BEST WISHES FOR A SAFE AND SUCCESSFUL EVENT... ... to all of our athletes running through the streets of Philadelphia! I've had the pleasure of running the Philadelphia Marathon 4 times and greatly enjoyed it (despite that always challenging last 6 miles between Manayunk and the Art Museum). This weekend the 30th edition of the race takes place. It includes 3 distances and we have at least one runner at each distance. Read on to see who is participating! Sunday morning group run? And if you are not racing this weekend, I encourage you to take advantage of the three weekly group training opportunities, 2 run and 1 swim, taking place on Saturday and Sunday; see details below. In fact, our incoming club President, David Stone and I are planning to attend the Sunday morning RUNegades group run that meets at the Steel City Coffeehouse & Brewery in Phoenixville (203 Bridge St.) at 8:30am... Who wants to join us? ALL paces are welcome! Post a comment if you'd like to join us! Before we get into more details about this weekend's events, we need your status for two upcoming events: • Gators End of Year Shindig (Lost Planet Firehouse Brewing Station, Royersford, Friday 12/8, 6pm-11pm): Ticket sales have been strong as we are already approaching 40 attendees. Ticket sales will end on Sunday, December 3. An event is now posted along with instructions about how to get your tickets. Please indicate "Going" if you will be there or "Not Going" if you cannot attend on the event... https://www.facebook.com/events/224889630371995. Spouses/significant others are welcome to attend. 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, the return of the White Elephant gift exchange, and our usual array of raffles plus an end of year member gift for all Gators in attendance! Click here for more details including instructions on how to get your tickets... https://www.facebook.com/.../msga.../posts/2374757726042319/ • Annual Member Meeting / Awards & Recognition Night (Tuesday 12/19, 7pm): Our 10th annual event will take place at the Spring Valley YMCA followed by the Meeting After the Meeting at the Railroad Street Bar & Grille. During the meeting you can learn about what we accomplished this year, get a sneak peek at next year, and possibly win one of our fabulous raffle prizes! Click here to access the event... https://www.facebook.com/events/284089404598530 Weekend Workouts: This weekend we have three workout options including a swim and two sponsor-led group runs featuring a special RUNegades event on Sunday. • Saturday 11/18, 8:30am, Keystone Running Store, 200 E. High St, Pottstown: Group run... https://www.facebook.com/groups/479291044416772 • Sunday 11/19, 8:30am, Steel City Coffeehouse & Brewery (203 Bridge St, Phoenixville): RUNegades group run • Sunday 11/19, 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, November 18: • Rothman Orthopaedics 8K (Philadelphia): This is the second of 3 parts of Philadelphia Marathon Weekend (following the half marathon earlier that morning) starting at 11am. The course takes a peek at the city and then proceed on an out and back about 5 mile course along Kelly Drive with excellent fall views of the Schuylkill River. We will have two Gators running including Whitney Chadwick-Lessar and Carla DelFico. Go Whitney and Carla! • Philadelphia Half Marathon (Philadelphia): This is the kickoff event of marathon weekend which passes many important Philadelphia landmarks with beautiful scenery and excellent crowds along the entire route! Representing the club will be new Gator, Fernando Carreño competing for the first time as a Gator in his first of two end of year half marathons (Rock N Roll San Antonio is next). Go Fernando! Sunday, November 19: • Philadelphia Marathon (Philadelphia): The marquee event takes place on Sunday morning. Over 50 countries will be represented in the 30th running of one of the 10 largest marathons in the USA featuring nearly 10,000 runners. And one of them will be a Gator! James Wysoczanski, following up on an amazing Boston Marathon run earlier this year, will once again challenge the 26.2 mile course. Go James! Have fun, Gator Done, then drink a beer! 💚BK🍺