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News Archives
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CLUB INFO!
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NEXT
MEETING |
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August 5, 2008, 7:30 PM at Pizza Gourmet in Lake Ridge
Festival Shopping Center.
CLICK HERE!
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CLUB PICNIC |
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August 2008,
in planning stage.
Info to follow!
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RACES! |
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August 10, 2008 |
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Leesburg 10K & 20K Run.
On-Line Registration Open... this fills fast!
CLICK HERE!
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August 24, 2008 |
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Annapolis 10-Mile Run.
On-Line Registration Open... this fills fast!
CLICK
HERE!
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September 13,
2008 |
VHTRC Women's
Trail Half-Marathon, Fountainhead Regional Park. Registration open... this fills fast!
CLICK HERE!
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All the news of
2008...
Click on "FOOTNOTES" for the latest copy!
 ANNOUNCEMENTS...
Next General Membership Meeting will
be on Tuesday, August 5, 2008,
at 7:30 PM at Pizza Gourmet, 12425 Hedges Run Drive (Hedges Run and Old Bridge Rd. in Giant Shopping Center).
Pizza Gourmet is "smoke-free" and they have given
us the use of their back room to hold our meetings.
As always, if you are interested in a run before the meeting,
meet in the parking lot at 6:00 PM. Go for a nice easy 4 miler with plenty of time to cool down and towel off prior to the meeting.
Missoula Marathon, Missoula, MT 07/13/08
Jodi Crisp, daughter of Joe & Kathy Malinowski, ran
the 2nd Annual Missoula Marathon in a fine time
of 4:26:23. Jodi said that the scenery was
absolutely breathtaking with Glacier National Park
as a background. A "must do" marathon for
those interested in road trips!
May Day 5K Proceeds Presented to YoungLife of
Woodbridge,
06/03/08
The "RidgeRunners" would like to thank all those
who participated at the May Day 5K, both runners
and walkers, who made the event a success. The
"RidgeRunners" offer a special thank you to the
runners of Antietam Elementary School
who trained during the early spring. They
trained at least twice a week during February,
March and April to be ready for the race.
During the
club's general membership meeting at Pizza
Gourmet in the Lake Ridge Festival Shopping
Center, Stephanie Furgeson (YoungLife
representative), was presented with a check for
$2,584. Stephanie said that the money would go
toward camp scholarships for their neediest
kids. Pictured above are JC Nieves-Campos
(Club President), Stephanie Ferguson (YoungLife),
George McVeigh (May Day 5K Race Director and Bob
Cooper (Club Treasurer).
Coeur D'Alene Marathon, Coeur D'Alene, ID, 05/25/08
 Report
by Joe Malinowski... Early May my lower
back started to ache and my legs hurt a little
longer than normal. Then one evening as I was
leaving the gym from a workout, the outside of
my lower left leg started to get numb. Of
course, my first thought was that I was getting
a stroke! It subsided by the time I got home,
but I went to see my doctor the next day. The
diagnosis was that I’m starting to get some
degeneration of my lower spine L1 thru L5 and my
sciatic nerve was getting inflamed from over use
and my whole running gait began compensating for
it. She then told me to stay off from running
for 2-3 weeks. But, I was running a
marathon in Coeur D’Alene, ID with our daughter
Jodi and her husband Michael in 1 week!
So… I went to see a chiropractor for the very
first time. He diagnosed that my left hip joint
was frozen due to all the muscles and tendons
compensating for my lower back pain. Also, my
sciatic nerve was pinched/inflamed causing the
numbness. I then had 3 sessions of electronic
stimulation of the lower back muscles and 160
degree heating pad, spine traction and what I
lovingly call the “pretzel” snap. While lying
on the table, he contorted my body like a
pretzel and popped the joint. What a rush! I
actually had my last session the afternoon
before I flew out to Coeur D’Alene, ID.
To make a long story short, when the gun went
off to start the marathon that was the first
running step I had taken in close to a month.
It felt a little strange because that was the
first time my running gait and hips were
aligned. I don’t know how else to explain it
other than I just needed a tune-up and a
front-end alignment. I am now sold on
chiropractors!
We completed the marathon without a hitch and
enjoyed some incredible scenery with a 5:30
finish time. We basically ran from North Idaho
State University and around Lake Coeur D’Alene.
Running with my daughter... PRICELESS!
The sensory overload definitely kept our minds
off of running. Coeur d’Alene, ID is
approximately 75 miles South of the Canadian
border and close to Glacier National Park. It
is some of the most breathtaking landscapes I
have ever seen. Even John Travolta and Lance
Armstrong have condos in the area. My next
scheduled run is the Lean Horse 100 Mile in Hot
Springs, SD in August. I may need an oil
change, new plugs and my tires rotated for that
one!
Inaugural
Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon, Fredericksburg,
VA, 05/18/08
 The
RidgeRunners had seven finishers yesterday in
the Inaugural running the Marine Corps Historic
Half Marathon. The results were Tyler Jordan
1:45, JC 1:49, Mollie Galloway 1:49, Byron
Galloway 2:05, Joan Massaro 2:13, Pat Johnson
2:37, and Pete Mendel 2:49.
Bull Run
50 Mile Trail Run, Fountainhead Regional Park, VA
04/12/08
For close
to 10 years the RidgeRunners have staffed the
aid-station for the Bull Run 50 at miles 28.1
and 37.9. The race is held by the Virginia
Happy Trails Running Club that many of our own
also belong to. It was an excellent way to
give back to our sport for all we take out of
it. Many thanks to Joe Malinowski
(aid-station captain), Kathy Malinowski, George
& Jean McVeigh, Mike Johnson, Phil Silas, Ria
Barrows, Vicki Crosby, Art Reynolds, Rebecca
Moore, and John Dodds for spending the day with
300+ of their closest running friends!
GO St.
Louis Marathon, St. Louis, MO 05/06/08
 Cool weather and rolling hills welcomed two
RidgeRunners to St. Louis for the Go St Louis
marathon. The start headed towards the Great
Arch and then past Busch Stadium, where the
Washington Nationals were in town to play the
Cardinals. The course was a semi loop course
where the runners went out and then came back
towards the finish area. The marathoners then
went out in the other direction through a
beautiful park and then came back to the
finish. There were three races, the marathon,
half marathon, and marathon relay. The
finishing times were JC (new nick name vending
machine for all the food and gels he carries)
4:07 and Pat (22nd state) a 5:07. I
believe JC is trying to catch up with Pat in
number of states finished, if he hasn’t already
done so.
A note from Amy Ridgeway in Lacey, WA 03/21/08
Hi,
it's Amy Ridgeway way out here in Lacey, WA. I
thought I'd give you an update on what the Ridgeways
have been up to. Stew still has his CPA business in
a home office, but he will be retiring next year.
Looks like he has found a good person to sell the
business to. Rick is now 14 and in the 8th grade.
He’s now over 5'8"! Russell is 10 and in the 4th
grade. He still has at least 1/4” to go before he
hits my height. As for me, I am now the Deputy CIO
for IT Operations for the WA State Department of
Corrections. The other big news for me is that I
graduated from Seattle University School of Law last
December and I took the WA State Bar Exam at the end
of February. Results get released on 2 May.
As for running, we have not been running much (to be
truthful, not at all). But now that I am no longer
driving up to Seattle 4 nights a week (65 mile trip
each way), I want to get back into running. I miss
the Ridge Runners as there is nothing like that
group out here. I need to set myself a goal like
doing the Marine Corps Marathon again! Hopefully
later this year or next I will be heading back East
for a visit, and I want to try & do a run with the
Ridge Runners or at least see if I can make the trip
coincide with a club meeting.
Well, please tell everyone we said hi. We love
Washington State, but we miss many things about
Virginia and missing the Ridge Runners is high up on
that list.
A past message from George McVeigh when he was
President of the Club
He can who thinks he can,
and he can't who thinks he can't.
This is an inexorable, indisputable law.
- Henry Ford
As I read this, I immediately thought of running.
(Hey, this is a running column after all.) H.J. had
it right. And, it does apply to running, racing,
and ultras as well.
We achieve what we think we can achieve. Whether
you are a neophyte or a grizzled veteran of multiple
ultras or marathons, you achieve only what you think
you can achieve. The process starts with lacing up
the sneaks to the cool water at the end. If you
have to drag yourself to the starting line, with
aches, pains, and a whine of “Why am I doing this?”
then the event will probably not be what you wanted
when you signed up and sent in your money.
If you spring out of the rack, jump into your shoes,
and bolt out the door with a song in your heart,
then the event may well go the same way. It is as
simple and complex as mind over matter. In this
case the matter is your body. It responds to your
thoughts, positively of negatively.
Why do you train? One reason is to physically train
your body for the rigors of what is to come, to
develop calluses on those parts of your feet that
need them. In the same way you train your mind to
withstand the mental rigors of what is to come, to
develop calluses on your mind, to develop
determination that you have done this before in
training and the event is really no different from
your training. You build the mental image that you
can do it, and lo and behold, you do it. Conversely
if you do not train your mind, then the event is
almost surely doomed to failure.
Yuengling Shamrock Marathon, Half-Marathon & 8K,
VA Beach, VA
03/15-16/08
 Report
by Joe Malinowski... One thing for certain
during Shamrock weekend, you never know what the
weather will be like! We've been running this event
for about 20 years now and we've experienced 28
degrees to over 90 degrees. This year was no
exception! On Saturday, those running the 8K
had beautiful weather and temps nearing 70.
On Sunday for the Marathon & Half-Marathon, we
started with temps in the low 40s, sleet in the
early morning (before we woke up), and winds up to
30 mph. The wind was in our face for the first
22 miles! I was cold, tired, wet and
miserable! This was the first time I actually
thought about quitting running altogether... a
fleeting moment! I do believe we all have thought
about it one time or another. But, a bad day running
is still better than a good day working!
Despite it all, we had a great time with family and
friends!
8K: Keith Hosman 47:02, Mike Johnson 1:11, Kathy
Malinowski & Jean McVeigh 1:14. Half-Marathon:
Ray McQuade 3:19:42. Marathon: Keith Hosman
3:44:46, JC Nieves-Campos 4:19:19, Kelly Byrd
5:07:28, and Joe Malinowski 5:32:47.
New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon, Half-Marathon,
New Orleans, LA 02/24/08
Report by Mike Johnson...
A group of several RidgeRunners descended on
New Orleans to run the Mardi Gras Marathon. We were
met there by Kelly Byrd (Bergenstock) and her
husband Sean. The weather was overcast and cool for
the 7 AM start, but was sunny and hot for the
finish. Both the marathon and half marathon ran the
same course for 13 miles. We left the Louisiana
Super Dome and headed for the French Quarter. We ran
down Bourbon Street and were greeted by people still
partying at 7 AM in the morning. It was quite an
experience. We then headed down St Charles place
past some beautiful homes, past Loyola University
and then ran into Audubon park. It was unusual in
the fact that we were running next to a golf course
in the park. There were water stops every two miles
and the locals were for the most part very
hospitable. It was a very enjoyable and rewarding
weekend. The results were JC 3:57:13, Kelly Byrd
5:21:01, and Pat Johnson (30th marathon and 21st
state) 5:43:14. Mike Johnson finished the half
marathon in 3:46:13.
Checkout some pics on the
Photo Gallery page!
BI-LO Myrtle Beach Marathon,
Dasani Half-Marathon, and the RBC Centura 5K - Myrtle Beach, NC 02/15-16/08
 Report by
Maria Stoughton...
I have a new
respect for all of you who run Marathons. I ran
my very first Marathon on Saturday, February 16,
2008 in Myrtle Beach, SC. Although I trained for
18 weeks and had one long run of 18 miles, 26.2
miles is sure a long way to go. It was a
wonderful adventure and a total thrill (well
okay maybe not miles 22-25) but I truly enjoyed
the good people of Myrtle Beach cheering us on
and the race was so well organized it was a
pleasure to run. My goal was to finish under 5
hours and to my delight came in at 4:35:37. I'm
already looking forward to returning to Myrtle
Beach next year to compete again!
Report by Joe Malinowski... It was an
absolutely beautiful weekend! Last year we
started the marathon in 28 degrees temp and froze
body parts for most of the morning. What a
difference a year makes! On Friday, February
15, as part of the Bi-Lo Marathon weekend, the RBC
Centura 5K was held at 6:15 PM. All of the
races for the weekend started at "Broadway on the
Beach", a shopping, amusement and restaurant complex
and finished behind the Coastal Federal Field, home
of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans minor league baseball
team.
The race headquarters was in the oceanfront Marriott
Grand Dunes and we all stayed down the beach at the
Ocean Sands Dunes. We "hydrated" at
Margaritaville the night before the marathon and had
our traditional celebratory drinks at Fat Tuesdays
on Sunday afternoon leaving on Monday the next day!
What a great weekend!
For the 5K: Jean McVeigh 45:23, Kathy Malinowski
46:03, and Ray McQuade 44:04.
We also had a Mike Flaherty sighting (Mary's hubby!)
who ran 2:00:43 for the half-marathon and George
McVeigh with 3:12:00.
For the marathon: Maria Stoughton 4:35:47 and Joe
Malinowski 5:29:41 for his 63rd marathon.
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