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Hello Striders,

Welcome to September.  I, for one, am happy to see the return of cooler temperatures.  It’s nice to turn off the air conditioning and get some fresh air.  Another thing I’m very happy about—the technical shirts and jackets arrived and they look great.  Much thanks to Peg Landini for her quick and efficient work.  If you’re interested, and didn’t get in on the initial order or want to order more items, please let Peg know.  

If it’s fall, it must be racing season.  Members will be participating in many upcoming races: Dublin’s inaugural half/quarter marathon; New Albany 10K, Air Force half marathon, Columbus, Akron, and Seattle.  Good luck to all.

Five members of the Buckeye Striders have been volunteering with the Step and Stride organization with their Healthy    Dublin/10 Mile Challenge series.  Time has been spent timing walkers, passing out water, and being cheerleaders for the   participants and our club.  Thanks to Jack, Peg, Cindi and Elaine for helping out.  If anyone else is interested in volunteering, please let me know.  We can always use volunteers at the water stop in Dublin on Thursday nights.  

New parks have recently been added to the group walk locations.  The Olentangy Trail, starting at the Hills Market and the Griggs Reservoir have received rave reviews.

The monthly picnic meetings continue to be well attended, along with plenty of good food.  Thanks to everyone for volunteering to bring food/drink.  At our August meeting we welcomed visitors Deb and Mike from the New Albany Walking Club.  

If you haven’t walked with us lately, come back out and join us in the best walking weather—we’re looking forward to   seeing you again.  

See you Saturday, 

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. . . . COLUMBUS  WALKING  AND  RACEWALKING  CLUB . . . .             

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The September meeting will be a business meeting/picnic at Whetstone Park following the Group Walk on September 25.

The October meeting will be a business meeting/breakfast at Scramblers Restaurant following the Group Walk on October 23. 

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Five Buckeye Striders attended the Racewalking Clinic of Excellence in Cincinnati the weekend of July 10 -11. Donna Graham, Elaine Langford, Joyce Prohaska, Debbie Spears and I spent the weekend with approximately 35 other walkers to receive excellent instruction from Jeff Salvage, a former international competitor and racewalking coach, and Tim Seaman, a two-time Olympian and 35-time National Champion racewalker.

This 2-day clinic was a great combination of drills, classroom presentations, video-based feedback, and track practice. For me, the most valuable part of the clinic was the video-based feedback. On Saturday morning, Jeff and Tim take video sequences of each walker and then discuss each walker’s strengths and weaknesses, pointing out specific examples on the video. Participants practice their specific drills and technique needs in the afternoon and then repeat the sequence on Sunday morning to see how they’ve     improved. For me, this was almost like having a private lesson; I got exactly what I needed to focus on - and how to do it - to improve as a racewalker. And best of all, I received the video files from both days so I can use them as a reminders in the future.

I highly recommend this clinic. Jeff and Tim plan to return to Ohio every 2 years to teach their clinic, and I hope I’ve convinced them to hold it in Columbus in 2012. I definitely plan to attend.

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Of all the parks we walk in, Franklin Park used to be my least favorite. When the community garden was being built, I hated it even more. The mud, the bad sidewalks, the boring  scenery ... it did nothing for me.  Since the construction was completed, walking in this park on Broad Street near the edge of Bexley is totally different. In fact, I now look forward to walking here!

With all of the sidewalks that crisscross the park, there are plenty of options for routes and distances. The route we usually take is about 1.2 miles and even includes one small hill. (You have to really look to find hills in Columbus.)

On our route we pass an Asian-style garden, a few relaxing and beautiful ponds and some neighborhood “painted lady” style houses before we get to the new neighborhood garden area. There are plenty of benches, tables and chairs, vegetable plots and the rest of the 

landscaping is beautiful. And if you are not walking too quickly, and have time to enjoy the surroundings, there are plenty of beautiful sculptures to see throughout the park.  See the pictures on Page 3.

The people from the neighborhood who walk here regularly are always friendly!

Another advantage of loop routes is that it makes it easier for members who arrive late to meet up with the others. And when some of us start a little earlier than the rest, it’s not too difficult to catch up. 

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So, if you have not bothered to make it to one of our weekly walks at this park, I highly recommend you give it a try.

I have concluded that there are no windows in the studio from which Channel 10 broadcasts its morning news. I turned on the TV when I got up on Memorial Day morning.  The forecast came on. I was told that there would be no rain before noon.  I looked out my window, and it was pouring rain, complete with lightning and thunder.  I figured it must just be a shower over our house, since, according to Channel 10, there was no rain in the morning forecast.  Sharon and I got ready to race.  It was still storming.  We drove to the fire station on Reed Road, where the race was held.  It stormed all the way.  I figured the rain would stop before the race started.  It didn’t.  At the start of the race, unbeknownst to me, Sharon returned to the car (she refuses to walk through bolts of lightning).  I don’t think Nancy, Peg, Tom, Jack, Deb, Cindy Kollmer, or I noticed the lightning.  We were too eager to race.

The course was beautiful.  It continued to storm, but I don’t recall noticing it.  Nancy soon caught up to me. We walked and talked, and I concentrated on trying not to let her beat me.  We crossed the finish line      together, very slightly ahead of the other five Striders.  But since Nancy started further back, she beat me by three seconds.  You won’t know that by reading the on-line results, because Premier Sports chose to list me only by my alias, “Participant 614.”  I think all the other Striders were called by their real names.

Cindy commented at the finish line that the race looked like a wet-t-shirt contest.  It did.  The rain soon stopped, but I waited and waited for Sharon to cross the finish line.  After the last person finished, I began asking around to find out what had become of my wife.  That’s when I learned that Sharon had returned to the car without racing.  Maybe she was smarter than the rest of us.

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Buckeye Striders walked in the events listed below.

WORTHINGTON HILLS FIRECRACKER TROT 5K, Worthington Hills Country Club, Columbus, OH, July 2, 2010

W 60-69 Carol Musser   37:25 1st

WESTERVILLE ROTARY 5K, Alum Creek Park North, Westerville, OH, July 3, 2010

W 50-59 Peggy Landini     39:22 1st

Nancy Palma   42:13 2nd

Deb Chenault   43:13 4th

W 60-69 Pat Roam   42:14 2nd

W 70 + Elaine Langford     40:19