ORC President's Reception

You are invited to attend the ORC President's Reception on Wednesday, May 7 to recognize the service of our President and Board and celebrate the accomplishments of our runners.  Bring your favorite dish to share; drinks will be provided.

The reception will be held at the home of Mike & Susan Zwer at 3630 E. Grant Street, Orlando (East Grant is off Conway Gardens Rd.)  Time is 6pm to 8:30pm.

Thank You Volunteers!

On behalf of the ORC, I like to give a great big THANK YOU to the volunteers at the Corporate IOA 5K that was held on Thursday, April 24.  Thanks to the Parrotheads of Central Florida for their help in the Citrus Bowl keeping the beer taps flowing.  And special thanks to the Water Stop Volunteers.  The ORC was supposed to provide 50 volunteers for Water Stop #1, and even though we only had around 25 volunteers, you did a great job. 

From the words of the Course Director:    "We all knew that 25 Vols at the WS for 10,000+ entrants would be difficult, but you pulled it off with flying colors.  My lead, Zach Fleming, said you were great to work with and did a great service for all those runners and Walkers.  Like John mentioned, it's amazing how quickly the clean-up went, even with the huge task. Just goes to show you, when everyone chips in, how much you can accomplish."  

In exchange for our efforts, the ORC Scholarship fund will receive a portion of the proceeds as a beneficiary of the race.   

ORC Race Into Summer 5K

Online registration is now open for the ORC Race into Summer 5K to be held June 14 at Jay Blanchard Park in Orlando.  To register online, click here.  To register by mail, click here. 

The 5K will start at 7:30am.  A kids fun run will follow at 8:30am.  Awards will be given to the top three male and female overall finishers, and three deep in each age group. 

Join us for a post-race party at Scruffy Murphy's in College Park (2625 Edgewater Drive) from 5-8pm.  Wear your race shirt or bring your race number for half-price Heineken as well as other beer and food specials.

New Forum - Runners Lounge

The Orlando Runners Club has launched a new forum using Runners Lounge.  Click here to chat with Club members, find out about local events, and seek answers to your running questions.

Run at Mt. Fuji

The Urayasu Runners Club is preparing their team for the annual 24 hour Mt. Fuji Relay Race.  If you would be interested in traveling to Japan to participate in this unique event, contact Dave Virtus.  The race dates are July 19 & 20.  To get an idea of what this race is like, visit www.24hrun.jp.

Orlando In the News

Orlando and the Orlando Runners Club were featured in the February issue of Runners World.  Check out the article here.

ORC member Jack Gallagher was recently featured in an Orlando Sentinel article on the Seasons 52 Park Avenue 5K.  Jack keeps our Sunday morning group running!

ORC Scholarship Program

Applications are available for the 2008 ORC Charles M. Rowson Memorial Scholarship.  If you or someone you know is a graduating high school track athlete that plans to continue running competitively in college, this could be an opportunity for up to $1,000 in scholarship money.  To apply, click here.  Deadline for applications is June 1, 2008. 

ORC Track Shack Group Runs

ORC Track Shack Group Runs are held on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month.  The first Tuesday run starts from O'Boys BBQ in Winter Park at 7pm.  The 3rd Tuesday run will rotate to different venues around Orlando. 

Volunteers are needed to host third Tuesday runs throughout Orlando.  If you'd like to help coordinate a Tuesday run in your area, please contact Michele by email.  Watch the Upcoming Events section or the Calendar for details each month.

Japanese Runners Visit Orlando

The ORC is happy to welcome home our guest runners, Tom Ward, Michele Brackett, Karl Barrus and Stacey Bartos, from a very fun, fulfulling and FRIGID trip to Japan.   

Eric Bartos was able to travel with his wife Stacey, and shares these thoughts on their experience.

Click here to see pictures contributed by Julia Daniels of the Urayasu visit in December.  If you other pictures from the weekend to share, please contact the webmaster.

ORC Apparel Now Available

The ORC is happy to announce that we now have ORC shirts available for sale to our members.  Shirts are available in men's and women's cuts in sizes ranging from small to XL.  All shirts are $15 and will be delivered upon receipt of your order.  Shirts are made from a technical fabric from Sports Science^TM and have the ORC logo fusion printed on the front.  For more details, click here.

Sunday Morning Long Runs

The Sunday morning runs continue to grow and welcome visitors from Orlando as well as far away places.  We've even had guests from Canada and the U.K. join us recently.  If you are looking for company on a long run, join us at 7am on Park Avenue at Welbourne.  Distances and paces vary, but range from 5 to 18 miles.  For more information, please contact Jack Gallagher.

"I believe people run marathons every day of their lives in one way or another, and we need to remember to give ourselves the finishers' medals we deserve."

--Zoe Koplowitz, author and marathon competitor  

Upcoming Races

• Habitat for Humanity 5K - May 10

• ORC Race into Summer 5K - June 14

more ...

To join the ORC, simply complete and mail in your Membership Application or click here to register online. 

Upcoming ORC Events

• April 24 - ORC Volunteers at IOA Corporate 5K

• May 6 - Group Run  - Join us the 1st Tuesday of each month for a group fun run (course map).  Meet at 7:00 pm at O'Boys BBQ, 565 W. Fairbanks Ave in Winter Park. (directions)

• May 7 - ORC President's Reception, home of Mike and Susan Zwer, 3630 E. Grant Street, Orlando, 6 pm - 8:30 pm.

• May 8 - ORC Board Meeting, Chamberlin's in Winter Park, 7pm

Suggestions/Events?  If you have suggestions for the website or events you would like included, please email the webmaster.

Have news to share?  Check out the ORC Footnotes page for interesting information about the Club and its members.  If you have news to share, please email the webmaster.

Going somewhere?  If you are planning to run in an out of town race - let us know!  We've added a new page (here) for members to post the out of town races they will be participating in.  If you'd like to find out places to get a great pre-race pasta dinner, course info, or travel with other members of the Club, this is the place to start.  Email the webmaster with the race name, location, who will be attending and the date.

"Runners' Corner"  If you are an ORC member, send a note to the e-Letter editor to post or find a neighborhood run.  We'll publish your scheduled run in the next newsletter, or post a notice you are looking for a running partner.  Be sure to include the day/time of your run, location, distance and a way to contact you.  Regular neighborhood runs will also be posted on the Training Partners page of the website.

Marathon Survival Guide - Courtesy of Dan Arbuckle, find out how to prepare for that event you've trained so hard for.  This is a fun read with a lot of wisdom.

Donations

The Orlando Runners Club is a non-profit corporation under the laws of Florida.  To make a tax deductible contribution, please click here.

Road Runners Club of America

The Road Runners Club of America is the national association of running clubs, running events, and runners dedicated to promoting long distance running as a competitive sport and as healthful exercise.  RRCA's mission is to represent and promote the common interest of its member clubs, events, and individual runners through education, leadership, programs and other services.  The Orlando Runners Club is a member club of the RRCA.  For more info, click here.