Hello Gators, Thanks…To our club leaders for helping to develop a top notch tri club… Not too competitive, but competitive enough and definitely with a great social element not all that characteristic of your typical club!To our coaches for teaching us, guiding us, and supporting us as we all continue to try to learn and take on not the easiest sport in the world!To the Y for providing us with top notch and well maintained facilities that we can use year round!To our families for supporting all of our craziness in late night training, getting up at insane times to travel to and participate in events, and dealing with all of our aches/pains/fatigues/mood swings!!To our sponsors for providing us with significant discounts on many of their products and services. (Editor’s Note: I must elevate Mike Connelly and Centre for Healing Arts to the status of “Super Sponsor”… and not just for their amazing financial contributions to the club… I’ve been dealing with some lingering issues from a sports hernia for a couple of years and it had finally gotten to the point where it was bothering me enough to get it checked out. After just a handful of visits, I have more flexibility and less pain than I’ve had in close to three years! So I’m a believer! If you haven’t tried Mike’s services and you’re having any issues, I encourage you to stop by for a visit and see if Mike’s magic works on you as well!)To you our members for EVERYTHING you do to train yourselves and support your teammates… As a team we are unbeatable and the level of support and effort that you all put in has resulted in a ridiculous amount of amazing achievements to date with many, many more to come!And to Kevin McMackin for his outstanding support, creative ideas, and flexibility in working with the club as our Y liaison for the past one year plus!! Best wishes in your future endeavours! This week's news topics include...Accomplishments… Born to run during our glory days on the streets of Philadelphia!!!Who’s Next?... Joyrun and "Down and Dirty"!!!Gator Fitness Challenge… Planks living on Thanksgiving!!!Mark Your Calendars… “Introduction to Triathlon and the Tri Club” presentation and Annual Members Meeting!!! Accomplishments: Santa wasn’t the only one running the Philadelphia Marathon or Half Marathon… Sunday, November 22:Philadelphia Marathon:BRIAN 1, CANCER 0… He’s definitely back!... Brian Kozera slammed the door closed on cancer by completing his first ever standalone marathon at exactly his goal time (and over an hour faster than his only other marathon in Ironman Louisville a couple of years ago). Epic achievement, Brian!!Gregg Heimer decided if Eric was up for it he’d go ahead and run a marathon without training for it as well (actually he did have a two mile training run). Plus he hadn’t run a half marathon for at least a few weeks, so why not do two at once? Believe it or not, this was actually Gregg’s first standalone marathon (he’s done several Ironman marathons). And on top of that he did it alongside his fiancée and very soon to be wife, Kimberlea Latsha! Good way to see if you’ve got what it takes as a couple… They finished together so they do! And on top of that, their finish time of 4:49:18 in binary coded alphabetics converts exactly to “TRUE LOVE”!! Great teamwork, Gregg and Kimberlea!!Don Mack completed his 14th marathon (4th this year) and achieved a time that qualifies him for the 2017 Boston Marathon. Don finished in the top 7% overall and the top 10% in his age group.Philadelphia Half Marathon:Kelly Beauchamp set a new PR!!! and had great overall results finishing in the top 20% of her age group and all female finishers as well as the top 25% overall. Great race, Kelly!!Heather Bloodworth, our leader at the Y (Executive Director) had a great race finishing in the top 50% in her age group. Way to go, Heather!!Jason Brannen also set a PR!!! in this race and had stellar results finishing in the top 10% overall and the top 25% of his age group. Excellent race, Jason!!Kerri Brannen had an enjoyable run and finished in the top 100 in her age group (out of close to 800) as well as the top 15% of all female finishers and the top 20% overall. Super effort, Kerri!!Steve “Lazuras” Durante came back from the depths in his first race in several years and achieved some great results with very little post-race soreness (so he’s likely to do more races). Steve finished in the top 15% overall and the top 20% of his age group. Welcome back, Steve!!Kristin Kozera made it a very successful day for the Kozeras by completing her first ever half marathon, a new personal running distance record. Way to go, Kristin!!Tiff Pfluger took another step forward in her ongoing battle with hubby, Tim , for the title of “Gator with the most completed events in 2015” with an outstanding run (Editor’s note: We really don’t have a title for that, but don’t tell them, because it’s fun to watch). Tiff finished in the top 6% of all female finishers, the top 7% of her age group, the top 15% overall, AND, interestingly, also finished in the top 20% of all male age 40-44 finishers. Way to man-up, Tiff!!Heather Tracey delivered a typical amazing race finishing well inside the top 10% of her age group and all female finishers as well as the top 15% overall. Nice job, Heather!! Who's Next?: Only one "longer than a 5K" event this weekend and we do have a growing number of Gators planning to do our first ever training/racing combo brick including at last count…Saturday, November 28:Joy Run 5K (Oaks, PA): Vince Bellino, Don Mack, Tiff Pfluger, Tim Pfluger, Maureen PinkertonSunday, November 29:Dirty Bird 15K Trail Run (French Creek State Park, PA): Tim Pfluger does another "double". Gator Fitness Challenge: This week’s Gator Fitness Challenges:SBR Challenge: At least 20 minutes each swimming, biking, and running with a combined minimum total of at least 1 hr, 30 min.Plank Challenge: 2 minutes, 40 seconds And don’t forget to keep track of your overall totals as you get bonus points each time you complete 10,000 yards of swimming or 5 hours of cycling or 50 miles of running! Mark Your Calendars: Upcoming events include…Monday, November 30, 7:00pm, Spring Valley YMCA, Corporate Conference Room: Introduction to Triathlon and the Tri Club presentation/Q&A session for potential new members… If you have any friends that might be interested in joining, this is their opportunity to learn what we’re all about!Thursday, December 17, 7:00pm-8:30pm, Spring Valley YMCA, Corporate Conference Room: Annual Member Meeting. This is your opportunity to get up to speed on the club’s 2015 accomplishments and learn what we have planned for 2016! It may be followed by an informal gathering at a local establishment. Happy Thanksgiving and Go Gators! Don M