January may have seemed quiet, but quite a bit has been happening behind the scenes:

• We had a race! The Super Frosty Loomis snowshoe race went off without a hitch.
• The FLRC Challenge has begun! Can you complete all ten courses in 2021?
• Various FLRC Board committees have been working on new club policies.
• Want to get more involved with FLRC? We need a new Volunteer Coordinator.
• A few FLRC members have been racing the snowshoe circuit.

On to the particulars!

36 masked runners descend on the Super Frosty Loomis snowshoe race

Our last outdoor race of 2020 was the Super Frosty Loomis snowshoe race, so it was particularly pleasing for it to be our first race back since the pandemic hit. Kudos to race directors Dave Kania and Eric Sambolec for putting on an event that felt normal while adhering to FLRC’s COVID-19 Race Safety Precautions. The conditions were ideal, with sun and temperatures in the 20s for 11 runners in the 5K and 25 in the 10K. In the 5K, newcomer Michela Meister finished first with a time of 37:28, beating Eileen Randall’s second-place finish in 41:10. In the 10K, Eric Sambolec continued his dominance, notching his sixth straight win with a time of 50:59, outpacing Kurt Huebner’s 52:07 by over a minute. On the women’s side, Amelia Kaufman took home first place for the third year in a row with a time of 1:05:13, coming in comfortably ahead of Jenny Selig’s 1:12:02 for second place. Who will step up next year to provide some competition for Eric and Amelia?

The FLRC Challenge has begun! Are you ready to challenge yourself?

Has it been hard to find a focus for your running this year? To help, we’ve launched the FLRC Challenge, a series of ten open-course races that you can run anytime you want, as many times as you want, throughout the rest of 2021. Half of the courses are road, half are trail, and they range in distance from 1 mile to the half marathon. Run, hike, or walk them all to win the coveted FLRC Challenge medal! All profits from the FLRC Challenge will support local running programs like Girls on the Run and the GIAC Navigators.

To increase the challenge, we have individual and team competitions for the speedy, the consistent, and the deliberate. Individuals will compete for over 200 prizes based on fastest times (overall and age group), best average times, and most efforts for each course. 10-year age group teams will go up against other generations for bragging rights based on age-graded times and most efforts. Be sure to check the dynamic FLRC Challenge leaderboard for changes in your individual and team standings after every run.

We’ve also created a special FLRC Challenge forum for chatting about courses, dissecting the standings, and friendly needling of other teams (will age and guile overcome youth and exuberance?). The first two courses (the East Hill Rec Way downhill mile and the Pseudo Skunk Cabbage half marathon) are open now, and we hope to open more soon, once the snow and ice melt. Over 75 people have registered already—we’d love to have you join us!

FLRC Board publishes Diversity Statement, First-Timers FAQs, and Privacy Notice

Over the past few months, several FLRC Board committees have been hard at work on infrastructural policies, and we have some public-facing documents we’d like to share, along with the COVID-19 Race Safety Precautions mentioned above. First, in response to the horrific killing of Black runner Ahmaud Arbery and the George Floyd protests, we formed a Diversity Committee, led by Jullien Flynn. To help share FLRC’s beliefs, values, and desire to increase inclusivity in the running community, that committee has developed a Diversity Statement. In addition, the committee created a set of First-Timers FAQs for Trail Races, Road Races, and Track Meets to help anyone who might feel intimidated or overwhelmed when attending an FLRC event for the first time. Second, the Governance Committee, headed by Charlie Trautmann, has published a necessarily comprehensive Privacy Notice about the data-related aspects of FLRCs operations. We won’t be offended if you don’t read all of it.

Wanted: Energetic volunteer coordinator

As you know, FLRC is an all-volunteer organization, and after the retirement of a long-time member, we’re looking for a new volunteer coordinator. This position spent last year in limbo along with our pandemic-hampered race schedule, so it’s ripe for reinvention in 2021. You’d be perfect for the role of volunteer coordinator if you’re outgoing, organized, and enthused about FLRC. Core tasks involve collaborating with race directors to line up volunteers, recruiting new volunteers, and helping to build ways to track volunteers and their efforts so we can acknowledge and reward them at the Annual Picnic. For those early in their careers (hint, hint), this position will be great for community networking, will enhance your resumé, and could be a source of recommendations. Contact Adam Engst if you’re interested.

FLRC members place well in upstate New York snowshoe races

They don’t just organize snowshoe races, they run them. Congrats to Super Frosty Loomis race directors Eric Sambolec and Dave Kania for numerous top finishes in the Stonewall Snowshoe Marathon series, and for their current 1-2 rankings in the North Country Snowshoe Series. Other FLRC members participating and placing well in these races include Sarah Ridenour and Jim Miner. Apologies if we overlooked anyone, and please point us to race results if you or other club members run one.

FLRC weekly workouts continue

As the weather conditions have degraded over the past months, we’ve been missing the warm, dry track in Barton Hall more than ever. But when the sky gives us snow, we recommend taking advantage of it by cross-country skiing or snowshoeing! Nonetheless, if you’re looking for some structure for your training, we continue to post our weekly workouts for middle (5K to 15K) and long (half marathon and marathon) distance runners on the FLRC Forum. If you run with a friend or find yourself in the presence of walkers or runners, please follow FLRC’s recommendations for safe running!

Until next time, stay fit and stay healthy, and we look forward to running together again!

—Adam Engst, FLRC President and VP of Track

The Finger Lakes Runners Club is proud to announce our annual scholarship program is open for 2021:

Program/Eligibility

• A minimum of two unrestricted $1,000 scholarships to be awarded to two deserving high school seniors who participated on their school’s cross country and/or track and field teams.
• Eligible students must reside in Tompkins or a surrounding county.
• FLRC membership is not required.

Process

• To apply, applicants must submit a letter describing their academic, extracurricular, and running achievements. Include any plans you may have for a running career beyond high school and the personal benefits you have gained by participating in the sport.
• Applicants should include two letters of recommendation—one from a teacher and one from a coach. Please do not send complete transcripts or additional material for consideration, as these will not be reviewed.
• Mail application materials to:

  FLRC Scholarship Committee
  Attn: Lorrie Tily
  P.O. Box 185
  Locke, NY 13092

Identification of Recipient

• Scholarship applications must be received by the Scholarship Committee by May 1, 2021. Committee members to review submissions and identify recipients by May 15.
• Recipients may be asked to present their scholarship application materials to the FLRC Board.

You likely saw this coming, but the FLRC board and race directors regret to announce the cancellation of the in-person runnings of the Winter Chill 5K series, our indoor track meets, the Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile, and the Skunk Cabbage Classic.

In large part, we made this decision due to the recent rise in COVID-19 infection rates in the community and the concern that holiday gatherings will cause infections to surge even higher. Plus, Cornell University’s Barton Hall indoor track is not available for large groups, particularly off-campus visitors. Please help us control infections in our community by staying home, celebrating the holidays virtually with loved ones, and masking up whenever you’re in public.

The FLRC board and race directors will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and discuss future races at our upcoming board meetings. At the moment, we’re still hoping to hold the Super Frosty Loomis snowshoe race on February 6th and will make a final decision in mid-January.

As much as we hate canceling races, we’re excited about a major initiative we have planned for the local running community throughout 2021: the FLRC Challenge! Learn more about it here.

We encourage you to exercise regularly—the many benefits may include fun, stress relief, and boosting the immune system. Try to run in uncrowded areas, mask up when passing close to others, and [please follow our COVID-19 recommendations](https://fingerlakesrunners.org/covid-19/).

Stay fit, stay healthy, and we look forward to being able to run together again!

Greetings, runners! We have no in-person events again this month, but there’s still plenty to do. Most importantly, please help us support Loaves & Fishes in our Virtual Turkey Trot! We’re also hoping you’ll join in the fun of our Happy Holidays Scavenger Hunt for the rest of the year. Plus, be sure to check out our FLRC Presents series of injury talks—the next one looks at Achilles tendinopathy. Finally, note that regular deer hunting season goes from Saturday, November 21st through the end of Sunday, December 13th, so be sure to wear blaze orange if you’re out on the trails. Read on for details!

Turkey Trot goes virtual to raise money for Loaves & Fishes

We may not be able to meet in person for our traditional Turkey Trot prediction run, but race director Bruce Roebal is taking the Turkey Trot virtual this year as a fund run to benefit Loaves & Fishes of Tompkins County. Loaves & Fishes currently provides over 1200 meals every week to those in need, nearly three times more than last year at this time. Run or walk a 5-mile course of your choice anytime the week of Thanksgiving, before the end of Thanksgiving Day. No predictions. No times. No pies. Just future calories burned and meals for the hungry! For 2020 to count toward your inclusion on the Turkey Trot Honor Roll, please register for the Virtual Turkey Trot online. The $10 registration fee is equal to what we would have asked that you donate to Loaves & Fishes had we all run from Ithaca High School. If you wish, you can add an additional amount. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Loaves & Fishes to help their efforts in feeding our community. Our goal is to raise at least $3000 to match the amount a normal Turkey Trot usually generates for Loaves & Fishes, and with your help, maybe we can exceed that number.

Build some fun into your runs with FLRC’s Happy Holidays Scavenger Hunt

Looking to spice up some dreary early winter runs? In FLRC’s Happy Holidays Scavenger Hunt, you’ll compete with fellow runners to find six items each week on your runs through the end of the year. For each item you find, take a selfie or a picture and post it to the FLRC Forum to earn a point. Each week, the runner(s) with the most points will be entered into a drawing to win fabulous FLRC swag at the end of the event. The Happy Holidays Scavenger Hunt is free, you can join at any time, and it will run from November 22 to December 31, 2020. You can run, walk, or hike, and there’s no minimum mileage required. Scavenger Hunt director Heather Cobb will be posting the first week’s items to find soon, and you can read more details on the forum.

Mark your calendar for “FLRC Presents: Managing Achilles Tendinopathy” on 11/23 at 6:30 PM

Our FLRC Presents series of virtual presentations is continuing! On Monday, November 23th at 6:30 PM, physical therapist Jason Tuori will be giving a free live virtual presentation on patellofemoral pain syndrome, more commonly known as runner’s knee. It’s perhaps the most common running injury, with up to half of all runners suffering from it at some point. Tuori will explain the anatomy of the knee, how you can differentiate patellofemoral pain syndrome from other knee conditions, what commonly causes it, how you can treat it, and how you can avoid it in the first place. Along with a graduate degree in Physical Therapy, Tuori is a certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, a certified USA Track & Field Level 1 Coach, a certified USA Weightlifting Level 1 Coach, and an accomplished runner and triathlete who has dealt with his own share of injuries. The talk is free, but registration is required to get the Zoom connection details.

 200-day hiking streak by FLRC members Amy and Elizabeth Dawson

Congrats to FLRC members Amy Dawson and her daughter Elizabeth Dawson for their 200-day streak of hiking—covering nearly 600 miles—in local state parks during the pandemic. Their efforts garnered them a mention in both the Ithaca Times and New York State’s daily coronavirus update, a worthwhile email newsletter from the state about how we’re faring. Each installment includes a “Deep Breath Moment” featuring people who’ve done something extraordinary during these challenging times.

Watch “FLRC Presents: Managing Runner’s Knee” on YouTube

If you missed Jason Tuori’s second presentation on patellofemoral pain, also known as runner’s knee, you can still watch it on FLRC’s YouTube channel. And if you have questions about what’s going on in your knee, feel free to ask them on the FLRC forum!

FLRC weekly workouts continue after helping Gabrielle Woo to a PR

If you’re looking for some structure for your running, remember that we continue to post our weekly workouts for middle- (5K to 15K) and long- (half marathon and marathon) distance runners on the FLRC forum. FLRC member Gabrielle Woo reported that she dropped her half-marathon PR by over 5 minutes after running the long-distance workouts all summer. If you run with a friend or find yourself in the presence of walkers or runners, please follow FLRC’s recommendations for safe running!

Install the COVID Alert NY app on your phone to help stop the spread of COVID-19

Until we as a society can eliminate the coronavirus, races, group runs, and other club events simply won’t be the same. One easy thing we can do now is install the free COVID Alert NY app on our phones—there are versions for the iPhone and Android. After you enable it, it alerts you if you were in close contact with someone who later tests positive for COVID-19. The underlying technology was created in an unprecedented collaboration between Apple and Google and has received praise from privacy advocates because it doesn’t record or reveal your location or any personal information to anyone, including Apple, Google, New York State, or the federal government. It’s one more way we can all work together to protect each other and move toward normalcy.

Until next time, stay fit and stay healthy, and we look forward to running together again!

—Adam Engst, FLRC President and VP of Track