fastest walker was also the one who came closest to his pre-race prediction. Santosh Dandi had predicted a finish in 20:00 minutes and hit the finish just 1 second later, an accuracy better than 99.9%! Also receiving awards for their accurate predictions were Vijaya Dandi (the winner last year) and Charlotte Haupt (just 3 seconds off) and Chuck Zarrelli (see Results). Our 19 walkers had a cool start (54 degrees) and enjoyed the dry weather. We want to thank the volunteer timers (Tom Young, Leah Luckeroth and Alan Poisner) and those who brought the delicious refreshments. Awards were made following a great feast. The results can be found at the RESULTS link. Pictures will be online soon.
Kansas Senior Olympics 2010: HRW scores again
Sept. 26, 2010-Hummer Sports Park, Topeka. Once again, Heartland Racewalkers hauled in the medals at the State Senior Games. In addition a number of new records were set. Speedy Seniors and their age divisions included Dave Couts (55-59), Chuck Zarrelli and Jimmy Sue Sells (65-69), Julie Haller (70-74), Fred Adams and Alan Poisner (75-79), Martie and Floyd Delon (80-84) and Jean Brunnenkant and Tom Young (90-94). New age-division records were set in the 5K by Dave, Alan, Jimmy Sue and Julie. There were a total of 19 walkers this year and HRW came away with 10 Golds and 5 Silvers in the 1500-meter and 5K races. See the Results link.
Patriots Run-Sept. 11, 2010
HRW once again fielded two teams in this annual event that goes for nine hours and 11 minutes. In addition, two of our team members (Martha and Matt McCarter) did full marathons which included 3 miles on our teams. Team Captains Alan Poisner (Perpetual Pedestrians) and BJ Thornburg (Patriotic Pedestrians) were the lead-off and final walkers of the day. This year the event was held at the Great Mall of the Great Plains in Olathe and was a festive and patriotic event with over 500 runners and walkers. Also, as usual, BJ the DJ served as the announcer and gave his usual strong support to racewalking. The Patriotic Pedestrians took home the first place racewalking award (by one mile) and Martha McCarter achieved the most mileage by a racewalker (26.2 miles). It turned out to be a beautiful day and we may have even more walkers next year (22 in 2009 and 24 in 2010). Pictures from the event are found in the sets on our homepage.
Surprise Birthday Party for Jean Brunnenkant-Aug. 31, 2010
Aug. 31, 2010. HRW gave a surprise (94th) birthday party for our Queen, Jean Brunnenkant at the home of Leah Luckeroth. Tom Young and Leah were the chief conspirators and pulled off the surprise. A number of her many friends dropped by to wish Jean well and express their thanks for her friendship, leadership and inspiration. Some pictures from the event can be seen on our homepage at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/racewalker/4987989426/in/set-72157624824859843/
World Class Racewalking Clinic, Overland Park, KS Aug 6-8. 2010
Heartland Racewalkers hosted Dave McGovern's World Class Racewalking Clinic Aug. 6-8 in Overland Park. 22 walkers, ranging in age from 12 to 93, participated during one of the warmest weeks this year. Participants came from Iowa, Illinois, Arkansas and Kansas and Missouri.
The weekend started with a pasta-dinner hosted by BJ Thornburg and some video highlights of a World Cup racewalking competition. Dave and Loretta Schuellein McGovern provided coaching instruction, individual video-taped technique analysis and used heart rate monitors to estimate HRmax and threshold. We all survived the heat on the high school track and the video feedback showed the improvement of both the beginners and the experienced walkers. This was the second time that Dave presented a clinic here and we look forward to the next one. Pictures will be found at our homepage http://www.heartlandracewalkers.com
The weekend started with a pasta-dinner hosted by BJ Thornburg and some video highlights of a World Cup racewalking competition. Dave and Loretta Schuellein McGovern provided coaching instruction, individual video-taped technique analysis and used heart rate monitors to estimate HRmax and threshold. We all survived the heat on the high school track and the video feedback showed the improvement of both the beginners and the experienced walkers. This was the second time that Dave presented a clinic here and we look forward to the next one. Pictures will be found at our homepage http://www.heartlandracewalkers.com
Annual Picnic on Saturday, July 10
Saturday, July 10, Heartland Racewalkers celebrated their annual picnic at Roe Park. 25 people attended, ranging in age from 17 months (Deanna's granddaughter) to 93 (two walkers). We also had a number of guests who enjoyed the beautiful weather and the interesting company of walkers. After some walking, the members settled down for some really good eating (see photos). The Prez announced prizes for points for the first 6 months of 2010: Barb Schwartz was overall top winner, getting a club jacket. Denise Donaldson and Charlotte Haupt won copies of BoomerWalk, which features several of our current members. Awards were given to our youth corps (Lakshmi & Santosh) and to the winning team from the Brew to Brew relay. More than a dozen door prizes were selected. Looking ahead: we announced that the annual holiday party will be at the Delon's home on Dec. 4
Racing Season for HRW
June is busting out all over-with races. Official racewalks were held on June 5 (Heartland Athletic Services All-Comers Meet at Johnson County Community College), June 11 & 12 (Missouri State Senior Games in Columbia and June 12 (Missouri Valley USATF Outdoor Championships at William Jewell College in Liberty). HRW had entrants in all of these and came away with lots of medals (see results and picture links). Upcoming are the Iowa Senior Games (several of our members are doing that the weekend of June 19-20) and the HAS Outdoor meet at Johnson County College on June 26. In addition, several local races will have a racewalk division, including the Father’s Day race on June 20. July will also have some official racewalks including the Sunflower Games on July 16. If you are interested in the upcoming races, contact the Prez. These are great opportunities to check your fitness, support racewalking and various charitable organizations.
Heartland Heart Throbs Celebrate-Again
Martie and Floyd Delon celebrated their first anniversary while attending our monthly meeting on June 5. There was a small cake to mark the occasion. However, Floyd added to the celebration by making a presentation on genealogy from his and Martie’s families. He also described how he used some of the information from the 23AndMe DNA results that came from the testing at the National Senior Olympics at Stanford last August. We look forward to more celebrations in the future from the Delons who recently moved into their new home in KC, MO.
HRW hosts the WNR-2010
May 19: This was the third year that HRW hosted the KC Track Club’s weekly WNR (Wednesday Night Run). Nine of our pedestrians showed the assembled runners that we can walk in the rain-and provide some good food as well. Tom Oakes, with a little help from HyVee, supplied the main course and other goodies came from the participants. It threatened rain and waited until most had left for the trail before really opening up. Nevertheless, a good time was had by all, with a little help from Dick Ross, our friendly photographer. Some pics can be seen at the PICTURES link. We have banned precipitation from next year’s event.
Brew to Brew 43-Mile Relay Through the Years
Year Time Net Hcp Captains Team members
2001 485 439 46 A. Poisner T. Zinchuk P. Zinchuk S. Figoni K. Christensen
2002 524 462 62 A. Poisner T. Zinchuk P. Zinchuk P. Jacobs D. Acuff
2003 539 491 48 A. Poisner T. Zinchuk P. Zinchuk L. Bainter J. Slate
2004 541 493 48 A. Poisner A. Christensen P. Jacobs L. Bainter E. McManus
2005 542 486 56 A. Poisner A. Christensen P. Jacobs L. Lund V. Harmer
2006 529 457 72 A. Poisner A. Christensen P. Jacobs BJ Thornburg E. McManus
2006 530 483 47 T. Zinchuk S. Rico P. Zinchuk L. Lund J. Anderson
2007 577 485 92 F. Weddle N. Perih S. Batthauer BJ Thornburg R. Weddle
2007 570 490 80 A Poisner K. Dockter P. Jacobs E. Wheeler M. Paulsen
2008 547 501 46 M. Landry S. Batthauer S. Rico BJ Thornburg R. Dandi
2008 547 465 82 A. Poisner N. Perih P. Jacobs K. Bunton B. Kremer
2009 604 524 80 A. Poisner S. Rico P. Jacobs BJ Thornburg L. Bell
2010 586 512 74 M. Landry L. Gentleman C. Zarrelli BJ Thornburg R. Dandi
2010 578 472 106 A. Poisner N. Perih P. Jacobs B Schwartz Fred Adams
Brew to Brew 43-Mile Relay-April 11, 2010
This was the 10th year that HRW participated in the Brew to Brew 43-mile Relay from KC to Lawrence. There were close to 3,000 individuals who ran/walked all or part of the way. This year, as in 2008, HRW had the two teams: the Walking Warriors (WW-Mark Landry, Captain) and the Perpetual Pedestrians (PP-Alan Poisner, Captain). The weather was excellent, unlike the freezing rain and blowing wind in 2009. Both teams had faster age- and gender-adjusted times than the 2009 team.
We had 4 rookies (Barb Schwartz, Lynn Gentleman, Chuck Zarrelli and Fred Adams) and 6 veterans (Mark Landry, Phil Jacobs, Alan Poisner, Nancy Perih, BJ Thornburg and Raj Dandi). We all gathered in front of the Boulevard Brewery on Southwest Blvd. about 5:40 am for group pictures and to load our two cars. Each team sent one walker at a time on the route (much of it along the Kaw River levee) while the others rode to the next exchange point. Each person walked 2.5-5.8 miles and then did it again after about a 1-4 hour interval.
After almost 10 hours, the teams finished very close to Alan’s pre-race predictions: WW: predicted=581; finished 586; PP: predicted=580; finished 578 min. These 5-min and 2-min differences are really close considering all of the variables in the race (hills, temperature, rookies vs veterans, wrong mileages, etc.), but those who have done the Brew to Brew in the past know that Alan’s predictions have been very close over the years. A summary of HRW’s experience in the Brew to Brew Relay in the last 10 years are shown in the preceding News Item. PP not only came in first in the walking division, but also beat 10 running teams in the age- and gender-based ranking, That always looks good when the KC Track Club posts the results. Note that everyone who took part and challenged themselves was a winner, especially our rookies.
The most unusual training method was used by Mark Landry who walked the Olathe Marathon (26.2 miles) the day before the relay. He indicated that he might not use that method next year.
We thank Tom Oakes for once again serving as a volunteer-and making some great peanut butter sandwiches for the solo runners. Thanks also to Mark and Phil for supplying the cars and doing most of the driving.
As in the past, both teams celebrated afterwards with a feast at the Mad Greek’s restaurant in Lawrence and were joined by Tom Oakes, Jerry Thornburg and Chuck’s friend Paula.
Check other links on our homepage (Pictures and Results)
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/racewalker/sets/72157623892486988/
Results: http://heartlandracewalkers.com/results.php
You might want to try this exciting event next year.
We had 4 rookies (Barb Schwartz, Lynn Gentleman, Chuck Zarrelli and Fred Adams) and 6 veterans (Mark Landry, Phil Jacobs, Alan Poisner, Nancy Perih, BJ Thornburg and Raj Dandi). We all gathered in front of the Boulevard Brewery on Southwest Blvd. about 5:40 am for group pictures and to load our two cars. Each team sent one walker at a time on the route (much of it along the Kaw River levee) while the others rode to the next exchange point. Each person walked 2.5-5.8 miles and then did it again after about a 1-4 hour interval.
After almost 10 hours, the teams finished very close to Alan’s pre-race predictions: WW: predicted=581; finished 586; PP: predicted=580; finished 578 min. These 5-min and 2-min differences are really close considering all of the variables in the race (hills, temperature, rookies vs veterans, wrong mileages, etc.), but those who have done the Brew to Brew in the past know that Alan’s predictions have been very close over the years. A summary of HRW’s experience in the Brew to Brew Relay in the last 10 years are shown in the preceding News Item. PP not only came in first in the walking division, but also beat 10 running teams in the age- and gender-based ranking, That always looks good when the KC Track Club posts the results. Note that everyone who took part and challenged themselves was a winner, especially our rookies.
The most unusual training method was used by Mark Landry who walked the Olathe Marathon (26.2 miles) the day before the relay. He indicated that he might not use that method next year.
We thank Tom Oakes for once again serving as a volunteer-and making some great peanut butter sandwiches for the solo runners. Thanks also to Mark and Phil for supplying the cars and doing most of the driving.
As in the past, both teams celebrated afterwards with a feast at the Mad Greek’s restaurant in Lawrence and were joined by Tom Oakes, Jerry Thornburg and Chuck’s friend Paula.
Check other links on our homepage (Pictures and Results)
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/racewalker/sets/72157623892486988/
Results: http://heartlandracewalkers.com/results.php
You might want to try this exciting event next year.
Awards for 2009
At our annual meeting on Dec. 5, the following awards were announced:
High point achievers (HRW Point Program): Martie & Floyd Delon and Peg Armstrong - $25 gift certificates
Newcomer of the year award: Chuck Zarrelli – Club Jacket
Volunteer of the year awards (2008 and 2009): Tom Young and Tom Oakes - Medals
Youth Excellence Awards: Santosh and Lakshmi Dandi – Racewalk clinic in a book (given earlier)
Awards for past races
Patriots Day Run: Chuck Zarrelli - Plaque for 2nd place team
Members of 1st place team received framed certificates: Alan Poisner, Nancy Perih, Marie Wilkie, Jean
Brunnenkant, Julie Haller, Pamela Felton, Tom Oakes, Floyd Delon, Forrest Weddle, Raj Dandi
Gobbler Grind Awards – Stocking caps
5K Walkers: 1st Male-Santosh Dandi; 1st Female-Lakshmi Dandi
Age-group winners (running division)
Male 70+ 2nd Floyd Delon
3rd Tom Young
Female 70+ 1st Jean Brunnenkant
Half-Marathon Walkers: 1st Male-Alan Poisner; 1st Female- Eileen McManus
High point achievers (HRW Point Program): Martie & Floyd Delon and Peg Armstrong - $25 gift certificates
Newcomer of the year award: Chuck Zarrelli – Club Jacket
Volunteer of the year awards (2008 and 2009): Tom Young and Tom Oakes - Medals
Youth Excellence Awards: Santosh and Lakshmi Dandi – Racewalk clinic in a book (given earlier)
Awards for past races
Patriots Day Run: Chuck Zarrelli - Plaque for 2nd place team
Members of 1st place team received framed certificates: Alan Poisner, Nancy Perih, Marie Wilkie, Jean
Brunnenkant, Julie Haller, Pamela Felton, Tom Oakes, Floyd Delon, Forrest Weddle, Raj Dandi
Gobbler Grind Awards – Stocking caps
5K Walkers: 1st Male-Santosh Dandi; 1st Female-Lakshmi Dandi
Age-group winners (running division)
Male 70+ 2nd Floyd Delon
3rd Tom Young
Female 70+ 1st Jean Brunnenkant
Half-Marathon Walkers: 1st Male-Alan Poisner; 1st Female- Eileen McManus
2010 Saturday Clinic Time Change
Beginning on January 2, 2010, the regular Saturday morning clinics will begin at 9:00 am and we will keep that time throughout the winter. Monthly meetings on Saturdays will start at 10:00 following clinic. Our later starting times will be especially helpful for those who have to travel a substantial distance to reach our meeting place (Fitness Plus, 107th & Roe).
2009 Annual Report
This is the annual State of the Club Report which our President gave on Dec. 5, 2009 that reviewed the activities of the Heartland Racewalkers for the past year and made some projections for 2010.
“We had our annual meeting last year on Dec. 6 with 40 people in attendance, including our special guest, Dick Ross, and Lori Bainter-Ratzlaff’s two daughters. After the meeting was over, our friend, BJ the DJ paid a brief visit.
Elections for the 2009 year were held with the following results.
Vice-President Forrest Weddle
Treasurer Tom Oakes
Secretary Sarah Justice
Clinic Director Fred Adams
Historian Jean Brunnenkant
President Alan Poisner
Other board members selected were: Wayne Kerns, Jean Brunnenkant, Tom Young, Moe Lago, Ruth Weddle, Leah Luckeroth, Kathy Dockter. Alan gave the State of the Club address and thanked the officers and board members for the past year. Trudy Nepstad showed off her winter wear as usual and has offered to donate 20% of the sales to our Club’s Development Fund. Thanks Trudy.
On January 1st, we started off the New Year by taking part in the annual New Year’s Day Run/Walk at the Athletic Club of Overland Park, sponsored by the KC Track Club. This was followed by breakfast afterwards. This is an annual club tradition and I invite you to join us this year.
At our first meeting of the year, we showed videos of the Jonathan Matthews Clinic last April. At the end of the month, 7 Members kept up our tradition by entering the Ground Hog 5K (in the Subtropolis cave). It’s always about 58 degrees for this race, regardless of the outside weather.
In February, we showed videos of racewalking history, including our founder, Debbi Lawrence who was to pay us a visit later in the month. We had 44 paid up members. Debbi Lawrence (now Debbi Sullivan) made a presentation to our club and gave a brief clinic on racewalking. 32 walkers attended as did the Fitness Plus manager, Jenny Wallace. Santosh & Lakshmi Dandi competed in Manhattan in the Mo Valley USATF indoor championship.
At our March meeting, Denise Strickler talked to us about Bee-Keeping along with some larger than life pictures of the little creatures. The Dandis told us about their races in Manhattan and we celebrated Phil Jacobs’ retirement. Our homepage on the web had now had a cumulative total of 5000 hits, with about 100 per month. 12 of our members entered an indoor race at Johnson County Community College, sponsored by the ‘Heartland Athletic Services”
In April, Rebecca Smith gave us a talk on lung function and respiratory testing, her professional activity. It was very interesting and shows that we have a lot of talented members in our club.
On April 5: Our Brew Relay Team. The Perennial Perpetual Pedestrians walked the 43-mile trip to Lawrence in very challenging weather that ranged from freezing rain to 45 mph winds. Our hearty band (Phil Jacobs, BJ Thornburg, Susan Rico, Alan Poisner and Laurie Bell) braved the elements and actually beat 5 running teams. We celebrated afterwards with our traditional meal at the Mad Greek Restaurant.
In May we showed some a video of the South Texas Walking club, a youth team. Santosh Dandi was listed in the USATF monthly magazine as one of the youth honorees in his age division, based on his performance at last year’s nationals. There a number of races in May that our club entered including Fred in the St. Louis Sr. Games and Martie & Floyd in the Raytown one-miler. We again hosted the Wednesday Night Run (WNR) at Leawood City Park with a picnic after the running and walking.
In June, we had a guest speaker from the Johnson County Volunteers. We have a special member who has been doing Meals on Wheels for many years, Tom Young. Heartland Racewalkers received a report of a heartwarming event: the marriage onboard a ship in the Mediterranean of Floyd and Martie Lykens Delon). There was a reception for Martie and Floyd at Martie’s church later in the month. It was one of the rare times where a large number of HRW members congregated without wearing exercise clothes and shoes. An article about Jean and Alan appeared in the Overland Park Sun and is copied on our homepage. Alan manned a table at the Johnson County Parks & Recreation Step in Shape Program again this year and passed out information. We were lucky that Marie Wilkie was there and has since become an active member of our club.
There were some important races in June. The Heartland USATF Outdoor races were held on June 5 at Park Hill HS. Our members did the 1500 meter and/or 3000 meter walks; and Lakshmi and Santosh Dandi also did the shot put. The Dandi’s almost didn’t make it because there car came to a stop a few blocks before arriving at the track. On June 12, we had racers in the Missouri Valley USATF Outdoor Championships at Shawnee Mission South HS, including youth, open and Masters (1500, 3000 and 5000 meters). We also had members who competed in the Heartland Outdoor meet at Johnson County Community College. Three of our members did the Beat the Heat race on June 21 (Fathers’ Day).
In July our monthly meeting was actually the second Saturday of the month and we had a great picnic in Roe Park. We learned that Carol Goslin completed her 50-state marathon quest and will be featured in a future article in the KC Star. Mark Landry finished his 47th on his way to completing his 60-state quest later in the year. Alan, Martie and Floyd again did the Freedom Day Run on July 4th in Lenexa-a fun event. Martie & Alan won medals although there was no walking division. We had a good picnic on July 18 with 30 walkers and guests. Santosh Dandi raced in Wichita and qualified for the nationals but Lakshmi accidentally was not able to enter her race but later the national officials allowed her to enter the National Race to represent the Missouri Valley USATF. Other races in July were: the Sunflower State Games in Topeka, in which all members of HRW won medals (and qualified for the nationals next year in San Diego). Also the Missouri Senior Games were held in Columbia with less than usual judging. The national USATF Junior Olympics were held in Greensboro, NC and Lakshmi and Santosh represented the Missouri Valley and our club. Santosh took 7th in the 3000 meters and Lakshmi took 11th in the 1500 meters with a PR time of 9:21”. Congratulations to both for excelling at the national level. There success was due to much hard work and training and we are very proud of them.
In August, the article about Carol Goslin appeared in the KC Star Northland edition. The Dandis continued to train at Shawnee Mission North High School Track and Alan was there for a number of sessions to help them and him prepare for national races.
The big event in August was the National Senior Olympics in Palo Alto at Stanford University. Heartland Racewalkers were well represented as usual and came away with a number of medals and ribbons, including two Golds (Jean B-1500 meters and Eileen McManus-5K). We also won two Silver medals (Martie and Alan in the 1500 meters) and 2 Bronze medals (Fred in the 1500 and Alan in the 5K) and a 4th place ribbon (Fred) and 8th place ribbon (BJ). Our walkers were Jean B, Tom Y (in the 90-94 division), Floyd and Martie Delon. Fred Adams, Alan Poisner, Julie Haller, BJ Thornburg. A larger than usual number of walkers was disqualified in the two races and the race director gave a tutorial on Sunday a day before the 1500 meter race. That helped several of our walkers who survived the second race at Stanford.
We met later in the month and had reports from the National Jr and Sr Olympics, including videos and pics. Thanks to Jerry Thornburg and Keith Masterson for the video and to Forrest for the tutoring so our camera operators could use our club camera to record our members at the National Games.
At our Sept. 5 meeting, we viewed video on racewalking judging and technique and I explained the rules about judging. Fred and Alan are the only members of our club who have experience in both racing and judging-it is not easy. A major annual event occurred on Sept. 11 when our club entered two teams of 10 in the Patriots Day Run. This is a 9 hour 11 minute race that we did in relay fashion which raised funds for the Salvation Army and is a major activity in Olathe honoring our service men and women and first responders to emergencies around the country. Once again the Perpetual Pedestrians nosed out the Avengers for the team 1st place award. Special thanks go to Nancy Perih for coming in from Topeka, Chuck Zarrelli for helping out when Alan was temporarily absent, and Bo Kremer for some early help. This event has been such a big success that the organizers are going to have to move it to a larger venue next year, rumored to be near the Great Mall in Olathe. On Sept. 27 the Kansas Senior Olympics were held in Topeka and Julie Haller, Martie and Floyd Delon, Fred Adams, Alan Poisner and Tom Young all won Gold or Silver Medals, keeping HRW at the forefront of racewalking in Kansas and the Midwest.
Our October meeting was our annual Be-A-Walker 5K in Roe Park. We had 19 members plus guests. Awards were given to the top three for predictions (Vijaya Dandi, Tom Young and Denise Donaldson). Jean B received a medal for the best age-adjusted time (85%).
There were several races in October where our senior members took medals in races without walking divisions. This included the Cure SMA 5K where Martie and Trudy took 1st and 2nd and Floyd took 2nd in the 75+ division, Abby’s Run for the Heart 5K where Alan took 1st in the 70+ division; and the Waddell & Reed 5k where Alan took 1st in the 75+ division. It helps our PR in the KC Metro for others to see someone walking faster than they can run.
At our November club meeting Carol Goslin and Mark Landry spoke about their 50-state marathon achievements (very impressive). Tom Young told us about his Texas racing adventures and Forrest Weddle set up a video of our Be-A-Walker. Carol and Mark had the honor of cutting their special recognition cake, avoiding their own decapitation.
There were a couple of races in November with and without walking divisions. The Cliff Hanger had 7 racers and 2 volunteers. We won awards in both the racewalking division and in some age-divisions for the runners, although we all walked.
Other races with walking divisions included the Gobbler Grind 5K and half-marathon. This was held on Nov. 22 and the top walkers in the 5K were Lakshmi and Santosh Dandi. The top walkers in the half-marathon were Eileen McManus and Alan Poisner. Other walkers were Phil Jacobs, Floyd Delon, Tom Young and Leslie Votaw in the 5K, and BJ Thornburg and Martha McCarter in the half-marathon. Carol Goslin and Mark Landry did the marathon. They just can’t seem to get that difficult challenge out of their system. Carol came in first in her age group.
On Thanksgiving Day in Sacramento, Alan took first in the 75-79 division in the 5K (only one other competitor) but there were 30,000 walkers and runners in the combined 10K and 5K. This is the 5th year that I have done one or the other of these races in order to join my kids and grandkids for Thanksgiving.
Thanks to previous year’s board: I want to thank the 2009 board for their efforts behind the scenes that other members do not see: Ruth & Forrest Weddle, Kathy Dockter and Moe Lago. We welcome incoming board members: Floyd Delon, Pamela Felton and Peg Armstrong (repeat terms) and Leah Luckeroth, returning member) and Chuck Zarrelli a new board member
I also want to thank the officers who have spent a lot of years serving the club:
Secretary; Sarah Justice beginning her 7th year
Treasurer: Tom Oakes beginning his 4th year.
Vice President: Floyd Delon (first year as officer; many years as board member)
Clinic Director Fred Adams: beginning his 9th year.
Historian and Assistant Clinic Director: Jean Brunnenkant 12th year as historian.
Prospects for 2010:
We look forward to an exciting 2010. We hope to expand our outreach in the KC Metro by encouraging more adult and youth walkers. We look forward to more accomplishments from our youth corps: Lakshmi and Santosh Dandi. We will continue to keep the media advised about our activities. In the past we have been successful in being covered by TV, newspapers, radio and the internet. We hope that our current members can continue to serve as PR representatives for our club: by word of mouth and by handing out material, such as club cards. Suggestions for other forms of outreach are welcome.
With the dedicated members that we have now, there are good reasons to optimistic. I hope that we can continue observe our main club goals: Don’t get hurt AND Have fun.
Finally, beginning my 15th year as President (no term limits) and a member of the club since its founding in 1989, it has been a labor of love to see so many in our community take up this life-long fitness activity that keeps them fit physically and mentally.
Election Results for 2010 Year (Resulting years in office)
President-Alan Poisner 15
Vice-President-Floyd Delon 1
Secretary-Sarah Justice 7
Treasurer-Tom Oakes 4
The following are also serving the club:
Clinic Director-Fred Adams 9
Historian-Jean Brunnenkant 12
Newsletter/Web-Alan Poisner 8
Board Members:
Chuck Zarrelli
Leah Luckeroth
Pamela Felton
Peg Armstrong
Phil Jacobs
Tom Young
November meeting featured tales of long walking
Our November 5 monthly club meeting featured three members who had made some significant achievements. Carol Goslin and Mark Landry spoke about their historical achievements in joining the 50-state marathon club. Carol has actually now done 70 marathons and just keeps going. Later, Tom Young spoke about his exciting races at the Texas Senior Games where he had to deal with rain and lightning and still came away with three Gold Medals. We also had the opportunity during the meeting of watching the video taken by Forrest Weddle of our Be-A-Walker 5K predicted-time race in October. We had a total of 25 members and guests at this very special meeting. Our annual year-end meeting and party will be Dec. 5.
Racewalkers Beat Runners-Again
October found two races in which racewalkers took medals in running races. On Oct. 4, Floyd Delon took 2nd place in the male 75+ Division in the SMA 5K Run in Roeland Park (46:59). The posted results actually showed him 3rd behind Martie Delon, who was 1st in the female 75+ Division (43:48). Martie edged out Trudy Nepstad (46:31) in this division. This was a new race and Heartland Racewalkers have already staked out a claim as winners.
The second race was Abby’s Run 5K (now in the 7th year) and Alan Poisner took first in the 70+ division (34:23). This was practically in his back yard, starting in Town Centre at 119th & Nall. So the home-court advantage worked-although the weather was cold enough that he had to go to his 5-layer approach, with Heartland Racewalkers showing on the top (heavy sweater) layer.
So, even though there were no walking divisions in these races, HRW is still garnering medals with their swift pedestrianism.
The second race was Abby’s Run 5K (now in the 7th year) and Alan Poisner took first in the 70+ division (34:23). This was practically in his back yard, starting in Town Centre at 119th & Nall. So the home-court advantage worked-although the weather was cold enough that he had to go to his 5-layer approach, with Heartland Racewalkers showing on the top (heavy sweater) layer.
So, even though there were no walking divisions in these races, HRW is still garnering medals with their swift pedestrianism.
Be-A-Walker Predicted Time 5K
Oct. 3, 2009. A long-standing tradition was maintained in 2009 with our unique predicted-time 5K race around Roe Park, near our fitness center. Our 17 walkers finished 6.5 laps on an unseasonably cool day. The first place predictor was Vijaya Dandi (-7 seconds), followed by Tom Young and Denise Donaldson. The top walker in age-graded time was Jean Brunnenkant, our leader in many ways, who managed a fantastic 85%. We want to thank the volunteers, who included Fred Adams, Alan Poisner, Sarah Justice and Forrest Weddle. Awards were made following a great feast, despite the cool weather. The results can be found at the RESULTS link. Pictures will be online soon.
HRW Golden at Kansas Senior Olympics
Sept. 27, 2009. HRW took a slew of Gold Medals at the 2009 version of the State Senior Games at Hummer Park in Topeka. We had the usual hot weather and some fast times. Our speedy pedestrians were: Nancy Perih, Julie Haller, Alan Poisner, Fred Adams, Floyd Delon, Martie Delon and Tom Young. Most did both the 1500 meter and the 5000 meter racewalks. This was a non-qualifying year and our club once again kept our sport alive and well. The results can be found at the RESULTS link.
Heartland Racewalkers Stroll Again at the Patriots Run
Sept. 11, 2009. The Patriots Day Run (9 hours 11 minutes) was held again at Two-Trails Park in Olathe. HRW teams were the Perpetual Pedestrians-3 (completed 40.8 miles) and the Avengers-3 (completed 38.6 miles). There were 10 walkers on each team and included veterans and rookies. Nancy Perih came from the longest distance (Topeka). A large number of ultra-runners, marathoners and teams turned out this year (without the rain that we had in 2008). Check out our Pictures and Results links. Proceeds go to the Salvation Army and we all joined in this event’s patriotic emphasis. One of our members, Larry Burch, made a special effort and walked 26.9 miles from 3:00 am to 8:37 am in order to recognize the service of soldiers in Afghanistan who were running at the same time. He and all of our members who participated in this unique event should be commended.
HRW Scores at the National Senior Games – Palo Alto, CA
Aug. 8-10: The biannual National Senior Games were held this year on the Stanford campus. HRW sent 9 walkers and they came back with 2 Gold, 2 Silver, and 2 Bronze medals as well as 4th and 8th place ribbons. We were represented by our nonagenarian pedestrians, Jean Brunnenkant and Tom Young, as well as the youngsters Floyd and Martie Delon (recent newlyweds), Fred Adams, Alan Poisner, Julie Haller, BJ Thornburg and Eileen McManus. Gold was brought back by the oldest and the youngest, Jean and Eileen. This year the judges were particularly active in giving DQ’s to 23-37% of the walkers in the two events (5K and 1500 meters). This was discouraging to many but we believe that better days are ahead for those who were awarded the red cards. Some of our members drove to the event in the San Francisco Bay area and did some exploring before or after. The various adventures in racewalking and elsewhere were reported at our August monthly meeting (Aug. 22). The results are shown under the RESULTS link and pictures can be found under the PICTURES link. There are two sets of pictures (5K and 1500 meters). The 2011 Games will be a little warmer-in Houston.
50-State Marathon Club
Two Heartland Racewalkers have joined (or about to join) a very exclusive club. Carol Goslin has recently finished a marathon in her 50th state in her quest to join this impressive club. Carol will now have more time to spend with her racewalking buddies. Mark Landry is using a marathon in Montana in early July for his 47th state and hopes to get to number 50 before enrolling for Medicare. We are very proud of these masters of endurance and know that they have enjoyed the times where they racewalked past some tiring runners.
Heartland Heart-Throbs
Two of Heartland Racewalkers favorites, Martie Lykens and Floyd Delon, were recently married (June 2009) onboard a ship in the Mediterranean. Obviously, walking is not only good for the heart but also for heartfelt feelings. A reception was held for them after they returned and a number of HRW members were able to attend. We wish them many more years of happy walking together. For a picture of them together on the Fourth of July, check out our PICTURES link.
New Book-BoomerWalk-features HRW Members
A newly release book written by Brent Bohlen, an Illinois lawyer and racewalking devotee, includes pictures and stories about Jean Brunnenkant and Alan Poisner as well as comments about Tom Young. This is addressed mostly to the Baby Boomer generation but is intended to stimulate interest in all age groups. Commentary in a local paper can be found at our "Pictures" Link. Then click on the line that says: " To view individual pictures and sets click here. You can view captions by clicking on individual pictures."
Click on the Newspaper article to enlarge it and then click on the magnifying icon (all sizes +) above the picture.
Click on the Newspaper article to enlarge it and then click on the magnifying icon (all sizes +) above the picture.
Brew to Brew 43-Mile Relay-April 5, 2009
This year was a challenge for our HRW team of walkers that included one rookie (Laurie Bell) and 4 veterans (BJ Thornburg, Phil Jacobs, Susan Rico-Presnell and Alan Poisner). At the 6:00 am start, the temperature was about 38 degrees and falling with a 5 mph breeze. After that, it deteriorated. By 10:00 am there was a strong freezing rain coming in from the northwest that made it feel like wet needles being driven home. Finally, by the last part of the race, we had to contend with 35-40 mph winds. Although it was dry by this time, the force of the winds was enough to lift the anchorman off his feet on more than one occasion.
We were supported by our volunteer, Tom Oakes, who bravely manned the peanutbutter sandwich station that served the amazing solo runners. This year, BJ Thornburg was our nautical teammate who got to take the boat ride over Stranger Creek. Laurie Bell, our rookie, had the privilege of taking leg 6 which has an unending succession of hills but that did not seem to faze her (she likes to train on hills). As a matter of fact, Laurie and BJ trained for this event by doing the Olathe Half-Marathon on the preceding day. That is not a recommended training routine but somehow they both survived. As usual, our team celebrated their achievement with a feast at the Mad Greek restaurant in Lawrence, arriving about 4:00 after almost 10 hours. Also, as usual, our team beat at least 5 running teams in the Scratch division due to the age- and gender-based scoring (See the Results Link). Some pictures can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/racewalker/3424818764/in/set-72157616425978743/ (click on each picture individually to see comments).
We were supported by our volunteer, Tom Oakes, who bravely manned the peanutbutter sandwich station that served the amazing solo runners. This year, BJ Thornburg was our nautical teammate who got to take the boat ride over Stranger Creek. Laurie Bell, our rookie, had the privilege of taking leg 6 which has an unending succession of hills but that did not seem to faze her (she likes to train on hills). As a matter of fact, Laurie and BJ trained for this event by doing the Olathe Half-Marathon on the preceding day. That is not a recommended training routine but somehow they both survived. As usual, our team celebrated their achievement with a feast at the Mad Greek restaurant in Lawrence, arriving about 4:00 after almost 10 hours. Also, as usual, our team beat at least 5 running teams in the Scratch division due to the age- and gender-based scoring (See the Results Link). Some pictures can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/racewalker/3424818764/in/set-72157616425978743/ (click on each picture individually to see comments).
2009 Heartland Open/Masters Indoor Track & Field Meet
March 21, 2009: The inaugural 2009 Heartland Indoor Track Meet featured two racewalk events. Heartland Racewalkers provided 8 walkers in the 1-mile event and 6 in the 3000 meter race. This was a new experience for most of the walkers who rounded the 200-meter track 15 times in the 3000 meter racewalk. Raj Dandi was the fastest walker in the 1-mile race and Eileen McManus was fastest in the 3000 meters. Awards were given in 5-year age divisions. Detailed results will be posted soon, along with pictures.
Racewalking Clinic by Debbi Spino
Debbi Spino, who started the racewalking program in the Kansas City area, visited Fitness Plus on Wednesday, Feb. 25 and presented a mini-clinic (6:30-8:00). Debbi, a three-time Olympian and holder of many American records, spoke about her national and international racewalking experience and also provided help on racewalking training, technique and habits for good health. 35 walkers attended the clinic and demontration. It was a great home-coming week for Debbi. We look forward to future visits.
2008 Annual Report
Our annual party last year was held on December 1 at the Fitness Plus facility. 23 members renewed at this time. Awards were given to the newcomers of the year (the Dandi family), to Kiara Bunton, as the outstanding youth member, and to Kathy Dockter and Elaine Wheeler as the top point winners-for the second six-month period in a row.
Elections were held with the following results.
Vice-President Forrest Weddle 1st year
Treasurer Tom Oakes 2nd
Secretary Sarah Justice 5th
Clinic Director Fred Adams 7th
Historian Jean Brunnenkant 10th
President Alan Poisner (year in office) 13th time
Other board members selected were: Amy Christensen, Wayne Kerns, Jean Brunnenkant, Tom Young, Moe Lago, Ruth Weddle. Alan gave the State of the Club address and thanked the officers and board members for the past year. Trudy Nepstad showed off her winter wear as usual and has offered to donate some of the sales to our Club’s Development Fund. Thanks Trudy.
We learned that Floyd Delon had moved to Columbia but he will still be visiting us in in KC periodically. Fortunately, it has been fairly frequent. We received some new technical wicking shirts and some were given out at the annual party, including a (size very small) shirt to Alana Bainter-Ratzlaff. She demonstrated it while walking to the goodies table (several times).
On January 1st, we started off the New Year by taking part in the annual New Year’s Day Run/Walk at the Athletic Club of Overland Park, sponsored by the KC Track Club. This was followed by breakfast afterwards. This is an annual club tradition and I invite you to join us this year.
At our January 5 meeting, Our guest speaker was Heidi Valenzuela, a yoga instructor who gave a great demonstration. Our newest members include Dr. Mark and Mary Landry. Alan announced that our club has been offered a discounted subscription to Walk! Magazine. 20 members have joined in this program which provides a cheaper rate as the number of subscribers increase. We had 9 members participating in the Ground Hog underground 5K this year. We made our usual impressive showing in our red shirts. Martie and Trudy took 1st and 2nd in their age divisions and Alan took 3rd.
We had 38 paid-up members and about 3,400 hits on our homepage
In February, our speaker was Dr. Mark Landry, a podiatrist, marathoner and a new member. He spoke on foot care, injury prevention and treatment. Our membership is now 44 with new member Jimmy Sue Sells from Reading, KS.
In March. Jean Brunnenkant continued her terrific job on drills and review. This has been well received. Our membership has grown to 46, including our former member who lives in St. Louis area, Dave Couts. Hits on our homepage have increased to 3639, about 100 per month. The editor of Walk! Magazine has asked Alan to write a short description of our club for a future issue. We received the TV/DVD cart that Tom Oakes ordered to use for our club presentations. This has allowed us to have a permanent presence in our meeting room. We planned for a special April clinic by Jonathan Matthews.
April was a very busy month for HRW. At our April 5th Meeting, we had a social get-together & prepared for the upcoming Brew to Brew Relay. Tom, Forrest and Alan have been dealing with Johnson County Parks & Recreation Dept. for obtaining a memorial bench to be in Roe Park.
On April 6, we had two teams in the Brew to Brew 43-mile relay: the Walking Warriors (Mark Landry, Captain) and the Primary Perpetual Pedestrians (Alan Poisner, captain). After about 9 hours the teams finished in the same time but the PPP’s were the winners because of the handicaps. Both teams then celebrated at our usual Greek feast afterwards. We hope to have 10 people again this coming year to field two teams. Check with me about your interest.
On April 17, Alan, BJ and Fred put on a clinic for Blue Valley teachers at their district headquarters at 151st & Metcalf. 17 came to the district presentation and 6 came to our regular clinic on the following Saturday. The clinic was very well received.
On April 20, Alan and Floyd did the Broadway Bridge 5K and both took first in their age divisions.
On the weekend of April 26-27. we had the delayed Clinic by Jonathan Matthews. This clinic was postponed from April 12-13 because of transportation problems that Jonathan had from Helena. It probably was a lucky break because the weather was winter-like on that weekend but was much better on the 26th. 17 people registered and two college walkers from Concordia College were able to come. This was a very successful clinic that was aided by the video camera that Forrest Weddle obtained and was later used for feedback. We used the Shawnee Mission South HS track for some of our clinic. Jonathan was pleased with the clinic and the feedback from those attending was also positive. We have now had three nationally prominent racewalking coaches who have come to present clinics: Dave McGovern, Jeff Salvage and Jonathan Matthews. All were very well received and we may plan more in the future.
At our May Meeting, we reported on the Matthews Clinic.
We had two races in May: the Steps to the Cure 5K on the 18th where we had 9 walkers. Two of our walkers also received awards in the running division: Martie Lykens took first in her division and BJ Thornburg took third in hers. On the 26th 3 walkers did the Amy Thompson 8K and Kiara Bunton did 2-mile at Loose Park.
On May 28th, Martie Lykens and Alan once again represented HRW at the Johnson County 50+ Step in Shape Event. There were close to 100 people who came to walk at the Deanna Rose Family Center (and Martie & Alan did some demonstrations). Then the group met at the Ritz Charles center where there were information tables sponsored by various organizations, including US. We handed out information and had 11 people sign up to receive more info. We also gave out a free- membership in the door prize drawings. The organizers of the event sent us a big thank-you afterwards. Alan continued to work with them in preparation for the 50+ games in September.
Later that day, HRW hosted the Wednesday Night Run (WNR) for the KC Track Club. at the Lions shelter house in Leawood City Park (the same as last year). Alan set up the poster display that was used earlier at the presentation to the Blue Valley teachers. It was well received by the KC Track Club group and they gave us good PR in their internet communications.
Our June meeting featured Tom Young who discussed his elder hostel trip to Israel. He brought a map and made an excellent presentation.
Our membership was now 49, including Debbie Pahura-Bonner Springs and Shirley Coffey.
There were lots of races in June. (9)
June 7: Iowa Senior Games: Fred Adams and Tom Young got Gold Medals
June 7: Hospital Hill: Alan, Eileen McManus & BJ Thornburg: 10K race in some hot weather. We got our usual positive responses from runners and spectators.
June 8: Missouri State AAU 2008 Junior Outdoor Championships-Independence, MO: Kiara Bunton took first place in her 3000 meter race: outstanding time: 18:36. This qualified her for the regional championships.
June 13: USATF Mo Valley Jr Olympics Qualifying: Kiara Bunton, Santosh and Lakshmi Dandi
We also had three volunteers: Sarah Justice and Fred Adams & Alan, who served as racewalk judges.
June 13: Night Flight: Floyd-5K-Lee’s Summit-nightime
June 15: Beat the Heat 5K: Eileen, Floyd, Alan
June 20-21: Mo Sr Games: BJ, Martie, Dave Couts, Alan, Fred, Tom Young, Floyd: Lots of Gold
June 28: USATF Masters: Rockhurst: Eileen, Julie, Raj, Wayne, Bo Kremer, BJ, Alan
June 28: AAU Regional Joplin: Kiara Bunton-3K-Silver Medal
July: We used our July 5 monthly meeting for a picnic at Roe Park. We had more than 30 walkers and one visitor! Lori Bainter brought her two girls. Alan gave out awards for the 1st 6 months. Martie was the top with 58!
Membership: we now have 55 members. New member-Debi Waters. Amy Christensen returned from her month in Sweden. Our home page registerd its 4,000th hit.
Many races: (5)
July 4: Freedom Run 5K and 10K (Olathe) (no walking divisions): Alan took did the 10K and Floyd did the 5K.
July 13: USATF Region 9 Junior Olympics (Tulsa): Lakshmi & Santosh Dandi took Gold medals to qualify for the nationals. Unfortunately Kiara could not compete because of a foot injury.
July 18: Sunflower State Games (Topeka). Jimmy Sue Sells and Alan won their divisions and qualified for the national meet in Colorado Springs next year. Last year Alan won two Gold Medals in his age division at this meet at the Air Force Academy.
July 19: USATF National Clubs Outdoor Championships (Olathe). Eileen and Alan represented HRW (about an hour after our picnic) and took Gold (EM) and Bronze (AP). There was only one woman and 4 men in this 5000 meter race, which wins points for clubs. BJ Thornburg was a volunteer and our cheering section included Raj, Santosh & Lakshmi Dandi, Floyd Delon, Martie Lykens and Bo Kremer. HRW won 16 points by virtue of Eileen’s and Alan’s results and therefore our club finished 15 out of 26 clubs in overall points! The Kansas City Smoke (Mo Valley) won the most points for the men’s competition. This event included all track and field events so we did well competing in only one event!
July 20: Run to the Sun 5K (cave in Independence-no walking division): Floyd 1st in the 75-79 division.
July 27: AAU National Jr Olympics (Detroit): Kiara Bunton took the 8th place medal in the 3000 meter racewalk-congratulation,
July 27: ShowMe State Games (Columbia) 5K: Floyd Delon & Dave Couts represented HRW
August:
At our August 2 meeting, Darren Anderson-Exercise Physiologist-gave a demonstration of VO2 and HRmax measurements on a treadmill, using Alan as the guinea pig. After the demo we went downstairs and celebrated the awards of Lakshmi & Santosh Dandi (with a cake).
Races
Aug. 2: ShowMe State Games (Columbia) 1500 meters: Fred Adams & Dave Couts represented HRW-taking Gold
Aug. 16: Farmstead Stampede 5K: Floyd Delon carried the colors for HRW
Aug. 17: Stroke Stroll (4 miles): Hy Vee-123rd State Line: Raj Dandi was 1st (M); Leah Luckeroth and Julie Haller were 1st & 2nd (F) in the racewalking division. Julie also took first in her age group in the running division. Alan took 2nd in the 70-74 running division.
September
Sept. 6: We had the dedication of our memorial bench in Roe Park. This park memorializes and honors special past members: Lew McNaughton, Ed Levy, Al Armstrong and Don Swegel. Remarks were made by Alan, Wayne, Floyd, and several family members, including Jean Levy and Peg Armstrong. Afterwards we had a brunch at the shelter house. The bench looks great and photos from the dedication are on our homepage. Club members and families of our late members made contributions that covered the cost ($900). Thanks to all who made contributions and those who helped with the refreshments and also the logistics in getting the bench: Tom, Forrest and Alan.
Membership: Charles Zarrelli recently joined after walking at the 50+ games. Laurie Bell also joined, although we have yet to convert her to a racewalker.
Past Races:
Sept. 7: Head for the Cure 5K:Corp Woods-Alan and Floyd represented HRW;Alan took 1st place in the 70+ division.
Sept. 11: Patriots Day Run (9 hours and 11 minutes): (Two-Trails Park) Olathe. We had 24 walkers on two teams: (13 on one the Avengers-2 and 11 on the Perpetual Pedestrians-2). This was an increase from the 22 that we had last year. The proceeds went to the Salvation Army. We once again got great PR, many photos on the internet, and kudos from the racing community. The Perpetual Pedestrians won by 1.5 miles over the Avengers. Awards were given by BJ the DJ. Thanks to all who made this another memorable event for HRW.
Sept. 14: 50+ Games 5K: Olathe (Heritage Park). HRW had 7 members and good PR. Forrest Weddle took some pictures and brought some home-grown pears before the race-thanks. Larry Burch, a member who lives in the Northland was first overall. Alan worked on the organizing committee. Also competing: Charles Zarrelli, Fred Adams, Floyd Delon, Tom Young, Julie Haller, Jean Brunnenkant. Alan was the club volunteer.
Sept. 28: Kansas Senior Olympics (Topeka): Gold medals by Nancy Perih, Jimmy Sue Sells, Julie Haller, Martie Lykens, Jean Brunnenkant, Eileen McManus, Alan Poisner, Fred Adams & Tom Young. All qualified for the National Senior Olympics which will be at Stanford next August. We are still making our club known at the nationals.
Sept. 28: Free to Breathe 5K (Overland Park): Floyd took 2nd place in the 70+ division.
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October
Oct. 4: Be-A-Walker at Shawnee Mission South. This year we had a 1600 meter (4 laps) race. Awards were given for the top three in the predicted-time event and for the top walker in the age-graded category (Martie Lykens) and to the fastest walker (Santosh Dandi). The results and pictures are posted on our homepage. Forrest Weddle used our video camera to record our walkers and we will play it back at our year-end party. The reason that we moved away from our usual 5K site at Roe Park was because another organization had reserved Roe Park for a 5K. We will decide next year what venue to use.
November
Nov. 4: We were treated at our monthly meeting to Nancy Perih telling us about her elder hostel experience in Iceland. Thanks, Nancy.
Member news: Fred Adams was remarried recently and we wish him and Betty much happiness in the coming years.
Races
Nov. 2: Cliff Hanger 5K: We had 7 walkers and 2 volunteers at the race this year. The top walkers in the 5K: Males (Raj Dandi, Santosh Dandi, Fred Adams, Moe Lago, Chuck Zarrelli; Females (Lakshmi Dandi and Martie Lykens); we had one walker in the 8K: Alan Poisner. We also had two volunteers: Tom Young and Sarah Justice. Moe Lago walked to the race from his home (less than 1500 meters). We had the usual pancake breakfast afterwards. Fred Adams and Martie Lykens also won awards in the running division. The KC Track Club has continued their friendly cooperation with us for this race and we should continue to support it.
Nov. 23: Gobbler Grind (5K and half-marathon). On a very cold day, HRW had three walkers on the 5K and 2 in the Half-marathon. The Dandi family walked off with the honors in the 5K (Raj, Lakshmi and Santosh, in that order. Alan and BJ Thornburg were our two in the longer race. The results should be posted soon to our home page. Rusty Collins who has worked with Alan before provided awards to the racewalkers. Lakshmi and Alan also won awards in the running division. BJ the DJ made his usual complimentary remarks about racewalking at the finish. We should continue to support this event; and they will make awards to the top 3 male and female walkers-if we can supply the numbers.
Prospects for 2009:
We look forward to an exciting 2009 when HRW defends its medals and ribbons at the national stage at the National Senior Olympics, the National State Games of America, and the Huntsman World Games.
Also, we hope to expand our outreach in the KC Metro by encouraging more adult and youth walkers. We look forward to more accomplishments from our youth corps: Kiara Bunton, Lakshmi and Santosh Dandi. We will continue to keep the media advised about our activities. In the past we have been successful in being covered by TV, newspapers, radio and the internet. We hope that our current members can continue to serve as PR representatives for our club: by word of mouth and by handing out material, such as club cards. Suggestions for other forms of outreach are welcome.
With the dedicated members that we have now, there are good reasons to optimistic. I hope that we can continue observe our main club goals: Don’t get hurt AND Have fun.
Elections were held with the following results.
Vice-President Forrest Weddle 1st year
Treasurer Tom Oakes 2nd
Secretary Sarah Justice 5th
Clinic Director Fred Adams 7th
Historian Jean Brunnenkant 10th
President Alan Poisner (year in office) 13th time
Other board members selected were: Amy Christensen, Wayne Kerns, Jean Brunnenkant, Tom Young, Moe Lago, Ruth Weddle. Alan gave the State of the Club address and thanked the officers and board members for the past year. Trudy Nepstad showed off her winter wear as usual and has offered to donate some of the sales to our Club’s Development Fund. Thanks Trudy.
We learned that Floyd Delon had moved to Columbia but he will still be visiting us in in KC periodically. Fortunately, it has been fairly frequent. We received some new technical wicking shirts and some were given out at the annual party, including a (size very small) shirt to Alana Bainter-Ratzlaff. She demonstrated it while walking to the goodies table (several times).
On January 1st, we started off the New Year by taking part in the annual New Year’s Day Run/Walk at the Athletic Club of Overland Park, sponsored by the KC Track Club. This was followed by breakfast afterwards. This is an annual club tradition and I invite you to join us this year.
At our January 5 meeting, Our guest speaker was Heidi Valenzuela, a yoga instructor who gave a great demonstration. Our newest members include Dr. Mark and Mary Landry. Alan announced that our club has been offered a discounted subscription to Walk! Magazine. 20 members have joined in this program which provides a cheaper rate as the number of subscribers increase. We had 9 members participating in the Ground Hog underground 5K this year. We made our usual impressive showing in our red shirts. Martie and Trudy took 1st and 2nd in their age divisions and Alan took 3rd.
We had 38 paid-up members and about 3,400 hits on our homepage
In February, our speaker was Dr. Mark Landry, a podiatrist, marathoner and a new member. He spoke on foot care, injury prevention and treatment. Our membership is now 44 with new member Jimmy Sue Sells from Reading, KS.
In March. Jean Brunnenkant continued her terrific job on drills and review. This has been well received. Our membership has grown to 46, including our former member who lives in St. Louis area, Dave Couts. Hits on our homepage have increased to 3639, about 100 per month. The editor of Walk! Magazine has asked Alan to write a short description of our club for a future issue. We received the TV/DVD cart that Tom Oakes ordered to use for our club presentations. This has allowed us to have a permanent presence in our meeting room. We planned for a special April clinic by Jonathan Matthews.
April was a very busy month for HRW. At our April 5th Meeting, we had a social get-together & prepared for the upcoming Brew to Brew Relay. Tom, Forrest and Alan have been dealing with Johnson County Parks & Recreation Dept. for obtaining a memorial bench to be in Roe Park.
On April 6, we had two teams in the Brew to Brew 43-mile relay: the Walking Warriors (Mark Landry, Captain) and the Primary Perpetual Pedestrians (Alan Poisner, captain). After about 9 hours the teams finished in the same time but the PPP’s were the winners because of the handicaps. Both teams then celebrated at our usual Greek feast afterwards. We hope to have 10 people again this coming year to field two teams. Check with me about your interest.
On April 17, Alan, BJ and Fred put on a clinic for Blue Valley teachers at their district headquarters at 151st & Metcalf. 17 came to the district presentation and 6 came to our regular clinic on the following Saturday. The clinic was very well received.
On April 20, Alan and Floyd did the Broadway Bridge 5K and both took first in their age divisions.
On the weekend of April 26-27. we had the delayed Clinic by Jonathan Matthews. This clinic was postponed from April 12-13 because of transportation problems that Jonathan had from Helena. It probably was a lucky break because the weather was winter-like on that weekend but was much better on the 26th. 17 people registered and two college walkers from Concordia College were able to come. This was a very successful clinic that was aided by the video camera that Forrest Weddle obtained and was later used for feedback. We used the Shawnee Mission South HS track for some of our clinic. Jonathan was pleased with the clinic and the feedback from those attending was also positive. We have now had three nationally prominent racewalking coaches who have come to present clinics: Dave McGovern, Jeff Salvage and Jonathan Matthews. All were very well received and we may plan more in the future.
At our May Meeting, we reported on the Matthews Clinic.
We had two races in May: the Steps to the Cure 5K on the 18th where we had 9 walkers. Two of our walkers also received awards in the running division: Martie Lykens took first in her division and BJ Thornburg took third in hers. On the 26th 3 walkers did the Amy Thompson 8K and Kiara Bunton did 2-mile at Loose Park.
On May 28th, Martie Lykens and Alan once again represented HRW at the Johnson County 50+ Step in Shape Event. There were close to 100 people who came to walk at the Deanna Rose Family Center (and Martie & Alan did some demonstrations). Then the group met at the Ritz Charles center where there were information tables sponsored by various organizations, including US. We handed out information and had 11 people sign up to receive more info. We also gave out a free- membership in the door prize drawings. The organizers of the event sent us a big thank-you afterwards. Alan continued to work with them in preparation for the 50+ games in September.
Later that day, HRW hosted the Wednesday Night Run (WNR) for the KC Track Club. at the Lions shelter house in Leawood City Park (the same as last year). Alan set up the poster display that was used earlier at the presentation to the Blue Valley teachers. It was well received by the KC Track Club group and they gave us good PR in their internet communications.
Our June meeting featured Tom Young who discussed his elder hostel trip to Israel. He brought a map and made an excellent presentation.
Our membership was now 49, including Debbie Pahura-Bonner Springs and Shirley Coffey.
There were lots of races in June. (9)
June 7: Iowa Senior Games: Fred Adams and Tom Young got Gold Medals
June 7: Hospital Hill: Alan, Eileen McManus & BJ Thornburg: 10K race in some hot weather. We got our usual positive responses from runners and spectators.
June 8: Missouri State AAU 2008 Junior Outdoor Championships-Independence, MO: Kiara Bunton took first place in her 3000 meter race: outstanding time: 18:36. This qualified her for the regional championships.
June 13: USATF Mo Valley Jr Olympics Qualifying: Kiara Bunton, Santosh and Lakshmi Dandi
We also had three volunteers: Sarah Justice and Fred Adams & Alan, who served as racewalk judges.
June 13: Night Flight: Floyd-5K-Lee’s Summit-nightime
June 15: Beat the Heat 5K: Eileen, Floyd, Alan
June 20-21: Mo Sr Games: BJ, Martie, Dave Couts, Alan, Fred, Tom Young, Floyd: Lots of Gold
June 28: USATF Masters: Rockhurst: Eileen, Julie, Raj, Wayne, Bo Kremer, BJ, Alan
June 28: AAU Regional Joplin: Kiara Bunton-3K-Silver Medal
July: We used our July 5 monthly meeting for a picnic at Roe Park. We had more than 30 walkers and one visitor! Lori Bainter brought her two girls. Alan gave out awards for the 1st 6 months. Martie was the top with 58!
Membership: we now have 55 members. New member-Debi Waters. Amy Christensen returned from her month in Sweden. Our home page registerd its 4,000th hit.
Many races: (5)
July 4: Freedom Run 5K and 10K (Olathe) (no walking divisions): Alan took did the 10K and Floyd did the 5K.
July 13: USATF Region 9 Junior Olympics (Tulsa): Lakshmi & Santosh Dandi took Gold medals to qualify for the nationals. Unfortunately Kiara could not compete because of a foot injury.
July 18: Sunflower State Games (Topeka). Jimmy Sue Sells and Alan won their divisions and qualified for the national meet in Colorado Springs next year. Last year Alan won two Gold Medals in his age division at this meet at the Air Force Academy.
July 19: USATF National Clubs Outdoor Championships (Olathe). Eileen and Alan represented HRW (about an hour after our picnic) and took Gold (EM) and Bronze (AP). There was only one woman and 4 men in this 5000 meter race, which wins points for clubs. BJ Thornburg was a volunteer and our cheering section included Raj, Santosh & Lakshmi Dandi, Floyd Delon, Martie Lykens and Bo Kremer. HRW won 16 points by virtue of Eileen’s and Alan’s results and therefore our club finished 15 out of 26 clubs in overall points! The Kansas City Smoke (Mo Valley) won the most points for the men’s competition. This event included all track and field events so we did well competing in only one event!
July 20: Run to the Sun 5K (cave in Independence-no walking division): Floyd 1st in the 75-79 division.
July 27: AAU National Jr Olympics (Detroit): Kiara Bunton took the 8th place medal in the 3000 meter racewalk-congratulation,
July 27: ShowMe State Games (Columbia) 5K: Floyd Delon & Dave Couts represented HRW
August:
At our August 2 meeting, Darren Anderson-Exercise Physiologist-gave a demonstration of VO2 and HRmax measurements on a treadmill, using Alan as the guinea pig. After the demo we went downstairs and celebrated the awards of Lakshmi & Santosh Dandi (with a cake).
Races
Aug. 2: ShowMe State Games (Columbia) 1500 meters: Fred Adams & Dave Couts represented HRW-taking Gold
Aug. 16: Farmstead Stampede 5K: Floyd Delon carried the colors for HRW
Aug. 17: Stroke Stroll (4 miles): Hy Vee-123rd State Line: Raj Dandi was 1st (M); Leah Luckeroth and Julie Haller were 1st & 2nd (F) in the racewalking division. Julie also took first in her age group in the running division. Alan took 2nd in the 70-74 running division.
September
Sept. 6: We had the dedication of our memorial bench in Roe Park. This park memorializes and honors special past members: Lew McNaughton, Ed Levy, Al Armstrong and Don Swegel. Remarks were made by Alan, Wayne, Floyd, and several family members, including Jean Levy and Peg Armstrong. Afterwards we had a brunch at the shelter house. The bench looks great and photos from the dedication are on our homepage. Club members and families of our late members made contributions that covered the cost ($900). Thanks to all who made contributions and those who helped with the refreshments and also the logistics in getting the bench: Tom, Forrest and Alan.
Membership: Charles Zarrelli recently joined after walking at the 50+ games. Laurie Bell also joined, although we have yet to convert her to a racewalker.
Past Races:
Sept. 7: Head for the Cure 5K:Corp Woods-Alan and Floyd represented HRW;Alan took 1st place in the 70+ division.
Sept. 11: Patriots Day Run (9 hours and 11 minutes): (Two-Trails Park) Olathe. We had 24 walkers on two teams: (13 on one the Avengers-2 and 11 on the Perpetual Pedestrians-2). This was an increase from the 22 that we had last year. The proceeds went to the Salvation Army. We once again got great PR, many photos on the internet, and kudos from the racing community. The Perpetual Pedestrians won by 1.5 miles over the Avengers. Awards were given by BJ the DJ. Thanks to all who made this another memorable event for HRW.
Sept. 14: 50+ Games 5K: Olathe (Heritage Park). HRW had 7 members and good PR. Forrest Weddle took some pictures and brought some home-grown pears before the race-thanks. Larry Burch, a member who lives in the Northland was first overall. Alan worked on the organizing committee. Also competing: Charles Zarrelli, Fred Adams, Floyd Delon, Tom Young, Julie Haller, Jean Brunnenkant. Alan was the club volunteer.
Sept. 28: Kansas Senior Olympics (Topeka): Gold medals by Nancy Perih, Jimmy Sue Sells, Julie Haller, Martie Lykens, Jean Brunnenkant, Eileen McManus, Alan Poisner, Fred Adams & Tom Young. All qualified for the National Senior Olympics which will be at Stanford next August. We are still making our club known at the nationals.
Sept. 28: Free to Breathe 5K (Overland Park): Floyd took 2nd place in the 70+ division.
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October
Oct. 4: Be-A-Walker at Shawnee Mission South. This year we had a 1600 meter (4 laps) race. Awards were given for the top three in the predicted-time event and for the top walker in the age-graded category (Martie Lykens) and to the fastest walker (Santosh Dandi). The results and pictures are posted on our homepage. Forrest Weddle used our video camera to record our walkers and we will play it back at our year-end party. The reason that we moved away from our usual 5K site at Roe Park was because another organization had reserved Roe Park for a 5K. We will decide next year what venue to use.
November
Nov. 4: We were treated at our monthly meeting to Nancy Perih telling us about her elder hostel experience in Iceland. Thanks, Nancy.
Member news: Fred Adams was remarried recently and we wish him and Betty much happiness in the coming years.
Races
Nov. 2: Cliff Hanger 5K: We had 7 walkers and 2 volunteers at the race this year. The top walkers in the 5K: Males (Raj Dandi, Santosh Dandi, Fred Adams, Moe Lago, Chuck Zarrelli; Females (Lakshmi Dandi and Martie Lykens); we had one walker in the 8K: Alan Poisner. We also had two volunteers: Tom Young and Sarah Justice. Moe Lago walked to the race from his home (less than 1500 meters). We had the usual pancake breakfast afterwards. Fred Adams and Martie Lykens also won awards in the running division. The KC Track Club has continued their friendly cooperation with us for this race and we should continue to support it.
Nov. 23: Gobbler Grind (5K and half-marathon). On a very cold day, HRW had three walkers on the 5K and 2 in the Half-marathon. The Dandi family walked off with the honors in the 5K (Raj, Lakshmi and Santosh, in that order. Alan and BJ Thornburg were our two in the longer race. The results should be posted soon to our home page. Rusty Collins who has worked with Alan before provided awards to the racewalkers. Lakshmi and Alan also won awards in the running division. BJ the DJ made his usual complimentary remarks about racewalking at the finish. We should continue to support this event; and they will make awards to the top 3 male and female walkers-if we can supply the numbers.
Prospects for 2009:
We look forward to an exciting 2009 when HRW defends its medals and ribbons at the national stage at the National Senior Olympics, the National State Games of America, and the Huntsman World Games.
Also, we hope to expand our outreach in the KC Metro by encouraging more adult and youth walkers. We look forward to more accomplishments from our youth corps: Kiara Bunton, Lakshmi and Santosh Dandi. We will continue to keep the media advised about our activities. In the past we have been successful in being covered by TV, newspapers, radio and the internet. We hope that our current members can continue to serve as PR representatives for our club: by word of mouth and by handing out material, such as club cards. Suggestions for other forms of outreach are welcome.
With the dedicated members that we have now, there are good reasons to optimistic. I hope that we can continue observe our main club goals: Don’t get hurt AND Have fun.
2007 Annual Report
. Our annual party last year, was held at the home of Forrest and Ruth Weddle in Olathe. 21 members enjoyed great food and viewed some excellent video and still photography that are part of Forrest’s many talents. We observed a moment of silence in honor of our late friend Al Armstrong. Awards were given to those who accumulated the most points in the past 6 months. The top two were Floyd Delon and Martie Lykens. Election results: President: Alan Poisner; Vice-President: Amy Christensen; Secretary: Sarah Justice; Treasurer, Tom Oakes.
In January, Trudy Nepstad (who is here today) gave an excellent presentation of her trip to the Antarctic, along with pictures and maps. We had 27 paid-up members and about 2,000 hits on our homepage. 8 of our members took part in the New Year’s Day walk-and then had breakfast afterwards. This is an annual club tradition and I invite you to join us this year.
In February, An exercise therapist spoke at our monthly meeting about the Egosque Method. Ask Jean B about it.
In March, we showed a video that Forrest took of us for feedback about technique. This was helpful and we will be doing it again. Our membership was now up to 38 and included a K-State senior, Marja Poulson. Marja has moved to Miami after graduation.
April began with the Brew to Brew 43-mile relay from Kansas City to Lawrence. HRW had two teams if 5 walkers who started at the Boulevard Brewery in KC and ended in Lawrence a few blocks from the Freestate Brewery: Walkers without Wheels (WWW) and Still to be Determined (StbD). The good (weather) news was that it was on April 1st instead of the middle of March as in past years when it was frequently really cold. The not so good news is that we walked into wind gusts that sometimes blew up to 30 miles an hour. Nevertheless, our stalwart group of walkers managed to get to the starting line before the 6:00 am beginning and reached Lawrence about 9.5 hours later, within one minute of Alan’s pre-race prediction.
We had 3 veterans this year (Alan Poisner, Phil Jacobs and BJ Thornburg) and 7 rookies (Forrest & Ruth Weddle, Nancy Perih, Marja-Lisa Paulson, Kathy Dockter, Elaine Wheeler and Steve Batthauer). Nancy Perih gets credit for the most mileage for the day since she drove in from Topeka for the start and returned to KC after the race to pick up her car for the return trip. Each walker did two relay legs totaling 8-10 miles and both of our teams beat a number of running teams. Pictures of this event can be found on our home page. WWW (Red Team): Forrest & Ruth Weddle (Captains and drivers), Nancy Perih, BJ Thornburg, Steve Batthaur.
At the Trolley Run: Fred Adams, Floyd Delon, BJ Thornburg joined many thousands for the 4-mile race (no racewalking division).
May was a very busy month for our club. At our monthly meeting, Alan showed a video of a talk about Drugs used by Athletes. This was before Marian Jones had her medals taken away and Bary Bonds was indicted. Our membership had now risen to 42 and we had 2300 hits on our homepage. We had a birthday party for Tom Young who turned 90-years young. He is still an amazing
At the Steps to the Cure 5K (benefiting the Parkinson Association)., Floyd Delon, Jean Brunnenkant, Martie Lykens and Wayne Kerns carried out colors and got medals. New members included Frank & Peggy Chenoweth who live south of Wichita but wanted to joint THE Kansas Racewalking club. They have walked with us at numerous state and national senior Olympics.
The middle of May was a sad time when we lost Betty Delon, Floyd’s wife and a week later we learned that Fred Adams’ wife, Sherri, passed away. A number of club members attended services. We sent our condolences to both. Marja Paulson graduated from K-State. Emma Carter, our past junior superstar, graduated law school at KU and has taken a job with a law firm in Wichita (immigration law). Kiara Bunton won a race in St. Louis. Alan served as a judge in an AAU track meet in Kansas City Kansas.
A major event was when our club served as hosts for the KC Track Club’s Wednesday Night Run at Leawood City park The KC Track Club members have give us kudos and thanks for our hosting. This was good PR for our club and we should consider doing this annually-as do the KC Track Club members and the KC Express. HRW participants included: Kathy Dockter, Elaine Wheeler, Forrest and Ruth Weddle, Wayne Kerns, Eileen McManus, Alan Poisner, Peggy Armstrong, Tom Oakes, Carole Price (and husband Steve).
June was also a very significant month for Heartland Racewalkers. We started off the month with a birthday party for Martie Lykens, one of the founding members of our club. Our membership has increased to 48 with the addition of Betsy Edwards and John Howard. A lot more material was put up on our homepage, including pictures and results. There have been 2500 hits so far and have included a link to “Map my Walk.com” where members can plot out their walks and see those of others. Let me know when you have tried this.
Sadly we lost our long-time friend, Don Swegel, who finally succumbed to his bone cancer. A number of members attended his funeral and have made contributions to our Development Fund in honor of Don.
Alan and Fred did some coaching with the AAU club at the Johnson County Community College and made contact with a number of kids and adults, including the Dandi’s and Lynn Gentleman. Some of the kids have now competed in regional and national races.
HRW on the radio. On June 9, Alan was on the Weekend Warrior Show on 97.3 FM. This is a weekly talk-show on sports and we had almost 25 minutes of air-time. Reports from the field indicate that it was good PR. Alan spoke with the moderator about future reports from our club and he suggested that we get Jean B and Tom Y on the show.
Fred Adams, Floyd Delon and Tom Young raced at the Missouri Senior Games in Columbia in the 1500 Meters & 5K. We had our three musketeers: doing the races on a Friday evening and Saturday morning. That was two Missourians and one Kansan-and they didn’t fight with each other. Congratulations to them for continuing to show off HRW to the east-and bring home some medals. The results have been posted to our website.
On June 17, We had 8 walkers and one volunteer at the Beat the Heat: 5K. We had good PR as usual from BJ Taylor and good pics taken by Dick Ross. Walkers were: Eileen McManus, BJ Thornburg, Nancy Perih (in from Topeka), Leah Luckeroth. Ruth Weddle, Wayne Kerns, Forrest Weddle and Floyd Delon. Thanks to them for carrying the colors. We should try to get more participants next year since they continue to give medals and provide positive PR.
At the end of June (the 30th) HRW had 9 people at the National Senior Olympics-Louisville. Over 12,000 athletes from all over the country attended having won medals in their respective states. Two days later, they had the 5K race. Our speedy bunch included Eileen McManus (just a baby at 50), Jean Brunnenkant, Tom Young, Fred Adams, Floyd Delon, Nancy Perih (Topeka), Julie Haller, Martie Lykens, and Alan Poisner. Frank & Peggy Chenoweth, came in from the Wichita area (Clearwater). In the 1500 meters, HRW took 2 Gold medals, 2 Silvers, 1 bronze and several ribbons. Jean Brunnenkant won a Gold in her fourth different age division-this time in the 90-95. Alan won a Gold for the first time, surpassing the Silvers that he won in Virginia in 2004. Tom Y and Martie took Silvers and Eileen took a Bronze-a great start. Then on July 2nd, we raced the 5K at a local park (rather hilly). This time we took a Gold (Jean) 2 Silvers (Tom and Alan) and a Bronze (Eileen). We also had ribbon winners:
The rest of July wasn’t as exciting but it was busy. At out monthly meeting we had a birthday party for Fred Adams and gave a report about our experience in Louisville. We now have 52 members, including Lynn Kirk from Columbia and Raj, Santosh, Lakshmi and Vijaya Dandi. The Dandi’s and Kiara Bunton will be going to the nationals in Knoxville having qualified by taking top positions in the regionals in Joplin last month-Congratulations.
July 21: Sunflower Games-Topeka: Representing HRW were Nancy Perih, Alan Poisner, and Raj Dandi. All won Gold medals. It helps to be the only one in your age division. There was an extremely low turnout-only 6 total walkers in the 1500 meter race. We should get more of our members participating. This does qualify for participation in the National State Games of America which are held every two years.
July 22: Race 4 Hope 5K (Corporate Woods). We had 6 members who carried the club colors: Eileen McManus, Kiara Bunton, Jean Brunnenkant, Fred Adams, Floyd Delon and Tom Young. This race benefited the National Brain Tumor Foundation and was run by BJ the DJ.,
On July 28 HRW was again on Weekend Warrior Radio Show on 97.3 FM). This time the host interviewed Jean Brunnenkant, Tom Young and Alan about our participation in the National Senior Olympics. This was more good PR for HRW. We have some low-fidelity tapes of these radio shows and may play them if we have time.
At the end of July, Kiara Bunton and Santosh Dandi raced in the national AAU championships. Kiara took 9th place in the country in her 3K race. She is getting faster every year.
August was another busy month. We used our August meeting to practice pacing at Roe Park and had a picnic afterwards. Awards were also given for those who had accumulated the most points in the first six months of the year: Kathy Dockter, Elaine Wheeler and Martie Lykens. We now have had 2800 hits on our homepage.
We have had a number of contributions to our Development Fund made in honor of Don Swegel and also in memory of Al Armstrong, Ed Levy, Lou McNaughton. Members can honor of any of our past members and spouses by donating directly to Heartland Racewalker. These will be acknowledged in our newsletter and to the families.
On Aug. 5: Alan took Gold medals in the 3000 and 1500 meter racewalks at State Games of America (Air Force Academy-Colorado Springs). I almost registered for figure skating. This was another huge event with 12,000 athletes competing, but this time at 6,500 feet.
On Aug. 19: We had a good group at the Stroke-Stroll (4 miles): Eileen McManus, Nancy Perih, Lynn Gentleman, Wayne Kerns, Martie Lykens, Floyd Delon.
On Aug 23, Lori Bainter had another girl, Kenda Jo. Our newest racewalker-to-be came in at 8 lbs 5 oz. In the last few weeks, Kenda has visited us accompanied by her sister Alana and Lori.
September: At our monthly meeting, Nancy Perih talked about nutrition for athletes and we also celebrated Jean’s birthday. Our membership is now up to 60 and the hits on our homepage were 3005.
Newspaper coverage: An article in the KC Star about Jean and Tom finally appeared and it received wide attention with Iots of positive feedback.
Sept. 9: Head for the Cure (5K-Corp. Woods-. Alan took first place but there was no racewalking divison. If we can get enough participation next year, they will offer a racewalking division.
The big event in September was the Patriots Run-a 9 hour 11 min relay. This was a huge success with 22 members of our club participating. We had two teams of 11 and were able to have walkers from each team on the course for the entire 9 hrs and 11 min. The Perpetual Pedestrians accumulated slightly more mileage than the Avengers. Trophies were awarded to both teams. In addition, they gave out medals for the top three male and female walkers (in terms of miles walked). We got lots of positive PR from the running community at the event. We will have to decide if we want to participate next year.
Sept. 15: Air Force Marathon: Nancy Perih did her third marathon in 6 hrs 29 min. She keeps getting faster and will really show her improvement after attending the week-long racewalking camp in Florida with Dave McGovern.
Sept. 16: KC Senior Games (Olathe): 5K. HRW was represented by Fred, Steve Batthauer, Floyd, Wayne, BJ Thornburg and Jean B. All won Gold medals (each in a different division). Alan has worked on the organizing committee and is working to persuade the Jo Co Parks to find a flatter course next year. We need to improve our turnout of walkers and volunteers.
Sept. 23: Quad Cities Marathon: BJ Thornburg did this one ~6 hrs 27 min
Sept. 23: KS Senior Olympics (Topeka): 1500 meters and 5K. Only 4 HRW members entered this year. Fred, Floyd, Alan and Julie carried the colors (red and then white) and took home Gold and Silver medals. Next year is a qualifying year and we should have a much bigger participation.
October: We had our annual Be -a- Walker predicted-time 5K and it was a very successful event. There were 22 walkers and 5 volunteers : Fred,Amy, Sarah., Pamela, Julie Haller( injured Foot and Alan. Also Forrest Weddle took a lot of great pictures. Peg Armstrong helped ahead of time with refreshments and table cloths. Thanks to all who participated. The overall winner this year was Lyn Yarbough (Zero seconds off the predicted time!) Also the weather cooperated this year- kudos to the weather Gods
October 15-16: Fred, Floyd and Alan participated in the Huntsman World Games and came back with 3 Gold and 2 Silver Medals. We made a great "red'' display in Utah and made some good connections. Fred got a Gold (3K) and two Silvers; and Alan got two Golds (1500 meters and 5K). There were over 12,000 athletes at these games. The racewalkers sang Happy Birthday to Alan on the 15th after he won the 1500 meters in his age division. This is a great venue (ask any of us) and you should consider taking in this friendly event in the future (with side trips to Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon and even Las Vegas).
Newspaper Coverage-: The Kansas City Star placed a short description of Alan's and Fred's medals at the Huntsman Games. Alan has been in communication with Mike Fitzgerald, the assistant Sports Editor. Our progress in PR is incremental and we will just have to persevere. Alan has had several people comment to him that that they have seen the item. So it does get seen.
Oct. 28: Blue Springs Relay: We had 4 teams entered in the half-marathon relay with 3-4 on a team. The race was scored with handicaps based on age and gender. The fastest team (Eileen McManus captain) was the last after handicap adjustment. The last-place team (Nancy Perih captain) came in first after the handicap. This was almost a biblical result. The usual awards (bottles of champagne) have not been received yet but Lou Joline has promised to supply them soon. A calendar “accident” by Phil Jacobs permitted Alan to finish the half-marathon as a solo racer and take first place in the male racers. He also used the well-known strategy of being the only one in his division.
November; At our last meeting, Gilbert Castillo from the Mo Valley USATF spoke to us about the upcoming races in Lawrence: The Mo Valley regional and the national cross-country races on Dec. 8.
Mo. Valley USATF Cross-Country race-Nov. 17 at Rim Rock course in Lawrence. We had a number of volunteers on a beautiful day in Lawrence and on a great cross-country course. Ruth & Forrest Weddle, Pamela Felton, Floyd Delon, Jean Brunnenkant and Alan helped out and earned some good PR for the club. We need more volunteers for the race next Saturday when almost 3,000 kids from all over the country will be competing. Please contact me about signing up. We only have about three so far. Volunteers will receive shirts and other goodies and will have to spend most of the morning and early afternoon at the Rim Rock course north of Lawrence. We will be carpooling again.
Nov. 4: Cliffhanger 5K was held in Moe Lago’s neighborhood-a beautiful area on northeast Kansas City. The fastest finisher was Eileen followed by Fred, Moe, and Floyd. Moe, Floyd took first in the running division. Volunteers were: Alan-Tom-Phil . We all enjoyed a pancake breakfast afterwards.
Nov. 17: Six members served as volunteers for the Missouri Valley Youth Cross-Country championships in Lawrence on a beautiful day and a great course, lined with statues of KU running heroes, including Jim Ryan, Billy Mills and Glen Cunningham.
Nov. 18: Gobbler Grind Half-Marathon – Corp Woods; Alan did this for the 5th year and recruited a walker from Wichita to enter (and join our club): Roger Hainey. Alan took first in the walking division and second in the running division with a time of 2:43. That was in part due to some long training walks that taken with Eileen McManus.
Nov. 27: Run to Feed the Hungry 5K: Alan was in Sacramento and entered the 5K. There were 22,000 people in the various divisions and untimed walks. He took first place in the 70-74 division with little competition.
Dec, 1. We had our annual party at the Fitness Plus facility. Awards were given to the newcomers of the year (the Dandi family), to Kiara Bunton, as the outstanding youth member, and to Kathy Dockter and Elaine Wheeler and the top point winners-for the second six-month period in a row.
Elections were held with the following results.
President Alan Poisner
Vice-President Forrest Weddle
Secretary Sarah Justice
Treasurer Tom Oakes
Alan accepted the nomination (for the 13th time) with the platform of continuing to double his salary every year. He thanked the other officers and board members for their service to the club in the past year.
DECEMBER 8: NATIONAL USATF JUNIOR OLYMPICS CROSS COUNTRY in Lawrence
We will have a number of volunteers for this large (3,000) event at the Rim Rock course.
Jan. 1: 10:00 Annual New Year’s Day walk AND BREAKFAST
2008: Possible clinic by Jonathan Matthews in the spring.
Qualifying year for Senior Olympics
Another great year for HRW ahead.
In January, Trudy Nepstad (who is here today) gave an excellent presentation of her trip to the Antarctic, along with pictures and maps. We had 27 paid-up members and about 2,000 hits on our homepage. 8 of our members took part in the New Year’s Day walk-and then had breakfast afterwards. This is an annual club tradition and I invite you to join us this year.
In February, An exercise therapist spoke at our monthly meeting about the Egosque Method. Ask Jean B about it.
In March, we showed a video that Forrest took of us for feedback about technique. This was helpful and we will be doing it again. Our membership was now up to 38 and included a K-State senior, Marja Poulson. Marja has moved to Miami after graduation.
April began with the Brew to Brew 43-mile relay from Kansas City to Lawrence. HRW had two teams if 5 walkers who started at the Boulevard Brewery in KC and ended in Lawrence a few blocks from the Freestate Brewery: Walkers without Wheels (WWW) and Still to be Determined (StbD). The good (weather) news was that it was on April 1st instead of the middle of March as in past years when it was frequently really cold. The not so good news is that we walked into wind gusts that sometimes blew up to 30 miles an hour. Nevertheless, our stalwart group of walkers managed to get to the starting line before the 6:00 am beginning and reached Lawrence about 9.5 hours later, within one minute of Alan’s pre-race prediction.
We had 3 veterans this year (Alan Poisner, Phil Jacobs and BJ Thornburg) and 7 rookies (Forrest & Ruth Weddle, Nancy Perih, Marja-Lisa Paulson, Kathy Dockter, Elaine Wheeler and Steve Batthauer). Nancy Perih gets credit for the most mileage for the day since she drove in from Topeka for the start and returned to KC after the race to pick up her car for the return trip. Each walker did two relay legs totaling 8-10 miles and both of our teams beat a number of running teams. Pictures of this event can be found on our home page. WWW (Red Team): Forrest & Ruth Weddle (Captains and drivers), Nancy Perih, BJ Thornburg, Steve Batthaur.
At the Trolley Run: Fred Adams, Floyd Delon, BJ Thornburg joined many thousands for the 4-mile race (no racewalking division).
May was a very busy month for our club. At our monthly meeting, Alan showed a video of a talk about Drugs used by Athletes. This was before Marian Jones had her medals taken away and Bary Bonds was indicted. Our membership had now risen to 42 and we had 2300 hits on our homepage. We had a birthday party for Tom Young who turned 90-years young. He is still an amazing
At the Steps to the Cure 5K (benefiting the Parkinson Association)., Floyd Delon, Jean Brunnenkant, Martie Lykens and Wayne Kerns carried out colors and got medals. New members included Frank & Peggy Chenoweth who live south of Wichita but wanted to joint THE Kansas Racewalking club. They have walked with us at numerous state and national senior Olympics.
The middle of May was a sad time when we lost Betty Delon, Floyd’s wife and a week later we learned that Fred Adams’ wife, Sherri, passed away. A number of club members attended services. We sent our condolences to both. Marja Paulson graduated from K-State. Emma Carter, our past junior superstar, graduated law school at KU and has taken a job with a law firm in Wichita (immigration law). Kiara Bunton won a race in St. Louis. Alan served as a judge in an AAU track meet in Kansas City Kansas.
A major event was when our club served as hosts for the KC Track Club’s Wednesday Night Run at Leawood City park The KC Track Club members have give us kudos and thanks for our hosting. This was good PR for our club and we should consider doing this annually-as do the KC Track Club members and the KC Express. HRW participants included: Kathy Dockter, Elaine Wheeler, Forrest and Ruth Weddle, Wayne Kerns, Eileen McManus, Alan Poisner, Peggy Armstrong, Tom Oakes, Carole Price (and husband Steve).
June was also a very significant month for Heartland Racewalkers. We started off the month with a birthday party for Martie Lykens, one of the founding members of our club. Our membership has increased to 48 with the addition of Betsy Edwards and John Howard. A lot more material was put up on our homepage, including pictures and results. There have been 2500 hits so far and have included a link to “Map my Walk.com” where members can plot out their walks and see those of others. Let me know when you have tried this.
Sadly we lost our long-time friend, Don Swegel, who finally succumbed to his bone cancer. A number of members attended his funeral and have made contributions to our Development Fund in honor of Don.
Alan and Fred did some coaching with the AAU club at the Johnson County Community College and made contact with a number of kids and adults, including the Dandi’s and Lynn Gentleman. Some of the kids have now competed in regional and national races.
HRW on the radio. On June 9, Alan was on the Weekend Warrior Show on 97.3 FM. This is a weekly talk-show on sports and we had almost 25 minutes of air-time. Reports from the field indicate that it was good PR. Alan spoke with the moderator about future reports from our club and he suggested that we get Jean B and Tom Y on the show.
Fred Adams, Floyd Delon and Tom Young raced at the Missouri Senior Games in Columbia in the 1500 Meters & 5K. We had our three musketeers: doing the races on a Friday evening and Saturday morning. That was two Missourians and one Kansan-and they didn’t fight with each other. Congratulations to them for continuing to show off HRW to the east-and bring home some medals. The results have been posted to our website.
On June 17, We had 8 walkers and one volunteer at the Beat the Heat: 5K. We had good PR as usual from BJ Taylor and good pics taken by Dick Ross. Walkers were: Eileen McManus, BJ Thornburg, Nancy Perih (in from Topeka), Leah Luckeroth. Ruth Weddle, Wayne Kerns, Forrest Weddle and Floyd Delon. Thanks to them for carrying the colors. We should try to get more participants next year since they continue to give medals and provide positive PR.
At the end of June (the 30th) HRW had 9 people at the National Senior Olympics-Louisville. Over 12,000 athletes from all over the country attended having won medals in their respective states. Two days later, they had the 5K race. Our speedy bunch included Eileen McManus (just a baby at 50), Jean Brunnenkant, Tom Young, Fred Adams, Floyd Delon, Nancy Perih (Topeka), Julie Haller, Martie Lykens, and Alan Poisner. Frank & Peggy Chenoweth, came in from the Wichita area (Clearwater). In the 1500 meters, HRW took 2 Gold medals, 2 Silvers, 1 bronze and several ribbons. Jean Brunnenkant won a Gold in her fourth different age division-this time in the 90-95. Alan won a Gold for the first time, surpassing the Silvers that he won in Virginia in 2004. Tom Y and Martie took Silvers and Eileen took a Bronze-a great start. Then on July 2nd, we raced the 5K at a local park (rather hilly). This time we took a Gold (Jean) 2 Silvers (Tom and Alan) and a Bronze (Eileen). We also had ribbon winners:
The rest of July wasn’t as exciting but it was busy. At out monthly meeting we had a birthday party for Fred Adams and gave a report about our experience in Louisville. We now have 52 members, including Lynn Kirk from Columbia and Raj, Santosh, Lakshmi and Vijaya Dandi. The Dandi’s and Kiara Bunton will be going to the nationals in Knoxville having qualified by taking top positions in the regionals in Joplin last month-Congratulations.
July 21: Sunflower Games-Topeka: Representing HRW were Nancy Perih, Alan Poisner, and Raj Dandi. All won Gold medals. It helps to be the only one in your age division. There was an extremely low turnout-only 6 total walkers in the 1500 meter race. We should get more of our members participating. This does qualify for participation in the National State Games of America which are held every two years.
July 22: Race 4 Hope 5K (Corporate Woods). We had 6 members who carried the club colors: Eileen McManus, Kiara Bunton, Jean Brunnenkant, Fred Adams, Floyd Delon and Tom Young. This race benefited the National Brain Tumor Foundation and was run by BJ the DJ.,
On July 28 HRW was again on Weekend Warrior Radio Show on 97.3 FM). This time the host interviewed Jean Brunnenkant, Tom Young and Alan about our participation in the National Senior Olympics. This was more good PR for HRW. We have some low-fidelity tapes of these radio shows and may play them if we have time.
At the end of July, Kiara Bunton and Santosh Dandi raced in the national AAU championships. Kiara took 9th place in the country in her 3K race. She is getting faster every year.
August was another busy month. We used our August meeting to practice pacing at Roe Park and had a picnic afterwards. Awards were also given for those who had accumulated the most points in the first six months of the year: Kathy Dockter, Elaine Wheeler and Martie Lykens. We now have had 2800 hits on our homepage.
We have had a number of contributions to our Development Fund made in honor of Don Swegel and also in memory of Al Armstrong, Ed Levy, Lou McNaughton. Members can honor of any of our past members and spouses by donating directly to Heartland Racewalker. These will be acknowledged in our newsletter and to the families.
On Aug. 5: Alan took Gold medals in the 3000 and 1500 meter racewalks at State Games of America (Air Force Academy-Colorado Springs). I almost registered for figure skating. This was another huge event with 12,000 athletes competing, but this time at 6,500 feet.
On Aug. 19: We had a good group at the Stroke-Stroll (4 miles): Eileen McManus, Nancy Perih, Lynn Gentleman, Wayne Kerns, Martie Lykens, Floyd Delon.
On Aug 23, Lori Bainter had another girl, Kenda Jo. Our newest racewalker-to-be came in at 8 lbs 5 oz. In the last few weeks, Kenda has visited us accompanied by her sister Alana and Lori.
September: At our monthly meeting, Nancy Perih talked about nutrition for athletes and we also celebrated Jean’s birthday. Our membership is now up to 60 and the hits on our homepage were 3005.
Newspaper coverage: An article in the KC Star about Jean and Tom finally appeared and it received wide attention with Iots of positive feedback.
Sept. 9: Head for the Cure (5K-Corp. Woods-. Alan took first place but there was no racewalking divison. If we can get enough participation next year, they will offer a racewalking division.
The big event in September was the Patriots Run-a 9 hour 11 min relay. This was a huge success with 22 members of our club participating. We had two teams of 11 and were able to have walkers from each team on the course for the entire 9 hrs and 11 min. The Perpetual Pedestrians accumulated slightly more mileage than the Avengers. Trophies were awarded to both teams. In addition, they gave out medals for the top three male and female walkers (in terms of miles walked). We got lots of positive PR from the running community at the event. We will have to decide if we want to participate next year.
Sept. 15: Air Force Marathon: Nancy Perih did her third marathon in 6 hrs 29 min. She keeps getting faster and will really show her improvement after attending the week-long racewalking camp in Florida with Dave McGovern.
Sept. 16: KC Senior Games (Olathe): 5K. HRW was represented by Fred, Steve Batthauer, Floyd, Wayne, BJ Thornburg and Jean B. All won Gold medals (each in a different division). Alan has worked on the organizing committee and is working to persuade the Jo Co Parks to find a flatter course next year. We need to improve our turnout of walkers and volunteers.
Sept. 23: Quad Cities Marathon: BJ Thornburg did this one ~6 hrs 27 min
Sept. 23: KS Senior Olympics (Topeka): 1500 meters and 5K. Only 4 HRW members entered this year. Fred, Floyd, Alan and Julie carried the colors (red and then white) and took home Gold and Silver medals. Next year is a qualifying year and we should have a much bigger participation.
October: We had our annual Be -a- Walker predicted-time 5K and it was a very successful event. There were 22 walkers and 5 volunteers : Fred,Amy, Sarah., Pamela, Julie Haller( injured Foot and Alan. Also Forrest Weddle took a lot of great pictures. Peg Armstrong helped ahead of time with refreshments and table cloths. Thanks to all who participated. The overall winner this year was Lyn Yarbough (Zero seconds off the predicted time!) Also the weather cooperated this year- kudos to the weather Gods
October 15-16: Fred, Floyd and Alan participated in the Huntsman World Games and came back with 3 Gold and 2 Silver Medals. We made a great "red'' display in Utah and made some good connections. Fred got a Gold (3K) and two Silvers; and Alan got two Golds (1500 meters and 5K). There were over 12,000 athletes at these games. The racewalkers sang Happy Birthday to Alan on the 15th after he won the 1500 meters in his age division. This is a great venue (ask any of us) and you should consider taking in this friendly event in the future (with side trips to Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon and even Las Vegas).
Newspaper Coverage-: The Kansas City Star placed a short description of Alan's and Fred's medals at the Huntsman Games. Alan has been in communication with Mike Fitzgerald, the assistant Sports Editor. Our progress in PR is incremental and we will just have to persevere. Alan has had several people comment to him that that they have seen the item. So it does get seen.
Oct. 28: Blue Springs Relay: We had 4 teams entered in the half-marathon relay with 3-4 on a team. The race was scored with handicaps based on age and gender. The fastest team (Eileen McManus captain) was the last after handicap adjustment. The last-place team (Nancy Perih captain) came in first after the handicap. This was almost a biblical result. The usual awards (bottles of champagne) have not been received yet but Lou Joline has promised to supply them soon. A calendar “accident” by Phil Jacobs permitted Alan to finish the half-marathon as a solo racer and take first place in the male racers. He also used the well-known strategy of being the only one in his division.
November; At our last meeting, Gilbert Castillo from the Mo Valley USATF spoke to us about the upcoming races in Lawrence: The Mo Valley regional and the national cross-country races on Dec. 8.
Mo. Valley USATF Cross-Country race-Nov. 17 at Rim Rock course in Lawrence. We had a number of volunteers on a beautiful day in Lawrence and on a great cross-country course. Ruth & Forrest Weddle, Pamela Felton, Floyd Delon, Jean Brunnenkant and Alan helped out and earned some good PR for the club. We need more volunteers for the race next Saturday when almost 3,000 kids from all over the country will be competing. Please contact me about signing up. We only have about three so far. Volunteers will receive shirts and other goodies and will have to spend most of the morning and early afternoon at the Rim Rock course north of Lawrence. We will be carpooling again.
Nov. 4: Cliffhanger 5K was held in Moe Lago’s neighborhood-a beautiful area on northeast Kansas City. The fastest finisher was Eileen followed by Fred, Moe, and Floyd. Moe, Floyd took first in the running division. Volunteers were: Alan-Tom-Phil . We all enjoyed a pancake breakfast afterwards.
Nov. 17: Six members served as volunteers for the Missouri Valley Youth Cross-Country championships in Lawrence on a beautiful day and a great course, lined with statues of KU running heroes, including Jim Ryan, Billy Mills and Glen Cunningham.
Nov. 18: Gobbler Grind Half-Marathon – Corp Woods; Alan did this for the 5th year and recruited a walker from Wichita to enter (and join our club): Roger Hainey. Alan took first in the walking division and second in the running division with a time of 2:43. That was in part due to some long training walks that taken with Eileen McManus.
Nov. 27: Run to Feed the Hungry 5K: Alan was in Sacramento and entered the 5K. There were 22,000 people in the various divisions and untimed walks. He took first place in the 70-74 division with little competition.
Dec, 1. We had our annual party at the Fitness Plus facility. Awards were given to the newcomers of the year (the Dandi family), to Kiara Bunton, as the outstanding youth member, and to Kathy Dockter and Elaine Wheeler and the top point winners-for the second six-month period in a row.
Elections were held with the following results.
President Alan Poisner
Vice-President Forrest Weddle
Secretary Sarah Justice
Treasurer Tom Oakes
Alan accepted the nomination (for the 13th time) with the platform of continuing to double his salary every year. He thanked the other officers and board members for their service to the club in the past year.
DECEMBER 8: NATIONAL USATF JUNIOR OLYMPICS CROSS COUNTRY in Lawrence
We will have a number of volunteers for this large (3,000) event at the Rim Rock course.
Jan. 1: 10:00 Annual New Year’s Day walk AND BREAKFAST
2008: Possible clinic by Jonathan Matthews in the spring.
Qualifying year for Senior Olympics
Another great year for HRW ahead.
Brew to Brew March 19. 2006
SEE RESULTS LINK LATER FOR OFFICIAL TIMES
On a cold and windy day, Heartland Racewalkers broke several records and made noteworthy accomplishments in this year’s version of the Brew to Brew 43.2 mile relay from downtown Kansas City to Lawrence.
1. HRW fielded two teams of five walkers-a first!!
2. The two teams finished just one minute apart after almost 9 hours of walking
3. We had 3 volunteers: John Anderson, Lauriann Lund (also walkers) and Tom Oakes. Special thanks to Tom Oakes who had to stand outside in some tough conditions.
4. Susan Rico-Ahrens did three legs (she is training for a half-marathon). Great going!
5. John Anderson reached the exchange point about 30 second before his leg was to start, providing some excitement for the WWW team. He did have the pleasure of doing the leg that included an aquatic experience.
6. At the half-way point, both teams made the exchange exactly according to Alan’s pre-race prediction (10:29 and 10:40).
7. The second half of the race was faster than predicted, probably because the wind was at our back AND we wanted to finish faster so we could go eat.
8. BJ Thornburg, our rookie, performed brilliantly and even had her hubby as a cheering section for part of the race.
9. Alan set a personal record by wearing 8 layers of clothing for the last leg, that still did not bring him up to the average weight of his team.
10. Because of more handicap points, the PPP team actually did prevail, but we all shared in a fun and exciting experience. We’ve been told that a trophy awaits the team.
PERPETUAL PEDESTRIANS PREVAIL: FINAL ADJUSTED = 529:03
Phil Jacobs, Amy Christensen, Eileen McManus, BJ Thornburg, Alan Poisner
WICKED WANDERING WALKERS: FINAL ADJUSTED = 530:23
Tom Zinchuk, Patty Zinchuk, Lauriann Lund, Susan Rico-Ahrens, John Anderson
.
On a cold and windy day, Heartland Racewalkers broke several records and made noteworthy accomplishments in this year’s version of the Brew to Brew 43.2 mile relay from downtown Kansas City to Lawrence.
1. HRW fielded two teams of five walkers-a first!!
2. The two teams finished just one minute apart after almost 9 hours of walking
3. We had 3 volunteers: John Anderson, Lauriann Lund (also walkers) and Tom Oakes. Special thanks to Tom Oakes who had to stand outside in some tough conditions.
4. Susan Rico-Ahrens did three legs (she is training for a half-marathon). Great going!
5. John Anderson reached the exchange point about 30 second before his leg was to start, providing some excitement for the WWW team. He did have the pleasure of doing the leg that included an aquatic experience.
6. At the half-way point, both teams made the exchange exactly according to Alan’s pre-race prediction (10:29 and 10:40).
7. The second half of the race was faster than predicted, probably because the wind was at our back AND we wanted to finish faster so we could go eat.
8. BJ Thornburg, our rookie, performed brilliantly and even had her hubby as a cheering section for part of the race.
9. Alan set a personal record by wearing 8 layers of clothing for the last leg, that still did not bring him up to the average weight of his team.
10. Because of more handicap points, the PPP team actually did prevail, but we all shared in a fun and exciting experience. We’ve been told that a trophy awaits the team.
PERPETUAL PEDESTRIANS PREVAIL: FINAL ADJUSTED = 529:03
Phil Jacobs, Amy Christensen, Eileen McManus, BJ Thornburg, Alan Poisner
WICKED WANDERING WALKERS: FINAL ADJUSTED = 530:23
Tom Zinchuk, Patty Zinchuk, Lauriann Lund, Susan Rico-Ahrens, John Anderson
.
Jeff Salvage Clinic in Kansas
May 6-7: Jeff Salvage, nationally respected racewalking coach, will preent a two-day clinic in Overland Park. He has presented clinics around the country and will utilize video-taping for individual instruction. see also www.racewalk.com. For information, contact info@heartlandracewalkers.com
Award for Jean Brunnenkant
The Kansas City Sports Commission has selected Jean Brunnenkant as Senior Sportswoman of the year 2005. The WIN and UMB Bank combined to honor Jean at a luncheon celebration at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Feb. 1.
Her many Gold Medals at National Senior Olympics are just part of the record of her accomplishments. We are proud of Jean who has been an outstanding role model for racewalkers for many years and an inpsiration to women of all ages..
Her many Gold Medals at National Senior Olympics are just part of the record of her accomplishments. We are proud of Jean who has been an outstanding role model for racewalkers for many years and an inpsiration to women of all ages..
November and December Meetings
The November meeting featured our club favorite, Jean Brunnenkant, telling us all about our feet: from structure to function and how to use them for efficient racewalking. She had us all practicing in our stocking feet. We appreciated that she knew what she was talking about-you do not win Gold medals in three different age divisions at the National Senior Olympics without excellent technique.
Later, Martie Lykens told us about her recent trip to Scandinavia and also showed us some beautiful pictures. She is the second club member who has told us about visiting Norway (Trudy Nepstad previously described her marathon experience there).
Our December 3rd meeting was our annual holiday party held at Alan's house. We had 23 members who all received awards and/or prizes. Elections: President: Alan Poisner, Vice-President: Amy Christensen, Secretary: Sarah Justice, Treasurer: Fred Adams. The state of the Club was presented and a good time was had by all.
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Later, Martie Lykens told us about her recent trip to Scandinavia and also showed us some beautiful pictures. She is the second club member who has told us about visiting Norway (Trudy Nepstad previously described her marathon experience there).
Our December 3rd meeting was our annual holiday party held at Alan's house. We had 23 members who all received awards and/or prizes. Elections: President: Alan Poisner, Vice-President: Amy Christensen, Secretary: Sarah Justice, Treasurer: Fred Adams. The state of the Club was presented and a good time was had by all.
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Blue Springs Marathon Relay Oct. 23, 2005
HRW fielded two teams at the annual Marathon Relay hosted by the Blue Springs Runners: the Walking Wonders (Captain-Kathy Cairnes) and Pedestrian Power (Capt- Alan Poinser). Our teams started in the dark and finished 5 hrs and 40 min later in much warmer conditions, just 3 seconds apart. However, with the handicaps (age- and gender), Pedestrian Power came out ahead (see RESULTS link).
The traditiona award (2 bottles) willl be shared at the holiday party on Dec. 3.
The traditiona award (2 bottles) willl be shared at the holiday party on Dec. 3.
Annual Be-A-Walker 5K Oct. 1, 2005
The previously rained-out 16th Annual McNaughton Be-A-Walker predicted-time 5K sponsored by the Heartland Racewalkers was held in Roe Park on Oct. 1 and this time the weatherman cooperated. Thanks to Peg Armstrong for coordinating the refreshments and to our volunteers: Peg and Al Armstrong, Fred Adams, Don Swegel, Lori Bainter-Ratzlaff, and race director Alan Poisner. Some pictures from the event can be found now at the PICTURES link at this site. The full results for all walkers will be found at the RESULTS link. Medals were awarded to the winners in the predicted-time race and the top age-graded finishers will also be recognized. The most outstanding result was the 85.3% age-graded finish for Jean Brunnenkant, who once again showed why she is the national champion. We also want to acknowledge the performance of 11-year-old Kiara Bunton who was entering her first 5K race (longer than the distance usually entered for athletes in this age division). We also want to recognize first-time racewalkers Susan Rico-Ahrens and Jennifer Gallagher. Most of our walkers greatly overestimated their walking time indicating that they were actually faster than they realized.
Winners in the predicted-time 5K
1. Amy Christensen -15 sec
2. Virginia Harmer -17 sec
3. Sue Knapp -21 sec
3. Kiara Bunton +21 sec
Tops in the age-graded finishers
1. Jean Brunnenkant 85.3% (GOLD MEDAL CALIBER)
2. Eileen McManus 69.4%
3. Kiara Bunton 68.3%
Tops in actual finishing time
1. Eileen McManus 33:29 (Excellent time for this course)
2. Virginia Harmer 34:05
3. Kiara Bunton 35:53
Winners in the predicted-time 5K
1. Amy Christensen -15 sec
2. Virginia Harmer -17 sec
3. Sue Knapp -21 sec
3. Kiara Bunton +21 sec
Tops in the age-graded finishers
1. Jean Brunnenkant 85.3% (GOLD MEDAL CALIBER)
2. Eileen McManus 69.4%
3. Kiara Bunton 68.3%
Tops in actual finishing time
1. Eileen McManus 33:29 (Excellent time for this course)
2. Virginia Harmer 34:05
3. Kiara Bunton 35:53
Kansas Senior Olympics
On a warm September day, HRW supplied 5 walkers for the Kansas Senior Olympics in Topeka at Hummer Park. BJ Thornburg and Julie Haller garnered medals in their very first state games; while Bobbie Thrutchley, Floyd Delon and Alan Poisner added to their previous collections.
The 1500 meter race was held at 10:00 am and included the national masters 55-59 champion Mike Wiggins who blasted to a 7:28 finish. At 12:30 (and about 90 degrees) the 5K had many fewer competitors. BJ, Julie and Alan braved the midday sun (just like mad dogs and Englishmen).
The results will be found at the RESULTS link of the homepage.
The 1500 meter race was held at 10:00 am and included the national masters 55-59 champion Mike Wiggins who blasted to a 7:28 finish. At 12:30 (and about 90 degrees) the 5K had many fewer competitors. BJ, Julie and Alan braved the midday sun (just like mad dogs and Englishmen).
The results will be found at the RESULTS link of the homepage.
Kansas City Senior Games
In between periods of thunder and lightning, the Kansas City Senior Games 1500-meter racewalk was held at the Bishop Miege high school track on Sept. 18, 2005. This was the inaugural year for racewalking and it was exciting. 11 walkers braved the conditions and were well served by a group of volunteers: Sarah Justice, Amy Christensen, Lori Bainter-Ratzlaff, Carla MacMillan and race director Alan Poisner. In addition Mary Lee brought in 3 other judges from Lawrence who made it an official racewalk event. Thanks to them all. The results are/will be displayed in the “Results” link. We also want to thank Chad Tower and Jennifer Spellman for doing most of the organizing for the Johnson County Parks & Recreation Dept.
Portland to Coast Race
HRW members Carol Goslin and Alan Poisner were on the winning team at the 128-mile Portland to Coast Relay Aug. 26-27. Their team, Portland to Chaos, consisted of 6 men and 6 women in the 40+ age division and finished the journey from Portland through the coast mountains to the coast in less than 23 hours.
There were 315 teams of walkers (most with 12 members) and the race was the same weekend as the Hood to Coast race with 1,000 running teams. Each walker did two legs of about 4-8 miles each with about 11 hours in between.
Carol and Alan were tired but excited to be on the team that not only won their divison but also arrive at the coast before all of the other team. Actual results will be shown on the Results link.
There were 315 teams of walkers (most with 12 members) and the race was the same weekend as the Hood to Coast race with 1,000 running teams. Each walker did two legs of about 4-8 miles each with about 11 hours in between.
Carol and Alan were tired but excited to be on the team that not only won their divison but also arrive at the coast before all of the other team. Actual results will be shown on the Results link.
August races
HRW was active at two races in August. The FLAG Run 5K on Aug. 20 and the Stroke Stroll and Run on Aug. 21. The FLAG run was wet and muddy for Amy Christensen, Tom Young, Julie Haller, Martie Lykens, Fred Adams, John Slate, Cliff Hunter and Sue Knapp. Sarah Justice and Alan Poisner as volunteers.
The Stroke Stroll and Run 4-mile race on Aug. 21 was dry but somewhat hilly. HRW was represented by Bonnie Downs, Floyd Delon, John Slate, Sarah Justice, Bev Sherwood, BJ Thornburg, Jean Brunnenkant, Carole, Price and Amy Christensen. Alan Poisner served as the course monitor and record keeper and photographer. See Results and Pictures links.
The Stroke Stroll and Run 4-mile race on Aug. 21 was dry but somewhat hilly. HRW was represented by Bonnie Downs, Floyd Delon, John Slate, Sarah Justice, Bev Sherwood, BJ Thornburg, Jean Brunnenkant, Carole, Price and Amy Christensen. Alan Poisner served as the course monitor and record keeper and photographer. See Results and Pictures links.
National Senior Olympics June 13-15, 2005
HRW won 5 medals and 3 ribbons at the Senior Olympics in Pittsburgh. Results of the 5K and 1500 meter races will be posted to the results link. Special congratulations to Martie Lykens who won a medal in her very first national event.