BEST WISHES FOR A SAFE AND SUCCESSFUL EVENT... ... to all Gators who will be knocking out / KO'ing a 5KO and Love Running it as well as any other event this weekend! This summer will mark four years since we lost Kristen Oswald when her bike was struck by a motor vehicle during IRONMAN Ohio on July 28, 2019. Many of you have joined the club since then and may not have ever had a chance to meet Kristen who was a tremendous athlete and friend who also served the club on our Sponsors committee and as our club Vice President. Kristen and her husband, Chris, joined the Gators late in the summer of 2016 following IRONMAN Lake Placid, an event that Chris successfully completed, but where Kristen did not make the bike cutoff. Kristen came back to be a multiple time IRONMAN finisher including Lake Placid in 2017 and 2018 where it appeared that the Voice of IRONMAN Mike Reilly returns Kristen's Chomp as she approaches the finish line. Just before the pandemic started and everything shut down in March 2020, longtime Gator Tiff Pfluger initiated the 5KO to take place in late March to honor Kristen's March 28 birthday. That first event was converted to a virtual 5K and then we were able to successfully complete a live event in both March 2021 and 2022. If you are able to do so we encourage you, rain or shine (probably a little rain), to join us at the Reynolds Dog Park / Longford Park at 1000 Longford Rd in Phoenixville tomorrow morning at 9am to run, jog, or walk a 5K starting at Kristen's honorary bench and tree. The run takes place on the Schuylkill River Trail and there will be a 💚KO sign (and possible a chalk line) at the 1.55 mile turnaround. Our youth group, weather permitting, is also hosting a Bike 5KO event for the second time at 1pm. See the "Event" for more information if you'd like to join... It's open to Gators of all ages. Kristen, we'll always love you, we'll always miss you, and we'll always remember you. 💚KO💙 Our weekend got off to an early start last night as 7 Gators teamed up in the Zwift Team Time Trial series. That combined with 5KO, Bike 5KO, the Love Run, and an additional half marathon has us with a staggering number of 53 athletes in action! 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. To register as a volunteer, see Logan Washburn's post... https://www.facebook.com/groups/msgators/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 next Friday 3/31. If you are not yet a member, what are you waiting for? We have a soon to be announced event that will, in part, celebrate our Gators Club Phily members. If you want to be one (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/ • INFINIT Nutrition Annual VIP Sale: We have scheduled our annual VIP sale with our club nutrition sponsor, INFINIT Nutrition, for Tuesday, March 28. This is a once a year opportunity to get a special 50% discount on INFINIT Custom Fuel & Hydration as well as Custom Protein blends (max 2) using our VIP Sale code: VIP-SVGators23! And if you are unfamiliar with how INFINIT Custom formulas work, dieticians are available for consulting meetings. Send Don Mack a direct message if you are interested in setting one up. Weekend Workouts: We have three workout options over the weekend; note that we will NOT have a Saturday morning Zwift meetup due to 5KO... • Saturday 3/25, 8:30am, Keystone Running Store: Group run!... Earn the Penn's Landing badge! • Sunday 3/26, 8:00am, Steel City Coffeehouse, Phoenixville: RUNegades group run!... Earn the SRT badge! • Sunday 3/26, 11:15am-12:15pm, Spring Valley YMCA indoor lap pool: Uncoached group swim workout… Earn the Philly Sports badge! Weekend Events: Who are our 53 athletes with events taking place between last night and Sunday? Thursday, March 23: • Zwift Team Time Trial Race (Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop): Chris Acosta, Don Mack, Chris Reiter, Deb Rocco, Don Schlichtmann, David Stone, and Chris Townsley teamed up on this 20+ mile event that left everyone drenched and gasping for air. Well done, team! Saturday, March 25: • Garden Spot Village Half Marathon (Lancaster County, PA): Kicking off the Saturday events will be Carla DelFico who will be taking on this 13.1 mile event! Go Carla! • SPECIAL EVENT: 5KO (Phoenixville, PA): At last count we have 20 Gators on our "start list" including Ginny Angus, Jill Basile, Jason Brannen, Keira Brannen, Kerri Brannen, Teresa Byrne, Whitney Chadwick-Lessar, Jon Crosby, Joe DeNicola, Susan Flavin, Katie Ho, Keith Ho, Cindy Kelecic, Sheri Kuss, Don Mack, Andrew Slysh, Gina Stango, David Stone, Chris Townsley, and Joyce Williams plus Diane Lynch Weiss will be out of town and completing 5KO remotely! Don't let the rain get in your way... See you there! • SPECIAL EVENT: Bike 5KO (Phoenixville, PA): We have 18 Gators of all ages on our start list including Richard Barkley, Kate Dansbury, Sara Dansbury, Tess Dansbury, Angela Epelbaum, Jack Epelbaum, Rylee Gartner, Teigan Gartner, Giana Herbine, Cindy Kelecic, Juliana Kelecic, Katie Kelecic, Colin Quinn, Emmalyn Quinn, Belle Stone, David Stone, Lily Stone, and Megan Stone! Go Gators, Jr. Gators, and Gator Tots! Sunday, March 26: • CLUB EVENT: The Love Run (Philadelphia, PA): Club sponsor, CGI Racing, puts on this event that will include 7 Gators including Kristie Bruno, Whitney Chadwick-Lessar, Lylly Darling, Joe DeNicola, Susan Flavin, and James Wysoczanski all running the 13.1 mile distance and Jennifer Gehret running the 7.6K event! Go Kristie, Whitney, Lylly, Joe, Susan, Jennifer, and James! Have fun, Gator Done, then drink a beer! 💚BK🍺 💚KO💙