Run to Win

Just got this note from Mark Grandonico and the Maine Track Club, so if you are going to be in Southern Maine next Thursday you should try to come out:

MTC Brings Bart Yasso To Portland – Thursday – 21 May – Maine Running Company in Portland.
Bart

Its Official.

Bart will be here next Thursday at the Maine Running Company in Portland – Forest Ave.

Starting at 4:00, try new Saucony products, PowerAid and pick up a copy of Barts Book – My Life On The Run – then get it autographed by Bart.

At 6:00 – join the group for an easy run from the store down to the Back Cove trail for a loop then back to the store (4 miles). Afterwards there will be a meet and greet.

This is a FREE event and open to the public as well MTC Members – Bring A Friend.

Some of Bart’s accomplishments:

CRO – Runners World (Chief Running Officer)

• Completed in over 150 marathons around the world from Boston marathon, New York City marathon, Antarctica marathon to Mount Kilimanjaro marathon.
• Won the 1998 Smoky Mountain Marathon.
• Completed the Badwater 146 miler through Death Valley. Badwater is considered the toughest run in the country. The run is held in July starts at the lowest point in the U.S. and finishes on the top of Mt. Whitney, the highest point (14,496) in the 48 states. The race is run in temperatures of 125 degrees.
• Completed in over 1,000 running and multisport events over the past 25 years, triathlons, biathlons, eco challenges.
• In 1987 won the U.S. National Biathlon Long Course Championship in New York City.
• Completed the Ironman five times.
• Completed two solo unsupported bicycle rides across the U.S. in 20 days averaging 155 miles per day.
• Inventor of the Yasso 800s.

Bart’s appearance will be incorporated into the normal Thursday night training run for the Reach the Beacon 10k Program, so if you’d like to come out and run with us for an evening and see what it’s all about then next Thursday would be an ideal day to show up!

See you then.

Last night was the Maine Track Club annual banquet, celebrating the club’s 30^th birthday. The evening was a lot of fun, with plenty of folks attending, plenty of good food, plenty of door prizes, and a plethora of awards.

The club honored it’s founder, Brian “Ziggy” Gillespie (who was the coach for “Run to Win” when I first moved to Maine and provided the inspiration for this site’s name) for his contributions to Maine running since the 1960s. Ziggy is (as far as I know) the only person that appears in both the Maine Running Hall of Fame as well as the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame. He has coached numerous successful teams throughout the years, put on more races than I could count, and helped make the Maine Track Club what it is today when he started it back in the 1970s.

The table that I was sitting at did pretty well with the awards. We had two folks win gift certificates as door prizes, we had 3 age group awards (myself, Floyd Lavery, and Amy Lilley), I won the Outstanding Contributions award, Martha Lippa received recognition for having run her first marathon, and Carry Buterbaugh won Runner of the Year.

I’d also like to mention the two volunteers of the year, David Colby Young and Don Penta, who do an outstanding job photographing the majority of the races throughout the state. It did make things a little interesting while they were receiving their awards, though, as the folks who had the cameras handed to them then had to figure out how to use them.

David took video of the evening and has a few photographs up on his site, Maine Running Photos.com. Don’s photos will probably appear on the site within the next week or two.

The Road Runners Club of America has elected their new officers and board members this weekend, and Mark Grandonico has been elected as the Eastern Region Director. Congratulations, Mark! Mark is currently the president of the Maine Track Club and has been on the RRCA Audit Committee for two years.

(More Info: RRCA – Photo Credit: Don Penta)

Mark Grandonico has been nominated for the position of Eastern Region Director for the Road Runners Club of America. Mark is currently the president of the Maine Track Club and has been on the RRCA Audit Committee for two years.

Voting for all positions will take place on May 2^nd in Cincinnati. If you have been a member in good standing as of April 19^th then you can vote. Member clubs can also send a proxy vote in. Mark has done some great work by bringing his fund raising and organizational skills to the Maine Track Club and as the Maine state representative to the RRCA, and I’m sure that he will do an excellent job if he is voted in as the eastern region director.

(More Info: RRCA – Hat Tip: Maine Running Photos – Photo Credit: Don Penta)

The Mount Washington Road Race is so popular that it requires a lottery to be allowed to participate. There is only one hill in the entire race, but that hill is over seven and a half miles long and climbs around 5000 feet. The lottery has been open since the beginning of March, and closes on the 15th. If you want to have a chance to run, then you need to register by Thursday. And seriously, who wouldn’t want to run up to the highest point in the northeast at 6,288 feet? With an average 11.2% incline over the entire course? Battling unpredictable winds? With only about 1000 other runners?
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