Take your love of running and the running community even further—join the Central Maine Striders board!

Three board positions are open, or will be shortly, and the club needs individuals who can step up and support and grow Striders.

Terms are two years, with the option of one renewal. Club meetings are held approximately nine times a year and are casual and social events. Come hang out with fellow runners!

Secretary
The Secretary is responsible for recording the minutes of board meetings, ensuring their accuracy and availability, and keeping membership records updated. 

Main responsibilities:

• Write up and distribute club meeting agendas
• Take notes at meetings and post notes on website and/or Facebook
• Update membership records online (with Treasurer)
• Monitor club's email

Treasurer
Ron Peck, Treasurer, will finish his two terms on the board in December. The Treasurer is responsible for the club’s financial accounts.

Main responsibilities:

• Manage checking account
• Check club PO mailbox
• Update membership records online (with Secretary)
• File taxes
• Pay Road Runners Club of America dues

Communications
Alicia MacLeay, Communications, will finish her two terms on the board in December. The Communications officer oversees the club's web, social, newsletter, and other communication, plus updates the Maine race calendar. 

Main responsibilities (which can be divided up among multiple people):

• Maintain club's Maine race calendar
• Maintain/update club website
• Send out newsletter (approximately monthly)
• Serve as Admin for club Facebook page and Facebook group (share club news, create Facebook club events, etc)

Help continue our legacy as the oldest active running club in Maine. If you can help with any of the above, please send an email to run@centralmainestriders.com, come to a monthly club meeting, or reach out to a current board member.

• President: Brendan Gilpatrick
• Vice President: Ryan Goebel
• Treasurer: Ron Peck
• Communications: Alicia MacLeay

Established in 1975, Central Maine Striders is the oldest, active running club in Maine, and is a completely volunteer-run organization. The club is open to all interested runners and serves runners of all ages, abilities, and interest levels in the Central Maine area. 

By Ryan Goebel
 
It is hard not to run a race that starts less than a mile from your house. That’s probably the main reason I ran the Doc & Mardie Brown 5K last year and again this year.  
 
In the race last year, I was new to Maine and didn’t really know what to expect from the competition and from the course. I managed to place second overall and win the 40-49 male age group division with a time of 18:38, which was 29 seconds behind the overall winner. Having never actually won a race on a certified course before, I immediately put the thought into my head that I wanted to come back in 2018 and win this race.

The Doc & Mardie 5K course is by no means easy.  In fact, it’s the hardest road 5K that I’ve ever run.  The first mile includes an elevation gain of 128 feet, most of which is over a quarter mile while you climb up the hill to Colby College from North Street. How you run up this hill can make or break your race, and I was determined to conquer it.  So, I ran up this hill frequently during my training, including seven times in the week prior to this year’s Doc & Mardie 5K. I made several attempts at capturing the Strava segment “course record” from fellow Strider Ron Peck, but continually failed. The only thing I could hope for was some race day magic to propel me up the hill at the pace I wanted to run.

Going into the race, I gave myself about a 50 percent chance that I could win it.  My running has improved a lot over the last year, including cutting nearly 30 seconds off my 5K PR, but I knew there was no guarantee that I could beat the winning time from last year.  I was also afraid that a random Colby College kid would show up and blow me away.
 
On the morning of the race, I jogged from my house to the YMCA to pick up my number and t-shirt and then jogged back home where I changed shoes and shirt and drank some water. Once again, the convenience of racing this close to home can’t be overstated.  As I ran down the street heading back to the YMCA and the start of the race, I started feeling a little hungry, so I made a U-turn to go back home to eat a GU energy gel and drink more water.

Congratulations to Scott Harrison and Tiana Thomas, the overall winners of the 2018 Quarry Road Summer Race Series!

The overall and female and male age group winners were determined by the total of each runner's best 3K, 5K, and 8K race times over the summer trail race series. Thanks to everyone who came out to run each Tuesday night on the trails of the Quarry Road Recreation Area in Waterville!
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• Overall: Scott Harrison and Tiana Thomas​

 

• 14 and under: Addison Pellerin and Noah Koch
• 15-19: Elijah Caret​
• 20-29: Liz Atwood and Cooper Nelson​
• 30-39: Lyra Collard and Samuel Trafton
• 40-49: Tracey Cote and Ryan Goebel​
• 50-59: Julie Millard and Brian Morin​
• 60+: Harold Shaw​

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Thanks also to series sponsors New Balance (Series Sponsor), Inland Hospital (Kids Fun Run Sponsor), and Trailspace (Finish Line Sponsor), and to weekly sponsors The End Zone, Selah Tea Cafe, and The Proper Pig.

Proceeds from the Quarry Road Summer Race Series go to support the Boys & Girls Clubs and YMCA of Greater Waterville.

Full 2018 Quarry Road Series Results

Chapter 1. In which the brave travelers begin their arduous adventure
Friday, July 20, 6:00 p.m.
The motley crew assembles on the Colby campus, cramming eight bodies and approximately 37 bags into two SUV’s. Destination: Pat’s Pizza, Ellsworth.

Chapter 2. In which many carbs are consumed
Friday, July 20, 7:30 p.m.
The team elders, Brian and Julie, throw in a beer for good measure. Lead-off runner Pat may have let his hunger override his good sense, but all hope that three hours is enough time for him to rest and digest in his camp chair.

Chapter 3. In which the race begins
Friday, July 20, 11:30 p.m.
An awkward seed time of 11:30 p.m. puts our excellent adventurers in the undesirable position of having only one team with a later start time and key rivals with significant leads, likely meaning that they will experience a lot of alone time on the trail. Pat does an excellent job of digesting, runs a powerful leg, and puts our heroes fifth from last.

Chapter 4. In which the night is dark and full of terrors
Saturday, July 21, midnight to 4:30 a.m.
Skunks, porcupines, ticks, mosquitoes, blown-out calf muscles, dim headlamps, and a lack of cell phone reception and bathrooms are only some of the horrors the brave Striders faced, with the biggest being the tricks of the mind. (Is that a bear? Is that a serial killer? Where’s my damn coffee?) Somehow the team makes it to Columbia Falls, where the sunrise brings them great joy.

Chapter 5. In which there is significant road kill
Saturday, July 21, 6:30 a.m. to noon
Tracey’s calf injury requires a change in plans, with secret weapon Cecilia, youngest team member by more than a decade, swapping into a difficult uphill leg. Despite her strong performance, she is unable to hold off top-seed team Boyz n the Woodz, but she puts the team in striking distance of several teams with earlier start times.

​The heroes pick off the competition, one at a time, like lions on the prowl. A bathroom and breakfast sandwiches in Dennysville further lift their spirits, and they cruise into Eastport faster than their seed time, 8th out of 42 teams overall and first-place equal gender team, having averaged 7:24 over 102 miles. ​
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Kick off summer running with some fun trail racing, food, and a book signing! On Tuesday, June 12, come out for the Quarry Road Summer Race Series, but stick around for a club social and a book signing with Strider and ultrarunner Mike Brooks.

Tuesday, June 12, is the first race of the Quarry Road summer trail-running series in Waterville. After the kids fun run at 5:30 p.m. and the 3K at 6 p.m., we'll have a casual social with food and drinks to share. The club will provide some sandwich makings and drinks. Bring your favorite post-race potluck (a main or side dish, an appetizer, snack, or dessert) to share if you're able.

Plus, Mike Brooks, our 2016 Strider of the Year, will be on hand with copies of his new book Badwater and Beyond: A Thousand Races, Places & Faces. Through his incredible running efforts, Mike has raised more than $60,000 for children's nonprofits, with proceeds of this book going to support Special Olympics.

Bring a copy for him to sign or get yours there.

Racers, runners, walkers, spectators, friends—all are welcome!

We hope you'll join us on Tuesday, June 12, at Quarry Road Trails in Waterville.

Rain Date is Tuesday, June 19, if the race is postponed due to weather.

Facebook event for updates: ​https://www.facebook.com/events/199937780728839/

​Quarry Road Facebook page for series updates:
https://www.facebook.com/quarryroadraces/
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All are invited to join Central Maine Striders for a series of challenging, but low-key, early morning Wednesday workouts in May. Tracey Cote (Striders member and Head Nordic Ski Coach at Colby) will lead a series of informal weekly track workouts on May 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30 and June 6 on the Colby track in Waterville. 

Meet on the Colby track in Waterville at 5:45 a.m. for a short mobility workout and warm-up. Tracey will bring workouts each week, which can be modified for different levels, shortened, or run by yourself. Participants are welcome to come and go as they like. All running abilities are welcome.
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• Wednesdays: May 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30 and June 6 
• Start at 5:45 a.m.
• Done by 6:45-7 a.m.
• Colby College, Alfond Track, Waterville
• Rain or shine
• Facebook Event
  

Get ready for the Quarry Road Race Series this summer, which starts on Tuesday, June 12. Or just motivate yourself to do some speedy running with fellow Striders this spring.

For more info: Tracey Cote (tacote@colby.edu)

I ran cross country and track in high school, but didn’t have what it takes to make a team at The University of Arizona where I went to college. Without the team competition, my running miles quickly dropped off to nothing. I would occasionally go through short periods of running, racing in local 5K’s, and even managed to grind out my first marathon finish a few weeks after graduating from Arizona. This trend (minus the marathon running) continued throughout my 20’s and much of my 30’s. The combination of being busy at work, poor training plans leading to running injuries, and other hobbies and interests always got in the way of me ever being competitive.

Then, a few years ago, I decided to get serious about running again with the simple goal of breaking 20 minutes in a 5K.  A friend suggested I read 80/20 Running: Run Stronger and Race Faster By Training Slower by Matt Fitzgerald. Following the training plans in this book, I had my 5K time under 19 minutes and set my sights on running a marathon again.

​The same friend said I could qualify for Boston, but I didn’t believe him. Last March, I laced up for my first marathon in 18 years at the Tobacco Road Marathon in North Carolina. Despite my nerves and stomach trying to get the best of me, I finished with a Boston-Qualifying time of 3:11:12, a huge improvement over my 3:52:38 in my only previous marathon attempt. 

When I found myself moving to Waterville with my wife (who now works at Colby College), I probably spent too much time scouring the internet looking for Maine running clubs and races. But I discovered the Central Maine Striders, and soon after moving up last summer I ran in one of the Quarry Road Trail Races and attended a potluck and group run. Since then, I’ve improved upon my marathon time at the 2017 Chicago Marathon (2:58:21) and am currently running with the Dirigo RC master’s team in the USATF New England Road Race Grand Prix series. 

As Vice President of the Central Maine Striders, I’m looking forward to organizing more group runs, increasing the number of active members, fostering a friendly spirit of competition, and trying to organize more Striders teams to race together.

I’m also really looking forward to running in more Maine and New England races, including my first Boston Marathon in a couple weeks.

• Favorite Race:  Chicago Marathon
• Favorite Run:  A lap around Forest Park in St. Louis, one of the largest urban parks in the U.S.
• Favorite Running Gear:  My Garmin Forerunner GPS watch. I’m a bit of a map and numbers geek, so running with a GPS watch provides entertainment on many levels for me.
• Favorite Running Advice:  Run slow to race fast (and not get injured)
• Favorite Running Quote:  “Jane, that’s, like, almost a mile!” – Angela, American Beauty

Below is the 2017 annual financial report for the club, submitted by Ron Peck, treasurer.

Meet Geoff Hill

I ​began running cross-country in sophomore year of high school in Rochester, New York, simply to get into shape for ice hockey in the winter and discovered I loved running trails in the woods. I achieved varsity letters in cross-country and track and graduated high school in 1964.

I participated in other sports but did not run seriously again until 1975 while living near Berkeley, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Several friends and I started a small, personal running club and entered 5K and 10K races in the Bay Area, also running on trails behind UC Berkeley.

I moved to Belgrade, Maine, in 1982 and joined the Central Maine Striders that same year, running on my camp road to get into shape and introducing myself to central Maine by running 10K’s.  This is the same year I met Gene and Sarah Roy, Ron Paquette, Dean Rasmussen, Jim Moore, Chris Bovie, and David Baird, all Central Maine Strider members. I also coached track and cross-country at Winslow and Waterville High Schools and was race director for the Belgrade Lakes 10K for three years. In addition, I helped Gene Roy, who was the race director for the January Thaw in Belgrade.
 
I achieved the best condition of my life in 1983 and posted personal bests of 34:28 at the Rockland Lobster Festival 10K and 3 hours 12 minutes at the Casco Bay Marathon. (I know, hard to believe, looking at me now; but I weighed 175 pounds then, not 240!) I ran four marathons all together, the last one the San Francisco Marathon in 1990, and also ran Mt. Washington four times.  I was awarded Comeback Strider of the Year in 1987 after I got sober and began running seriously again.
 
I was forced to stop running in 1994 when I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the hips and since have had both hips replaced. I still volunteered at various local races for the Striders. For the last seven years I have co-directed the January Thaw Road Race with Gene and Ron Paquette.  Our theme is still penguins!

Meet Gene Roy

I joined the Striders in January of 1978 and have been club president twice. I've coached at Winslow High School, but the last 21 years I've coached at Thomas, Unity, and Colby colleges in either track or cross country. I'm married to Sarah, a runner, and we have five children and seven grandchildren, and counting.

​Awards:

• RRCA National Volunteer Award
• Inducted into Maine Running Hall of Fame 2004
• Profiled in New England Running magazine

I have directed more than 100 road races (still active), including the Maine Woods Trail Marathon and one year of the Sugarloaf Marathon.

Results (all when I was half my age now):

• 50 miles: 7:24
• Marathon: 2:49
• Half: 1:19
• Mt. Washington: 1:19
• 10 miles: 58:36
• 10K: 34.32
• 4 miles: 22:14

I also have raced nordic and triathlons for many years.

My favorite race is the Sugarloaf Marathon.

Goals: I plan on entering trail races, since my knees and ankles don’t like pavement any more.

​On Wednesday, March 21, please join fellow Central Maine Striders for food, drinks, awards, voting on officers, plus free gloves and stickers* at Mainely Brews Brewhouse & Restaurant in Waterville for the club’s annual dinner.

Maybe you’ve seen other Striders at local running races and events. Well, here’s your chance to meet and connect over dinner and drinks.

Central Maine Striders Annual Dinner
Wednesday, March 21, 2018, at 6 p.m.
Mainely Brews Brewhouse & Restaurant
1 Post Office Road, Waterville

All ages are welcome!

Food and Drink
The club will provide appetizers. Drinks and dinner will be available for purchase from Mainely Brews.
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Meeting
During dinner we will recognize members for Club Awards and also will hold the Election of Officers (link to ballot below).

*FREE Gloves and Stickers!
We're giving all 2018 Central Maine Striders members a pair of CMS gloves and some club stickers as thanks for being part of our club. Gloves and stickers will be available for pickup at the annual dinner.

All members and friends of the club are welcome. We hope to see you on March 21st at Mainely Brews!

Join or renew now for 2018: https://www.centralmainestriders.com/join.html