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From The Top
By Jason Libbert
Hey there PRA members!
Thank you for your support of the Pensacola Runners Association. June was my first month as President of the PRA Board of Directors and I am looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible and continuing to present fun, safe and affordable endurance events for our members and the Northwest Florida community.
In my day job I am the Director of Events at Pensacola Sports (formerly the Pensacola Sports Association).
 We manage many different sporting events around the area which include the Subway High School All-Star Series, the COX Diamond Invitational DI NCAA College baseball tournament, Senior Scholar Athlete Banquet, Racquet Round Up, Annual Awards Banquet and many more.
Probably the two most popular and well-known events that we present are the Pensacola Double Bridge Run and the Pensacola Marathon. While I have experience and knowledge in managing events, I am always looking for ways to improve and new ideas to keep our events fresh and current.
The PRA Board is a dedicated group of volunteers who are passionate about the sport of running and walking. They want to make sure you have a great experience at one of our races. Our events are only as good as the people volunteering their time to make them happen. We would love for you to get involved - serve on a committee, work a water stop, help with registration or sponsor the race. I'd love to hear from you - my e-mail is
[email protected]. Again, thanks for supporting the PRA. Train safe, run hard, and have fun!
Sincerely,
Jason Libbert
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Get Ready For The Argonaut 5K
On August 27th At UWF
The last several years the Pensacola Runners Association has partnered with the University of West Florida Cross Country Team to present the Argonaut 5K on the beautiful and scenic UWF campus.
This fun and challenging race gives you a great opportunity to support your hometown university and run this picturesque course. 100% of the profits will go to the cross country team which donates hundreds of hours every year to supporting community events and activities. More details can be found by clicking the race page link
HERE.
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Nominations Are Now Being Accepted For
The PRA Volunteer Of The Year
by Charles Gheen
Our annual Volunteer Of The Year award will be presented at the Don
McCloskey
Seafood Festival 5K in late September and the nomination process is now open. The award winner should be someone who has given their time, efforts and expertise consistently to help the PRA accomplish its mission of presenting high-quality running and walking opportunities and competitions for the Northwest Florida
community.
Like most organizations, the PRA could not exist without our selfless, outstanding volunteers for our endeavors. These are people who serve as Race Directors, work as committee members, put out cones at 4 am, staff registration tables and water stops, serve refreshments, maintain equipment, serve on the Board of Directors and, yes, pick up trash after the races are all over. Since the award's inception three years ago the PRA has honored three outstanding individuals in Sherry Readdy, Jim Readdy and Angelika Manning.
We are looking forward to recognizing yet another outstanding person and we look forward to your nominations. Please forward a short narrative
describing
a deserving individual to
[email protected] or [email protected].
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My Final Rundown
by Corey Dell
My time serving on the Board of Directors for the Pensacola Runners Association has come to an end. I volunteered for two years and was coerced by President and friend, Eric Miller, to stay for at least another year. I'm currently in my second semester of my Masters in Healthcare Administration. Between life, work and school, I am unable to
continue
with the varied responsibilities of being on the board. However, I've learned so much over the last three years and that is what I'm going to close with.
Putting on our races for the Pensacola community is an entire challenge in itself. It takes a dedicated board to make decisions on the races we produce. When I thought of a race before joining PRA, I thought we just need some shirts, some medals, and some dedicated people to run. This is far from the truth.
Race Directors are faced with the challenges of pulling permits, working with
the
police to provide safety and security
for the races, having an energetic race committee (in addition to being on the board) and finally - volunteers!! I'm sure I'm missing quite a few things, (I've never been a race director) but it's like another full-time job. Being able to serve with people who are passionate about being physically active and who take time out of their busy schedule to be able to serve the Pensacola community has been an incredible experience!
As far as my own personal journey, I've learned a lot about myself too. To start, I found out I have a congenital defect in my right knee, which causes moderate to severe pain when I run, squat and when it's overused. I've spent the last 4 months resting, doing physical therapy and getting steroid injections to get me back to doing the things that I love. How crazy is that? Surgery is an option, but it's not a guaranteed fix. I've learned I'm not a spring chicken and life has to be about
balance.
Finally, I will leave the Pensacola Runners Association on this note. Do yourself a favor and try something new and different if given the opportunity. Running is a great activity and we live in a beautiful place to try many other things at least once. Cycling, yoga, crossfit, boot camp classes, swimming, triathlons and paddle boarding are all available here and the list goes on and on!! Until next time,
Happy Running!!
Corey Dell
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Catching
Up With.......Angelika Manning
As we are approaching the time when the PRA presents its Volunteer Of The Year award, it's appropriate that we profile last year's winner, Angelika Manning. Angelika was on the PRA Board of Directors for five years and served as Treasurer and as the Race Director for the Bear Lake Trail Run.
Angelika is an accomplished athlete - she's run a marathon, completed numerous half-marathons, swam the 3.5 miles across Pensacola Bay to Gulf Breeze in the Bay Bridge Swim, completed 10 triathlons and finished many road races. She continues to train by swimming and running consistently.
She has gotten married since last year to Steve Manning who is also a fitness enthusiast and runner. They continually push each other in many activities including biking, boating, hiking, playing golf and swimming.
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| Angelika Hiking With Friends |
A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Angelika is embarking on a new job and will certainly throw all her considerable energies into it. She also is on the Cordova Mall Ball committee, volunteers with the Humane Society by fostering rescue dogs and serves on the Santa Rosa island Triathlon Board of Directors.
You'll see Angelika competing at the races and she'll be volunteering out there as well.
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Year End Thoughts, Rants
And Miscellaneous Ramblings
By Steve Lipe, PRA Secretary
and Walking Advocate
By now, the new Board of Directors for the Pensacola Runners Association has been installed This occurred at the Bear Lake Trail Run which serves as the annual meeting for the PRA membership. Welcome to the new board members!
This will be a big year for the board and we want to strongly encourage ALL PRA members to lend a hand and volunteer and help out when you can. Volunteers are what help make this organization what it is and we want to continue moving forward with YOUR help. Just let any board member know if you are available to help, in any capacity. Nothing is too difficult and it is fun for everyone.
Thanks to PRA member and Past President Charles Gheen for publishing The Rundown. This will be his last one as he is turning over the reins to our outgoing PRA President Eric Miller. I'm sure Eric will live up to the standards that Charles has established and it will be a smooth transition. Any PRA member can submit articles to The Rundown. This newsletter is read by a large number of people, not only here in Pensacola, but in running communities all over who peruse our site.
Since I started writing articles for The Rundown, I have tried to address many different aspects of walking: the mechanics of the sport, a little of the history, comments on the "dark side" (cheating) and recognition equality. I want to address a couple of these topics again and I sincerely would like your feedback, either pro or con. Some of these are my personal thoughts, but there is much data from other running clubs that support my feelings.
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| A Scenic Running And Walking Trail |
Merriam-Webster's definition of cheating is "to use unfair or dishonest methods to gain an advantage". This is, unfortunately, a black mark on the walking community and people need to be more vocal about it when they see it. It happens all too frequently, in almost every race, and people are not even trying to hide it. I have heard people say that they are registered as a walker, but they will run and walk. They say they haven't been caught so they will continue doing it. Both walkers and runners should be aware of this and report it as soon as possible. Recently, I did a race in another community and I knew other walkers in the event. When we had finished we all knew (or thought we knew) where we had finished. When the awards were announced, someone else was given an award. The overall winner (walker) had seen this person on the course and saw that he was both running and walking. He just figured he was a runner. As it turned out, this person had registered as a walker. He was asked by the overall walker if he had both walked and run and he said that he did. He said he knew he was wrong and he would make it right. After all the awards were distributed, he went to the race director, told him what he had done and surrendered his medal which was given to the proper winner.
This is an unusual example and rarely happens, but this is what needs to be done if we want to stop the cheating. Other racing clubs have people on the course who monitor this type of activity and they are able to address it immediately. Perhaps this is something our local group should look into. Too many serious, competitive walkers are being cheated out of their just rewards. They deserve the recognition they have worked so hard for.
Speaking of recognition, this is another area I will again address. It's not only my thoughts, but other walkers in our area and it is something that is practiced by other running and walking groups all over. Walkers have been called an "afterthought" or "fillers". When you see a race being offered most everyone thinks of running. And that's perfectly fine.
There are far more runners out there than the competitive walkers, but that doesn't diminish the effort made by the walker when it comes to competing. They work hard training and getting prepared for an event, much like the runners. They go the same distances, pay the same amount for participating, but when it comes to recognition after the fact, they are slighted. The runners are recognized for their efforts and rightly so. Why shouldn't the walkers receive the same recognition?
I have researched other running club races and when they have a walking recognized event, they are equally rewarded. Runners receive the Overall, Masters, Grand Masters, and Senior Grand Masters awards as do the walkers. I think this is a practice for all Race Directors to seriously consider. Now in regards to the age categories, there is flexibility in that regard. In our local clubs, and most others, there are not "competitive" racewalkers in the younger ages. I have seen many races where they start at 30 years old for walkers and then advance in either 5 or 10 year increments. If there are higher percentages of walkers in the 40-50-60 year range, then the 5-year increment is the norm. Having races where they have 0-44 and 45-99 age groups is not only discouraging, but it's a huge turn off for people who want to compete. I personally won't enter a race with this type of spread and I know many others who feel the same way.
Walkers do matter despite what others might think. I realize there are runners who won't give any credence to walkers and that is their personal choice. We have a good, strong, and tight-knit group of walkers who enjoy getting out as often as possible and competing. Let's make it fun for EVERYONE. I know I am biased towards the walkers, but I am also envious of the runners' ability to do what they do and perform at the level they do. We do need walkers out there, whether it be for competition or just a casual conversational stroll for the exercise and fresh air.
Like I mentioned at the start...PLEASE get out and support the Pensacola Runners Association in whatever way you can. Anything helps. We want to continue to bring you great races and other events and this is all made possible by volunteer help. Pitch in and do your part and you can say that you are not only a member of PRA, but you are a volunteer and part of what "giving back to the community" really means.
Again, I would really appreciate any feedback/input that you might have. You can email me [email protected].
"Don't Look Back...You've Already Been There"
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Hydration for Triathletes (And Runners)
by
Jessica Becker
As a triathlete and a registered nurse working in an ICU, I am intimately familiar with the importance of proper hydration. Many triathletes struggle with striking the right balance. Hydration is important for not only performance, but also for your health. Too much hydration can cause hyponatremia, or a dilution of the blood sodium concentration.
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Jessica Heads For The Finish Line
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This might lead to nausea and vomiting, headache, and confusion. If you don't drink enough water the symptoms can be similar with headache and confusion, the obvious dry and sticky mouth, and you might also accelerate the development of heat stroke. After your event, you may become irritable, have a rapid heart rate, and very dark urine with an overall decreased urine output.
In severe cases, rhabdomyolysis can develop, where your body begins to break down muscle tissue and the proteins from your muscles spill over into your urine, damaging the kidneys and causing renal failure. In either case, improper hydration can land you in the hospital!
The real challenge here is how to properly hydrate. It's not easy when you're transitioning between events. Many newer triathletes have a hard time drinking water on the bike. For this, I recommend getting a hands-free aero bar hydration system. Take a few extra seconds in transition and grab a quick drink. Utilize the water stops on the run. And most importantly, don't wait until the race to replace your losses.
Begin focusing on hydration a few days or a week prior. There are many formulas out there on how much you should be drinking, but the most effective method is to KNOW YOUR BODY. In general, you should urinate often during the day (every couple of hours), and your urine should be pale yellow. During your race, consider how much you are sweating, how hot it is and how much fluid you can take in without feeling any gastrointestinal discomfort. During longer races, you will need electrolyte replacement as well. This can be done with Gatorade or a number of other tablets and drinks. When you are training, train for hydration as well!
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