Summer 2004
Juice e-mail: Pacers@LincolnParkPacers.org The Pacers are back to paper newsletters for now, and this should be “good news” for those who wish to be in the know without having to download photos and articles from our website! Now you can be lazy and wait for your mailman to deliver the latest Pacer news, hopefully on a quarterly basis, thanks to our “new” Pacesetter editor, David Farley. The last juice was written in January, and hey, a lot has happened since then…races won and lost, unbelievable athletic feats accomplished, interesting adventures and travels to faraway places, Pacer marriages, baby arrivals, new relationships, sad breakups and good-bye’s, fun parties, and many ethnic dinners…. Winter turned to spring, and then to summer; well, that change was a long time coming, but summer’s sort of here now (most of the time!). Back in February, it was a sad good bye to Deb Bear, who left Chicago for her new job for a 6 month assignment with Doctors Without Borders in Guatemala City. Deb has emailed her trials and tribulations of living there, but even though some “inconveniences, she has enjoyed the challenge and opportunity of her experience. Gordon McIntosh paid a visit to Deb while he and wife Meredyth were traveling though Guatemala last spring. They even did a run together, not an easy feat in Guatemala City!! Deb is now working for the Peace Corps in Guatemala City and loves her current work …Congratulations to Lisa and Dave Zimmer, who welcomed Sebastian Hunter into the world on March 2nd. It won’t be long until we see Sebastian hanging out at Fleet Feet, or better yet, toddling out on the running path along side his mom and dad!!…. One of the biggest events to take place in the last 10 years was the Pacer’s 20 year anniversary, in which about 75 Pacers, past, present, and future, attended. It was held at the summer solstice (although it didn’t feel much like summer that night), on Saturday, June 21st, at Robustos Café on Diversey. This is where the Pacers eat many Tuesday night dinners after the fun run, and the food and beer is not only stellar, but the price is right! . Dan Stohr, our enthusiastic president did most of the planning, with some help from Hal Olin, Heather Ludlum and the rest of the board. Dan brought in a DJ friend from New York, who managed to get many Pacers out on the dance floor until past midnight!! Maybe all the dancing was because of all the beer and wine that was consumed that evening! The Pacers had lots to celebrate—“20 YEARS AND STILL RUNNING”! Ben Squires, the founder of the Pacers was in attendance, along with charter members, Kathy Schubert, and Dave Miller….A second and very important reason for the party was to remind members to pay their $20 annual dues once a year, on June 21st, rather than at different times throughout the year. Many members used this opportunity to pay overdue memberships. If you haven’t done so, please either go on line and renew your membership there, or send your $20 check to P.O. Box 14835, Chicago, 60614! Thanks—we need all your updated memberships so we can keep having these fun events…. Also when you can, please do try to wear your Pacer shirts, so we can get noticed by other runners. If you haven’t purchased a Pacer shirt or two or three, go to the Pacer website or talk to Dan to find out how to get one!…Most importantly, JUST COME TO THE RUNS!! Being a Pacer still offers Chicago runners an advantage over other running groups, “RUNNING WITH FRIENDS”!!… On to the races!!! In April, Jonathan Berens completed Ralph’s Half-Ironman in Oceanside, California, his first half, in just over 5 hours. …Soon afterwards he ran the Boston Marathon in that dreadful heat of 93 degrees. On May 23rd, he broke 5 hours at the Florida Half Ironman, which took place by Disney World. On July 18th he kicked butt in Minnesota’s Olympic distance Life Time Fitness Triathlon, finishing 4th in his age group, and #1 in the run portion. But all of this was just a warm up for this first Ironman triathlon - Ironman Wisconsin in Madison on September 12th. Jonathan had a stellar race and finished in an amazing time of 10 hours and 48 minutes. Calvin Ma also had a great race, finishing a few minutes behind Jonathan. Pacer Kristen Horvat, who completed her 1st triathlon this year, was so inspired by being a spectator at that race that she has signed up for it next year! …Other Pacers who completed triathlons this summer are Adrian Campbell, Brian Noonan, Joe Hausfeld, Mary Kay Blaschke, Denise DeBo, Debbie Hoegemeyer, Ed Underhill and Amy Tompkin Hedstrom. (Sorry if I forgot someone!!) Adrian completed his first half-ironman in Racine on July 24th in just barely over 5 hours. Mary Kay has done several tri’s, and keeps improving on her times, and Denise completed her first one, smiling all the way. I think both Mary Kay and Denise are hooked! …..Then there are the ultra marathoners--no couch potatoes there for sure! Jennifer Leslie completed her first ultra, a 31 miler at the Ice Age 50K/50Miler on May 8th. At the same time, David Farley and Mike Ward completed the 50 miler. It was a perfect day, and all runners had super race times…Stuart Schulman, Janet Omer, Joanne Kaeding, and Jennifer’s good friend Tara all went along to support the runners. Janet, Tara, and Joanne ran the last 9 miles with Jennifer. She was cruising at high speed, and WAY beat her predicted finish time!!! On June 5th, Mike Ward and David Farley were back at Wisconsin’s Kettle Moraine once again to run long. David completed the 100K and Mike Ward ran the 100 miler. Mike, starting early Saturday morning, ran through that day, and most of the night, finishing at about 3am on Sunday. …in a record time for him—20+ hours and 5th overall. Jennifer Leslie went up to support them, and ran the last 32 miles through the night with Mike. Wow, now that’s a real friend! Then there was the 8 hour race ‘Howl With the Moon” on August 14thth. This is a run on a 3.29 mile loop where you predict how many miles you can run in 8 hours, and the winning is reaching your goal. Mike Ward, David Farley, Jennifer Leslie and Aziz Uras all exceeded their goals…...Congratulations also to Ron Weber, who completed the Lakefront Marathon on May 31st along with girlfriend Debbie, and to Carol Tebbe and Rick Kennedy, who ran Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Wisconsin in June.… Team Barbara was out there again this year for the Elvis 5K on Saturday, August 10th. Barbara Burgraff was pushed to and from the nursing home with part of the team, Kathy Schubert, Corina Schusheim, and Ginger Semple. During the race, the team prevailed, with Barbara being pushed onward, past many of the weekend runners! Ron Weber and his team of girls, Debbie Vickers, Ginger Semple, Corina Schusheim, Carol Tebbe, and Joanne Kaeding, pushed Barbara to a victory..in her eyes anyway. Actually, Ron's team of girls had trouble keeping up with him on the straight-away's along the course; and when they were forced to stop for pot holes and walk through the tunnel, it was a bit of a breather for the struggling team!! There were lots of Pacers at the race either running or supporting Barbara, and all joined together with Barbara afterwards for some Elvis songs, food, and beer. Thanks all who supported Barbara's favorite event!!! One incident that CANNOT go without mention, after the Elvis race, several volunteers and participants in the race headed for the Good Bar on Halstead. After that evening, I realize we have a super stud right here in the Pacers...and that is our very own speed demon, Bob Fencl. Bob's apparent sex appeal that night, maybe due to his Elvis side burns, had every blonde woman in the Good Bar hot for a bit of action with him....Stuart's photos tell all!!!!!!…. We also had another great Pacer team at this years AIDS race, with several age group winners and great times by Pacers. Thanks to Cary Adams for doing a great job of organizing a Pacer team for the last 4 years, running in memory of his bother Paul who died of AIDS in 2000. This year Cary surprised us all by placing as the 2nd female overall (some confusion with the name there I think!). The first of Pacer marriages this spring were Monica O’Hara and Brian Noonan. They tied the knot in a small Chicago ceremony during April. They have since moved to a new home in Oak Park, which looks like they have lived there for years, it is SOOO put together already! ….Next to get married in New York City the end of May were Urs Weber and Lori Soderholm. Their wedding photos are amazing, and to show how excited Lori was; she literally RAN down the aisle!!! After the ceremony, the newlyweds took a 2-week trip out west. They returned to Chicago the end of July to celebrate their marriage with friends and family…. A super athletic feat on bicycle took place in Spain, with Cary Adams and Gordon McIntosh the winners! The two completed over 400 miles by bike on the famous Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage Trail. They started in Burgos, Spain and biked to the finish in Santiago, where they received a special certificate for finishing…Jennifer Leslie spent most of the month of July traveling, her first get-away was in Ireland for a visit with her family. Stuart left on July 10 to hike the West Coast Trail with girlfriend Diane, and another couple, ex-Pacer, Barbara Barut and her husband, Michael. This hike is a strenuous 7-day backpack trip on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. The hike is especially difficult because one has to plan and go with the tides, as the trail is along the oceanfront, and dangerous if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time during high tide. We are thankful for Stuart’s safe return, even though he’s a bit worn and weary from the grueling hike!!!…Eric Miller spent several weeks traveling around Italy, sometimes with his parents, and sometimes on his own. His favorite city was Venice, where he enjoyed the beauty of the canals, and the good food and wine…..A group of Pacers went hiking in Kettle Moraine on July 5th for a “change of pace”. Meeting at the CARA board at 8AM for this adventure was David Farley, Jim DesJardins, Steve Helfrich, Jonathan Berens, Lyn Sue Kahng, and Joanne Kaeding. Before the afternoon was over, the “Mosquito Moraine Gang” had completed 10 miles on the Ice Age trail, fighting off millions and trillions of pesky mosquitoes…The mosquito count was rated high that weekend, but who would have guessed it would be a constant “battle of the bugs”!! They topped off the day with a greasy, Wisconsin meal and a few beers before fighting the traffic back to Chicago… On July 30th, a group of Pacers went back to Wisconsin, this time to camp and bike on the Glacial Drumlin bike trail, converted from a railroad bed. This time it was-- minus the mosquitoes, perfect weather, a quiet remote campground surrounded by sunflowers, a full moon and roaring campfire at night, and most importantly, a scenic path for biking the 30+ miles. Jennifer Leslie, Denise DeBo, Janet Omer, Joanne Kaeding, Cary Adams, and Steve Helfrich all enjoyed the overnight and are in agreement that the Glacial Drumlin area deserves a repeat trip at a future date!… Lyn Sue Kahng did her first backpacking trip this summer, climbing to the peak of Mt. Whitney in California with several old friends. Lyn Sue said although it was a hard trek, she never felt any danger as it was not a technical climb. She also said it may have been a bit ambitious for a first back-pack adventure, but she's surely a bit more fit for doing it! Congratulations Lyn Sue; you can claim mountain #1!! When's the next climb?..........And another first – this summer Pacer David Farley published his first book of cartoons, Dr Fun. According to David, and the book, Dr Fun was the first ever cartoon on the World Wide Web!….Our Scottsdale friends, Kate Fitzgerald and Marshall Craig were in Chicago over the weekend of August 27th and caught up with us all for the run and breakfast on Saturday, the 28th. And Kate competed as part of a relay team in the Accenture triathlon the next day….An ex-Pacer, Greg Valent (better know as “Caver”) was seen on the running path recently, a few years older, but looking as trim and fit as ever. A few months after completing an iron man in Lake Geneva about five years ago, and while training for a marathon several months later, Greg bonked out on running, saying it just didn’t feel good anymore! Caver now maintains his fitness level by cycling and swimming…. Other than running and training, Pacers have enjoyed all the summer street fests, including the Folk and Roots Music Fest at Welles Park, the opening of our beautiful Millenium Park, biking on the lakefront and at forest preserves, hiking, camping, swimming, volleyball, and just basking on the beach. And lastly CONGRATULATIONS to all Pacers who’ve just completed Fall marathons and GOOD LUCK to those whose races are coming up soon. Some of those Pacers are Kate, Tom, Aziz, Joanne, Carol, Johann, Janet, Rob, Debbie, Dean, Bob, Kelly, Russ and Urs. KEEP ON RUNNIN’!! ____________________ |
