BEST WISHES FOR A SAFE AND SUCCESSFUL EVENT... ... to all athletes that will be lei-ing it on the line this weekend! Once again this weekend is off to a fast start... a really fast start... with our Thursday night Gators Zwift Team Time Trial racing team taking on 3 loops, about 23 miles total, of Zwift's Watopia "Volcano Flat" route. All 5 riders successfully reached the finish including Chris Acosta, Don Mack, Chris Reiter, Deb Rocco, and first time racer Jens Sydor! We'll be racing again next Thursday 10/19 at 6:30pm and can have up to 8 on our team, so if you'd like to participate, please contact David Stone for details. For the rest of the weekend we have 2 sponsor events and 7 athletes competing in 4 events and we once again have an athlete taking on Saturday and Sunday challenges! And Saturday is also time to get your trackers fired up... It's IRONMAN World Championship Weekend, the Kona edition featuring over 2,000 female athletes including one of us! It should be an outstanding pro race featuring multi-time world champ, Daniela Ryf as well as last year's winner from the US, Chelsea Sodaro and dominating US triathlete and reigning Half IRONMAN world champ Taylor Knibb racing in her first full IRONMAN event. Besides that our youth leaders Cindy Kelecic and Angela Epelbaum are also hosting at Gators table at TONIGHT's Spring Valley YMCA "Trick or Treat Trail" that takes place 5:45pm-7:30pm on the SVY's outdoor trail. Stop by to say hello and pick up some tasty treats! Registration is required. Please see the details at this event post... https://www.facebook.com/events/238562415414656 Before we get into more details about our athletes in action, a few notes and reminders: • 2024-25 Club Officers Election: Thank you for participating in the nomination process. We have candidates to fill all five of our positions. Now it's up to you to provide enough votes to support their election to two year terms running through 2024 and 2025. Our election coordinator, Kerri Brannen, will soon be posting the names of the candidates along with individual statements from each and details about how the voting process will take place... It all happens this month, so stay tuned! • Free Race Entries! We are in the process of distributing our FINAL 2023 FREE EVENT ENTRIES provided by our outstanding event sponsors and the winners will be selected this Sunday, October 15! And this is a big one... We are offering not one, but two entries to the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon (good for half marathon or full marathon) thanks to our sponsor Rehoboth Beach Running Store's Mary Beth Evans who also happens to be the race director. All that you have to do to put your name in is post a comment here... https://www.facebook.com/groups/msgators/posts/2351916788326413/ If you've not been to Rehoboth Beach for marathon weekend, you should consider it... It's risen to the point where it should be called "Gatorstock" as we take over the town starting on Friday evening with dinner and continuing through Saturday's race, post-race party, dinner, and the Santa Bar Craw. We finally wrap things up on Sunday morning with the Tail Gator Party at the Purple Parrot followed by our final official club event of the year, the RefrigaGator Swim, a brief dip in the Atlantic Ocean. Don't miss it! • Gator Fitness Challenge and Gators Hoagiefest Club: This fall we have two options currently taking place for you to consider to help you stay fit for the most challenging part of the year. Both began last week! This includes the Gator Fitness Challenge that involves weekly Swim/Bike/Run and Strength/Core/Flexibility challenges as well as a fun Plank Challenge; for more details and to register go to... https://www.facebook.com/.../msgators/posts/2340092159508876 And we've restarted our "Gators Clubs" with the October 1 through December 31 "Gators Hoagiefest Club" where you can earn badges for participating in club workouts, participating in an event, or posting to the club Facebook group; more details coming soon! • End of Year Festivities: Mark your calendars! Dates are set for for our end of year party and for our Annual Member Meeting / Awards & Recognition Night. The party will take place Friday, December 8, 6pm-11pm; more details coming soon! And the Annual Member Meeting / Awards & Recognition Night at the Spring Valley YMCA followed by the Meeting After the Meeting at the Railroad Street Bar & Grille are set for Tuesday, December 19, starting at 7pm. Weekend Workouts: This weekend we have three workout options including a swim and two sponsor-led group runs. • Saturday 10/14, 8:30am, Keystone Running Store, 200 E. High St, Pottstown: Group run... https://www.facebook.com/groups/479291044416772 • Sunday 10/15, 8:00am, Steel City Coffeehouse & Brewery (203 Bridge St, Phoenixville): RUNegades group run • Sunday 10/15, 11:15am-12:15pm, Spring Valley YMCA indoor lap pool: Uncoached group swim workout Weekend Events: Here is our weekend race roster. 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, October 14: • IRONMAN World Championship (Kailua-Kona, HI): Get out your IM trackers and tune in to witness triathlon history at the first ever all female Kona event! Gator Ginny Angus, who qualified at the 2023 IRONMAN Lake Placid event, will be making her 2nd appearance at Kona; her afternoon start time (due to the 6 hour time difference) is 12:45pmEDT. This is the second consecutive year that the event will feature a Gator (Christina Pitchford in 2022)! Go Ginny! • SPONSOR EVENT: Scoogie Events' Tapping of the Great Pumpkin (Spring House, PA): This event features 10K and 5K races as well as a 2 mile fun run/walk and the Lil' Pumpkin kids run! A club discount is available. At last count we have 3 Gators participating including Kristie Bruno in the 10K and Whitney Chadwick-Lessar and Carla DelFico in the 5K. Go Kristie, Whitney, and Carla! • Dragon Run for Courage (Royersford, PA): This 5K event for a great cause includes a course starting at the Spring Ford High School 9th grade center and a run through the neighborhoods of Royersford. At last count 4 Gators were on the start list including Holly Beauchamp, Teresa Byrne, Sonny Dayrit, and David Stone! Go Holly, Teresa, Sonny, and David! • SPONSOR EVENT: Kinetic Multisports' Blue Ridge Triathlon (Huddleston, VA): The final Kinetic event of the year! This event includes the very rare "draft legal" format at the sprint distance. If you are interested in a last minute add to your event calendar, a club discount is available! Sunday, October 15: • Reading Hospital Road Run (Reading, PA): This event features a half marathon and a 5K. And we have an athlete doubling up this weekend with Carla DelFico participating in the half marathon. Go Carla! Go Phillies! And have fun, Gator Done, then drink a beer! 💚BK🍺