News

This is the annual State of the Club Report which reviews the activities of the Heartland Racewalkers for the past year and make some projections for 2014.

Our annual party last year was held on December 1 at Fitness Plus-the last time that we used that facility for our year end party since 1989. 25 people were in attendance. Awards were given to Sunday Cavallaro, Mitch Kranitz and BJ Thornburg. Election Results: Pres-Alan Poisner, Vice Pres-Chuck Zarrelli, Secretary-Sarah Justice, Treasurer-Tom Oakes, Clinic Director-Fred Adams; Historian-Jean Brunnenkant.

On January 1st, we started off the New Year by taking part in the annual New Year's Day Run/Walk at the Athletic Club of Overland Park, sponsored by the KC Track Club. It was a 28 degrees and icy so that encouraged our walkers to finish fast so that they could have a warm breakfast afterwards at La Peep. Ten of us made the trek. This is an annual club tradition and I invite you to join us this year.

At our January 5 meeting, Eric from Gary Gribble's gave a presentation on shoes that are popular with racewaklers He brought a number of models for us to see.

Jan 27 was the ill-fated Ground Hog 5K in the cave where our own Mitch Kranitz fell down (or was pushed) shortly before the finish line. He eventually got up and finished and took a medal-BUT had suffered a fractured hip and was taken by ambulance to Shawnee Mission Hospital where the next day he had hip replacement surgery. I am happy to report that his rehab program is going well (he walking up to a mile at a time) and he should be back with us soon.

Jan. 27 was also a very sad day for Heartland Racewalkers when we lost our senior and beloved member Tom Young. He was a fixture in our club for many years, having been 'recruited' by Jean Brunnenkant, his long time companion. Tom had an enormous impact on our club with his positive outlook on life and his ever-present sense of humor kept us delighted for many years. He also was a successful racewalker, winning many Gold Medals at state and national events. He also was honored for his service to the country and last year took an honor flight with Fred Adams to Washington, D.C. He did so much for so many people in his 95 years.

February 2 Our speaker at our February meeting was Matt Lane, a sports chiropractor. He and his colleague spoke on injury prevention.

March 2 In March, we viewed a new video on racewalking and a video of Tom Young over the years.

March 28 We had a second meeting in March to accommodate the schedule of our speaker, Dr. Jeff Burns, a neurologist from KU Med Center at the Director of the Alzheimer Research Center. He spoke on the effect of exercise in preventing memory loss and cognitive decline. We had 46 members at this time.

April 3 BJ hosted the Wednesday Night Run/walk at her home and we had a good turnout of HRW members.

April 7 In April, HRW fielded three teams in the Brew to Brew but were missing Alan for the first time since we began this fun popular in 2000. BJ, Mark and Phil were the captains. We also had 4 volunteers.

May At our May meeting, we reviewed the Brew to Brew race. It was deemed another success. HRW again hosted the WNR on May 22 at Leawood City Park and enjoyed some more camaraderie with the KC Track Club.

June Racing took off in June with 6 members entering the Missouri Senior Games in Columbia and taking 7 Golds and 2 Silvers. We also had club members entering the Amy Thompson 8K, the Father's Day 5 and 10K and the Double Road Race, a new event that featured a 10K, followed after about 30-60 min by a 5K. Due to his strategy of being the only one in his age division, Alan took the Gold and was thrilled to have it presented by Billy Mills, a former KU athlete and the10K Gold Medalist at the 1960 Olympics.

A major change in the life of the Heartland Racewalkers occurred in June when our host facility, Fitness Plus, shut its doors, unable to stay financially viable. Thankfully, HRW rose to the occasion by conducting a few clinics at Roe Park where we frequently have met and then, thanks to some negotiating by Alan, we were given permission to use outdoor and indoor facilities at the Jewish Community Center at 117th & Nall. For outdoor walking, we first gathered at the pavilion near the tennis courts at the JCC and then walked the interior sidewalks on the Sprint campus. It is about 2 miles round trip to make one loop. When the weather turned cold, we were able to meet indoors and use the 10-lap track, as well as two meeting rooms. Based on historical events, this has probably save our club from a demise suffered by the precursor club, the Kansas City Walkers. It is important that we do not abuse this relationship and recognize that we are really lucky that we have found a welcoming facility just 5 minutes away from our former home (since 1989).

July was an even busier month. We had our picnic on July 6. Then on July 11 and 14, HRW entered 11 walkers in the USATF National Masters Outdoor Championships that were held in Olathe. We came away with 6 Golds, 5 Silvers, a Bronze medal and 2 ribbons. This event has never been held in our area and drew elite athletes from all over the country. Dave Couts, our St. Louis member, and Alan each won two of the Gold Medals. We are proud of our members, many of whom had never been in a national rigorously judged competition. Two weeks later, HRW was again competing on the national stage at the National Senior Games in Cleveland. At this biannual event HRW garnered 3 Golds, 1 Silver and 3 ribbons. Dave Couts and Alan had the top two age-graded-results of all racewalkers, male or female, in the 1500-meter race.

August Our August meeting was the first indoor meeting at the JCC. We had a reports from the National Senior Games in Cleveland and from the USATF National Masters Championships in Olathe. Martie Delon won two Gold medals at the National State Games of America in Harrisburg, PA. Maybe being close to her home state helped. We also had the pleasure of celebrating Jean Brunnenkant's 97th birthday with a cake under the shelter house at the Jewish Community Center.

September At our Sept. 7 meeting, Alan showed the club how to view links on our homepage, including results, pictures and age-grading. On Sept. 11, HRW again fielded two teams at the annual Patriots Day Run. This 9 hour 11 minute celebratory event featured two veteran teams, captained by BJ and Alan. BJ's team came away with a one-lap victory. The Perpetual Pedestrian team featured Mark Landry doing several laps on his way to 13 miles.

On Sept. 21st, we had a ceremony with the installation of a plaque on our club bench in Roe Park honoring Tom Young. Two of Tom's sons and their wives came in from out of town for the occasion. This was followed by a picnic in our favoritie shelter house.

On Sept. 29, HRW 6 walkers were successful at the Kansas Senior Games in Topeka: Sunday, Nancy, Julie, John, Lee and Alan. Everyone won one or two medals. In addition, the Kansas Senior Games committee presented a special award (Haefle Lucite trophy) to Alan for sportsmanship and activity). This is the 3rd year that this award has been given and it is open to all track and field athletes.

October Our Be-A-Walker on the 12th was held again in Roe Park with a great turnout-24 racers and volunteers. The top walkers in the predicted-time 3K were John, Kendra and BJ. John's finish was only 6 seconds off his prediction.

November There were a number of races in November, including the Cliffhanger and the Gobbler Grind that gave awards to racewalkers. BJ and John Anderson took Golds in both of these racewalking events.

There is another underground race this year and it is tomorrow in Lenexa, the Jingle Bell Run. HRW has always had racers in this event even though it does not have a racewalking division. The opportunity to walk on a guaranteed dry surface with temperatures of 55-65 degrees in December is a strong incentive. Our lub usually manages to have medal winners anyway. I also want to draw your attention to the New Years Day run/walk at 10:00 am at the Athletic Club of Overland Park at 103rd & Marty, hosted by the KC Track Club. We always have a number of walkers who do this fun way to walk and socialize with other runners and walkers. Some of us finish up this non-competitive walk with the first brunch of the year.

That was a busy and successful year, our 25th. We ended with 55 members and look forward to another good year ahead.