Welcome to the Stevens Creek Striders website

July 1st, 2008

About us:

7/1:  Bill Jones received this email from Michelle Cline and asked for it to be forwarded to this website:

6/30: Back in May we wrote about the plight of a local Leukemia sufferer, young Nick Glasgow, who was in urgent need of a bone marrow transplant. Possible donors would be of an Asian and Caucasian mix. For an update click here. 

 6/30: 10K benefit on Saturday, July 18th. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team in Training is organizing a 10K benefit on Saturday, July 18th, at 9:00am at Shoreline Park in Mountain View.  For more information please visit www.runonbanktnt.org

6/30: June Board Minutes added. Here.

6/30: Quicksilver Aid Station.  If any members have any photos please send them in. Bill Jones writes:

The Striders did their customary great job of manning the Dam Overlook Aid Station at the Almaden-Quicksilver 50 Mile/50K/25k ultra race on Saturday May 9. Bill Jones and Gene Kiernan volunteered as co-captains this year and when Gene caught a nasty bug Peggy Alfred valiantly jumped in to help out. That was a good thing, since Bill managed to sleep thru his 4:15 alarm and only arrived at the aid station, with all the gear, just in time to set up for the first runner.

The Striders were well-represented in the race- Jean Pommier, Bill Dodson, Christina Brownson (paced later on by Patty Koren) and Charles Stevens ran various distances and we got to cheer them on multiple times as they passed thru our station. The race organizers did a fabulous job and even managed to hump a couple of extra water jugs up to the site to avoid us running out.

The Club Volunteers included Steve Reagan, Tom Kaisersatt(!), Patty Koren, Larry Meyers, Rob Larson, John McKiernan, Randy Ison, Mike Shields, Lina McCain, Mike Florence, Anil Rao, Maria Morales, Patrick, Claire, Liam and Isaac Sexton as well as Bill and Peggy. This was good practice for the Last Chance Aid Station at Western States in late June. 

Jean Pommier was second overall and set an age group record for the 50-mile course- 12 minutes faster than the previous in 6:48:58. Charles Stevens: 9:30:26, Bill Dodson: 11:06:36. In the 50k we had Christina Brownson: 07:27:45.  The volunteers got to enjoy a great barbecue at the finish line after packing up all the gear.   Bill

6/28: Western States 100 results.

Despite hot temperatures, our 3 member entrants succeeded in this weekend's race.  Jean's performance was outstanding.  More details and photos soon.

Jean Pommier,      21st place, 20:56:49

Charles Stevens,   107th place, 26:41:22

Dennis Connor,     209th place, 29:33:41

6/21: Race results added for Quicksilver, Ohlone and Mt Diablo. Here.

6/4: Western States 100

Penny writes: WHAT DID YOU DO MEMORIAL DAY???

The Memorial Day "weekend" is traditionally spent by at least a few Striders on portions of the Western States Trail and Peggy has a story for you about this years event (see below). We wish our Strider members running this year's Western States all the very best. Run strong Striders. Keep a look out for Jean Pommier (if you can get a glimpse as he flies past), Charles Stevens (always a strong WS participant who keeps coming back stronger than ever) and Dennis Connor (on his first attempt at the big one .. go Dennis). We will give them special Strider attention at Last Chance.

Speaking of LAST CHANCE ... thank you to all you wonderful volunteers. We have plenty of volunteers willing to spend lots of their time and energy to help the runners. They do this tirelessly without expectation of anything in return ... but we can guarantee at least a reasonable expectation of a really good time!!

A few notes to volunteers from Captain Lina ..... please read your notes so you don't forget any essentials such as water, bug spray and sunscreen (or else we can assure you you probably will not have such a great time). We have so many willing helpers this year that we really need you to CARPOOL ... at the very least 2 to a car. Please contact Lina if you want to hook up with someone else for a lift up/back. We have more volunteers and more runners than ever before...that means we need more water ... bring along as much as you can, we just can't have too much!

... and now from Peggy about training camp ....

"First you run, then you run some more, then keep running!" This kind of sums up the adventure of the annual "Memorial Day Western States Training Camp" weekend, sponsored by the WS folks for all who wish to run a lot of miles over 1 to 3 days.

Five Striders, Christina B., Lina McC., Charles S, Dennis C. and myself ran one or two of the three days that the weekend offerred for runners. If one ran all three days, the total mileage would be 72 miles of the Western States trail......whew!

Lina, Christina, Dennis and I ran two days (Sat and Sun) and that was plenty! The trail is beautiful, technical and loaded with "ups and downs".......runs through the peaks and canyons of the Sierra Hills above Auburn, CA.

On Saturday, runners loaded up on school buses to be dropped off at Robinson Flat. We ran through about 1 1/2 miles of not-too-deep snow before cresting in elevation to start our first descent of the day, the run length that day 50k. Very beautiful topography surrounded us along the trail.....I ran mostly on my own and was taken back to the memories of having run this section during the race in 2007. It was a peaceful, coming-home sort of feeling as these mountains have been a place of solace and acceptance for me since my childhood experiences of backpacking, rafting, and climbing. I still enjoy these activities today, except now they also include trail running.....how lucky is that! ;-)

We started from Forest Hill school on Sunday morning, no buses needed, and ran down to the American River.....one of it's mighty forks. This run was 20 miles and included beautiful river vistas from high up on the canyon, running on a sandy trail along the water for a stretch, and a lovely cold plunge into the river to rejuvenate tired and sore legs before trekking uphill for the last 2 1/2 miles to the finish where a filling Bar-be-que awaited us.

All this for just 20.00 dollars a day.....such a deal for wonderful runs (complete with aid stations), good companionship, sharing of Western States dreams along the trail, and enjoying good days in the magnificent beauty of the beautiful Sierra hills. This is definitely a return trip!

Run strong,  Peggy

5/21: Bone Marrow Donor request.  We have been asked to publicize the plight of a local Leukemia sufferer who is in urgent need of a transplant. Possible donors would be of an Asian and Caucasian mix. Read more here.

5/14: What's Afoot?  The Club Board has recently decided to publish the newsletters on line.  Initially these will consist of those editions that we already have in electronic format.  However we are now exploring how we can digitize our many years of printed newsletters and add them to this page.  Newsletter page here.

Please look in your files to see if you have any pdf Newsletters from 2002 to date that are not shown below on the Newsletters page. If you have please email the board.

5/12: Race Results updated.  Here.

5/5: Striders Spring Picnic, May 16th.   Peggy writes: "Hi all! Please plan to attend the annual Striders Spring Picnic, being held on May 16th after the normal Striders run in the picnic area adjacent to where we park (by the pretty little creek). Charcoal will be provided for roasting any meats you wish to bring. Please bring a potluck item to share, and bring your own plates, utensils and drinks. Any games you might have to add to the fun would be appreciated.....wiffle ball, table games, Frisbee, etc. This is a nice opportunity to socialize with other club members, relax, and enjoy the pretty surroundings of the lovely park we run in. Hope to see you there!"

4/29: Cupertino Footbridge over I-280 opens.  If you run or bike in the Cupertino area you will pleased to hear that the new footbridge at Mary Avenue over the 280 opened on April 30th at 3pm.  Time lapse sequence of the construction here.

4/28: Tom Kaisersatt's Bench Tribute:

On Saturday May 2nd, San Jose Fit presented a fine bench to Tom Kaisersatt in recognition of all the enthusiasm he has inspired in their many marathon training members over the years.

Typically in each year they train some 400 new marathoners. They invited the Striders to attend the event on the Los Gatos Creek trail close to the Roberts Road overpass. So look out for Tom's bench next time you are running down the trail.

4/27: Big Sur Marathon results. Congratulations to Penny Beeston, Noel Relyea, John McKiernan & Peter Hargreaves. Results here.  Thanks to Rebecca Feng for the photo.

4/27: Quicksilver Aid Station Volunteers for Saturday May 9th. We still need more volunteers to help at the Striders' Aid Station.  Please sign up here.

4/24: Santa Cruz Half Marathon results. Congratulations to Dave Radtke and Randy Ison. Results here.

4/14: Sign up sheet for WESTERN STATES LAST CHANCE AID STATION - June 27th - 28th. Once again we are keeping up the long standing tradition of providing what we believe is the one of (if not the best) aid stations on the famous Western States 100 mile Endurance Race. Striders have been doing the aid station at Last Chance for more than 25 years - a proud record. The aid station is at mile 43 in quite a remote and beautiful section of the trail. We look after, feed and fuel the runners before they head off into the canyons in the middle of the day/race. Lots of volunteers are needed. Volunteers travel to Last Chance on Friday and camp overnight. The aid station is open from 11am until 5pm on Saturday. Then we clear up and proceed to watch the finish at Placer High School, Auburn. Sign up and be part of this historical event. Sign up here.

4/13: World's Coldest Marathon. Reuter's video here.

4/10: Bill Dodson's running secrets.  Webmaster's note: we persuaded Bill to divulge his secrets to his great running results.  Hardly a week goes by with out him taking another age group record!  Here's Bill.

4/8: American River 50 Mile success.  Congratulations to 5 Striders on their fine results:

Lina McCain: 8.55.24
Bill Dodson: 9.54.00  (1st in age group!)
Peggy Alfred: 10.21.19
Pat Koren: 11.30.06
Christina Brownson: 12.22.30

Lina

Bill

Jean

Unfortunately our super quick Jean Pommier had to pull up due to asthma: read more on his blog.  Thanks to Jean for the photos.

3/26: Stevens Creek Reservoir. Good to see the reservoir is almost full. Just 6 inches shy of the spillway.

3/21: Lake Tahoe TNT Fund Raiser here

3/4: Photos of Peggy's 50th Celebratory 50k here.

3/2: New Family member of the Striders! Claire Saxton reports: 

Dear Family and Friends,

We are pleased to announce the arrival of Isaac Ryan Saxton! Isaac joined us on February 26 at 6:05pm. He was 8lbs-6oz and 20 inches long. Claire's labor was extremely smooth and we were barely in the hospital for an hour when Isaac was born. We are home now and the entire family is doing well. Liam seems excited to be a big brother.

Here are a few pictures to tide you over until we have more time to get an announcement together.

Love, Patrick, Claire, Liam & Isaac

1/14: Randy Ison's photos of the cold and wet Christmas Relays at Lake Merced. Here.

1/13: Dennis Connor's story of the Javelin Jundred.  Here.  Peter's note: This article was meant to be included in the latest newsletter but due to my oversight that did not happen.  Many apologies.

12/11: Strider of the Year and other "Big-L" Awards.  Here.

12/13: More photos added.  Story and photos of the Holiday Party on December 6th, 2008. Here.

12/9: OUR QUAD CHAMPIONS

Congratulations to Jean, Bill, Christina and Eric... our Quad Dipsea champions. All four finished the incredibly grueling race. Jean and Bill took out the honors - winning their age groups and Jean was third overall. This gives both of our Steven's Creek Striders 1st place in their divisions in the Pacific Association Ultra Mountain Racing series for the year (Masters for Jean and Veterans for Bill) Christina finished in her usual impressive style and this was Eric's (Tom K's son) first Quad Dipsea!

12/9: Penny Beeston is holding an informal track workout every Tuesday evening at 7pm. This is at the De Anza college track in Cupertino. 

Recent:  Photos and story about the Thanksgiving Relays here.

Peggy Alfred writes: "An Adventure Run With Running Deer and Great Horned Goat"  

Tom Kaisersatt's Flight in a stunning P-51 Fighter.  Hollister Airport, November 15th.  Photos here.

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Cupertino, California