BEST WISHES FOR A SAFE AND SUCCESSFUL EVENT... ... to all of our athletes who will be providing their own fireworks this weekend! Wow, Independence Day weekend, that go here fast! While the amount of competition is light this weekend, we do have what could be our largest turnout for an IRONMAN event in 2023 with a half dozen Gators participating in the inaugural IRONMAN 70.3 Pennsylvania - Happy Valley. This will be the first IRONMAN event in Pennsylvania in over a decade! And to top things off we have an athlete representing us at a local 5K event on the 4th of July being put on by one of our club sponsors! And besides all of that, one of the most incredible endurance sports event of each year, the 3 week long Tour de France, begins on Saturday! Before we get to our start list, here are a few notes and our weekend workout schedule... • FREE ENTRIES!: We are currently accepting entries for TWO complimentary event registrations provided by our amazing sponsors, Steelman Racing and DelMo Elite Sports! If you have not already won a 2023 entry, you are eligible to be entered into one or both raffles, which will take place on July 4. The first option is TRI AC on Saturday, August 12 which features sprint and Olympic distance triathlon and aquabike events and is a perfect prep race for IRONMAN 70.3 Atlantic City! The second option is the Open Water Classic OWS race that features 1, 2, and 3 mile distance options swimming in beautiful Lake Nockamixon that takes place on Sunday, August 20; based on the turnout for the first Steelman OWS race, there are likely to be many Gators there! You can raise your hand to be entered into one or both drawings here... https://www.facebook.com/groups/msgators/posts/2281099378741488/ • Get your 2023 Member T-shirt! We are now distributing the exclusive 2023 SVY MS Gators 2023 member t-shirts! To get yours, just be somewhere that I am and you can claim one. The next opportunity will be at the Monday evening swim workout (yes, we will have one!). • Mark your calendars: Sunday, July 16, late afternoon/early evening - Prime Rib Party: The guest list is filling fast, but there are at least 4 open spots (possibly more)! If you are on the invite list, would like to join us, and have NOT yet indicated your intention to do so, please post a comment here... https://www.facebook.com/.../msgators/posts/2273136662871093 To get an invite to the party, all that you need to do is achieve AND log at least one Surf & Turf club badge by Sunday 7/2. So how do you do that?... • FINAL DAY IS TODAY, Friday 6/30! Gators Surf & Turf Club Badge logging: The Gators Surf & Turf Club ends today! Through Sunday 7/2 you can log your accomplishments for any badges (or baked potato topping) you have earned between May 1 and June 30. To date we have 132 badges and toppings claimed! Here's the post where you can check off your accomplishments... https://www.facebook.com/.../msgators/posts/2243028729215220 • Updated Weekly Workout Calendar (July-September): In case you missed it, we posted the July-September weekly workout calendar that is optimized for printing and posting on your fridge. You can find it here... https://www.facebook.com/groups/msgators/posts/2275611125956980 Weekend Workouts: We have four workout options (and three opportunities to earn a badge!) over the weekend... • Saturday 7/1, 7:30am-9:30am, Spring Valley YMCA OUTDOOR pool: Uncoached group swim with the SVY Masters Swim Team. There will be at least one lane available for the club to use; if there are more than 2 swimmers we will circle swim. Enter the outdoor complex through the indoor pool. This is for adults over 18 only. • Saturday 7/1, 8:30am, Keystone Running Store, 200 E. High St, Pottstown: Group run... https://www.facebook.com/groups/479291044416772 • Sunday 7/2, 8:00am, Steel City Coffeehouse & Brewery (203 Bridge St, Phoenixville): RUNegades group run • Sunday 7/2, 11:15am-12:15pm, Spring Valley YMCA indoor pool: Uncoached group swim Weekend Events: So, who's doing what? As always, if your name is missing from our best wishes list, PLEEEASE post a comment so that we can send Good Gator Vibes your way! Saturday, July 1: • Tour de France: While there will be no Gators in this year's event, this is a fantastic spectacle that features 21 stages over 23 days covering 2,115 miles and ending on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on IRONMAN Lake Placid Sunday (July 23)! You can watch it daily online with options including the full event as well as short (about 5 minutes) and long (about 30 minutes) recaps of each stage on YouTube. Learn more heare... https://www.letour.fr/en/ Sunday, July 2: • CLUB EVENT: IRONMAN 70.3 Pennsylvania - Happy Valley (State College, PA): GET YOUR IRONMAN TRACKERS READY! We have 6 Gators taking on this challenging course that begins with a 1.2 mile lake swim in Foster Joseph Sayers Reservoir followed by a challenging 56 mile cycling course on amazing roads with beautiful country scenery, and then ending with a half marathon 2 loop course through the Penn State University campus culminating with a 50 yard line finish inside of Beaver Stadium, which is the fourth largest stadium on the planet (behind a cricket stadium in India, a soccer stadium in North Korea, and Michigan Stadium). Our athletes include Henry Graebe (making his 70.3 debut!), Sean Lodge, Don Mack, Chris Reiter, Michael Reph, and David Stone! Go Gators! Tuesday, July 4: • SPONSOR EVENT: RUNegades' "Patriotic 5K" (Pottstown, PA): Kristie Bruno is representing us at this local sponsor event! If you are interested in joining Kristie, learn more here (and don't forget to use our club discount code)... https://runsignup.com/Race/PA/Pottstown/Patriotic5K Go Kristie! Have fun, light a sparkler, Gator Done, then drink a beer! 💚BK🍺