We will do the snake story later. One year ago I left NYC for the high country of Montana to develop my teaching skills. I had just received my B.A from Queens College. Our cabin is on the Stillwater River; the river runs from the Absarokee Mountains to the town of Columbus and then joins the Yellowstone River. As much as I enjoyed my classmates at Queens College, and CPTC the high school children in Montana were a blessing to work with. My best professors at Queens were able to teach the real important information, one would find, between the lines. I endeavored to follow their mentoring example. I brought sixty plus years of working and life experience to my task. We live in an area of only a few thousand residents, actually 6 per square mile, with the majority living in the country. Snakes, my Deborah doesn’t like them. Deb grew up in Snake County in North Dakota.

However, my snakes are a fact of life, found in the market place as well as on the road. As a mechanical contractor my senses were alert for snakes in a business suits. I could trust a rattlesnake by their consistent actions, the one in a suit are not so easy.
Last week I was running on a gravel road in the country, the lanes are marked with four strand barbed wire twenty feet to my left and right. I am running south-east with the sun at about 11:00 am; this is my true 21 mile marathon training route. To my right is the Absarokee Mountains sixty miles away and peaking to 13000 ft above sea level. I can tell you that after thousands of miles on this route the rattlers lie on the south side, wheel track, of the road in late afternoon. They lie stretched out across my lane dosing as I approach them .I will stride over them before they coil , my 5 foot stride, will carry me passed the eight foot striking zone. I have never been bit by a snake, only 2 dogs in 40,000 miles. One trip to the hospital in 20,000 miles is OK.
My snakes keep me alert, both on the road and in the market place. I am returning to city running and starting my marketing, fellow club members keep your head up and be aware of danger in the park or marketplace.

Frank William Wilson Jr.

Donations may be made to:

*ACOR, Association of Online Cancer Resources, LUNG-NSCLC : an international online information and communiction resorce for cancer patients and caregivers http://www.acor.org/donate/now/

*Lung Cancer Alliance http://www.lungcanceralliance.org/

*Central Park Conservancy http://www.centralparknyc.org/donate/ (Steve had many happy times in Central Park and met Caryl there.)

*Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

http://mskcc.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=giv_main

Saturday, June 12th the Centaur 10K returns to Rockefeller State Park Preserve. Sign up now for the most scenic run in the New York Metro area. Race propceeds benefit the upkeep and maintenance of the trails at the Rockefeller State Park Preserve.

Use this link to register online: http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1860899

Any questions please email Wrrunner@aol.com

For our newer members who may not know her,  Robin was one of the top masters runners in New York on the track and in road races.  She was a longtime member of the club executive committee and was our de facto social director for years.  A professor at City College, she was also instrumental in our obtaining permission to train at City,  both indoors and out.  City College was our track and middle distance home for many years, and the Nat Holman Gym at City was the site of our fiercely competitive inter-squad indoor championships throughout the 1980s.  The club sends its deepest personal regards and love to Robin.

The run will be followed by a reception hosted by Dave’s wife, club co-founder Lynn Blackstone, at her home – 185 East 85th Street Apt. 34K. Please RSVP Roger Yergeau at Rogeryer@aol.com if you plan to attend the reception.

Details
January 18th, 2010
7pm
Meeting inside Engineer’s Gate, East Central Park Drive at 90th Street
3 laps of the Central Park Reservoir
RSVP for reception only

http://www.yalebulldogs.com/run4africa.html.

Jessica is coordinating the marathon team for the Asha for Education charity . She is looking for coaches for Asha’s next season which starts in May and runs through the end of December 2009. She is looking for a junior and a senior coach, with a fair amount of experience, for beginner runners looking to participate in a great cause.

Below are the general coaching specifications along with a brief description of the charity and local chapter:

1 JUNIOR & 1 SENIOR COACH
Requirements
· Certified, experienced coach required for 60+ runners training to
run a Half/Full marathon
· Date Requirements: May 15th end of year
· Needs to be present on Saturdays for long runs
· She/he should be receptive to emails from first time runners regarding training, injuries, nutrition, etc.
· Should be able to coach runners of all levels, especially beginners (many participants in this program have never run before)

Asha for Education (www.ashanet.org/nycnj/)
Asha for Education is an all-volunteer worldwide non-profit organization that works to provide basic education to underprivileged children in India. Since its inception in 1991, Asha has raised over $4,000,000 and has directly supported 385 projects in 24 states benefiting thousands of children in India.

Asha for Education, NYC-NJ chapter is made up of professionals and graduate students in New York City and New Jersey. The NYC/NJ chapter celebrated its 12th anniversary in 2006. The chapter develops and funds projects in various states of India to educate and support underprivileged children.

If anyone you know is interested, please have them contact me on my mobile at 917.991.9931 or email me directly at either jessica.zall@reval.com or runrgirl007@gmail.com.

Dave Blackstone finishing strong

It is with great sadness that we mark the passing of Dave Blackstone, the Central Park Track Club’s founder and first president, who died Sunday evening after a long and courageous battle with cancer. A memorial service will be held this coming Sunday to which all members of the Central Park Track Club are invited. The details are as follows:

Frank Campbell Funeral Chapel
1076 Madison Avenue at 81st Street
Sunday, January 25th
2:30pm

Dave’s widow, Lynn Blackstone, has expressed her wishes that donations may be made in Dave’s honor to Memorial Sloan Kettering and the Central Park Track Club.

Last year, we had the honor as a club to induct Dave into our Hall of Fame. Frank Handelman introduced Dave and we reprint his words below.

If you would like to share your thoughts or memories about Dave, please direct them to centralparktrackclub@gmail.com.

Sincerely yours,
The Central Park Track Club

***

Frank Handelman’s Speech for Dave Blackstone’s CPTC Hall of Fame Induction

“Our first inductee is the person most responsible for the existence of this team. He is the original founder of the club. After running at the Central Park reservoir for years, he started racing, and in the fall of 1972, decided to turn the park regulars into a team. He came up with that fantastic name, Central Park Track Club.

A Columbia Law School graduate, he had been a varsity diver at NYU and served in the United States Marine Corps before going to law school. In addition to his law practice, he devoted countless hours to the club in its first decade. He was President and Coach of the team from 1972 to 1980. He personally recruited most of the team’s runners in those first years. He was also a highly competitive athlete, running the pre-Five Borough NYC marathon, over the course that covered 4 laps of the park’s tough 6-mile loop, in 2:40:07.

He started the club, literally, in his apartment on East 85th Street, along with his wife Lynn, who served as an officer for many years. She has competed for the team since its inception, and is still active as a masters runner. In fact, Lynn won the Fifth Avenue Mile this year in her age group.

It is perhaps his greatest gift to us all that at the founding meeting, the following language, which he wrote, was adopted as Article 1 of the club’s first constitution:

“The purposes of this club are to foster amateur track and field and road racing in the metropolitan area, and to serve as a competitive racing club for all, regardless of race, religion, national origin or sex.”

As we look around this room, we see his mission of 1972 has been fulfilled.

Our first inductee for 2007 into the Central Park Track Club Hall of Fame, Dave Blackstone, the true father of our team.”

We will miss Dave deeply, and his example will push us to keep running hard for years and years and years to come.