Details

Written by Bwana Bwana

It was a breezy day, with plenty of pollen and Game Lands smoke in the air as John Domico, Tom Cali, Randy Jepson, Judd Michael, Greg Dillon, Andrew Webb, Meira Minard, Kathy Koetje-Simin, Jonathan Thurley, Tim Aydin, Dave DeGroote, Joel Niemann, Mark Lee, Michel Goldfine, Jerry Steffy, Matt Soccio, Kevin Becker, Rob Peterson, and Marty Mazur headed for the track. The conditions made the track workout even more challenging than usual.

The Nittany Valley Running Club is full of runners with great gifts. The guys have their special powers. Tom Cali has discovered the Fountain of Youth. And while Costas Maranas keeps his Fabio Locks long to sustain his speed, John Domico takes a more aerodynamic approach to give him the edge. And Greg Dillon uses Wookie Vision as he blindly blazes round the track. But what makes the women of the NVRC so fast? Ann Skulas-Ray is packin' some powerful guns. Hill Queen Tara has pistons for thighs. And Kathy Koetje-Simin's used her jet packs on Monday for a Boston PR. And now we know that Meira Minard's got one heck of a Hyner! Meira Minard was the top woman in the Hyner View Trail Challenge by over 20 minutes! Congratulations, Meira! The Crew all wanted to pat Meira to get their own piece of that running skill. But Meira made us promise that after today we'd leave her Hyner alone! And congratulations again to all the runners who took on the challenge of qualifying for and running the Boston Marathon for CVIM! From the Thursday Track Crew: Tom Cali, John Domico, Costas Maranas, Greg Luna, George Lesieutre, Marty Klanchar, Tim Spigelmyer, Jeff Smucker, Mark Lee, Tara Murray, and Kathy Koetje Simin.

Bwana started the Crew out on Sheakoski's 6X1 Lap challenge: Do 6 1 lap runs, increasing your lane number in each successive lap, but maintaining or bettering your per-lap speed each lap. That is indeed a challenge in a strong headwind, but Meira did fine with a tailwind.

There were a few Trackers who were feeling a bit "challenged" today. Bob Cornwall and Jim Moore are obviously the "My Dad is My Buddy" types who don't challenge their kids. They showed up at the track on "Take Your Kid to Work Day" with youngsters in tow but without the requisite gear! What kind of parent does this? Andy Arndt had enough of a challenge running in the Game Lands on Tuesday and is taking the rest of the week off. Dana Todd had all the challenge he could handle on last Friday's Herbstritt 5K. And Tom Hilands finds it more and more challenging every week to just make it up the hill to Rec Hall!