Minutes of December 5, 2006 NVRC Meeting.

The regular meeting of the Nittany Valley Running Club was held on Tuesday, December 5 at the HiWay Pizza  on Westerly Parkway. A big turnout was eager to talk about the Nittany Valley Half-Marathon, just completed this past Sunday. In attendance were Bob Boozer, Mike Connelly, new member Kurk Schwab, Tara Murray, Christine, Bob, and Kellie Rice, Tom Cali, Dave DeGroote, Martha Nelson, Kim Gasper, and officers Marty Klanchar, Dave Eggler, Marty Mazur, and Jerry Steffy.

Most of the pizza talk was about the trials and triumphs of Sunday's Half. Martha Nelson smashed the previous women's event record. Ageless Tom Cali set a PR. Others met glorious and ignominious fates on the challenging course, but all had a smile for Dave Eggler, who seems to have had the god's smiling on him. A record turnout, record performances, and record good times. The continued success means that Dave will look into chip timing for next year's race and will be ordering up a few Port-A-Potties to supplement the meager facilities at the Ag Arena.

Amy Paster, Arts Fest Race Director, in absentia asked a couple of questions: (1) What will we call the Arts Fest Race in the future, and (2) what will next year's course be like. Regarding (1), the assembled decided to call the race "The Sue Crowe Memorial nth Annual Arts Festival Races". This designation will bring in the fact that we now honor Sue Crowe through the race name, but the race has been going on for many years. Regarding (2), we decided that we'd like to finish near Medlar Field so that we can conveniently hold the Kids Races at the ball park. But no matter where the start/finish ends up, the Club (Amy?) needs to contact whomever is in charge of the golf courses to make sure we can run part of it on the Club House Rd as in the past two years. Once this is settled, course-meister Marty Mazur will know how to jigger the pieces of the course to get the right distances.

Also discussed: Kim Gasper gave a report on the recent local government planning meeting regarding the proposed Bellefonte Rail-Trail project. Kim was there and said the public response seems overwhelmingly positive. Some landowners near the proposed trail have legitimate concerns regarding litter, ATVs, vandalism, privacy, etc. There was some input from residents knowledgeable of a similar trail near Pine Creek. The Pine Creek trail has been very successful with few of the feared problems materializing. Kim says that the Bellefonte project could take a decade to complete, but pieces are already available for biking and running and the project does not need to be complete to be useful and enjoyable.

Marty M. and Jerry reported on a meeting they had with Beth Alford-Sullivan, the new PSU running coach.  Beth wants to build a good relationship with the NVRC and with the local running community. With Beth's blessing the NVRC will hold four events during the PSU indoor track season in conjunction with PSU meets. Beth will also be involved with keeping the Summer All-Comers Meet tradition going strong. She is also excited about working with the NVRC to foster local running.

Martha asked about progress on the new NVRC singlets. We'd like to have some ready for the Indoor Mile meets.  We'd like to order about what we need so that we are not stuck with stock for several years. Marty Mazur will put out an email requesting orders for the shirts.

Next Meeting: February 6.

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