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my first marathon in 1993, October in Chicago has always meant one thing for sure, it’s marathon time. It doesn’t get
any better than October in Chicago, at least not for us marathoners.
Now, for cities all across the United States of America, October also meansprofessional baseball, you know, Americas’
pastime, that kind of professional baseball. The kind that has divisional playoffs and sometimes league championship
playoffs and possibly a shot at a World Series playoff and yes, with the outside chance of actually winning a World Series,
but that usually happens somewhere on the East coast. Yep, usually.
Yes, October in Chicago is marathon time. So, usually, I have all kinds of time to get my October Message written
and posted up on our website with time to spare. The usual “Welcome” to the new members, post some birthdays,
congratulate our runners for once again finishing the Chicago Marathon, along with the finishers of many
other Marathons, and pretty much call it a wrap.
But that hasn’t happened this year, no this year has been something REALLY special for Chicago professional
baseball fans. It seems, that just about the time I was getting ready to throw in the towel on what was being referred to as the
“greatest collapse in sports history” my beloved Chicago White Sox woke up and decide to delay my October Message.
Who would have thought it possible? Who would have thought that after 46 years, Chicago was going to have professional
baseball in October? OK, you can put down your hands. Here it is November, and I still can’t believe it. I was the same
age back in 1959 as my oldest grandson, Nico, is this year. I would have never believed it would be until 2005 before
I would be able to witness my beloved White Sox in a World Series again Wow, 46 years, and some of you thought
running a marathon in over 7 hours was a long time, think about that. I’m wondering if Nico is going to have to wait
another 46 years? Golly that would make him 57 the next time he saw the Sox in a World Series, wow, I can’t imagine
being that old…………………
Here’s the deal, what I’m trying to say is this: the many late nights and anxious moments I spent watching my beloved White
Sox out play one of those mighty teams from the East, no other than the Boston Red Sox ( you got to love their second
baseman, Thanks Tony) and then the Angels, how about that dropped third strike, was there ever any doubt? And then the
best for last, the Houston Astros in four straight games, I know, we gave them a homerun that wasn’t, but hey, fair is fair, and
besides, the Champions of the baseball World reside in Chicago now. Granted, it’s not on the side of town many, and I mean
many, (why they fill that park every single game), thought it would be, but none the less, Chicago has the best team in
Professional baseball. I think that’s awesome. To my beloved Cub fans, I feel your pain, no I really do. For so many years we
shared the title of being baseball’s biggest losers, but not anymore, nope, we are now the Champions of the baseball world,
and that is something we ALL should/can be proud of. And if we can’t, hey, it’s like my good friend Steve Bartman always says,
hey Ron , “There is always next year”
So, my excuse for not putting the October Message up in October is this, I had too difficult of time seeing the TV set
through all the tears of joy and happiness let alone my keyboard. So I apologize for this Message being unbelievably late,
but hey, it’s been 46 years, so this doesn’t really seem that late does it?
GO YOU WHITE SOX
WELCOME
To our newest members, WELCOME.
It amazes me that we’re still drawing members this late into the year. That alone speaks volumes for the Glen Ellyn Runners.
My promise to all members is this, we will not disappoint you. The word is out, Glen Ellyn Runners are for real. They
know what they’re doing, and better yet, they know how to do it. Once again, Welcome and thanks for believing in us.
LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon
What can I say about the performances of the Glen Ellyn Runners at this year’s running of the LaSalle Bank
Chicago Marathon? How about tremendous, courageous, fantastic and in some cases, just unbelievable.
So many first time finishers, you did what you knew you could do, and you set out and did it. Many personal bests
and of course, and I’m not sure about this, but I’m thinking more BOSTON QUALIFIERS than ever before.
And yes, we had our share of “first timers-Boston Qualifiers” too.
Just an all out great effort by each and every one of our marathoners, hey, that has a nice sound to it doesn’t it?
MARATHONERS
I’d like to personally Thank my wife Susan, along with Jean Brizzolara, Kathy Kuenster, Sharon Daniel, John Serna,
Dennis McCory for all the help with setting up of the pre/post marathon room. It was through your efforts our
marathoners’ day was that much more special and relaxing. Thanks gang.
CONGRATULATIONS to all our FINISHERS you did yourselves proud.
WEBSITE
Everything you need to know about Glen Ellyn Runners and more, is posted somewhere on our website.
PLEASE LEARN TO NAVIGATE OUR WEBSITE
HELP WANTED: WEBMASTER/PHOTOGRAPHERS
If you have website experience (whether professionally or as a hobby), we could use your help. Please don’t be afraid
to lend us a hand. If you’d like to help us out, contact Joe Volkmar at: admin@glenellynrunners.net
or myself at: president@glenellynrunners.net
We could also use photographic help. Feel free to email us any photos you may
have taken at any Glen Ellyn Runners function.
Thanks in advance.
BIRTHDAYS
Glen Ellyn Runners would like to wish the following a
HAPPY OCTOBER BIRTHDAY
Brian Eisenmenger 10-1
Erica Cupro 10-3
Tom Salzman 10-3
Joni Busch 10-7
White Sox beat the Red Sox 5-3
Sharon Sterling 10-9
Barb Lerner 10-10
Calvin Mar 10-10
Rolando Ortiz 10-11
White Sox lost to the Angels 3-2
Neil Bresnahan 10-12
White Sox beat the Angels 2-1
Peter Hueser 10-13
Mary Ilg 10-13
Ramesh Swaminathan 10-15
Nora Graff 10-15
White Sox beat the Angels 8-2
Gina Rolinski-Pomatto 10-18
Mike Mueller 10-24
Bruce Siegel 10-25
Maria Liza Haigh 10-25
White Sox beat the Astros 7-5
Tim Light 10-26
White Sox beat the Astros 1-0
Tom Else 10-27
Nancie Mohedano 10-30
HAPPY NOVEMBER BIRTHDAY
Eileen Keeler 11-1
Kyna Forkin 11-2
Ron Pece 11-3
Erik Fiegel 11-4
Margerat Ford 11-5
Steve Barzso 11-5
Dan Baldwin 11-6
Al Boulton 11-9
Maureen Challenger 11-10
Brian McCarthy 11-17
Ed Shirley 11-18
Jennifer Geer 11-21
Judy Lizak 11-22
Nicole Nelson 11-22
Bruce Svoboda 11-23
Sarah Mical 11-27
Jill Zager 11-29
James Patterman 11-30
Ross “Big Guy” Campbell 11-30
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL
Questionnaire for all Glen Ellyn Runners
Please cut and paste the following questions on a new “compose” or “write” page and then answer the following questions.
We need this information for not only research, but for awards to be presented at the Annual Glen Ellyn Runners Gala.
This Gala will be held sometime in January. So Please, take the time to answer all the questions and send them back
to the email address below. Thanks in advance.
PLEASE, CUT AND PASTE, THEN ANSWER ALL
Did you participate in the 5K Training Program……………………..
Did you participate in the 10 Mile Training Program………………
Did you participate in the Marathon Training Program……………
Personal Best 5K…………………
Personal Best 10K…….............
Personal Best 10 Miles……………
Personal Best Half Marathon………
Personal Best Marathon……………..
Fastest 5k this year…………………..
Fastest 10K this year……………………
Fastest 10 Miler this year………………
Fastest Half Marathon this year……………
Fastest Marathon this year……………………
How many Marathons run this calendar year, 2005………………….
Biggest PR in a 5K this year………………..
Biggest PR in a 10K this year…………………..
Biggest PR in a 10 Miler this year………………
Biggest PR in a Half Marathon this year…………
Biggest PR in a Marathon this year………………….
Did you qualify for the Boston Marathon this year………….......
If so, which marathon………………………………
NOW EMAIL THIS TO torun262@AOL.COM
THANKS
WINTER RUNNING/TRAINING
We will continue to train/run through the winter. We are a running club, not a just a training program. We are here for
each other 52 weeks out of the year, geez, that’s like almost every week……………..we will supply Gatorade at the
start of every Sunday run, however, the drinking fountains that we depend on during the summer are shut off during
the winter, SO, it will be up to you to bring a fanny pack, water bottle something, to carry fluids in. Even though it’s
cooler outside and most of us won’t be running marathon training distances, you still have to stay hydrated. You actually
sweat more in cooler temperatures, go figure. Remember, bring a water bottle/fanny pack.
As for training, will there be someone training for a marathon? Chances are real good that someone almost anytime,
is training for a marathon. I know we have runners headed for Dallas in December, Disney in January, Houston in January,
(that’s where the team is from that the White Sox beat to win the World Series, but I don’t want to keep mentioning the
World Champion White Sox, cause it probably upsets some people, you know what I mean?), we also have some runners
headed to Myrtle Beach in February and then a whole mess of runners headed to that big one out in BOSTON, (now this
would also be a perfect time for me to mention the World Champion White Sox, you see, the White Sox beat the
Boston Red Sox in the playoffs, but again, I not going to say a thing) so, as you can tell, we have a full schedule of
marathons to be trained for through the winter months. We also will be returning to Miami this winter, January 29th,2006
to be exact, to once again conquer the ING MIAMI MARATHON or HALF MARATHON. This will be the official
Glen Ellyn Runners “FIELD TRIP RUN” We had plans to possibly go somewhere new this year, but the hurricanes
(Katrina, Rita, Wilma, etc….) kind of made us change our plans. You can check this marathon/half marathon out at
www.INGMiamiMarathon.com Most of us have run the Half in the past (we like to party a little the night before/after,
so it just made more sense to run just the Half. Also, the weather is always better for sun bathing rather than
running a marathon, just something to think about. We’ve run this twice before, and I must say, we had a wonderful time.
I also would like to mention and invite all runners to join your fellow Glen Ellyn Runners this May 6th 2006 in
Indianapolis, Indiana for the Annual 500 Festival Mini-Marathon. This is the biggest and possibly the best Half Marathon
in the US. It also fills up very quickly, so if this sounds like something you’d like to do, check out their website at
www.500festival.com Many of us are staying at the Hilton Indianapolis on 120 Market Street. There were no rooms
available for just one night, so we’ve all booked two nights, planning on arriving sometime Friday evening, and then
spending Saturday night as well, heading home sometime Sunday. You are under no obligation to do the same.
But please feel free to join us. As you can tell from your Sunday morning runs, the Glen Ellyn Runners are a great
group of people, and this carries over on our “field trip runs”, we have a blast. Trust me on this.
WEDNESDAY EVENING RUNS
Beginning Wednesday, November 02, 2005 we will be meeting in Lombard at 6:30pm to do some night running.
Actually, we were talking Sunday how tough it’s been to get out and do our weekly mileage now that marathon training
is basically over. So, member Steve Blaine suggested we see how much interest we could drum up for a Wednesday
evening run. The Illinois Prairie Path has lights from Lombard all to Elmhurst, so darkness isn’t a factor. Sounds interesting?
Join us, every Wednesday from now until who knows when. No more excuses for not being able to get in some of those miles.
Something to think about, and a big thanks to Steve for coming up with the idea.
Well, I think that about does it for this/these months. Now is a good time to do some local races to help get in those
much needed miles. It is so very important to maintain some significant base mileage during the winter. You’ll be that
much a head of the “game” come spring time. 20-25 miles a week during the winter is pretty good, like I said, it will
give you an edge in the spring? Something to think about?
Have a great month, I’ll get back to all of you in December.
Keep smiling, I know you marathoners will……….
Your president,
Ron Degnan
PEACE
