Volume XLVIII Number 6 March 2023
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Table of Contents (Note: links might not work if you are reading this on your phone) Meet the Newest Member of the Carolina Godiva Track Club - Warren Bein Vote for the 2022 ROY and VOY by April 1st (change of date) The 2023 Umstead Trail Marathon February Business Meeting Minutes President's Columnby Jo Chiti Meet the Newest Member of the Carolina Godiva Track Club - Warren Bein
Hello fellow Godivans. I hope this column finds you all happy and healthy. For the March President’s column (and perhaps for future ones) I thought it would be interesting to move away from my musings and onto other topics. Specifically showcasing others either in the club or in the world of running. So I checked with Julie, our Membership Chair, to find out who, at the time of this writing, was the newest member of Godiva. Turns out it’s Warren Bein, who some of you may have met at Geezer Pleezer. Warren was gracious enough to spend some time with me chatting about himself personally and his interest in Godiva and running, so let me take this opportunity to thank him and introduce him to the club. Tell us a bit about yourself. I’ve lived in the area for about a year and a half. My wife and I, we just got married last summer, moved here in the summer of 2021 for her PhD program in chemistry at UNC. Previously, I’ve lived in New York and California. I work in technology as a Software Engineer. In college I was considering bioengineering but then took my first computer science course and liked it. Then I took my second computer science course and was sold on it. I like problem solving. It’s very satisfying. My career story is I started at Facebook in California, then went to ShopKeep, a company that handles point-of-sale systems. Ultimately,ShopKeep was bought by LIghtspeed. I still work for LIghtspeed and am able to work remotely. I enjoy music and play piano and trumpet recreationally. I also hike and like being on trails in the mountains. I’ve been running my whole life. When I was little my dad would push me in a jogger and then have me get out and do some running. Once I was out of a stroller, I started running more. I ran track in middle school and cross country in high school. I stopped for a bit in college and then eventually got back into running. I’ve been running my whole life. When I was little my dad would push me in a jogger and then have me get out and do some running. Once I was out of a stroller, I started running more. I ran track in middle school and cross country in high school. I stopped for a bit in college and then eventually got back into running. One of my goals was to run a marathon before I turned 26. I ran the Buck’s County Marathon in Pennsylvania. Note to you all. I was looking up results to find out what year Warren ran this marathon to include it in the column and it was 2019. What Warren so humbly did not mention was he placed second in his age group and seventh overall with an amazing 7:59 pace. So hopefully he will not mind if I share that amazing accomplishment. Go Warren! How did you hear about Carolina Godiva Track Club? In the past years I have done large road races and enjoyed smaller races and run clubs. I have done both road running and trail running. I have done a lot of running in Carolina North Forest Park and also run in Umstead Park. I like exploring new places and not running the same route over and over. I heard about Govida from a few people. It’s nice to be able to run with other people and have good vibes. I like the community and camaraderie, meeting new people and being able to run with them. A lot of races can be really expensive and perhaps not worth it. The New York Marathon is over 200 dollars. I like having access and knowledge of races in the area that are not so crazy expensive and include good groups of people. Attending the Geezer Pleezer was a defining moment. Although the weather was not ideal, it was pouring rain during the race, the race was absolutely worth the value. It was the first official race I had done since COVID. Any feedback for Godiva now that you are a member? The information on the website was good and easy to find. It seems events aren’t for members only but membership does get you in the google group with information about Godiva events. I’ve heard about Carolina North Forest events but haven’t seen any information on those. I would be interested in events in that park. I’m also looking forward to the Summer Track Series now that the Winter Series is almost over. One recommendation. It could be cool to have a beer mile. A beer mile is an event where you run a mile. So four laps on a track and before each lap you drink a beer. So by the end you have drank four beers and run a mile. Thank you so much Warren and that sounds like an awesome event! Any Godivans want to join?
Email me at president@carolinagodiva.org Editor's Cornerby Patrick Gale
A new year has begun, and time to try a new format for the club newsletter. Speaking of the newsletter, if you would like to put your editing skills to work, we could use you in the newsletter department of Godiva. This club runs on volunteers, and volunteering to manage the monthly newsletter will give you the chance to hone your writing, copying, pasting, copy-editing skills. If you would like to learn more, drop us a line at newsletter@carolinagodiva.org.
Oh, and if nothing else, submit run reports, random musings, and your must-do races to us at newsletter@carolinagodiva.org. Cheers! AnnouncementsVote for the 2022 ROY and VOY by April 1st (change of date)By Patrick Gale I messed up and we need your votes by April 1st (no joke). It’s time to nominate your fellow club members as candidates for:
Who received these awards in the past you might ask? View the list of members who received an award since 1984 Are you wondering what it takes to win? When considering Runners of the Year, do you know someone who consistently finishes in the front of the pack, or in their age group? Maybe someone who finishes in the middle or back of the pack, but excels at motivating others and helping new runners feel welcome in the running community? Or, you (yes - you can nominate yourself) have shown great improvement but others might not know what you have accomplished. In short, a Runner of the Year isn’t necessarily the fastest runner, but someone who’s had an outstanding year of running, however you wish to define it. As for Volunteer of the Year, do you know a dedicated volunteer for the club who stands out? If you do then please submit their name and let us know how they excel. Please use this form to submit your nominations Closing date for submitting nominations is Saturday April 1, 2023. Spring Banquetby Patrick Gale Planning for our spring banquet is underway, so save the date for Saturday May 20th.
Winter Series 2022-23by Jo Chiti Winter Series is a wrap. Check the SERIES STANDINGS.
Results
Geezer Pleezer 4-miler 2023by Tom Kirby and Barbara Hindenach It was a dark and stormy night. Then it was a cold and rainy morning, but Godiva held the 2023 Geezer Pleezer race on February 12th anyway. At least one potential entrant came to the Carolina Friends School parking lot, happened to notice the weather, and decided to go home. Nevertheless, 23 hard-core runners laced up their shoes and splashed through the four-mile course; they seemed to have enjoyed themselves. Once again, Mike Kelley ran a very inspiring race and defended his 2022 title, giving him a much-coveted threepeat - congratulations again, Geezer champ Mike! The top-ten finishers got pre-Valentine’s Day chocolate awards:
Lance and Warren took home chocolate in their Geezer Pleezer debuts. Full results are on the website at 2023 Results. Lance had the fastest overall time, a 5:35 pace for a partially muddy course; Becky Robinson was the speediest female in her first Geezer Pleezer appearance. The Geezer Pleezer Hall-of Fame is explained on the website: Geezer Hall-of-Fame. Lance Harden is the only 2023 inductee, impressively in the 13th position - congratulations to him. We want to thank our gracious hosts at Carolina Friends School for trusting us with the use of their venue. As always, Godiva owes a huge debt of gratitude to Peter Kolpfer and Martha Klopfer for all the help they have given us. Many thanks to our fantastic volunteers: Chris Crowder, Patrick Bruer, Joe Drommer, Charlene Flahiff, Patrick Gale, Tom Griffin, John Jewel, Julie Messina, Kevin Nickodem, and Jim Reagan. Tower Climb Hill recapby Bill Harris The last installment of the 2022-2023 Winter Series was held on Sunday March 12th in Pittsboro. The Tower Climb Hill race had its second running, and once again runners were treated to some extended climbs (and falls) on the pair of out-and-back courses. The weather for this years' series started off quite well with Donuts, Moniese, Misery, and New Years Day, and Eno, but then deteriorated for the last two events (this race as well as the preceding Geezer Pleezer). Early in the morning, area residents saw snow and sleet fall, just as the finishing touches were being put to marking the course. Owing to concerns with some runners going off course last year, as well as the durability of chalk and flour in the rain, several course monitors were deployed to help give runners direction, confidence and commiseration. Special thanks go out to Tom Griffin, Stephanie DeVries, Kevin Nickodem, Susan Harris, Steve Chase and Heiko Rath for all being willing to stand out in the dank environment during the event. No runners missed turns, and several commented that the addition of the monitors was a vast mental aide, not just physical. Additional thanks go out to Anthony Corriveau, Beth Steffens, and Heiko for bringing pop-up canopies to the event to help keep supplies and runners dry before and after the run. The course was slightly altered this year, to take advantage of a little more up-and-down in an area of pending construction, which made runners endure less of the US64 frontage road, but the trade off was a decent stretch of gravel that did lend to a little mud as the rain kept falling. Mike Kelley came across the finish line first in the 4 mile event (the water tower route) with a 30:11 time, despite having already completed his long run earlier that day. He'd considered folding one of the events into his workout, but being unsure of the area and where to get extra mileage, opted to do his planned distance first, and then run the shorter event. Kellie Bossert (34:44) was the first woman to come across the line. In the 10 mile event, a couple first time Winter Series participants jockeyed for first position. Julius Martin (a frequent attendee at the Thursday night run in Durham) led for most of the race but was overtaken around mile 6. He said he burned up his legs climbing to the top of Firetower Road and could sense that the eventual winner, Adam Gaines was reeling him in thereafter. Adam is from Siler City and had won the Pittsboro YMCA Shamrock 10K the day before. Adam finished in 1:12:41, just over a minute ahead of Julius. Beth came across as the first female finisher in 1:23:31. Tori Kendra folded the event into her ultra-marathon training plan and hiked the course 2 hours, 20 minutes. Anthony provided timing for the event and even had live updates going as well. After the conclusion of the race, a collective group effort clean-up took place and folks gathered at the Pittsboro House of Hops to warm up and socialize with the comfort of a couple pizzas from the adjacent Marco's. In total there were 29 finishers who beat the elements, many of which wanted to grab that last point to secure their Winter Series Shirt. The 2023 Umstead Trail Marathonby Doug Hensel
Godiva Track Club presented the 19th Annual Umstead Trail Marathon on March 4th. Here are the overall results and some photos. Congratulations to the participants and thanks to the many volunteers who helped make this event happen. 2023 Summer Trackby Patrick Gale Summer track planning is underway and we will be returning to Durham Academy for the 2023 season. Mark your calendars for Wednesday nights starting at 7pm in (possibly May), June, July (except for July 5th when we can take a break), and part of August.
Assorted Member MusingsGodiva Weekly Runs
Our club weekly runs are on Thursday evening (American Tobacco Trail) and Saturday morning (Umstead State Park). Please check with the listed run coordinator to confirm details. Membership Cornerby Julie Messina New members Warren Bein, Lexi Corrion, Speedy McLovin, Barbara McLovin-Wedel, Tim Phillips, Hedrick Strickland Membership Anniversaries (five year anniversaries) 20 years Jason Clark 10 years Thomas Griffin 5 years Ann Brewster Graduating to a new age group (Happy birthday!) Shelly Bloom, Tom Kirby, Richard Smith
Want to include something in next month’s Membership Corner? Send notes to me, Julie, at membership@carolinagodiva.org. @ The Racesby Kevin McCabe Given that February is the shortest month of the year, the club saw fewer than average race submissions this month with 22 February results. Most of the races were somewhat local with 20 of the 22 results taking place in the Carolinas (SC & NC), the most well attended races being the Oak Island and Wilmington Half Marathons. Despite the lower February result totals, Maria and Ethan Gearhart submitted some older results adding to the impressive club totals from October (65) and November (72). You can see how all the runners did and where they raced in the list below:
> View past results for @ The Races February Business Meeting Minutesby Ben Barker No meeting in February Additional information about the club can be found online using the links below:
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