Spring
2013
Winter Series 2013
As these images a#est, our Winter Series is aptly named. Kudos to the hardy
runners who braved fog, wind, and snow in a memorable race series.
Photos by Ashley Detrick
In this Issue
President’s Corner Page 2
Favorite Run Page 6
35th Winter Running Series Page 3
Announcements Page 6
Member Highlight Page 4
Run Schedule Page 7
The Salt Lake City Track Club is a proud member of the RRCA. For more
informaon on RRCA’s services and programs, please visit www.rrca.org
President’s Corner
As I begin my term as club President, I find myself working with a talented and dedicate board. I’m pleased to
introduce our board members, starng with...
Chrisna “Tee” Perry, President I started running in high
school and connued to run in college at the University of
Vermont, specializing in the 800m and 1500m events. I
joined the club in 2005 a3er moving to Salt Lake City
from Vermont. In 2006 I competed in
the SLC Marathon—my first—and
have since run in six more. The last
few years have been highlighted by
my marriage to Curs Perry, and the
birth of our child, Leopold Patrick Perry, in the summer of 2012. Through
the club I have encountered some
great training partners, but more importantly I’ve made some great
friends.
Lauren Udwari, Vice President Lauren
joined the club in 2012, soon a3er
moving to Salt Lake from Maryland.
She has been acvely involved with
the club ever since and is excited to
play a bigger role as Vice President.
Although running has been her primary passion since high school track &
field (her events included the 400 meter dash and
4x400m relay), climbing is a close second. She prefers
trail running, and the Bonneville Shoreline Trail is her local favorite, for the spectacular views of the city it offers.
Last year, Lauren earned her first Triple Crown Award for
running two half marathons and a 10k in the Moab series.
She hopes to run the series every year. Her favorite distance is 13.1 miles.
Tina Willson, Secretary Tina moved to Salt Lake City in
the Fall of 2011. She began a#ending club group runs to
meet other runners in her new city and is excited to now
be serving as Secretary. Tina started running while in college to lose the “freshman 15”. A chance encounter on
the roads with her school’s cross country coach led to an
opportunity to compete for her college cross country and
track teams at Penn State Behrend, in her hometown of
Erie, Pennsylvania. Tina loves running on both roads and
trails and enjoys distances from half marathon to 50k.
Locally, her favorite race is the Buffalo Run 25k, but she
Page 2
by Chrisna Perry
enjoys traveling to races across the country with her husband.
Evan Sanders, Winter Series Race Director Evan has new
admiraon for the hundreds who came out to run in the
snow for this year’s races. Evan did all of his hard training
this winter on a treadmill, which always had dry weather
and 68 degrees, except for the me he spilled his water
bo#le. He connues to say he is in
rerement from running marathons,
and this year’s plan may include a few
half marathons or 10 milers. He can
almost always be found at Saturday
morning club runs, except when he
has a race that day, in which case he
appears for the Sunday morning fun
run.
John Moody, Treasurer In the summer of 2006 John stood on the scale
and for the first me in his life, he had
eclipsed 200 lbs. A3er mulple failed
a#empts at an exercise regimen, John
joined the club in December of 2006
in order to find some movaon. Movaon is exactly what he found in a
group that talks about winning races
not just running races. John ran his
first half marathon with a me of 2:07 in the summer of
2007 and by the summer of 2009 he had reduced his half
marathon me to 1:37. John’s first marathon was the
2011 St. George marathon which he describes as the
worst experience of his life. He has been serving as the
Treasurer since 2009 and can typically be found on Monday speedwork and occasionally on Wednesday fun runs.
Paul Bernard, Newsle,er Editor Paul decided to run a
marathon every year, a3er his first such challenge in
2008: the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. Upon moving
to Salt Lake City from Philadelphia in the Fall of 2009, he
immediately joined the club to facilitate training for his
next race. Since then he has enjoyed the mulple benefits
of membership: encouragement, advice, inspiraon,
friendship,... and a tee shirt. He sll picks an annual marathon, but the fantasc trails of the Wasatch Front are luring him ever farther away from road races. Paul is happy
to accept the reins of the club’s newsle#er from longme Editor Carrie MacAdam-Marx.
The Runner’s Pulse
35th Winter Running Series
The Salt Lake City Track Club held its 35th annual Winter
Running Series on January 26, February 9, and February
23, and this anniversary edion of the series lived up to
the “WINTER” part of the name.
For the 11th consecuve year, the races were held by the
historic Great Saltair, just on the south end of the Great
Salt Lake. Unlike what even the club’s old mers remember, every race had severe winter weather. The 5K took
place during the annual temperature inversion, with constant fog and almost zero visibility along the course. The
skies cleared up before the 10K, but then a snowstorm
blew in that morning, turning the race into a Winter Wonderland. By the 15K, all parcipants were crossing their
fingers for be#er weather, which seemed to be the case
unl one hour before the start of the race. At that point,
high winds and a fast-moving winter storm came in. This
year’s finishers truly deserved the medallions awarded to
runners a3er the 15K race.
The 10K and 15K races were recognized as RRCA state
championships, and in addion to this, the 10K race was
also recognized by USATF Utah as the first event in the
2013 Long Distance Running (LDR) circuit. The LDR is a
popular series throughout the year in Utah, where runners earn points in their age categories for finishing anywhere between 1st and 10th in their respecve groups.
Partly because of these recognions, the 10K race included a fast field, with a course record-tying finish me in the
men’s race.
Special thanks go out to our tle sponsor for the series,
New Balance Salt Lake. Not only did they provide gi3
cards to the overall winners, they also provided and operated the chip-based ming equipment with their own volunteers and provided many of the raffle prizes. Thank you
to Sco# Spurrier, the owner of New Balance Salt Lake and
a long me supporter of the local running community.
by Evan Sanders
Thanks also go out to our other sponsors Great Harvest
Bread and Beans & Brews for providing bread, coupons,
and coffee for each of the races. Special thanks as well go
to the students and parents of East High School, who volunteered at the aid staons for both the 10K and 15K
state championship races, braving the snow and wind.
And of course we appreciate all of the club volunteers
who contributed their me on race day and beforehand
for what was described simultaneously as “worst weather
condions ever” and a “blast”.
The club wishes to congratulate the overall division winners for each of the races, including RRCA state champions in the 10K and 15K races:
5K (287 total finishers)
Open Division
Men:
Women:
BJ Christenson
Devra Vierkant
15:32
18:18
10K (285 total finishers)
Open Division:
Men:
Women:
Riley Cook
(ed course record)
Kassi Harmon
31:46
37:43
15K (170 total finishers)
Open Division
Men:
Women:
BJ Christenson
Devra Vierkant
56:22
1:01:38
Happy spring running and we look forward to your parcipaon next year in the 36th annual running series. May
the weather oracles be on our side this me!
SLCTC Board of Governors
President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary
Newsle#er Editor / Webmaster
Equipment Manager
Winter Series Director
contact
Spring
Chrisna Perry
Lauren Udwari
John Moody
Tina Willson
Paul Bernard
Mark Walton
Evan Sanders
[email protected]
Page 3
Member Highlight: Walter Brown
This quarter we highlight member Walter Brown, who has
a long history with the Winter Series, as well as an inspiring story of injury and recovery.
When did run your first Winter Series race?
In January 1982, My dad’s friend at the University of Utah,
Paul Cummings, found out I liked to run. He made me a
running schedule and introduced me to the Salt Lake
Track Club Winter Series races. I ran my first ever road
races in that 25-mile series of four races. I was 11 years
old and took 5th in my age over 2.5 miles; then in the 5
miler I took 4th in my age (42nd overall with a me of
44:56). In the 7.5 miler I took 2nd, and in the very last
race I took 1st in my age group, 18th overall with a me
of 1:23:22. That was April 3, 1982. I got a trophy for finishing all four races—I sll have it!
How did your running career develop aer that?
I connued running the Winter Series races every year. I
did a few 10k’s and 5k’s as well over the summer. I ran
throughout High School and competed in cross country
and track, and I made the varsity team at Co#onwood
High my sophomore year. My parents moved from Holliday to Sandy so I finished my junior and senior year at
Hillcrest High school. I really had a passion for running
and consumed myself with it. I went on an LDS mission to
Munich, Germany for two years and then in 1992 I resumed running. I started training with Paul Cummings’
group a3er work a few mes a week at Highland High
school. I decided to try training for a marathon. Unfortunately I missed the deadline to register for the St. George
Marathon, so I decided to keep training for another. But I
got consumed by having a job and starng up at the University of Utah, so my training slipped. I let a year go by
and then started geRng serious again in the late fall to try
for a spring or summer marathon. Then,
on Christmas Eve of
1993, I was driving to
my apartment from a
family Christmas party, when I hit black
ice and slid into the
guardrail. I got out of
my car to check the
damage and a drunk
driver came around
the same corner and struck my car, pinning me between
my car and the guardrail.
Can you describe your injuries and your path to recovery?
My pelvis was broken in 23 places and both knees were
badly damaged. The corner of the hood went through my
le3 hip damaging my internal organs. I was told I wouldn’t
make it through the night and that I would never walk
again if I did make it through the night. Later, I was given
an opon to have surgery and pin my pelvis and hip, or I
could be put in a harness that I would hang in for several
months. I chose to take that route, though I was told that,
despite therapies to restore moon in my legs, my le3 leg
would have at most 40% ability, and so would not be
much use.
I started an intense therapy session every day where I
would shock my legs for an hour and then get in a pool
with a therapist and walk, trying to get my legs to move.
My right leg came back within the first month but my le3
leg took several months longer to get to where I could
stand up and walk with a limp. I used an exercise bike
every day, and I got on my feet 6 months a3er the wreck.
Club Membership Benefits
Regularly scheduled fun runs and track workouts
Quarterly Runner’s Pulse printed newsle#er
Discounts on all club races
Annual club banquet and BBQ
10% discount (20% with cash) on purchases at Wasatch Running Co. (8946 S. State St, Sandy)
10% discount (15% with cash) on purchases at Deboer’s Running (135 S. Main, Bounful)
and
Companionship, camaraderie, compassion, and encouragement
Page 4
The Runner’s Pulse
Member Highlight: Walter Brown
I could mountain bike, and found it to be very soothing
and helpful in my recovery. It took ten years before I
could run without extreme pain to my lower back and
hips. I loved proving the doctor wrong on every visit. He
would always tell me I was too stubborn to take his prognosis.
When did you resume racing?
In July 2003, I planned to run a race in near Logan, Utah. It
was the Freedom 15k run in Hyrum. I trained for it for a
month prior, and really felt like I wasn’t fast at all. I even
lined up in the middle of the starng group, but as I started running I found myself passing everyone. I took 20th
overall with a 1:01:59 me. I kind of got excited that my
fitness wasn’t that far off! I watched my sister-in-law run
the Top of Utah Marathon and was convinced I needed to
start training. I entered the Carlsbad Marathon in December in San Diego. It was hard to train during the winter
months, but I went and raced my first marathon with a
me of 3:30. I found hiRng the wall to be very difficult
with my hip pain and with a le3 leg that was sll not up to
(con$nued)
full strength. I decided to find a group to help me get movated, so I met with Salt Lake Track Club members and
ran with them a few mes a week. I was really movated
by Neal Gassman, who is an inspiring athlete. I eventually
ran my first Winter Series since my wreck 10 years earlier.
Subsequently, I was able to see my marathon me drop
by almost an hour. I did a personal best marathon in St.
George with a 2:31 in 2010. I have a personal best me of
1:07:56 in the half marathon on an aided drop course at
Mt. Nebo, and a 1:12 half marathon me on a flat course.
What are your current goals?
My current goals are to try to break 2:30 in the marathon,
to compete in the Masters USATFLDR circuit in Utah, and
try to get some naonal exposure and sponsors. I was
invited to run with the USATF in the World Masters Championships marathon in 2011 in Sacramento. I had an
amazing me running for USA and represenng our country. It was an amazing feeling. I took 7th for USA and 34th
in the world overall. Among my other goals, I want to
compete in an Ironman triathlon, and I also have a goal to
run a 100 miler when my speed starts to subside. For now
I will connue to run as hard as I can ll my mes drop. I
also started a company called American Flyers Race Pacers (www.americanflyersracepacers.com; I’m sll building
the website, so if its not up you can find us on Facebook).
We pace half and full marathons; I absolutely love helping
and seeing others reach their goals. It’s a true passion of
mine.
Do you s$ll run in the Winter Series?
I sll run the Winter Series. I missed doing the complete
series this year but was able to do the 5k and 10k. It’s a
great gauge to run early in the year and help kick start the
racing year. I love that this organizaon is here for us and
has been here for so many years! I really feel like Utah has
become a power in this running world. We are connuing
to dominate and are geRng some a#enon. I love to see
runners of all abilies out trying to reach goals and accomplishments of their own. It’s rare for you to see me
not smiling when I’m with you all!
The Salt Lake City Track Club salutes Walter Brown for his
successes, both in running and in overcoming lifethreatening injuries.
Spring
Page 5
Favorite Run: Pipeline Trail
Even if you’re not a trail runner, this one’s a treat. Drive
up Mill Creek Canyon (east from Wasatch Blvd. & 3800 S)
a li#le over 4 miles to the Birch Hollow trailhead. There’s
a gravel parking area on the le3.
Here the Pipeline Trail is just above road level. As you
head west on the trail, your elevaon will stay more or
less the same as the valley deepens and broadens.
There’s no route-finding to be done, just a couple of well
marked intersecng trails (Church Fork to Grandeur Peak,
and Ra#lesnake Gulch). At 4.6 miles you’ll reach the end,
a terrific overlook of the eastern Salt Lake Valley. This is
an out-and-back, so a3er you’ve had your fill of the view,
head back east, tallying 9.2 miles for the run.
Since this is a fairly level trail, and is free of significant obstacles, you can easily run it in road shoes. The biggest
hazard is the route’s popularity: you’ll likely be sharing it
with dog walkers, mountain bikers, and of course other
runners.
Note that there’s a $3 park fee, payable when exing Mill
Creek Canyon. Groups should consider carpooling from
the Park & Ride at Wasatch & 3900 S.
Announcements
Wednesday evening runs will begin rotang through various locaons around Salt Lake Valley, as of April 10. Saturday morning runs will start earlier, 8am, beginning April
20. See the schedule on page 7 for details.
been a long-term and valued sponsor of the track club.
Please come out for a run, help us show our thanks for
their ongoing support, and enjoy great discounts as you
stock up for the summer running season.
The Wasatch Running Center fun run will be held on Saturday April 13, 9am, from their Sandy Store (9000 S. and
State). Stop in a3er the run for great discounts on regularly priced items: 10% off credit card purchases and 20% off
if you pay with cash. The Wasatch Running Center has
The club has new email addresses. Contact the board via
[email protected]. You’ll also noce that announcements to members will come from [email protected].
(You can write to that address to request removal from
our mailing list.)
George Adams and Evan Sanders enjoy the landscape near St. George (photo: Sue Johnson)
Page 6
The Runner’s Pulse
Run Schedule — Spring 2013
Monday Speedwork: 5:30pm at the Highland High track. Meet west of the track in Sugarhouse Park. (Visit the web site for June
workouts.)
Wednesday Fun Run: 6:00pm Highland High (2100 S 1700 E, north parking lot) through April 3, then changes to a rotang schedule
(see below). Runs are 5–6 miles in length.
Saturday Fun Run: Held at varying locaons (see below) starng at 9:00am through April 13. Beginning on April 20, runs will start
at 8:00am for the spring/summer months. (Visit the web site for June locaons.)
Sunday Run: Informal run (~5 miles) at 8:00am at Highland High School, 2100 S 1700 E.
Mondays
5k training
Marathon training
April 1
3 x (200m + 400m + 200m)
3 x (200m + 400m+ 800m + 400m + 200m)
April 8
2 x 200m + 1 x 400m + 1 x 800m
+ 1 x 400m + 2 x 200m
2 x 400m + 1 x 800m + 1 x 1600m + 1 x 800m + 2 x 400m
April 15
2 x (2 x 400m + 1 x 800m)
2 x (2 x 800m + 1 x 1600m)
April 22
5 x 800m
8 x 800m
April 29
1 x 400m + 1 x 800m + 1 x 1200m
+ 1 x 800m + 1 x 400m
1 x 400m + 1 x 800m + 1 x 1200m + 1 x 1600m + 1 x 1200m
+ 1 x 800m + 1 x 400m
May 6
4 x 1200m
6 x 1200m
May 13
3 x 1600m
5 x 1600m
May 20
6 x 800m
10 x 800m
Wednesdays
Locaon
Comments
April 3, May 1, June 5
Highland High School
2100 S 1700 E. North parking lot, near school sign.
April 10, May 29, June 19
State Capitol
East Capitol Blvd., diagonal parking NE of Capitol building.
May 8, June 12
Jordan High School
9825 S., just east of State St. Park in SE lot near TRAX crossing.
April 17, May 15, June 26
Tanner Park
2700 S 2700 E
April 24, May 22
Liberty Park
600 E 1300 S. Park along central secon of road parallel to 700 E.
Saturdays
Locaon
Comments
April 6 (9am)
Olympus High School
4055 S 2300 E
April 13 (9am)
Wasatch Running Center
9000 S and State. Post-run store discounts of 20% cash and 10%
credit/debit for regularly priced items.
April 20 (8am)
SLC Marathon day
Jordan River Parkway
5400 S 1000 W. Meet in lot on NE side of the river.
April 27 (8am)
Emigraon Canyon
Rotary Glenn Park on Sunnyside Ave. and Wasatch Blvd.
May 4 (8am)
Draper Park
12500 S 1300 E
May 11 (8am)
Liberty Park
600 E 1300 S. Park along central secon of road parallel to 700 E.
May 18 (8am)
State Capitol
East Capitol Blvd., diagonal parking NE of Capitol building.
May 25 (8am)
Red Bu#e
Red Bu#e Canyon Rd. and North Campus Dr. (U of U Campus)
Fun runs are informal, non-compeve runs open to members and their guests. Non-members are welcome but are asked to join
the Club if they plan to parcipate on a regular basis. There is no fee and no facilies are provided. Runners arrive, socialize, run (or
walk), and o3en go out to eat a3erwards. The base distance is generally 5-7 miles but can be altered to fit individual needs. Please
plan to arrive 10-15 minutes early if you need me to stretch or warm up.
Runners regularly parcipang in fun runs or other SLCTC events are expected to have a signed waiver on file with the Membership
Commi#ee. The club membership applicaon and waiver can be found at www.slctrackclub.org.
Spring
Page 7
[email protected]
Thanks to our Sponsors!
Editor’s note: If you see any problems or want to comment on or contribute to the newsle#er, please contact Paul Bernard at
[email protected]
Next Newsle#er: July 1, 2013
Deadline for Arcles: Jun 17, 2013
Send Photos and Arcles to: [email protected]
Visit us on the Web
h,p://www.slctrackclub.org