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10k-uestions with Paula Masiulewicz
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Paula Finishing Chicago Marathon
Paula Masiulewicz is the race director for the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Scottsdale's second annual Power of Potential 5K and Mile Fun Run. Although she has been a gym rat and fitness instructor for years, she didn't take up running until 2004 when a few of her students dared her to run the inaugural PF Chang's Half Marathon. Since then she has been hooked, running 2 -3 distance races per year.
She spends much of her free time volunteering, and has been involved with the BGCS since 1996, becoming a Board Member in 2004. When not volunteering with BGCS, she is a marketing consultant specializing in small business strategic solutions, custom marketing tactics and special events. She lives in Scottsdale with her adopted greyhound.
1. So you decided to host a race to support the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Scottsdale last year, did you wake up one morning with the idea of how you could make your life more hectic? What was the biggest surprise in planning a race? Actually another Board member had the idea and brought it to us and we pulled the event together in about eight weeks. The biggest surprise was actually a nice one - we had many of our runners register on race day, which really brought up our event numbers.
2. Can you share with us what the basic steps are in planning a K?
- Figure out your target runner population
- Pick the date and location
- Solicit sponsors
- Determine course, timing method, awards, volunteers needed, pre and post race activities
- Promote, promote, promote to runners
- Carefully plan your setup and execution prior to race day so that the morning goes smoothly
3. Has the planning been easier in the second year? Absolutely - we are way ahead of last year in planning and race set-up.
4. Do you have the honor of starting the race? We are giving that duty to the same volunteer who did it last year - he did a great job for us so we asked him to re-up.
5. Do you get to run the race or are you stuck making sure everything goes smoothly? I wouldn't say stuck, but I will be overseeing race day operations and cheering the runners on.
6. I have to ask, as I have always wondered, you don't use chips but rely on bibs, how do you figure out someone's actual time? Scottsdale Running Company is helping us out with that using a timing clicker and then matching up each time with the bib stubs that we will be concurrently pulling.
7. So I know you are a runner yourself, how much do you run a week? What is your peak when you are training for a marathon? Regular running, 10 - 20 miles depending on what other cross training I am doing. Peak for a marathon I usually three weeks out from a race and will be 40 - 50 miles.
8 What is your favorite race, other than yours of course? The Chicago Marathon - I have run it twice so far. It is near and dear to me because Chicago is my hometown, and the amount of spectator support along the entire course is amazing. Oh, and the race starts at 8:30, so no waking up at 4:00 AM to start getting ready for the race.
9. What is your marathon PR? Let's just say the Kenyans have nothing to worry about. My biggest accomplishment to date, though, was running one of the PF Chang's halfs with a friend who had gastric bypass and lost over 100 pounds and committed to a fitness lifestyle. He was ready to run the race, and then came down with the flu the week before, but was determined to run. So we did and I coached, pleaded, entertained, cajoled, amused and herded him to the finish. I was very proud of him.
10. What would your ultimate running accomplishment be? I want to do a race-cation or two in Europe. The Dublin and Paris marathons are calling to me.
Lastly, if someone wants to get involved in the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Scottsdale or wants to help volunteer for The Power of Potential 5K, what should they do?
For information about the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale please visit www.bgcs.org or call 480-860-5520. From attending special events to donating to our Thrift Shop to volunteering with kids, there are many ways to support this organization which serves more than 16,000 youth in the Northeast Valley.
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