BEST WISHES FOR A SAFE AND SUCCESSFUL EVENT... ... to all Gators who will be chasing chocolate and cherries or otherwise competing this weekend! On this final day of March and first April weekend we have athletes participating in events that demonstrate the transition from winter (Hot Chocolate Run) to spring (Cherry Blossom 10 Miler) and one of our sponsors is also offering the first outdoor triathlon of the season. We also have a couple of athletes taking on unique challenges with a 50K mountain bike race and a wrestling match... yes, wrestling! So use your favorite method to send Good Gator Vibes their way... Comments on this post, direct communications with them, or by casting them through the air from your Chomping fingertips all the way to their event sites to assist them as they Gator Done! 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, which is unscientifically proven to lead to stellar results! A few news and notes items before we cover the upcoming events… • Seeking Tri for the Y Volunteers and Athletes: There are many openings for both volunteers and more athletes for the "Tri for the Y" indoor triathlon taking place at the Spring Valley YMCA in honor of Brian Kozera on Sunday 4/16. And, NEW, there is now also a RELAY OPTION! I'll be participating on a relay team with Keith Ho and Katie Ho... Who wants to join us in the relay division??? To register as a volunteer see Logan Washburn's post... https://www.facebook.com/.../permalink/2212556958929064. And to register as an athlete, go to this link... https://gpyconnect.philaymca.org/tri-for-the-y • Gators Club Philly: Gators Club Philly ends TODAY. If you are not yet a member and would like to get in, please contact Don Mack and we'll figure out a way to make it happen! We have a soon to be announced event (watch for an announcement from Jill Basile) that will, in part, celebrate our Gators Club Phily members. If you want to be in the club (it's a very low barrier to entry), see the following post and be sure to earn and mark off at least one badge at the following link... https://www.facebook.com/.../msga.../posts/2179817945536299/ Weekend Workouts: We have four workout options over the weekend... • Saturday 4/1, 7:30am: Gators Zwift Meetup... We'll take on the challenging London "Surrey Hills" route. • Saturday 4/1, 8:30am, Keystone Running Store: Group run • Sunday 4/2, 8:00am, Steel City Coffeehouse, Phoenixville: RUNegades group run • Sunday 4/2, 11:15am-12:15pm, Spring Valley YMCA indoor lap pool: Uncoached group swim workout Weekend Events: Here's who's racing this weekend... Saturday, April 1: • Hot Chocolate Run (Philadelphia, PA): There are three distances and we have a Gator taking on each one... Carla DelFico, who just had a half marathon last weekend, is doing the 15K, Kristie Bruno, who did last weekend's Love Run Half Marathon, is doing the 10K, and Lindsay Inger is doing the 5K! Go Carla, Kristie, and Lindsay! • 11th Annual Bald and Fat Classic, "The OG" (York, PA): In this corner, weighing in at 140 pounds, Jon Crosby competes in the "Fully Decomposed" age group! Jon will be wrestling in at least 2 bouts with each bout consisting of three 1 minute rounds. Go Jon! • SPONSOR EVENT: Kinetic Multisport's "Smithfield Triathlon" (Smithfield, VA): We do not have any Gators participating in Kinetic's 2023 kickoff event, but there will be plenty of us at future Kinetic races including the Independence Tri (May 21), Poconos Tri Festival (June 10-11), Marsh Creek Tri (September 17), and Waterman's Tri (September 30-October 1). Sunday, April 2: • Cherry Blossom Ten Mile (Washington, DC): As the cherry blossoms bloom, participants in this event will be able to enjoy them in this event that starts and ends near the Washington Monument. Representing the Gators at this year's event is Susan Flavin as she visits our nation's capital in her final preparations for the London Marathon taking place later in April. Go Susan! • Rattling MTB Marathon (Halifax, PA): A 50K bike ride early in the season is challenging enough, but when you take it on with a mountain bike, the challenge is much greater. That's exactly what Chris Townsley will be doing! Go Chris! Have fun, Gator Done, then drink a beer! 💚BK🍺