Nittany Valley Running Club!

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Upcoming Events

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The Nittany Valley Running Club web site is the place to go for information about races, running groups, running routes, training opportunities, email discussion groups, and pretty much everything having to do with running in Central Pennsylvania! It's a big site, so explore away. Our most popular pages are in the Quick Links on the right. If you want to connect to the local running community, join one of our email discussion groups, or visit us on Facebook.

If you have any suggestions on how to make our web site easier to use, let us know! Email either This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any problems you find.

Details: Written by Jaimie Wright

The Marathoners for Medicine team raised over $50,000 in 2014 in donations for Centre Volunteers in Medicine (CVIM), a local organization that serves and advocates for medically underserved residents. The 2014 tally brought the grand total to over $500,000 since the team began fundraising. John Domico started the Marathoners for Medicine team in 2003 when he ran the Boston Marathon and raised $1,500 for CVIM. The next year, he asked a few friends from the Nittany Valley Running Club to join him, and the Marathoners for Medicine team was born.

Twenty-six runners participated on this year’s team by competing in a spring marathon or half-marathon. Tom Cali led fundraising efforts with $7,500.00 raised for CVIM.

The Penn State Cross Country Club also joined this year’s team, with six club members raising $1,620.00. Other team members included graduate students, Penn State faculty and staff and other Centre County residents. Sue Paterno, PSU Track and Field Olympian Greg Fredericks, and Penn State Women’s Volleyball Coach Russ Rose served as honorary coaches this year.

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Details: Written by Marty Mazur

Back in 2011, a group of trainers and kinesiology grad students held regular Tuesday evening track workouts (usually at the State High track, but see TEMPORARY VENUE CHANGE below) through the summer. Some of us Club regulars participated and had a great time. We talked about starting them up again, and this year we’ll be doing it. Marty Klanchar is getting the ball rolling. We're having the first workout on Tuesday evening, July 29.

The workouts are open to all. The workouts are somewhat tailorable to those who want to start slow. Depending on how many people show up, we hope there’ll be someone of your speed to pair up with. The format will be somewhat similar to the lunchtime Thursday Track workouts, though with fewer time constraints the volume will be a bit larger, and we’ll include some more warm-ups. Meet at the State High Track at 6:30. (The track is on the hill behind the South buildings on the south side of Westerly Parkway.) You may want to have done a short warm-up run by then. We’ll start with about 15 minutes of track warm-ups (striders, etc.) and then do a workout. Marty Klanchar will lead the first one. (He plans a downward ladder.) Others will fill in in coming weeks. We hope to take this into September, though we may have to move the start time earlier as we lose some sun.

TEMPORARY VENUE CHANGE FOR 7/29: It came to our attention that the planned venue, the State High Track, is being resurfaced. We confirmed that the track is locked up. It should be available again for 8/5 (we’ll keep you posted), but for this week, we’ll meet at 6:30 PM at the PENN STATE TRACK, which is south of the Bryce Jordan Center between University and Porter Roads.

Details: Written by Marty Mazur

The 2014 Race Series is nearing the halfway point. The tallies for the Series, starting with First Night and going through the Memorial Day weekend races are now available. The leader board for Race Series Cup and Volunteer Awards, is shown below. Full tallies to date are shown here. One thing we've noticed is that no Volunteer Points were reported for most races, though we had plenty of volunteers. Remember, you must self-report! If you volunteered at any of these race, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The 2014 Series will feature two races new to the Series: The Flutopia 5K and the Allegheny Front Trail Runs. Unfortunately, these races will be held this year on the same day, July 26, but they attract different kinds of runners, so there shouldn't be too big a conflict. The Flutopia 5K is set in beautiful Tudek Park and features musicians on the course. It was a big hit in its inaugural running last year. The Allegheny Front Trail Runs are entering their third year. They are a set of 3 trail runs, 50K, 20K, and 1 Mile, in and around Black Moshannon State Park.

There are also several new opportunities to earn Volunteer points: Helping out at the NVRC/Centre Parks and Rec Youth Cross-Country Meets, Volunteer coaching with the Nittany Track and Field Youth Group, and donating blood at the NVRC Blood Drives.

You have to be an NVRC member to participate. Join the Club! More information on the Series is here.

Leaderboard

Race Series

First Name	Family Name	Total Race Points
Alan	Effrig	65
Daniel	Craighead	64
Tara	Murray	61
Tom	Cali	58
Michael	Zimmerman	50
Andy	Cunningham	42
David	DeGroote	41
Meira	Minard	41
Allison	Machnicki	40
Andrew	Maguire	39

Volunteer Awards

First Name	Family Name	Total Volunteer Points
Martin	Mazur	28
Marty	Klanchar	26
David	Eggler	23
Jaimie	Wright	18
Michael	Casper	16
Tom	Cali	14
John	Wilcock	14
Cheryl	Capone	14
Tara	Murray	14
David	DeGroote	12

Details: Written by Bwana

July 17, 2014

What a change from early in the week! It’s almost like September is here already: temperatures in the high 60s, dry air, and fluffy clouds. Arts Fest Weather is all gone. At least for now. It really has been a mild summer so far, with the underside of the 90s barely a close call. Can we hope for a mild Mt. Nittany Marathon? Newcomer Adam Ilgen sure hopes so! He’s been training pretty hard for his maiden marathon voyage, and with some luck it could be an easier run than last year’s event. Judd Michael, Lance Bland, George Lesieutre, Mike Casper, Costas Maranas, Mark and Nikita Fedkin, Jaimie Wright, Mike Zimmerman, Dana Todd, Jim Laudermilch, John Ake, David Lloyd, Adam Ilgen, Amy Blake, Sara Noss, and Marty Mazur all too advantage of the mild day to head for the track. Not a bad turnout for mid-summer.

Speaking of weather, Jaimie observed that Bwana seems to be the weather guru, since his posts always start out with the conditions of the day. But writing these reports as I have for over 20 years (!), it’s gotten to be just a habit. After going-on-1000 Track Reports, it’s hard to stay away from a formula! I can write these in my sleep, but I don’t want them to read that way. Gotta try to keep it fresh! Well, Bwana didn’t want everyone to sleepwalk through the workout. So today’s was a challenge, and a new one for some: the Double Mini-Front Loader. Run an 800 at a 5K race pace. (That might seem slow if you do it right.) But that just front-loads you for the back end. Take a very short 100m rest and do a 200 at “race kick” pace. Follow that with 2 more 200s, each following a short 100 rest. You should be recovering from our 800 as you run your 3X200, and each of those should get faster as you go. Then….do another full set just like it!

One thing Bwana has dropped from the Track Report formula is the 3rd Paragraph Diss. If you were a no-show, you got called out. You didn’t want to end up there. (Unless you were Bob Cornwall, who pointedly didn’t give a rat’s patootie.) Paragraph 3 is more like a Miss America contestant’s boilerplate. Another sign Bwana has gone soft hearted in his old age. Shall I re-animate the old Bwana?

Details: Written by Marty Mazur

July 29, 2014

Tuesday Evening Track returned on a cool, cloudy evening. Ten runners showed up, including a couple of kids from Mark Fedkin’s Nittany Track and Field Youth Group. Marty Klanchar, Andy and Matt Maguire, John and Jacob Iceland, Mark and Nikita Fedkin, Adam Ilgen, Bob Shafer, and Marty Mazur showed up at the Penn State Track.

We tried to follow the format of the old Tuesday Track workouts of a few years ago. The main difference between these and lunchtime Thursday Track is that we have more time in the evening. This allows us to do two things: some track warm-ups and plyometric exercises, and more volume in the workout itself.

Mark Fedkin got the ball rolling with about 15 minutes of track warm-ups taken right from his NT&F playbook. These included toe-walking, heel-walking, running with various kinds of knee lift, skipping, jumping jacks, and backwards and sideward exercises. It looked like an elementary school gym class, but all these exercises are used to increase flexibility, range of motion, and turnover.

Marty Klanchar called the main workout, a downward ladder: 1600-1200-800-400, at 5K+ pace with long (400m) rests between reps. The rest didn’t seem long enough after the 1600, but the workout got easier and faster at the bottom of the ladder.

Tuesday Evening Track will continue through August and hopefully into September. We will move the workouts to the High School track as soon as it’s available again. We may move the start time earlier as we lose daylight. We’ll let you know.

Details: Written by Martin Mazur

University Orthopedics is looking for people currently suffering from ankle sprain for a study investigating topical investigational pain patches. Participants should be between 18 and 65 and must be be screened at the UO office within 48 hours of the injury. More information in this flyer.