Hello Gators, Meet your fellow club members at this Thursday’s annual club members meeting taking place at the Spring Valley Y’s Corporate Conference Room starting at 7pm. And join us after the meeting for more time to socialize as we move to the Railroad Street Bar & Grille… If you need additional details on time, location, etc, please go to our Facebook group and see the events posted there for the meeting and the post-meeting get together. During the meeting we’ll cover the “meat and potatoes” of the club, but don’t worry, it will not be boring! Topics to be covered include…Member survey results highlights… You gave us your input, what did we learn?2015 recap… A brief review of the club’s 2015 accomplishments with some individual and group recognitionsWorkouts/seminars update… What do we have planned for January-March (and over the holidays)?Events calendar… What do we have planned for 2016 events and which events are club events?Uniforms update… What is there to order and when/how can you place an order and get your stuff?Member Q&A… Think of questions you’d like to ask our leadership team and/or coaches. We promise to answer the easy ones.FREE Piranha sprint distance race entry… We’ll end the meeting with a raffle for a free Piranha race entry. All attending members will be eligible to win. NOTE: If you are not on our Facebook group, you may want to consider joining as most of the club communications is now happening there; approximately 80%-90% of our club members are now part of the group… And if you are not a Facebook user, neither was I… I joined when we formed the club Facebook group and I primarily just use it for that. If you’d like to join, here’s the link to the group [you will first have to create a Facebook account… takes a couple of minutes… then go to the group link, which will generate an approval request; within 24 hours you will be added to the group… https://www.facebook.com/groups/msgators/ This week's news topics include...Accomplishments… Runnin’ in Rehobeth, Funky Santa, and Ur Gators at Ursinus!!!Uniformity… Get fitted for your 2016 race kit!!!Come On In… Our new members in December drive is continuing!!!Gator Fitness Challenge III… Final three weeks!!!Mark Your Calendars… Besides the annual members meeting (followed by “TRAINing Night”) we also have the RefrigaGator Swim III coming up on New Year’s Day to look forward to!!! Accomplishments: Some great recent race results…Saturday, December 5: All three of our finishers commented about the awesome post-party… Sounds like an event more Gators might want to check out in future years!Rehobeth Beach Marathon (Rehobeth Beach, DE):Mary Kain had another successful finish as she continues her “50 marathons in 50 states” quest… Great job, Mary!!Maureen Pinkerton set an 18 minute PR and also noted that she had the privilege to participate in the same event as the new Guinness World Record holders for “Fastest Marathon by 5 Guys Tethered Together” as they ran a 2:53. What a day!! And great accomplishment on the PR, Maureen!!Rehobeth Beach Half Marathon (Rehobeth Beach, DE):Diane Lynch completed her first half marathon, but based on the two hours of dancing at the post-party, sounds like she’s already ready for a marathon… Congrats, Diane!! Sunday, December 6: In the shortest event in Gator history (until we have our Beer Mile)…Funky Santa 5K Relay:“Three Gators Running (Vince Bellino/Trevor Bellino/Tim Pfluger) placed 3rd overall in the male team category… PODIUM!!!“Girls Undecided” (Kelly Beauchamp, Amanda Beauchamp, and Laura Cedergreen) place first in the family, 11-14 team category… PODIUM!!!Sunday, December 13: Ursinus College Classic Swim Meet (Collegeville, PA) – The Spring Valley Gators masters swim team had many fantastic results that included several Multisport Gators participants including Maribeth Baker (2 individual 1st place finishes and a 3rd place), Steph Bieloski (5 individual 1st place finishes), Joe Boris (4 individual 1st place finishes and a 3rd place), and Chris Reiter (2 individual 2nd place finishes and tow 4th place finishes). Great job by our Multisport Gators and congrats to the entire Gators Masters Swim team!! 2016 “Who’s In?” Member/Club Event Calendar: Just a reminder to get your 2016 anticipated event schedule in (send to NFLSteeler8@msn.com). Don’t worry… We won’t hold you to it if you change your mind later. Uniformity: Prior to the start of Thursday night’s members meeting, Brent Voynar will be available between 6:30pm-7:00pm in the Y’s Corporate Conference Room (same location as meeting) for you to try on some sample uniforms. So stop by and “try it before you buy it”. Come On In: We are currently conducting a new member promotion. We started with an “Intro to Triathlon and the Tri Club” meeting on Monday night that was well attended. All prospective members receive a FREE December of club workouts (current Y members; non-Y members can also get a pass to join for a few of the workouts). If you have any family and friends that might be interested, please spread the word and have them contact Mary Kain (marykain756@gmail.com) or Diane Lynch (dianeskipper@comcast.net). Gator Fitness Challenge III: 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: 3 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…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!9:00pm-???: Gators TRAINing Night, Railroad Street Bar and Grill, Linfield. Immediately following the completion of the member meeting.Friday, January 1, 10:30am: RefrigaGator Swim III. As we’ve done the past two years, those of us that have recovered from the previous night but are still somewhat foggy will participate in the Pottstown “Polar Bear Swim” (or you can just watch, participate in the Christmas Tree Toss, and/or try to determine if the annual world’s largest bonfire will lead to a forest fire this year). For more details (you have to page down quite a ways)… http://www.pottstown.org/index.aspx?NID=136 Go Gators! Don M