We reached our goal of 2,750 likes on facebook this past week, which means two things. We have another winner in the Nike Social Media Challenge AND we are only about 200 likes away from our last goal of 3,000!

Our winner this time around, who has been the most active is Bob Manfredi who has won an awesome Nike top. Once we reach 3,000 likes we will give away another pair of Nike shoes!

We are continuing to grow on twitter as well and are less than 200 followers away from our next goal of 1,250!

Continue being active on our social media sites because the more active you are the better the chance you have at winning a prize. Keep sharing our page with your friends, family, coworkers, and everyone you know to help us reach our next goal!

It has been quite a winter for local athletes, including those here at home and those competing around the country.

Former FM Star Alex Hatz is now a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin and now is the school record holder for the indoor mile, thanks to a stunning win at the recently held Tyson Invitational. Hatz broke a 2year old record for the indoor mile, crossing the line in 3:58.68.

Although Hatz missed the NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 3:57.90, he positioned himself for an NCAA championships bid with a mark that ranks No. 13 nationally. His time also ranks him No. 3 in the Big Ten on the season.

The performance came in just the second race since for Hatz returning from an injury that sidelined him for nearly all of his freshman season.

He secured the win by finishing at the front of a tight pack. Oklahoma’s George Alex was second in 3:58.76, and just three tenths of a second separated the top five.

Photo by: Jim Commentucci Syracuse Post Standard

Another former FM star Molly Malone, captured 2nd in the 2000 at the Big East Indoor Championships at the Armory in New York City. Malone’s time was 2:48.58

Zavon Watkins reacts to winning the Mile at the US Open games 

At the US Open at Madison Square Garden, Liverpool High’s Zavon Watkins won the mile in 4:19.86 in January and then backed it up with a win at the Millrose Games at the Armory, capturing the mile in 4:13.83. What is amazing about the Penn State bound athlete is that Watkins played football last fall at Liverpool and because of a concussion, couldn’t start training for indoor track until December. Read more about Watkins in this great profile piece that appeared in Running Times.

Front L-R Mark Rybinski, Dave Bowen, Gary Radford and Brian Dodge 
Back L-R Carol Dodge and Phyllis Radford 

Finally, running in memory and honor of their recently fallen team-mate, Brian Dodge, the GVH Men’s Veteran Team led by Gary Radford and Mark Rybinski led their team to win the USATF USA 8K Cross Country Championships (50-59) in St. Louis, Missouri.

Dodge had planned to be a member of that team but unexpectedly died at age 58 just 14 days earlier of the race date.

The team composed of Mark Rybinski, Gary Radford, Tim McMullen, Dave Bowen and Ron Blackmore ran exceedingly well, scored only 23 points and beat second place team, St Louis Track Club by 9 points.

The amazing part of the race was the duel by friends and training partners Radford and Rybinski. Radford returning to great form after an injury last year led the team throughout the race and ran a spectacular time of 29:32.4 for the 8K in wind and 20 degree temperatures.

However, Rybinski, the 2011 National 5K XC Champion (age 55-59) came on strong in the last few meters and ran 29:32.2, a mere .2 seconds ahead of Radford thus finishing 1-2 in their age group.

The relationship of Gary and Mark is legendary and one that has been discussed in fun on our Fleet Feet Message Board. Both are fierce competitors and great friends who have driven each other to great success. Just don’t get in the way of the good natured jabs or when they are running together at Green Lakes.

It has been three years since the creation of Team Believe, best described as a non-profit started by a small group of running fanatics and philanthropists.  Their goal: to encourage running/walking camaraderie with the goal of raising funds that stay in the Central New York Community.

In 2011 over 100 runners participated in the Mountain Goat 10-mile and 3000 Meter Races. On the way to raising over $11,000 for the Crouse Hospital Ronald R. G. Baker Neonatal Intensive Care Center (NICU), they literally left their mark on the race; it is a Team Believe tradition to chalk the Thornden Park Hill from top to bottom.

This year the Team is expanding. To enhance the team concept they are adding coaches and mentors and offering three weekly team workouts. But perhaps the best addition this year evolved from the last year’s youngest team member. 

Team Believe veteran Erin Catanzarite thought it would be good to involve her son Connor. Besides being naturally athletic, Connor had quite a resume as a fundraiser, having previously raised over $700 for St. Baldrick’s and the E-team for Paiges Butterfly Run. For Team Believe he organized “Nickels for the NICU” with his classmates and brought over $100.

With Connor’s success, Erin thought it might be nice to add a children’s component to the program, appropriately titled Kids4Kids?  Thanks to her initiative there will be a junior fundraising branch where the youth participants will be coached and given the choice of participating in either the Kid’s Run or the 3000 Meter Race.

Interested? Team Believe 2012 kicks off with two info meetings in the Fleet Feet Community Room, on February 23 and February 27 at 6:30 PM. For more information

Contact Brendan Jackson @Bjackson@fleetfeetsyracuse.com

In light of February being Heart Healthy Month, this Tuesday, Feb. 21st from 3-7pm, the Onondaga County Health Department will be holding FREE Blood Pressure Screenings at Fleet Feet Sports. No appointment is necessary, just come in for your FREE screening this Tuesday.

We had also changed the date of our heart healthy nutrition clinic to a date in March which will be announced soon.

Risk factors for heart disease include poor diet, lack of physical activity, genetics, smoking, age, gender and more. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines suggest Americans consume no more than 2300mg of sodium per day. This can be quite a challenge as sodium is found in many foods and even medications. Below is a handout that helps you to understand how to reduce the sodium in your diet.

Reducing the Sodium in Your Diet

By Adam Luban

The saying may go that the clothes make the man, but the race t-shirts definitely make the runner.

Race t-shirts allow sponsors to get noticed and runners to notice each other. Runners can wear their shirts to show off races they’ve done. Just like there are all different types of races, there are all different types of shirts from races.

Some races give out shirts just for registering. These shirts are great, and they are unquestionably the bread and butter of a runner’s wardrobe. They show that you have been around the racing scene. If you are lucky you might even get a technical tee instead of plain old cotton.

Typical race t-shirts are cool, but shirts from my high school races are a lot more special to me. At most invitationals, shirts are sold. However, no one really wants to have to buy a shirt. Everyone wants to win a shirt by placing in the top 10. I’m not sure where it started, the tradition is ubiquitous: as the top 10 runners come through the finish chute, a t-shirt is given to each one. Obviously, earning a shirt is much more memorable than just buying one. I have a couple drawers full of race shirts, and I could instantly tell you which ones I won and which ones I bought. I look at the ones I’ve won with pride, while the other ones are more forgettable.

Show me any shirt I’ve earned, and I’ll be able to tell you the entire story of the race, from start to finish. Show me a shirt I’ve bought, and I’ll be lucky to recall anything about the race. I can think of the massive hill I ran up twice to earn one shirt, or the mud I slipped through to earn another shirt.

My favorite running shirt has to be the Section 3 Singlet I got for States this year. No matter how many times it gets washed, I can still see how mud covered it during the race.

Stephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-Standard

Saturday February 18

Free Fleet Feet Snowshoe Race- CANCELLED DUE TO LACK OF SNOW

Sunday February 19

Cold Feet Run, Presented by Mizuno- 8:30 AM Fleet Feet Sports-Various Distances

Most of us are not complaining about the unusually warm and dry winter we are experiencing.  However for some, the lack of snow has prevented us from getting out there to run and hike on snowshoes.

Fleet Feet’s annual snowshoe race at Sunnycrest Park is officially cancelled as we are expecting temperatures in the mid 40’s once again this week.  With the abundance of snowshoes we have on hand at Fleet Feet we are now offering our entire stock of Dion and Crescent Moon snowshoes 50% off, so now is the time to stock up for next year’s snowshoe training program and snowshoe race.

Of course we can’t rule out the possibility of getting bombarded with the normal Syracuse-like winter this March!