First off, I will be out of the country for the next 3 weeks. In my
absence, David Rothenburger and Mike Robbert will be managing the
group and sending out messages. If you have any questions, contact
them at DenverTrailRunners-owner@yahoogroups.com. Just about all of
the info you might need, including maps and directions, can be found
at dtr.runuphillracing.com

Daylight Savings Time begins on April 3. With the extra daylight, the 6th season
goes into full swing on Thursday, April 7. It's time to start thinking about how
we can improve the group.

I'd like to find ways to get more and newer people out to the runs. There are
~900 people on the group now, yet we only get 30-40 on our largest weeks. I've
done a lot of work to create detailed maps and route descriptions. Last year, we
added regrouping points on the runs. We've had cooperative baby sitting in the
past, but haven't had enough interest the past two years.

If you are concerned that you might not be fast enought to run with
us, please don't be. We really do have a wide range of abilities. One
of our regulars, Dave, is usually the slowest on the trails, and often
last, or near last place at races. Yet, he runs with us almost every
week, has a great time, and a great attitude. He has gone on to
complete some of the bigger mountain races, including Imogene Pass.

If there's something else we can do to be more welcoming to you, let
us know. We especially want to hear from those of you who don't come
to the runs.

Some other ideas I've heard about:
+ A second evening run; one more "social" and the other a hard, tempo workout.
+ Leaders for the slow, medium, fast groups to guide newer runners.
+ A midday run for those who don't have traditional 8-5 jobs.

These require others to volunteer to lead the runs/groups. That's easy
to do. You don't have to be the fastest runner to lead. You just have
to let me know the details (so I can put it in the messages), then
greet people at the start and explain the run. I want to thank those
who have done this in the past, including Leigh (and Ray) for the
current Tue morning run, Joe P for leading the morning runs in the
past, and Scott (and others) for leading the early group on Thursdays.

Send your comments and ideas to
DenverTrailRunners-owner@yahoogroups.com. I'll read and respond to
them after March 27. Mike and David may read your comments in the interim.

We really do want to hear from you. You can't offend us (please avoid
personal attacks). The only way to get better is to get honest feedback.

One more thing: Those of you with memeberships set to Special Notices
or Daily Digest, please change your delivery option. We rarely send
special notices (this is and exception) or more than one message a
day. Only a handful of people are allowed to post (this is not a
discussion group), do you won't get overloaded with messages. Delivery
of daily digests is delayed, so you may not get an important message
until it's too late. The maps are now on my web site, so I am no
longer attaching large files to the messages. If you want to read the
weekly messages, please change to Individual emails. If you don't want
to get the messages and just want to read them online
(http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/DenverTrailRunners), set your
membership to No email.

Thanks, and see you on the trails.