Deb, Laura, and I had a good time in Canton last weekend for the Canton Hall of Fame races. The rain held off until Deb and I crossed the finish line of the 10K. Laura was at about mile 10 of the half marathon when it hit. Needless to say, she got soaked!

The race was well organized and we liked that we could walk from our hotel to the start and finish.

This 10th anniversary of the race was the last for this exact race weekend (full, half, 10K). For 2024 they are doing a series of races that span about 6 months and include a half marathon in the fall.

​It was so fun to travel again!

​(Johnny Unitas is much younger than I would have expected!)

On October 23 we celebrated the recent retirement of several Buckeye Striders!

Special thanks to Cheryl and Jim for hosting us again! The food was amazing! The coffee was good, too. :-) And Elaine brought her famous carrot cake
​

At the After Party: Cheryl, Cindi, Sharon and Jim.

We had the choice of a 5K or 9.11K. From left to right: Deb, Eliane, Linda, Cheryl, Jim, Cindi, and Nancy.

We see Eddie everywhere!

The new course was great! From Left to right: Cindi, Jim, Cheryl, Laura, Elaine, Sharon, and Steve.

The Striders are Winners! Our age group award winners: Laura was first, Sharon was second, and Elaine took third. Jim was first in his age group. Congratulations!

The Buckeye Striders are back to our regular Saturday morning walking schedule! The awesome thing is we are stronger than ever. Not only do we have more members showing up each week, but we have recently added new members.

Be sure to check out the Walk Schedule tab to see where we will be this week!

From top left clockwise: Our first walk at Audubon Park following the pandemic, breakfast at Panera, Sharon Woods and Sharon Woods.

Jack's tree has been planted and the boulder placed. The mulch was not yet spread, but Deb reported that Jack's family was given the opportunity to do that.

His tree is in an awesome location in Olentangy Parklands (new name) off of Wilson Bridge Road! It is fairly close to the start of the trail near the tennis courts. We will be able to see it and say hi to Jack anytime we walk at this park. I hope that the many local runners and walkers who knew Jack will enjoy remembering him whenever they go by.

Once we feel comfortable getting together again, let's schedule our group walk here and have a "picnic" breakfast with Jack. Maybe we can toast him with green tea and grapefruit juice.

A special thanks goes to Deb for doing all of the work planning and arranging this fantastic tribute to Jack. We could not have found a more fitting place or more appropriate tree.

This memorial is possible because of generous donations made to the Buckeye Striders in Jack's name. The remaining donated funds were used to set up a scholarship for Ohio Senior Olympics racewalkers.

With the COVID-19 pandemic canceling in person races, the Buckeye Striders couldn't sit still.  We have been doing virtual races - Zoom into Spring (1 mile, 5k, and 10k), the Bigfoot Social Distancing races to benefit food banks, the ChooChoo races.  Aside from virtual races, many of us are going out for walks since walking is NOT cancelled.  

With races being canceled, we had a large group of Striders for our weekly group walk at Whetstone today.  There are no plans to cancel our group walks.  We agree it's important to get outside and maintain our fitness. Anyone with concerns or who is ill is asked to use his or her best judgement. 

The Buckeye Striders continued the tradition of doing a New Year's Day race -- First on the First!

A special treat was seeing Jack Shuter's family donning their own Buckeye Strider shirts. We think about Jack often,but especially today. The last race Jack completed was the 2019 First on the First.

Due to construction at the Westerville Community Center, this year's race started at Otterbein University and most of the course was new. We were luck it turned out to be a relatively mild, sunny day.

The Buckeye Striders are staying busy during the holidays. We had walkers in several races during the Thanksgiving long weekend. On Thursday 12/5, a festive group gathered for our Christmas Party and White Elephant Gift Exchange. This past weekend, we had Laura & Sharon at the Hot Chocolate/Eggnog walk while Cheryl & Jim were at the Christmas Story race in Cleveland.  There were 4 of us who enjoyed a brisk walk on Saturday 12/7 at Whetstone Park! 

Members of the Buckeye Striders participated in 3 different races last Saturday:  The Great Pumpkin 5K, The Hot Cider Hustle 5K, and the Run United Quarter Marathon.  Sharon A carried a pumpkin in her 5K and earned a "Tough Pumpkin" medal.