BEST WISHES FOR A SAFE AND SUCCESSFUL EVENT... ... to our westbound IM athletes and all other Gators competing this weekend! We've now begun our third straight weekend early with our Thursday night Gators Zwift Team Time Trial racing team being comprised of our largest group so far this season with 7 riders including Chris Acosta, Dre Barber, Don Mack, Chris Reiter, Deb Rocco, Don Schlichtmann, and David Stone! We'll be racing most Thursdays at 6:30pm and can have up to 8 on our team for each race. The races typically take about an hour to complete. If you'd like to participate, please contact David Stone for details. This weekend we have 7 athletes competing including two parent/Jr. Gator pairs, two taking on IRONMAN events out west, which happen to also be our final IRONMAN race participants for 2023 (so get your trackers ready!), and a Gator participating in a sponsor event! Before we get into more details about our athletes in action, we need your input on a couple of topics: • Submit your vote in our 2024-25 Club Officers election: The polls for the election of our five 2024-25 board positions are open through Sunday night. We need a minimum of 51% positive votes for a candidate to be elected. As of yesterday afternoon we were close to reaching this threshold, but still a little short. So if you have not yet voted, please take 5 minutes (or less) to go to the following link, read the nominee platforms, and cast your votes. If we reach the minimum we'll announce our incoming board next week. Here's the link to the ballot... https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FCTNYZZ?fbclid=IwAR2CsmHxALvDXP6ObuPqAxxtSJPw-ad_vSBHyp1FyHY4kxn0xG63DnVFuHg • Indicate if you can attend our End of Year Party: An event is now posted for our Friday, December 8, 6pm-11pm end of year party taking place at the Lost Planet Brewing Co. in Royersford (former Humane Fire Station) where we will be one of the first groups to host a party in their brand new second floor party space! We need to get a headcount to provide Lost Planet and for planning purposes. Please indicate "Going" if you will be there or "Not Going" if you cannot attend. Spouses/significant others are welcome to attend; if you will be joined by a non-Gator significant other, please indicate this with a comment on the event so that we know to count you as 2. The fee for the party is $25/person and includes dinner and dessert (see event for the menu). There will also be a cash bar and our usual array of raffles (and possibly an end of year member gift for all in attendance). Here's the event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/224889630371995 Also, mark your calendars for our Annual Member Meeting / Awards & Recognition Night at the Spring Valley YMCA followed by the Meeting After the Meeting at the Railroad Street Bar & Grille. They 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 10/21, 8:30am, Keystone Running Store, 200 E. High St, Pottstown: Group run... https://www.facebook.com/groups/479291044416772 • Sunday 10/22, 8:00am, Steel City Coffeehouse & Brewery (203 Bridge St, Phoenixville): RUNegades group run • Sunday 10/22, 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 21: • SPONSOR EVENT: RUNegades' Bethlehem Running Festival (Bethlehem, PA): This event, which brings back the weekend long combination of events formerly offered as part of the Runners' World magazine running festival includes 5K and 10K races on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday. Competing for the club in the 5K will be Michael Reph and his son, Jr. Gator Luke Reph. Go Mike and Luke! • Gritty 5K (Philadelphia, PA): This event is led by the Flyers' mascot, Gritty, and includes a course around the Philadelphia sports complex and through FDR park. It includes a lot of fun stops along the way and also comes with a Flyers game ticket for all participants! Our mom/daughter team that will be running is Cindy Kelecic and Juliana Kelecic. Go Cindy and Juliana! Sunday, October 22: • SPONSOR EVENT: Scoogie Events' Scarecrow Shuffle (Lahaska, PA): This event takes place at Peddler's Village and features 8K and 5K races along with a 2 mile fun run/walk and a 1/2 mile kids' run. Carla DelFico, who has been very prominent on our event calendar lately, will be competing in the 5K event. Go Carla! • IRONMAN California (Sacramento, CA): The course features a river swim and flat and fast bike and run courses. Our final full IRONMAN participant of 2023 will be Hannah Ludescher. Go Hannah! • IRONMAN 70.3 Arizona (Tempe, AZ): Our busiest half IRONMAN athlete, Shawn O'Malley, completes his 2023 70.3 calendar, which will be his 12th IRONMAN 70.3 event, with a lake swim and rolling bike and running courses. This event will not take place in 2024, so good to have a Gator there for what might be the final edition. Go Shawn! Go Phillies! And have fun, Gator Done, then drink a beer! 💚BK🍺