Pony Espresso Express
November 3rd, 2009
Dear PE’s:
This will probably be the LAST newsletter published and emailed directly to our continually growing stable of Ponies. However, DON’T DESPAIR! Assuming I am able to learn what 20 million others have, the Pony Espresso Express will now be found on Facebook under groups: Pony Espresso Running Club. We are going national. The new format may look a little different until I learn to get the most out of the site. You can access the site by clicking on the following link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=170376686846&ref=mf . If you are already a member of Facebook, you need only become a “friend” to interact with the site. If not, you must sign up by going to www.facebook.com and joining. You can also find the Pony Espresso Express on our new website, also a work in progress. Just go to www.ponyespressorunningclub.com. Just make it a “FAVORITE” ON YOUR BROWSER to access it immediately. (If you don’t know how to do that, just collar the 1st 12 year-old you can find and they’ll do it or teach you) J The advantages of the Facebook site will be many: it will be easier to connect and interact with others, get much wider expertise on all matters related to running, training, racing, and express your own thoughts regarding any and all matters related to running. You will be able to access the site at any time, and retrieve archived letters and links. I will no longer need to manage the mailing lists. You can spread the word and have running friends access the site independently. I would like to see this site become a national clearing house for committed runners without respect to their preferred distances or running abilities. You can view and have limited input on the website. The first posting is a mission statement reprinted below:
Pony Espresso Express
Mission Statement
The Pony Espresso Running Club consists of a group of “committed” (and not yet “committed”) runners who are into running for the long run- both figuratively and in reality. This site is intended as a national meeting ground for ponies of all breeds and abilities to exchange information and observations. It has grown out of a local group of San Diego North County runners who prefer to run on horse trails and consume copious amounts of coffee, hence the name. [Over the years, our mailing list for the newsletter has literally spread from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine, and from Naples, Florida to Naples, California. We have members in Washington, Oregon, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Colorado and others]. Our motto is:
“Neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor snow nor heat of day nor dark of night shall keep this pony from the swift or slow completion of its appointed rounds.”*
*Of course, in San Diego we have only to deal with the “heat of day” and “dark of night” (apologies to Herodotus and the U.S. Postal Service and the rest of the nation)
We will have a much larger forum and easier access.) I will encourage others to set up “stables” in different locales for both the Pony Espresso (running) and Tennessee Walkers (walking) divisions. I need your help to make this work!
I will continue to monitor multiple sites and continue to provide links to legitimate experts such as Joanne Dahlkoetter, Danny Dreyer, Ozzie Gontang, as well as respected sites such as Runners World, Marathon Maniacs, Active.com, and others. This will definitely be a “work in progress”.
I have spent the Summer and early Fall flying around the country to various marathons: Seattle, WA; Portland, OR; Missoula, MN; Albuquerque, NM; Long Beach, CA; Burlington VT; Asbury Park, NJ and have met runners from throughout the 50 states who are committed to various personal goals ranging from completing the 50 States & DC, to multiple and back-to-back events, to commemorating sick or fallen friends and family, to fund-raising for innumerable charities. The VAST majority of these individuals are just “regular” people with family, jobs, and all the commitments we all share. But, they have found a way to train, travel, and compete in these events. Where there’s a will, there’s a way! This is a GREAT community of which to be a part!
If you have postings on the new site, be sure to identify the city in which you reside, since it would be quite impractical for someone in San Diego to meet up for a local run with someone from Lawrence, KS, Nashville, TN, Gainesville GA or any of the other sites now represented on our current mailing list (not to mention…expensive and time consuming) J
Happy Trails,
JRB