Hello Gators,Introducing a new topic this week... TRIvia!This week's topics include...Accomplishments... World best!Who's Next?... This weekend we take on Wisconsin, Lake Nockamixon, and the Shoreman! Best wishes for successful races to all!About A Gator... Meet Dr. Ruth, our next IRONMAN challenger!Weekend Training Opportunities... Take advantage of being outside this weekend!Hold the Dates... "Gator Challenge", Spring-Valley YMCA 5K, Members Meeting, and Gators End of Year Extravaganza!TRIvia: Introducing a weekly trivia question... An opportunity for peer recognition for your brilliance!Accomplishments: Our accomplished young triathlete, Maddie Mattarazzo, had the amazing opportunity to participate in the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final - Standard/Olympic distance race in Edmonton, Canada this past Monday. Maddie had this opportunity based on a 5th place finish at last year's USAT Nationals event. Just having the opportunity to compete may have been enough, but Maddie was able to capture an 8th place finish in the women's 18-19 age group! This is all the more amazing considering that Maddie took about a month hiatus from training to participate in a student group visit to Costa Rica over the summer. Way to go, Maddie!Who's Next?: We have participants in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Wisconsin this weekend...Saturday, September 6:Shoreman Half Distance Triathlon and Duathlon (Port Republic, NJ): Byron Solvason (Half) and Michelle Leonard (Duathlon) will be shaving off a few calories to ensure that the gown and tux will fit just right in a couple of weeks.Quakerman Olympic-plus Triathlon (Quakertown, PA): Chris Phillips makes his return to racing in his first event since Lake Placid and Don Mack will also participate in this unique distance race (0.6 mi swim, 40.5 mi bike, 10K run).Sunday, September 7:IRONMAN Wisconsin 140.6 (Madison, WI): Ruth Subach looks to continue the momentum from her amazing recent 5K swim. Go Ruth!About A Gator: Some poignant moments with Ruth Anne Subach!Weekend Training Opportunities: The Gator coaches met this week to put together a plan for the "off season". We have lots of great things in the works including workouts, seminars, the "Gator Challenge", and more... Stay tuned! But for now, here's where you can train with some of your fellow Gators this weekend...Saturday:7:30am start time: Cycling on the Schuylkill River Trail. There will be two pace groups... 15-17 MPH led by Michelle Leonard and 18-20 MPH led by Don Schlichtmann. The "usual" meeting place will be used... Trail parking lot in Oaks off of Egypt Rd./New Mill Rd.8:00am: Nabil Radouane cannot get enough of the open water and he has planned a return trip to Blue Marsh Lake for an OWS until around 10am. Contact Nabil at nabilrad@gmail.com if you are interested in joining him. You can use the following link to get directions to Blue Marsh (approx. 50 minute drive from the Y)... http://www.nap.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/BlueMarshLakeSunday, 8:00am: Dean Milligan is planning to do a 60 mile Schuylkill River Trail ride. If you are interested in joining Dean, contact him at deanandkim@peoplepc.com. Hold the Dates: There are several significant tri club-related events coming up over the next couple of months, so here's an early head's up so that you can mark your calendars...Monday, September 29: Start of the "Gator Challenge", which will run through December 31... More details coming soon!Sunday, October 12, 9am: Spring Valley YMCA "Fall 5" 5K Run/Walk and Kids' Fun Run (Spring-Ford High School cross country course). Registration fees increas in mid-September. Race link... http://runccrs.com/results/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Spring-Valley-YMCA-5k-Flyer.pdfTuesday, October 14, 7pm-8:30pm: Spring Valley Multisport Gators Members Meeting. Opportunity to get caught up on all of the exciting stuff that we have in the works for the club. Will include an overview of how to create a training plan.Saturday, November 15: SVMG End of Year Extravaganza at the Trappe Tavern. More details coming soon! TRIvia: We'll give this a trial run and see how it goes... Send your replies directly to me (only) and all correct replies received in the first 24 hours after this e-mail is sent will be recognized in next week's e-mail. Records will be kept of total correct replies and a TBD prize will be awarded at the End of the Year Extravaganza. Here's the first question...What is the significance of the number 226.3?Have a great weekend! Go Gators!Don M