Congrats to Mac's Pac Alumni Finishers

Congrats to all of Mac's Pac Alumni finishers at the Chicago Marathon 10-10-10.

All of our club starters finished the race in some not so nice weather conditions. Way to gut it out!

• Ann Coles - 3:21:03
• Laura Pearson Sanders - 3:54:16
• Julie Snow - 4:17:49
• Terri Costello McHugh - 4:37:21
• Lisa Obermaier Creger 4:51:06
• Judi Grein O'Connell - 5:23:17
• Donna Obermaier Wilkins - 6:08:50
• Laura Smith Newman - 6:12:04

Chicago Marathon

Good luck to all Mac's Mac Alumni club members running this Sunday at the Chicago Marathon! I will be a course marshal at the 3k mark and when release can go to catch most of you at the half, 16 mile and finish line. Smile big when you cross the line as Mac will be watching the finish line.

PAMA!!

Club Members running:

• Ann Coles
• Donna Obermaier Wilkins
• Lisa Obermaier Creger
• Julie Snow
• Terri Costello McHugh
• Laura Pearson Sanders
• Judi Grein O'Connell
• Laura Smith Newman

Mac's Pac Alumni Club Communications

Hey everyone!
A new yahoo groups has been created for our club and the great thing about this is that in order to send out communications to everyone in the group all you have to do is send email to macsrunners@yahoogroups.com BUT you have to join first. Invites have been send to everyone on the contact list and by the end of this week (10/10/10) mass emails will only reach those who have joined the group.

Why a yahoo group? The original email contact I had set up doesn't like the mass emailings being sent out and would periodically freeze me out of sending mails. Eventually yahoo would have yanked the account. A yahoo group is what yahoo requires groups to use. Macsrunners@yahoo.com still exists and is still the contact point for new members and can be used if you want to just specifically ask me a question. I check it ALL THE TIME.

Calling all members of Mac's Pac

Okay ladies, this is Mac's last year of coaching! When Mac retires he will have been Schaumburg's Cross Country and Distance Track coach for 30+ years...wow.

Let's put our heads together and see what we can do to make this year extra special for Mac. I have a few ideas but with all the runners that have gone through the program I'm sure there will be some better ideas out there.

But first we need to start searching for as many people as we can. Direct everyone to this blog and/or have them email me at MacsRunners@yahoo.com. I was only at Schaumburg for 4 years like the rest of you so there are definitely people out there I have no idea about. I need names (if married a maiden name also), contact info (email is best), and year you graduated. As of 9/25/2010 I have 40 contacts and we really need to ramp that up!

2010 Cross Country Schedule:

I want to encourage everyone to attend meets if you have time. Especially invitationals. Get a group of old teammates together and drop in and say hi to Mac and cheer on the girls. We have a really great team this year. Here are the meets that are left:

9/18 Peoria Notre Dame Invitational - Detweiller Park (same place state meet is held)

9/22 SHS vs Hoffman Estates - at home (Hoover Elementary School). Mac's nephew is now the coach there.

9/25 Bartlett Invitational

9/30 SHS vs Barrington/Fremd - at home

10/9 Sterling Invite

10/16 MSL Conference @ Busse Woods - FS Girls 9:30am, Varsity Girls 10:30am, JV Girls 11:30am

10/23 IHSA Regionals also at Busse Woods - 10:00am

10/30 IHSA Sectionals - SHS hosts this at, you guessed it, Busse Woods - 10:30am

11/6 IHSA State Meet - Detweiller Park Peoria!

First event planned - October 30, 2010:
Volunteer and cheer for our girls at the Sectional Cross Country Meet on October 30th at Busse Woods. Schaumburg is the host school and Mac always needs workers for the course and finish line. The girls run at 10:30am and the boys at 11am. Parking is atrocious so plan to arrive early. The meet takes place at the far west side of the Busse Woods off of Higgins Road (south side of Higgins) within sight of I290/IL 53. After the meet is over lets all gather for pictures and a little video that I need for a short movie I'm planning on making for Mac. Email Janeth at MacsRunners@yahoo.com if you are coming to the race so that we can give Mac the number of volunteers that will be showing up. If you can only work part of the time that's perfectly fine, let us know, or if you choose you can just come to cheer on the girls and say hi to Mac, its all good. I should be there but I will be on crutches so I won't be doing much in the way of volunteer work. If you need more specific directions to Busse please email Janeth at macsrunners@yahoo.com

November 3, 2010 6:00pm - 9:00pm - Fall Sports Awards Night:

Current member of Mac's Pac, Karen (senior), has invited all alumni to attend the fall sports awards night at Schaumburg High School main gym. She has created a facebook page so please check it out. Search on Mac's Last Pack to find invite. If you are on my FB network I have already forwarded the invite to you. She would like us to wear past CC shirts if we still have them...if they still fit I say to myself! haha. Unfortunately awards night is the Wednesday right before they leave for State so we won't be able to celebrate the very very high place they will finish but we can do that on Saturday in Peoria at the State Meet!

Future plans:

• Attend the State Cross Country Meet in Peoria the week after sectionals.
• Design and make Tshirts for all interested Mac's Pac alumni.
• April 16, 2011. Volunteer and cheer for our girls at the Saxon Invite Track Meet (now called the Mike Rebeck Invitational) and after the meet is over run a lap with Mac....something he said he really would like to do! It would be awesome if we had those tshirts on for this run.
• Have an end of the school year Alumni Reunion/Retirement party

Request:
Photos please. Lots of them! And if you have your year book a scan of the team photo and the year it was from. Imagine if I could get every single team photo ....wow! Send to MacsRunners@yahoo.com. I'm working on a video for Mac for the end of the year party.

If you would like to be part of the contact list we are putting together please leave your name, contact info (email is best, or phone number), and year of graduation to MacsRunners@yahoo.com

Also if you have a certain expertise in something (like tshirt design) or special contacts (like a big venue we can host the end of year party at for cheap) please please let us know.

Also send us any ideas you have in the comments or to MacsRunners@yahoo.com. If it is something really involved I can call or email you back and we can get the ball rolling on whatever you have in mind and post that here as well.

Thanks everyone and please spread the word as far as you can. We have over 3o+ years to cover!

American Grands!

Kyla and I will be participating in American Grands this coming January and I'm so excited! This is a grand piano event and it's grand in every sense of the word! You sign up for your level of playing, you get your music, practice, then come together for rehearsals. Each piece is performed on 12 grand pianos with two or more people per piano. There is a conductor leading. It's like an orchestra of pianos! This is going to be a blast! I will be performing with my teacher.

Text and photo below taken from http://www.cordogans.com/community.htm

Since 1994, Cordogan's has donated the use of 12 grand pianos for an annual
fundraising concert called American Grands, in which over
300 piano students of all ages -- and from all over Chicagoland -- get to
perform alongside their peers and teachers. This concert is always completely
sold out and helps benefit Elgin Community College's Visual & Performing
Arts Center.

If you haven't experienced the power of music lately, thirty seconds of
sitting in this audience will remind you. Seeing children as young as 7 years
old wearing tuxedos or sequined gowns while gaining the unique stage experience
at the hands of over 1000 concertgoers is a most memorable site!

Over 300 performers sharing twelve grand pianos is the essence of the
Cordogan's sponsored "American Grands" concert annually held at Elgin Community College.

Arrangements for Nina Ohst

It's hard to make sure everyone gets notified of the arrangements so I'll post them here and hope they get passed along.

I know it's hard during the week to attend such things so please don't consider this an obligation of any sort. If you can make it that would be wonderful, if not we already know that our friends are thinking of us and supporting us.

Visitation:

Wednesday from 4pm - 8pm

Hultgren Funeral Home

304 N. Main Street

Wheaton, IL 60187

630-983-7712

Funeral:

Thursday 11am

Peace Lutheran Church

21W500 Butterfield Road

Lombard, IL 60148

630-627-1101

A Tearful Goodbye

Tonight a little before 9pm my mother in law Nina passed away. She was battling leukemia but she actually died of pneumonia that she contracted after her 2nd round of chemo. I am honored to have been at her side, along with her children and husband, at the very end. She has been a blessing in my life and I will miss her very much as will the entire family.

Below is the prayer Sister Ann prayed over Nina early today and this prayer now is my very favorite and indicative of the way Nina lived.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
when there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.