News
FOOTNOTES
News and notes about the members of Liberty Athletic Club
December Edition
Coach’s Corner
Happy Holidays…..
You’re running hard at track and we’re having fun at practice – particularly when Denise shows up. We’re into our routine of running the mile on the first of the month, the 800 on the second Tuesday, and the 3K on the third…and surprises for the rest. We start with leg swings and warm-up drills and close with at least one strength training exercise. Speaking of s.t., check out www.women-running-together for the Holiday Strength Training Challenge. Leni, Julie, Mary, Karen, and Leslie O. are participating at last word….
Re. next Tuesday’s evening paddle and jog and party, get to my house by 6:25 if you want to do outdoor activities and 7:30 if you just want to party. (Paddle courts are 5 minutes away. We’ll have our very own paddle pro to help.) Feel free to bring prospective members – it’s a good chance for others to meet us and vice versa. I do know of two people who are coming who’d be good additions to our relay teams – Diane Press (a 50s runner, ran for Harvard and who’s just been running recreationally for the past few years) and Gail Corcoran (40s, high school 800 meter runner – think she won a state relay event but she hasn’t been doing any speed of late). We welcome everyone, all levels.
First half of the alphabet please bring beverages, second half munchies.
You can see the winter race schedule below. The Web site for Dartmouth Relays is www.lancertiming.com. There will NOT be any masters relays there, but the schedule for women’s individual races on Sunday, Jan. 9ther is: 60 meter dash: 10:05; 800 at 11:25; 1500 at 12:45; 200 at 1:45; 3K is 2:25.
I don’t know why there’s no 400, but I don’t know whether any of you would run that there, anyway.
Re. winter races and relays, the schedule is below under Tidbits.
We’re looking forward to a fabulous winter season – on the track and roads!
Cathy Utzschneider is the head coach of Liberty Athletic Club. She can be reached at c.utzschneider@rcn.com.
From the President
And now a message from PBNFL:
The notable event for Liberty AC in November was the N.E. X-C Championship. Thirteen club members turned up to run at Franklin Park and we fielded three teams. The 40s team scored 13 points as did Green Mountain TC — 13 points — their 3rd scoring runner finished better than ours so they took first. (GM 2,4,7, LAC 1,3,9) in the 50s team competition, LAC finished 2nd to CSU, and for the 60s, LAC was first, last, and only.
We had hoped to field a 70s team (despite there being no team prize — but due to injuries and absences — two of the 70’s competitors stepped down to join Regina Wright to field a 60’s team) Thanks Liz Szawlowski for coming all the way down from Sugar Hill, NH to run the x-c race.
There was more than a little confusion over age group winners — with medals being given to the wrong people — and a 57-year-old woman writing on her entry form that she was 77. Regina Wright was first in the 60s age group, and after the dust settled Mary Harada was first in the 70s age group and Liz Szawloski was 2nd in the 70s age group.
After the race we adjourned to Pam Linov’s where as usual there was more than enough food and drink. PBNFL awarded Pam Linov the totally useless trophy of the year for her hard work for the club (she has to keep it for a year and next year will receive a more useful award in its place) and Beth Soukhanov was awarded a warrior queen figure for the most ridiculous race of the year (the race director lied about the start time and length of race — so that people would show up and then accused her of cheating because she was the first woman finisher and he was certain that no one 40 years old could run that fast.). Pam also received a more useful item — a 6-pack of craft ale and Beth a bottle of Argentine Malbec Wine. Coach Cathy awarded Bethany with a bottle of wine for her hard work turning out a newsletter each month and PBNFL received a box of chocolates from Cathy. (Perhaps because life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you will get?)
Upcoming events — on Dec 8th (weather permitting) we will have a try at Paddle Tennis at Pine Manor College or a run — take your pick, and a Christmas gathering to follow at Cathy’s.
Notes of interest about Track meets:
BU Developmental Meets will be on Saturday, Dec. 19, 26, and Jan. 2.
Dartmouth Relays masters events have been changed to Sunday — Jan. 10 — after many years of the masters events being on Friday afternoon. It will be interesting to see if this encourages a great amount of participation by masters track and field athletes.
The Greater Boston Track Club Invitational is on Sunday, Jan. 24.
And the National Masters Indoor Track Meet returns to Reggie Lewis Friday March 26-Sunday March 28. The 4 x 800m relay is on Saturday afternoon March 27 and the 4 x 400m relay are on Sunday afternoon the 28.
In October and November three new members joined Liberty — Kelly Keelan (who ran the x-c at Franklin Park) Casey Clancy (who had belonged a few years ago and has returned) and Marjorie Hendrick. Welcome to all three.
Marcia Puryear has started a sub-group for Liberty members who are injured — the IRS (Injured Runners Society). They will keep in touch with each other by email to support and encourage each other during what can be a difficult period of time. If you are injured and have not signed on with Marcia and the IRS — you can reach Marcia at Puryear96@comcast.net.
If you have not checked out the club Web site www.libertyac.org — it is new and improved. There is a members only section that is password protected — and has a number of Cathy’s articles and workouts on it. That is the only part of the Web site that is password protected. Password is libertyrunning.
And, a photo site — with some photos on it — and any club member can upload photos of interest to the club — including photos of yourself at a race! Go to www.flickr.com and sign in as libertyrunning@yahoo.com, password is runrunrun
Upload your photos — and they will turn up on the club Web site. It may take awhile for them to appear — if you upload and check the next day and they are not on the Web site, email me. Sometimes things do not always work as well as one may like.
If you have race results you would like to see on the Web site — send them either to me or to Cathy and we will enter them for you.
Happy Holidays to all.
Mary Harada is the President of Liberty Athletic Club and a world-class runner. She can be reached at mary.harada@comcast.net
RACING
New England X-C Championships —
After a bunch of miscalculations, the results for the 6K finally were straightened out and the Liberty women who raced ALL cut their times. The 40s and 50s team took 2nd and the 60s team placed 1st. Individually, Pam Linov ran a 25:37. Beth Soukhanov ran a 26:02. Annmarie O’Brien ran a 28:43, followed by Ginny Carlin in 29:29, Drusilla Pratt-Otto in 29:44, Karen Shanley in 29:45, Leslie Ouellette in 29:47, and Cassandra Clancy in 29:47. Kelly Keelan ran a 32:59. Janet Berg ran 33:20, followed by Regina Wright in 33:56, Mary Harada in 35:41 and Liz Szawlowski in 43:57. Dru took 6 minutes off her time. Both Janet and Mary placed 1st in their age groups. Liz placed 2nd in her age group.
Leslie Ouellette — Leslie raced the Genesis Battlegreen 10K in Nov. 1, running a 55:25. In her words: It was an interesting race in that the lead runner took a wrong turn and we all followed, so it turned into an 11K. Overall, I was happy with my run and it was a great race course (very hilly!). Post-race, 35 local restaurants sponsored a huge spread in the LHS gym so lunch was had by all.
Leslie also raced the Gobble, Gobble, Gobble in Somerville Thanksgiving Day in 31:08, her fastest time in that race.
Pam Linov — Pam also raced the Battlegreen, running the 5K in 21:12, placing 3rd overall, 2nd in her age group.
Karen Shanley — Karen ran the Norwell 5K in 22:42, taking 40 seconds off her time.
Ellen Duranceau — Ellen raced the Maine Coast Half Marathon in York Maine Nov. 8, running a 1:53.40, taking 3 minutes off her best time.
TIDBITS
Liberty Paddle Tennis and Party —
Coach Cathy hosts the club’s paddle tennis/run party next Tuesday, Dec. 8. Meet at her house between 6:15 and 6:30 p.m. for a run or paddle tennis. There are courts for 8 and will rotate groups so 16 can play. We’ll have instruction from a pro and fun, contribution of $5 per person. Holiday noshing starts at 6:30 or 7:30 p.m. depending on whether you want to run or play paddle. First half of the alphabet brings drinks, second half brings snacks. Email Cathy for directions c.utzschneider@rcn.com.
Injured Runners Society (IRS) —
As Mary mentioned above, Marcia Puryear has establish a support group for Liberty runners side-lined by injuries, illness, or whatever. If you want to join, email her at
Winter races – 2009-2010 Indoor Track Season
http://www.usatfne.org/track/2009-indoors.html
Sat. Dec. 19, 26, Jan. 2
Boston U. Mini Meets - Boston MA. Limited track event only schedule
Information www.goterriers.com/sports/m-track/ on all BU meets (go to track and field)
Sat. Dec. 26
9th Annual Lou’s 4 x 1600 Relay - Boston U., 1:00 p.m. following all-comers meet.
Finish the year on the fast track. www.usatfne.org/track/entry/2009lousrelay.pdf
Sun. Jan 8-10
Dartmouth Relays – Hanover NH. Masters Fri, HS. Sat, Open. Sun Information/Results
Sun. Jan 24
Greater Boston Track Club Invitational – Harvard U, Boston
Info and Results gbtc.org
Fri-Sat, Jan 29-30
Boston U. Terrier classic - Boston
Sat. Feb 6
15th Annual Reebok Boston Indoor Games - Reggie Lewis Center, Boston.
Sun. Feb 21
USATF-New England Indoor Track & Field Championship – Harvard U, Boston (tentative)
Fri-Sun, March 26-28
USA National Masters Indoor Champs – Reggie Lewis Center, Boston.
DECADE TEAM CAPTAINS
To help assist Coach Cathy and President Mary keep the team energized, team captains are named for each decade. Any questions or concerns, contact your team captain below.
30s
Lisa Zagura — Lisa_Zagura@hotmail.com
Deb Kovacs — cdkovacs@charter.net
40s
Pam Linov — linov_p@verizon.net
Leslie Oulette — leslieouellette@comcast.net
50s
Jan Berg — janethemstreet@comcast.net
Ocean Eversley — Avineyardthing@aol.com
60s
Sue Gustafson — sueg@meganet.net
Leni Webber — labwebber@comcast.net
70s
Mary Harada — harada.mary@gmail.com
FOOTNOTES
News and notes about the members of Liberty Athletic Club
January Edition
Coach’s Corner
Happy New Year, Liberty!!
I am thrilled that a number of you are taking to the indoor track. We’ve had very strong intro races by Pam, Dru, Cathy, and Mary, among others. No doubt we’ll have a good showing at the indoor nationals.
With a lot of indoor meets, one word of advice. If you want to peak at nationals, let’s talk at practice about your plan — the tendency is to peak too soon.
Mary will be featured in the February issue of National Masters News — I’ll be sending that on as soon as the issue’s out. My next interview will be with Zola Budd, so that’s another one I’ll be sending.
See you at the track tomorrow — Jan. 5!
We’re looking forward to a terrific 2010.
Cathy Utzschneider is the head coach of Liberty Athletic Club. She can be reached at c.utzschneider@rcn.com.
From the President
Happy New Year!
Have you made your resolution to run smarter in 2010? How about those age-grading goals Cathy suggested?
Remember that the National Masters Indoor Track meet is at Reggie Lewis in Boston, March 26-28. The 4 x 800 relay is on Saturday afternoon the 27th and the 4 x 400 relay is on Sunday the 28th. Be sure to take advantage of this as in 2011 and 2012 the national masters indoor meet will be in Albuquerque (2011) and Indianapolis (2012).
Upcoming track meets include the Dartmouth Relays at Dartmouth College on Sunday Jan. 10 and the Greater Boston Track Club meet at Harvard on Sunday Jan. 24. And of course there are plenty of road races for the hail and hardy as well.
In December we had a Christmas gathering at Cathy’s — which included surprising Cathy with a pink ipod Nano filled with great music for running or dancing — thanks to Janet Berg’s amazing music collection.
And lastly — Dues Dues Dues — are due.
Please download and fill out the brochure and mail to me — 63 Bridge St., West Newbury, MA 01985. Make the check payable to Liberty Athletic Club. The dues cover January to December — the calendar year. If you joined after October 31, 2009 — you are good to go for 2010.
And after many years of not increasing dues the Board of Directors voted to increase dues.
Non-coaching dues $90, Coaching dues $140. For those who feel unable to pay that much — please contact me privately — we are not a wealthy club and have no outside sponsorship — but in cases of hardship — we would rather have you contribute something than drop out of the club. Do not be shy.
You will receive a couple of email notices- which will include an attached membership form. Please fill out the form — so that I have your correct email address, birth date — for establishing up-to-date age group lists, phone number(s) and street address. You may hand this to me at practice — if you come to practice — or mail it to me. Please write clearly! My address is on the membership form. I will bring forms to practice if you want to have one handed to you or if you do not come to practice — and want a printed copy — let me know — I will mail you a form.
This year we are establishing a deadline for paying dues — March 31, 2010. In the past dues have dribbled in for months — sometimes I have to remind a person numerous times that she has not paid — yet is turning up for practice. Sometimes I hear nothing from non-practice members until a club social event when I have the opportunity to ask the member if they are going to pay dues. At the suggestion of the Board of Directors — we are establishing a deadline after which the non-paying person will be deleted from the email list. If you know you are not going to rejoin — please let me know so I am not chasing after you. Frankly as the person who collects the dues, updates the spreadsheets, deposits the checks, and emails the treasurer about the deposits — it is a royal pain in the backside to be chasing after folks for months. If you did this to your internet provider you would be offline quickly.
On that happy note, I wish everyone a Happy New Year!
Mary Harada is the President of Liberty Athletic Club and a world-class runner. She can be reached at mary.harada@comcast.net
RACING
BU mini-meet — Pam Linov and Dru Pratt-Otto both raced the 3K at the BU mini-meet Saturday, Dec. 26. Pam ran 11:40.13 and Dru ran 13:39.66. Great job!
TIDBITS
Mary’s Hall of Fame nod —
Mary Harada’s being inducted into the Hall of Fame with Bill Rodgers – Read it here:
Age-graded goals 2010 —
Anyone looking for a goal this year? Here’s an idea – pick a favorite race distance (track, road) and set a 2010 Goal Challenge. Either set a time to achieve, or an age-graded time that represents an improvement over last year’s age-graded result at the same race.
Example: if you are now 61 and ran 59:50 for a 10K when you were 60 (when you ran an age-graded performance of 66.21% for an open equivalent time of 45:49 – see the Web site at http://www.howardgrubb.co.uk/athletics/wmalookup06.html) you could try, at 61, to improve that age-graded performance.
Really simple and an alternative for those who’ve wanted an extra oomph to “go for it.”
If you’re interested and haven’t already, email Bethany – bedwards@cnc.com – with your race, time in 2009, and time in 2010, and we’ll add you to the list!
Injured Runners Society (IRS) —
Reminder - Marcia Puryear has establish a support group for Liberty runners side-lined by injuries, illness, or whatever. If you want to join, email her at
Winter races — 2009-2010 Indoor Track Season
http://www.usatfne.org/track/2009-indoors.html
Sun. Jan 8-10
Dartmouth Relays — Hanover NH. Masters Fri, HS. Sat, Open. Sun Information/Results
Sun. Jan 24
Greater Boston Track Club Invitational — Harvard U, Boston
Info and Results gbtc.org
Fri-Sat, Jan 29-30
Boston U. Terrier classic — Boston
Sat. Feb 6
15th Annual Reebok Boston Indoor Games — Reggie Lewis Center, Boston.
Sun. Feb 21
USATF-New England Indoor Track & Field Championship — Harvard U, Boston (tentative)
Fri-Sun, March 26-28
USA National Masters Indoor Champs — Reggie Lewis Center, Boston.
DECADE TEAM CAPTAINS
To help assist Coach Cathy and President Mary keep the team energized, team captains are named for each decade. Any questions or concerns, contact your team captain below.
30s
Lisa Zagura — Lisa_Zagura@hotmail.com
Bethany Edwards — bedwards@cnc.com
40s
Pam Linov — linov_p@verizon.net
Leslie Oulette — leslieouellette@comcast.net
50s
Drusilla Platt-Otto — dpo@accessfinancialsol.com
Karen Shanley — Kmshanley@aol.com
60s
Leni Webber — labwebber@comcast.net
70s
Mary Harada — mary.harada@comcast.net
