Weekly Update, 9/4/2002
Duke City Marathon
On Sunday, seven SSR members and a number of other Socorro residents made the short trip to Albuquerque to join 2500 other runners in one of the events of the Duke City Marathon. In the marathon, a 26.2-mile journey through Albuquerque, Dave Finley finished in 4:34:12, and John Gordon finished in 4:49:57. The half-marathon saw the most Socorro runners, with Juan Alvarado (1:43:23), Sandy Nolen (1:43:52), Kim Schaffer (1:43:53), Joseph Dickerson (1:50:38), Robert Abernathy (1:55:14), Joseph McMullin (1:57:31), E.P. Higgs (2:14:13), Jan Tarr (2:14:13), Dale Frail (2:14:58), and Audrey Hurst (2:15:44). In the 5K, Jan Thomas finished in 21:42, Barbara Martinez finished in 30:22, and Kristen MacNeill finished in 41:04. In the 5K walk, Willie Mozley finished in 40:14. Complete results are available at runraceresults.com.
F1 Triathlon
Five SSR members raced at Saturday's F1 Triathlon at Roswell's Bottomless Lakes State Park. The F1 has a unique swim/bike/run/bike/run format, meaning that once the athletes finish with a normal swim/bike/run triathlon, they have to turn around and do the bike and run legs once more to finish the race. Christian Krueger led the Socorro contingent to a second-place overall finish in 1:28:20. Terry Moore and Laura Wilcox were the first and second-place female finishers, with times of 1:38:25 and 1:41:05, respectively. Cathy Perini finished second in the 35-39 female age group with a time 2:12:59, and Matt Perini finished with a time of 2:03:14. Complete results (which don't show the reason why Cathy failed to beat Matt because she did the bike course 2 1/2 times) are available at Transition Times.
Fat Tire Fiesta Entries Coming In
Mark Bottjer reports that entries are now arriving for the Socorro Fat Tire Fiesta, to be held in less than 3 weeks, on September 21st and 22nd. He also reminds us that we need a few more volunteers for the Saturday races, and interested people should contact him at fattire@socorro.com or Matt Perini at matt@pmc-inc.com. The committee is also looking for Socorro ghost stories for the Ghost Tour; so far, despite advertisements in the newspaper and asking around, they haven't picked up any.
The final committee meeting for the Socorro Fat Tire Fiesta will be held on Wednesday, September 18th, at 6PM. The location is at Trex Enterprises, 300 California SE, #2. That's the building next to the Texaco station just south of Manzaneras. All volunteers and other interested individuals are encouraged to attend.
Winter Running Series Announced
SSR is announcing an SSR Winter Running Series, a series of 4 handicap-format running races to be held the months of October through January. Plans are still being finalized, but at this time the series will start on Tuesday, October 8th, at 5:30PM with a 5K race on the M-Mountain Duathlon course. Race #2 will follow the 49'rs 10K course at 8:00AM on Sunday, November 10th. Race #3 will be on the Crusin' With The Cranes 15K course at 3:30PM on Sunday, December 8th (followed by the SSR Christmas Party at the Perini's). Race #4 will be a 5K on the triathlon course on Tuesday, January 14th, at 5:30PM.
The race series is open to SSR members only, and it will cost $5 to enter the series. Each race has a $10 prize for the first finisher in the handicap format, and the series has a $50 grand prize for the runner with the highest point total who has completed at least 3 of the races.
A flyer will be available soon with all relevant information. Remember that in a handicap race, the winner will be the person who has improved the most, so everybody has a chance to win!
Does Socorro Need A Year-Round City Pool?
One discussion at the September meeting centered around the question of whether Socorro needs a year-round pool. Matt Perini brought the subject up, saying that, for one thing, it's a quality-of-life issue that the city should consider. Debbie Dennis also pointed out that the schools have minimal swim clubs and don't really have official access to the Tech Swim Center, however, the summer swim team regularly draws dozens of kids. Also, anyone who tried to visit the Tech Swim Center during the summer (or even now for that matter) is likely to find a full pool where there are no lane lines and circle swimming is officially disallowed! Robert Abernathy mentioned that Las Cruces went through this a few years ago, floated a bond issue that failed, and then a swim team arranged a grant to fund a bubble. A few questions were raised before the subject was tabled: how many kids and adults would use a year-round city pool if it were available, and what kind of grant money is available? Interested members should contact Matt Perini if they think that this is an issue that SSR should do something about.
Vice-President Position Filled
After a couple of months being unfilled after the resignation of Liz Alvarez, Robert Abernathy has volunteered to hold the SSR Vice President position. Until he can be formally elected at the October meeting, he will officially be in an "acting VP" role . Regular elections will be held at the January meeting.
Dennis Wins NMRS Age Group
Mike Dennis has won the New Mexico Road Series champion jersey for his 55+ age group. Mike finished the series with 101 points compiled from his 9 best finishes in the 10 races in which he competed. Congratulations Mike!
Weekend Events
Racing events this weekend include the Tortugan Torture MTB race in Las Cruces, the New Mexico Marathon in Albuquerque, and the Cibola Duathlon in Grants (Dick Griffith 505-285-3542 Ext 106).
Welcome New Members
Over the past few weeks, we've added and renewed a few members. Lets give them a big welcome:
- Kathleen Moore (renewal) - triathlon (but mostly soccer)
- David Yin - cycling
- Hannah Treder - cycling, swimming