Happy New Year!
Last year, several news clubs in the Bay Area joined the RRCA. The purpose of this newsletter is to supplement information that is pertinent to our clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area (which is designated Central California).
I hope that 2002 will bring many rewards and growth to our running community. I can be contacted at 650-992-9120. Please note that my new email address is rehmet@msn.com .
RRCA State Meeting – February 24, 2002
The Lake Merrit Joggers and Striders will be hosting the RRCA State meeting after the Couple’s Relay on Sunday, February 24 at 9AM. The meeting will be at Len Goldman’s house (see attached form for directions from the race site to his home). Call Len at 510-339-2430 or email him at lgoldman@pacbell.net if you need more information.
The Couple’s Relay will be a special RRCA championship race. The top three clubs will be scored. So be sure to have your club members to write their club name on the entry form (included).
Refreshments will be provided. The meeting will start at 11:30 and I will limit it to 90 minutes. Items on the agenda are to include: the 2002 National RRCA, promoting diversity in running clubs, and All American Trail Running Association. At the start of the meeting, there will be introductions. So please introduce not just your name and your club, but if there are any issues to bring up and any races or club events you want the other clubs to be aware about. Therefore, you might want to bring race flyers to give to other clubs.
10% Discount from Sports Basement to RRCA Clubs
The Sports Basement will provide additional 10% off for RRCA participants in Central California for their purchases. To receive your discount at Sports Basement's San Francisco store simply show proof of your RRCA affiliation when checking out.
To receive a discount online type “RRCA02” in the space for “coupon code” on the website order form. Free ground shipping.
Sports Basement is located at 1301 6th Street, San Francisco CA. Call them at 1-800-869-8095 or log on at www.sportsbasement.com .
The Sports Basement carries brand
name sports gear at 30-60% below comparable retail. Sports Basement
carries a wide selection of running shoes and apparel from all the leading manufacturers. Brands like:
North Face, Brooks, New Balance,
Asics, Saucony, Hind, Polar and many more.
Report from the 2001 RRCA State Meeting
Last year’s state meeting was held at the California International Marathon Expo in December. Northern California RRCA State Representative Gordon Wilkinson wrote up the minutes below. For the newsletter competition, we were well represented.
George Rehmet welcomed
all members to the meeting and everybody introduced
themselves. George then talked about the differences in RRCA and USATF, which
was very
interesting and enlightening. George then started out talking about the Annual
RRCA Convention and then Po Adams continued on the subject.
Po Adams announced the winners of the RRCA Journalism Awards and talked a bit
about how the contest works. The winners are as follows:
LARGE SIZE CLUBS
Tamalpa Gazette, Tamalpa Runners
San Rafel, California
Editor, Dave Waco
RUNNER UP
San Diego Running, San Diego Track Club
San Diego, California
Production Mgr., Dan Trone, Pres. Eric Noel Cartagena
MEDIUM SIZE CLUBS
ARR News, Albuquerque Road Runners
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Editor, John E. Farrow
SMALL SIZE CLUBS
Soonar Soundings, Pamakids Runners
San Francisco, California
Editor, George Rehmet
RUNNER UP
Diablo Footprint, The Diablo Road Runners
Walnut Creek, California
Editor, Jeff Mock, Presidnt Doug Miliken
THE WESTERN REGION CLUB WRITER OF THE YEAR 2001
Victor Nemudrov
ARR News, Albuquerque Road Runners
Albuquerque, New Mexico
RUNNER UP
Jeff Recker
Mesa Monument Striders
Grand Junction, Colorado
The meeting was then turned over to the floor for questions and answers, and
anybody having an opinion or information for the group. This part of the
meeting was handled by Po Adams and myself. Some of the topics discussed were:
Advertising for Races.
Using timing companies for your races.
How one of your races can become an RRCA Championship Event.
A discussion of the RRCA Insurance.
The general trend of race attendance going down approximately 30% in the last
year.
I think this years meeting was quite a success and I hope that we can get
more people to attend next year.
RRCA
Championship Races
The following races are RRCA State Championships put on by Central California RRCA clubs. I am usually at these races and will be happy to display your club’s literature and race entries. Please contact me to have your race be a championship race.
Napa Valley Marathon. March 3. Calistoga. Race is a
National RRCA State Championship. Email shnvm@napanet.net or call
707/255-2609.
Brickyard 8M (plus 4 mile race). April 14. Martinez. Sponsored by Diablo Road Runners. Contact brickyardrace@hotmail.com or call hotline at 925/906-8880 or RD 925/370-9717. Website is www.diablorunners.com . 8 mile is a State Championship. Team competition for both events.
Lake Chabot Half Marathon Trail Challenge (plus 5k and free kids races) June 2. Castro Valley. Sponsored by Golden Bay Runners. Website is www.trailchallenge.com Half marathon is Western Regional Championship and includes team championship.
San Bruno Mountain Half Marathon, July 28. Daly City. Sponsored by Dolphin South End. Half marathon is a Central California Championship and includes team championship. Contact me. Website is www.dserunners.com.
Hook and Ladder 10K.San Francisco. August 18. Sponsored by San Francisco Fire Fighters. Contact 415-753-0880 or email grapenotes@aol.com. This race is a State Championship.
Central California RRCA Races
The following races are held by clubs in our region. The calendar goes only to May. Please submit entry forms for races in the summer as I will publish again in spring.
San Francisco Half Marathon and 5K. January 27. Sponsored by Pamakids. Note: There will be a RRCA table to display RRCA club literature. This event is expecting 4,000 participants. Contact 415-333-4780. Website is www.pamakids.org .
Couples’ Relay. February 10. Novato. Sponsored by Tamalpa Runners. Note: Good practice race for the Couples Relay in Oakland. www.tamalparunners.org or call 415- 721-3791
Slug Run. April 13. Santa Cruz. Sponsored by Santa Cruz Track Club. Website: http://sctc.runners.net . Call 831-684-0867.
Ruth Anderson 100K & 50M. April 20. San Francisco. Sponsored by Bay Area Ultra Runners. Call 415/388-3904, (fax)415/388-6308
Tilden Tough 10. May 19. Berkeley. Sponsored by Lake
Merritt Joggers and Striders.
Contact 510/339-2430.
Ohlone Wilderness 50K Trail Run. May 19. Fremont. Sponsored by Bay Area Ultra Runners. Email ohlone50k@abovethefog.net.
Pacific Sun 10K. May 27. Kentfield. Sponsored by
Tamalpa Runners. Contact www.tamalparunners.org or call 415 721-3791.
Dolphin South End
Runners has races just about each Sunday in San Francisco. Website: www.dserunners.com or call 415-978-0837.
RRCA Presence in Central California
You have gotten word that the RRCA will not be doing expos due to time and expense involved. Rest assure that this is not the case in our region. Expense is not a problem as I have teamed up with the Providian Relay (to be held on October 19-20) to share a booth at the San Francisco Chronicle Marathon and the San Francisco Bay to Breaker Expo. I am also grateful for the clubs above who have allowed me to set up a table at their events.
And I believe that time is not wasted. First, I get to meet runners and direct them to the appropriate resources such as finding a running club in their area, finding a good race, getting Boston Marathon qualifier times, etc. In addition, I usually get to see many of you and your members and get to touch base.
Christmas Relays
It was great to see many of you at the Christmas Relays. It was even greater to see that the race was back after being initially cancelled. There were the every present clubs with their feed areas. I’d enjoyed Golden Bay Runners’ President Mike Raffe making a warm and delicious butternut squash soup.
As a parent, I’m always interested to find ways to get kids involved in running. One way is to get kids be seen as part of the running clubs. Tamalpa Runners’ Shirley Matson was selling toddlers’ clothes with the club’s name emblazed in silver and gold colors. Check out www.tamalparunners.org for more info.
Mike serves up some great soup.
He is President of Golden Bay Runners & race director for Lake Chabot Trail Challenge.
Shirley & her lovely shirts.
Shirley is 60 years old (honestly!) and is a multi-record holder.
See you at the races and hopefully on February 24.
George Rehmet