News

This is our annual “State of the Club Report” for the past year. It was an especially fulfilling year since it was one where we celebrated our 25th anniversary. That will be mentioned later.

We ended 2013 with our annual party that was held at BJ Thornburg’s home and had a good turnout of 25, incuding BJ the DJ Taylor who was our guest. Awards were given to John, Carol and Lynn for their special support of the club during the year.

On New Year’s Day, we joined the KC Track Club for the annual start of the year run/walk which was followed by the traditional brunch for some of us at La Peep. We had 28 members who had renewed at this time.

At our Feb meeting, we discussed the Brew to Brew over the years in preparation for our April race.

Our March meeting featured a nutritionist from K-State extension who spoke on how to eat out healthy. She was sponsored by Carol Smith and gave an excellent presentation.

At our April meeting, Mark spoke about foot problems. We have our own resident foot specialist which is our good fortune. On April 6, we had a record FOUR teams and 4 volunteers at the Brew to Brew relay race from Kansas City to Lawrence. Phil’s “Walking Shoes” team won with the help of the St. Louis flash, Dave Couts. Afterwards, we had our traditional post-race feast at the Mad Greek’s restaurant in Lawrence. Nancy Perih again put on the most miles in attending by driving in from Topeka to participate and then backtracking to Kansas City before returning to Topeka.

On May 3, we had a report about our Brew to Brew teams with a slide show from the Prez. Also in May, we had a team of 6 members who did the WALK KANSAS program sponsored by the K-State Extension of Johnson County. We did a “Virtual” walk around Kansas (about 1500 miles, more than the goal of 1200) by recording our weekly mileage. exercise and healthful eating habits. We received a certificate of accomplishment and were third in our division, which was mostly runners. The participants were: Mark, Carol, Sunday, Martha, BJ and Alan.

At our June Meeting, Linda Sher spoke to us about life at KCUR, an NPR station where she is a frequent announcer. She has made arrangements for a future tour of the studio and we will be soliciting members for their preferred visiting time. In June, HRW once again collected lots of medals at the Missouri State Senior Games in Columbia-and set several records.

On July 5, we had our annual picnic and used this for our 25th anniversary celebration.

HRW took some more medals at the Sunflower Games in Topeka.

At our August meeting, Maggie spoke about the KC Track club, its history and activities. We have had a close relationship with them over the years. A lot of that comes from Maggie’s work on the Wednesday Night Run as well as the Brew to Brew and other events. Thanks, Maggie.

On Sept. 6, Tom Cotter, a runner and sports chiropractor, spoke on sports injuries. He was sponsored by John. In September HRW once again garnered many medals. New Senior Games records were set by Carol Smith, Eileen McManus and Alan Poisner. Alan made a presentation at the JCC in the St. Luke’s South wellness program. We recruited one member last year from this activity, Donna Misiti.

In October, we had our annual Be-A-Walker, predicted time 3K race at Roe Park with 18 walkers. The top finishers were Carol Smith, Peg Armstrong and Martha McCarter.

In November, the Prez spoke about the history of racewalking and his own personal history (29 years in the sport). At the Cliff Hanger, a race with a racewalking division, John Anderson was the top male and first overall, BJ was the top female. This is a great race that we should continue to support and get more walkers involved.

That brings us to December. We now have 67 members and hope to have more of them as regulars in the coming year and as well as welcoming new members. Our webmaster, Jake Fowler, had some health issues during the year but continues to put our race results up on our home page I encourage all members to periodically view this page for information, including links to many resources on the Internet.

I look forward to the coming year not only because of my love for racewalking and my racewalking friends, but also because I have started a new phase in my life with a wonderful mate, Sharon Shoham Poisner. When she joined our club in May, I decided that I would do whatever it took to keep her in the club. So I married her in October. That should convince you of my devotion to the Heartland Racewalkers.

I hope that you will continue to enjoy and benefit from racewalking and our club’s activities in 2015. Please give me and the other officers and board members feedback about what you would like our club to do in the coming year, at weekly clinics and special events.

I thank you for helping me enjoy this adventure that has lasted 29 years for me, with 19 of them as president in the 25 years of the Heartland Racewalkers.

Respectfully submitted,
The Prez, Alan Poisner