FUN RUNS, WEEKLY RUNS

We have one more monthly Fun Run scheduled for 2024. Wednesday evening, October 9th, 6:00 pm, Harley Davidson Academy, 5322 Clairmont Drive, Appleton (near Hwy 15 and McCarthy Rd). If you are in the Halloween spirit, please dress up in your favorite costume. There will be a 5k and 10k route option. Afterwards, we will enjoy Sloppy Joe sandwiches, with beer available. Please bring a side dish, salad or dessert to share.

Our weekly Saturday morning runs are now taking place at 8:00 am starting and finishing at Copper Rock Coffee, 210 W. College Ave, Appleton. The route is unchanged from recent years, a 10 mile loop which can be adjusted to fit your needs, with water available near the halfway point. This is a great way to continue running as we enter the winter season. After running, many of us meet inside the Copper Rock. Bring a few dollars and warm up with a hot coffee or hot chocolate.

And don't forget to join us for the St. Joe's 5k/10k Run/Walk on Saturday October 5th at 1465 Opportunity Way, Menasha (across from UW-Fox Valley on Midway Rd). PLEASE REGISTER HERE Since 1982, St. Joseph Food Program has helped feed tens of thousands of families and individuals here in the Fox Valley that are facing food insecurity as well as other nonprofits through their outreach services. Food and meal programs support 24 area agencies, along with providing food for the weekend to 1,500 students each week across 9 area school districts.

SAVE THE DATE!!!! Our PaceSetters Christmas Party will be on Saturday December 7th at Wilder's Bistro, 2639 S. Oneida St, Appleton. More details to follow.

TASTY HEALTHY RECIPE

Sometimes healthy and tasty do not go together but they do in this case. Our Club President Cyndi Faulkner has prepared these PB&J Protein Balls for some of our running events and has been asked for the recipe. Here it is:

1/2 C  Peanut/Almond butter

1/2 C  Jam of choice (Berry)

1/4 C  Dried fruit (I used blueberries)

2 TBL  Honey or Maple syrup

1 Cup  Rolled oats

2 tsp  Chia seeds and ground flax(optional)hemp hearts(optional as well) (if you use all three like I did, just use one tsp of each

This is a ONE-BOWL recipe! Yup, so make sure to use a large mixing bowl. Mix it all together making sure it is fully combined and try not to eat it as you go! Place it in the fridge (right in the bowl) for at least 15 minutes to let it harden up. This will ensure that it doesn’t just fall apart in your hands as you try to roll them into bite size balls.

Once that’s done, all you do is roll them together, or you can put in a pan and slice as well. Keep them refrigerated, you can freeze them too. ENJOY!

CERTIFYING RACES

If you want to organize a brand new race in your neighborhood, (insert your name here)________'s 5k, it is a good idea to get your race certified. By having it certified you are assured that the distance is accurate. This is a necessary step for a new age group record time to be recognized. And if your race is 26.2 miles long, to allow its participants to qualify for events like the Boston Marathon.

At this point I'd like to introduce you to David Moore. Many of you may already know Dave, he has been a longtime PaceSetters Club member. And for over the past 17 years he has likely done every race in our great State of Wisconsin. Say what? OK, so he has not run all of them, but he has certified all (or nearly all) of them. He became registered with the USATF to be a measurer in 1982, and then became the Wisconsin certifier in 2007. In the 17 years since, he has registered 628 races, with a max of 60 in the 2012 year. About half of those he has measured as well.

So how are races certified? Well it is quite a lengthy process. The measurer must first become registered with the USATF, and understand their Certifications Procedures Manual. It is a detailed manual explaining the do's and don'ts. Then, using a 100' steel tape, a 1000' measurement is marked. Next a bike equipped with a counter tool known as a Jones device is calibrated generating a number for that 1000' distance. An average of 4 counts is used. That number times 5.28 generates the Jones device count for every mile. Actually, that number is multiplied by a 1.001 Short Course Factor, to assure a small amount of margin is built in. And there is a weather factor used to adjust for hot and cold temperatures.

The biker then measures the course, following straight lines, using tangents to cut the course as short as possible. Mile marks are made on the road, and a detailed map is created, with measurements shown from landmarks such as fire hydrants. The course is measured a second time to assure that the shortest distance possible is used. Many of us have seen cones and barriers out on race courses to assure that runners are not cutting corners. The measurer details those things on his map so that the race director can understand how their course was measured and can set it up properly. If the measurer is not the certifier for that state, they must submit their information to the certifier (i.e., Dave) for review and final approval.

A course certification expires after 10 years, so even if a race route was unchanged, the process must then be repeated. For this year's Fox Cities Marathon, a new course utilizing some newly developed trails was desired. Since the course was due for recertification in 2025, the race director decided to make the change. That required a rough mapping of the new course, and meant that Dave was back out on the course, using his Jones device to calibrate a 1000' measurement, and then bike the new route and document the new route on a new detailed course map.

These efforts go unnoticed and underappreciated by most race participants. Thanks Dave for all the work you have done for our races!

GPS Art