GKTC Newsletter: Issue 1, Vol.1

GOTHAM KNIGHTS TRACK CLUB NEWSLETTER
ISSUE 1, VOL. I

"This is the part of my life I call Running" - Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness

So, first off, I just wanted to welcome everyone to the team!! We started out as a just a small group of friends who wanted to run as a team and our ranks have grown by leaps and...oh wait! Of course, we are still in our infancy and we have a lot of work to do but I wanted to update everyone on our progress so far. If you know of anyone who would wish to join the team please encourage them to signup by simply indicating " GKTC" as their team affiliation on their next NYRR race entry form. Membership is completely FREE!!

GKTC Website
Still in the R&D phase but you can view it here: http://hammerrunning.com/gothamknights . You can kind of get an idea of where we are trying to go with it but in the future we'll have a one-stop shop for all things GKTC related.

Nicknames
As the brainchild of Joe "The Caped Crusader" Curnutte, we are asking that all new members declare a nickname for themselves that is preferably Batman related. Nicknames that are currently taken are as follows:

Joe "The Caped Crusader" Curnutte
John "The Dark Knight" Hammergren
Mark "The Detective" Bovino
Eliasbeth "Batgirl" Lepine
Kirstin "Catwoman" Franklin

If you're looking for some good names simply google batman or visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman .

Team Uniforms
We are in the process of designing and aquiring team singlets for all NYRR races, especially the Club points races. If you have any leads as to a good screen printing place please let us know. In the meantime, please try and wear all black clothing in club points races. If you have any design ideas please feel free to send them our way and we'll probably stage a vote on what design gets printed. Hopefully the uniforms will be ready to go for the next club points race in March. Please let me know if you would like a size other than Medium as soon as possible.

Group Runs
We currently have no group run plans layed out. Most likely it will be a weekday run as most races happen on the weekends and would disrupt a group running schedule. As a group we are kind of spread out all over the city so Central Park will probably be a good central location. Instead of group training runs we may organize a bi-monthly time trial event with measured courses or other fun runs like scavenger hunts, etc.

Upcoming NYRR Club Points Races
We strongly encourage everyone to race in club points races. In order to score as a team we need 5 runners in the Men's and Women's divisions. We automatically get 1 point if we have 5 runners so don't worry if you are not in it to "race." These events are always a great way to get in a good training run.

(1) Al Gordon Snowflake 4 mile - Saturday, Feb. 24th http://www.nyrr.org/races/2007/r0224x00.asp
As you may or may not know, this is the first club points race of the year. Hopefully you have already signed up but if not you can sign up in advance at NYRR headquarters on 89th St. between 5th/Madison Avenues today and Friday until 7pm at a discounted rate or on race day.

(2) NYRR 8000m - Saturday, March 17th http://www.nyrr.org/races/2007/r0317x00.asp
This will be a really fun event as it's held as a part of the USA Men's 8k Championships. Runners get to race on the official course before the big event and then we'll all get to watch our new PRs look like a jog compared to these national elites!

Club Movie "Knights"
Joe has suggested that we get together as a team to watch a running or other inspirational movie and drink copies amounts of high carb beverages of the malted variety. Stay tuned...

FetchEveryone.com
If you don't already keep a log of your running this is a great online site where you can track your running, racing, and cross-training workouts. Joe, Mark, Kirstin and I keep our running logs there and we encourage all other GKTC members to do so as well. There you can view eachother's workouts and get training tips. You can check my log out here: http://www.fetcheveryone.com/userprofile.php?id=3765

Please forward this letter to anyone who may be interested in the team, or who to those who I don't yet have an e-mail address for.

Until next time, keep putting one foot in front of the other,
John