The Winter newsletter is here and it contains articles from Cindy Ortiz on Pink Up the Pace, Karen Wilson “Running by the numbers,” Peggy Bliss on cross-training with Yoga, David Boyle on his Berlin Marathon experience and more.

The whole newsletter can be downloaded here!

Also, Judith Burdan is stepping down as the newsletter Editor and ACRR is looking for someone to take over that role. If you are interested in working on the newsletter in 2010 contact Justin at matanzas5k@gmail.com.

Five years ago, runner Sally Howes created a small three-mile race on Thanksgiving Day so people could feel a little less guilty for eating an extra slice of pie.

Her small endeavor has turned into a big annual event with roughly 200 people trekking through Treaty Park Thursday morning. The event also has become a fund raiser for the St. Francis House homeless shelter, and this year 16 extra families received a Thanksgiving dinner because of the race.

“It’s Thanksgiving, and I figure people are thankful for what they have and they want to give back,” Howes said.

About 100 runners entered the event last year, bringing in $3,000 in registration fees with nearly all of it given to the St. Francis House. Howes hoped to double that this year. The race’s registration fees ranged from $20 to $25 and, with local businesses sponsoring the event, nearly all profits go to the shelter.

Here’s the rest of the St. Augustine Record article

And there was a related article on the successful shoe drive on the same day.

Shut Up and Run 5k 2007 from Jack on Vimeo.

Our club received local attention from the St. Augustine Record for our participation in the Chicago Marathon, and we appreciate their coverage of our activities. One typo of note however — there were actually 24,000 finishers of the 36,000 who started, and not 4,000 finishers as reflected in the body of the article.  It would be more impressive for our club if we were 32 of the 4,000 finishers!!!  But — the truth must be told!

CHICAGO The Chicago Marathon, which had 32 runners from St. Augustine, only had 4,000 of the 36,000 runners in it finish the race because of uncharacteristically hot conditions.

With temperatures soaring to 88 degrees, city and race officials closed the course at the halfway point at about 3 hours after the start.

Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said 302 runners were hospitalized with what he described as heat-related conditions.

Chad Schieber of Midland, Mich., 35, collapsed while running on the South Side and was pronounced dead shortly before 1 p.m. at a Veteran’s Affairs hospital, the Cook County medical examiner’s office. An autopsy was scheduled for Monday.

Marathon officials estimate about 4,000 runners out of the original 36,000 finished the full distance. It was the hottest day in the 30-year history of Chicago’s marathon.

Here’s the rest of the article on the Chicago Marathon

John Regan, the City of St. Augustine’s chief operations officer, is ready to participate in one of the world’s most grueling physical tests: The Chicago Marathon.

“I’m excited, of course,” Regan said of this, his first marathon. “And of course, I’m nervous. This is a huge deal.”

In addition to his wife, Felicia, Regan will be joined by dozens of compatriots from the Ancient City Road Runners, a St. Augustine-based running club.

The Road Runners choose one marathon each year to do. Not everybody in the club, chooses to participate in a marathon. This year, 47 members signed up for Chicago, and 32 will run.

“The hardest part isn’t making it to the finish line,” said Todd Neville, 33, the club’s past president. “The hardest part is making it to the start line.”

Read the rest of the article here

Thirty-two members of the Ancient City Road Runners are in Chicago this weekend to participate Sunday in the Chicago Marathon, a grueling 26.2-mile event that challenges even the fittest runners.

“Oh yeah, counting family, friends and other members of the club, there will be a lot more than that making the journey,” said Todd Neville, a member and past president of the club, a group based in St. Augustine.

“We tend to provide a lot of spiritual support for each other. So even if they’re not actually running, a lot of people are excited about going.”

Read the rest of the article here