Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown
Saturday, May 26, 2012 /
Description
Registration for the 2012 Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown is now under way. Special pricing of $66 through New Year’s Eve, with additional pricing categories by April 1 and May 25.
Remember, to enter the Triple Crown, you must register with one easy form. All who register for the Triple Crown will receive a Run Tucson technical shirt, while those who complete any distance offered in the three events will receive a special prize.
Three events celebrating the spirit of Gabe Zimmerman and the best of Tucson:
June 2, 2012 TMC Meet Me Downtown 5k Night Run/Walk
September 2, 2012 MC Saguaro National Park Labor Day 8-Miler & 5k
October 21, 2012 TMC Get Moving Tucson Half-Marathon featuring A-Mountain, 5k, and Cox Charities 1-mile
We are grateful to Ross Zimmerman and Julia Strange at Tucson Medical Center for developing the concept of the Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown – and we’re thankful to the Arizona Daily Star and Caliente for helping implement it. Gabe’s whole family has been devoted to fitness, running, and the Arizona outdoors – we are honored to be able to celebrate the spirit of Gabe and highlight the possibilities for Tucson through the Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown.
As last year, $10 from each Triple Crown entry will be donated to Gabe’s favorite non-profit, Child and Family Resources. Additional Tucson-based organizations will receive a portion of the proceeds from the individual events.
To donate directly to Child and Family Resources, click here. To donate directly to the Gabe Zimmerman Memorial Fund established by Child and Family Resources, click here to go to their PayPal site.
A Word From Ross Zimmerman
I hope everyone enjoyed the GMT Half Marathon and 5K on Sunday Oct. 9th. Kelly O’Brien, Gabe Zimmerman’s fiancee, and I ran the half marathon together. We liked the course a lot and decided Gabe would have liked it, too. The course passed several places that held memories of Gabe for both of us. That added to the day. Our family and friends had very good experiences as well. The run and the day were a fitting celebration of the life of Gabe Zimmerman and the others dear to us we’ve lost this year. This was a proactive, positive way to promote personal and societal physical and mental health. Gabe the social worker would have enthusiastically approved. Randy Accetta, Julia Strange, and the myriad of folks who helped make this event and the previous two events in the Gabe Z Triple Crown successes have my appreciation and thanks. We hope this series will continue.
One of the things I’ve learned since Gabe’s passing is how many other people I know and have met who have been touched by the loss of loved ones before their times. Unfortunately, far too many suffer or perish due to the diseases of overweight, inactivity, and substance abuse, not violence or accident. There are some things we can do to reduce the risks of violence or accident. Much more can be accomplished, by taking care of your loved ones and yourself with a positive, active, healthy life. That gives you and them better lives and better relationships. On our way home, Kelly reminded me of a bike ride she, Gabe, and I did together. Up a steep hill, he raced me to the point of stomach upset (and beyond…), all in good fun. Gabe and I had many, many active adventures together. I will treasure those until the end of my life, and that’s a comfort. Go have adventures with your loved ones as well.
As we all know, running shows us the power within ourselves. If we can get around the Saguaro loop, the ups and downs of daily life are certainly manageable. If we can climb A-Mountain, we can rise to our other challenges. Our goal is to motivate the community to aspire to individual and collective greatness – to work alone and work with others towards those goals we find valuable. To celebrate living, community, and good will. To live with love, to live with passion to chase dreams.
If you have any questions about the Triple Crown, please contact event organizer Randy Accetta at 991-0733 or at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Date and Time
Race Distances and Courses
There are three different events. Each event has a 3.1 mile option—you can run or walk. Strollers and children are welcome in all the 5k’s.
You can also enjoy the challenge of the Saguaro East 8-mile loop amongst the beautiful hills of the Rincon Mountains, then test yourself and do the 13.1 mile Get Moving Tucson Half-Marathon featuring A-Mountain.
Run the city and run the desert – or walk and have a great time!
Location
TMC Meet Me Downtown is staged in the heart of Downtown Tucson, beginning and ending at La Placita Village at Church and Broadway.
TMC Saguaro National Park Labor Day 8-miler and 5k is held in the beautiful Saguaro National Park East, in the base of the Rincon Mountains.
TMC Get Moving Tucson Half-Marathon, 5k and 1-miler is held in Downtown Tucson, too—with routes that include A-Mountain, the Santa Cruz Riverpath, and the UA-area.
Race Fees
$66 through December 31, 2011, $75 through April 1, 2012 and $99 until May 25. Everyone who registers for the Triple Crown receives a Run Tucson technical shirt; everyone who completes the Triple Crown will receive a special award, as yet determined. To be eligible for the 2012 Triple Crown awards, you must register before May 25th.
Registration
- Print Registration Form and mail it in. Registration by mail must be postmarked by Friday, May 25, 2012.
- Register online with a credit card at active.com.
- Your triple crown entry registers you for each race. Please see the SAR website for packet pick-up information on each of the three races.
Why the Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown?
By Ross Zimmerman
Gabriel Zimmerman was the Outreach Director for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Gabe lost his life rushing to help during the horrible shooting of January 8th. Both Gabe and Gabrielle have been strong supporters of health and physical fitness in our great state. We invite you to celebrate Gabe’s love of running and fitness.
Running was in Gabe’s blood. His mother, Emily Nottingham, was a founding member of the Tucson Sun Chaser’s women’s running club and is currently President of the Arizona Trail Association. Gabe’s stepmother, Pam Golden, has held the Master’s women’s course record for the Saguaro National Park 8-mile loop, one of the runs in the Triple Crown. And I am a passionate trail runner and ultramarathoner who has co-administered the Tucson Trail Run Series for 17 years.
But Gabe’s love of running didn’t stop with us: his fiancée, Kelly O’Brien, is a marathon runner who paced Gabe in his first marathon, the 2010 San Diego Rock and Roll. Gabe was also devoted to overall health and fitness: Gabe’s UHS/Rincon High School soccer teams won two state titles, Gabe twice ran the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim, he completed the El Tour de Tucson, and has ridden with me and his brother, Ben, the famous Slick Rock Bike Trail and many other routes in Moab and Tucson.
Gabe lived for several years in downtown Tucson. He ran the streets. He ran A-Mountain and Tumamoc Hill. The downtown 5K and Half Marathon will retrace his steps. His mother, stepmother, and I have all competed in Saguaro Loop.
Our family and Kelly will be running or walking in his honor in this year’s Triple Crown. Involved in many social service organizations, Gabriel was on the board of Child and Family Resources, a Tucson-based non-profit that provides strategic help to parents, children, and families all across Arizona. A portion of your entry fee goes to support CFR.
We invite you to donate in his memory as well.
Awards
All registrants for the Triple Crown will receive a RUN TUCSON technical t-shirt. Everyone who finishes all three events will receive a special prize or medallion, still to be determined.
Beneficiaries
Child and Family Resources is the primary beneficiary of the Triple Crown, while each race has a number of local beneficiaries as well, including the following:
Children’s Museum of Tucson
Greater Tucson Leadership
Cinema La Placita
Fox Theatre
Tucson Meet Yourself
Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection
Watershed Management
Educational Enrichment Foundation
Local high school track and cross country programs: Rincon High School, Sahuaro High School, St. Augustine, and more
Southern Arizona Roadrunners and the Children’s Fitness Fund
Community Partners
Thanks to the Arizona Daily Star and Caliente for coming up with the idea of the Triple Crown. Thanks to Tucson Medical Center for bringing the idea of the Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown.
Race Weather
Results
Contact
- Contact the Southern Arizona Roadrunners Hotline at (520) 326-9383 for more information.
- Race Director Randy Accetta: Call 520-991-0733 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
