January 30, 2009

PANERA BREAD BUCKS 5K SERIES NEWS

Our brochures were mailed this week. If you ran a Panera Bread Bucks
5K Series race in the last 2 years you should have received one. Of
course, you can still register online (go green!) or print an
application by visiting www.bucks5kseries.com.

Here's some late breaking news that is not in the brochure: This
year for the first time, the Series will be crowning an overall male
and female age-graded masters champion. As you know, we have been
recognizing the top age-graded masters at the individual races. Now,
if you run at least 4 races you'll qualify for the overall Series
championship. We'll score this competition the same as we score the
overall championship.

Learn more about age-grading by using the pull-down "info center"
menu on our website. This scoring method evens the playing field for
all masters, ages 40 to 100. If you want to determine your own age-
grading for any race, try this link
http://www.heartbreakhill.org/age_graded.htm.

In the past we've encouraged runners to make a charitable gift to the
Series and many responded. However, this feature was only available
on paper applications. You can now contribute online. In addition,
it's possible to designate which specific cause you want to support.

We're less than 2 months from the first race, the YMCA 5K on March
22. Last year's 5K event attracted a record breaking crowd of 610
runners. It's your early test of what the upcoming season will bring
and an opportunity to run on a fast course. In fact, in 2007, Karl
Dusan finished in 14:51, the fastest 5K time of any Series race. So,
don't hesitate, register now at www.bucks5kseries.com.

We welcome your comments and suggestions. You can contact us through
the website.

"Bid me run, and I will strive with things impossible" Shakespeare
(Julius Caesar

Dick Patterson