*Hello Gators,* This Sunday we will have our 2nd annual Gatorthon event! And we’ve exceeded last year’s participation level significantly… We’ve gone from 17 runners to 30 and from four marathons to nine! It should be a great time and we’re doing it for a good cause… We’re raising funds for the YMCA’s Annual Campaign, which provides the opportunity for local members of our community to participate in the YMCA’s programs and activities. Last year we raised $1,000 and this year we were at close to $750 as of a few days ago. We’re hoping to eclipse last year’s mark , which will not only be a nice contribution from the club to the campaign, but also will result in a banner in the club’s honor being hung in the Wellness Center for the next 12 months. If you are planning to donate and have not yet done so, here’s a link to the donation page (IMPORTANT: When donating, please be sure to select “In Honor Of” and enter “GATORTHON” in the blank field so that your donation is credited to our event. Some specifics about the event… - Gatorthon will take place on the Y’s Wellness Center treadmills… It will be easy to spot which are ours. - We’ll begin with 6 teams at 8:15am sharp. See the runner lineup under “Who’s Next?” below. - We’ll follow that with 3 teams in the afternoon. - The entire event is expected to wrap-up by 4:30pm, so stop by in the morning and/or afternoon to cheer on our runners! - We will have an “aid station” with water and Gatorade. If you’d like to help (or volunteer your kids) to help man the aid station, you are welcome. See you there! This week's news topics include... - *Accomplishments… *Five Miles of Frostbite!!! - *Who’s Next?... *GATORRRTHOOON!!! - *About A Gator… *Belles will be singing!!! - *It’s In There… *This Infinit sale has a very finite deadline… Get ready to place your order on Monday, March 7!!! - *Gator Fitness Challenge Update… *Hopefully you are making good progress on the challenges!!! - *Mark Your Calendars… *Lots of upcoming events including Endurance Sports Expo, seminars, and Gatorthon!!! - *Weekly Workouts: *Do you have any song requests for Saturday morning’s bike trainer ride?? *Welcome**!: *A warm welcome to our newest member, *Holly Beauchamp *who recently joined the Gators and will be taking on a number of events this season including Ironman Atlantic City 70.3! *Congratulations**! *Congratulations to our newest married Gator, *Gregg Heimer*, who joined forces with Kimberlea Latsha this past weekend! They have become famous for doing things halfway… typically 13.1 miles, but in this case they made it all the way to the Adirondack altar. And as any good endurance sports couple would do, they got married in Lake Placid! Way to go Gregg!! *Happy Birthday**! *Best wishes to the following Lady Gator who celebrates her birthday this week! - *February 23: Diane Lynch* *Accomplishments**: *We’re off and running with our 2016 events as two of our Lady Gators recently completed a frosty five mile race. Congrats to both for achieving a safe and successful finish! - *Saturday, February 20: Frostbite Five Miler (Ambler, PA):* - *Maribeth Baker* finished in the top 25% of her age group, the top 30% of all female finishers, and the top 50% overall… Way to go, Maribeth!! - *Michelle Sipe,* competing in her first event as a Gator, finished #6 (out of 91) in her age group as well as in the top 10% of all female finishers, and the top 20% overall… Great start to a lot of running this year, Michelle!! *Who’s Next**?: *Here’s your Gatorthon lineup! All teams are scheduled to run 26.2 miles. Best wishes to all for a safe and successful run (and don’t fall off of the treadmill as there will be lots of us watching)… - *Sunday, February 28: Gatorthon (Royersford, PA)* - *8:15am start time (runners listed in projected running order):* - *Team 1: Gregg Heimer and Andy Rosebrook* - *Team 2: Michelle Sipe, Adrienne Foster, Chris Reiter, Heather Irwin, Jason Brannen* - *Team 3: Melissa Moffa, Frank Moffa, Mary Donovan, Patty Trainer* - *Team 4: Byron Solvason, Jim Foster, Ellen Friend, Ruth Subach, Maureen Pinkerton, Kerri Brannen* - *Team 5: Michelle Leonard, Brent Voynar, Rob Fletcher* - *Team 6: Jon Wesler, Danny Friend* - *Afternoon start time (between Noon-1pm):* - *Team 7: Jen Ruiz, Diane Lynch, Steph Stranick, Logan Washburn* - *Team 8: Don Mack* - *Team 9: Vince Bellino, Tim Pfluger* *About A Gator**: *We are in the presence of talent! Not only is the athlete featured in this week’s profile a triathlete and runner, but she also is a singer in a rock band and an actress. Learn all about Tina Belles in this week’s “About A Gator”! Editor’s note: Yes, we will have an outing to see Tina in action at some point in the not-too-distant future! *Gator Fitness Challenge IV**: *We are in week 8 of our latest Gator Fitness Challenge. The GFC motto is “it’s never too late to start”, so if you have not yet signed up and would like to do so, please contact Don Mack. This week’s Gator Fitness Challenges: 1. *SBR Challenge:* At least 30 minutes each swimming, biking, and running with a combined minimum total of at least 2 hours. 2. *Plank Challenge:* 2 minutes, 40 seconds (increases 20 seconds each week) *Mark Your Calendars**: *Upcoming events include… - *Sunday, February 28, 8am: *Gatorthon II will take place on the treadmills at the Spring Valley YMCA. - *Monday, March 7: *Annual “one day a year” Gators team Infinit nutrition sale… Watch for more details coming soon!! - *Saturday, March 12: *St. Patty’s Day Bar Crawl… See Melissa’s event invite posted on Facebook for details. - *March Seminars: *Stay tuned for details about seminars coming in March on nutrition and bike safety and maintenance!! *Weekly Workouts**: *Here’s what’s left for the weekend… - *Saturday, February 27, 7:30am-9:30am:* Get in the zone (Zone 4) at this week’s Bike Trainer/Run brick workout led by Don M in Room 2. Do you have any song requests? Send them to gatorstri@gmail.com and you may hear your song during the workout. Go Gators! *Don M*