The regular meeting of the Nittany Valley Running Club was held on Tuesday, April 1, at the HiWay Pizza  on Westerly Parkway, and what a HUGE meeting it was. Maybe the biggest attendance ever. There was Jerry Steffy, Marty Klanchar, Marty Mazur, John Wilcock, David and Maita Rassmussen, Kassie Sandacz, Amy Paster, Tom Cali, Martha Nelson, Bob Boozer, Tara Murray, Mike and Evan Casper and Ann Van Kuren, Denise Weaver, Kim Nelson, Vicki Summers, Dave DeGroote, Cheryl Capone, Costas Maranas and his daughter Cassandra and friend Michele, Duane Serpentine, Kim Gasper, as well as more Domicos than you could chase away with a stick. And everyone behaved so well, from little Evan all the way to Tom Cali!

We had a good deal of business before trying to knock off 5 pizzas and several pitchers of beer. The Arts Fest race is right around the corner. Race Director Amy Paster reported that she is waiting to hear from our perennial largest sponsor, University Orthopedics. The courses for the races have been approved by Penn State and are now online at http://www.nvrun.com/artsfest-courses.html.  The SC Spikes have sponsored us by allowing us to use Medlar Field as a staging area, and as the site of the Kids Races. As a quid pro quo, we've agreed to buy 100 tickets to the July 20 game. Amy wants to sell these, so please contact her if you'd like some. Amy also suggested that other Race Directors should consider raising reg fees because food costs, which are not insignificant when staging a race, are going through the roof.

Mike Casper had a few things to say about the Tussey mOUnTaiNBACK. This year's beneficiary is CVIM, who also benefited from the Boston Marathon Challenge. As a way of bringing in more donations, Mike is working on a way where teams can increase their contribution levels to the cause. This year's mOUnTaiNBACK field is capped at 75 teams. There's a bit of an outcry that the field is being limited just as it's breaking through to new levels of popularity. Bt this is mostly due to the huge demands that staging the race takes. It's very volunteer intensive. Mike says that if he can get enough volunteers to staff another wave, he'll gladly up the cap. Mike also reports that the spring on-campus Herbstritt Memorial 5K is in need of a new Race Director. Mike will help whoever steps up to take this on.

Marty Mazur reported that he is looking for a Race Director to take over the Knights of Columbus 5K. Since this is the official Beginners Race of the NVRC, he specifically nudged some of the very active not-so-beginners in the Wahoo group. This is a great opportunity for them to increase their role in the Club. (Note: It worked! Cheryl Capone and Christine Rice are taking over the race. They'll do a great job!)

Kim Gasper reported that the summer Herbstritt event, Herbie's Home Town Loop, has added more fun. In addition to the race and non-competitive bike ride, there will be a non-competitive kayak run from Bellefonte to Curtin Village (you need to pre-register early for this). This on top of a other events, including a pasta dinner, should make this a memorable day. http://herbiehtl.googlepages.com/.

Marty reported that the summer All-Comers meets may not come off this year. Coach Allford-Sullivan can't put them on this year. Marty related that It's difficult to "officially" use PSU athletic facilities if you're not under the auspices of a PSU athletic event (as are the Indoor Miles) or part of a PSU group (which we're not) We're looking at options of putting them on at State High, or doing them at PSU in an impromptu fashion. More on this soon, hopefully.

Now that Marty Mazur has put the Newsletter out of his "rotation" of things to do, he and Dave DeGroote are forming a small committee to critique thelong-promised, new and improved NVRC web site that Dave has been working on. The prospect of rolling it out soon is now better than ever.

Next Meeting: August 5.