Cleveland-Caldwell Advancement of the Sport Award

The Cleveland-Caldwell Advancement of the Sport award is given in recognition of those who make significant contributions to the advancement of running. This year’s recipient has a deeply held belief of giving back and making sure all runners feel included in Gulf Winds. Over the past few years, Tracy Godin has become an integral part of this club, most notably serving as the Training Group Coordinator and the VetFest Race Director. It is through these two roles that she has gone above and beyond expectations to advance the running experience in our community.

When Tracy took over as Training Group Coordinator, her first task was to determine what counted as a Gulf Winds training group. Working with the Board of Directors, she led the effort to identify and organize a list of the official training groups that are covered by the club’s insurance. She also created a single Facebook page to consolidate all information for the four seasonal training groups, which include Trailblazers, Turkey Trot, Springtime, and the Beginning Running Group. Tracy works with each individual group coordinator to promote their events and even assists the non-seasonal groups by promoting events and information. These additional groups include the Marathon and Winthrop Express. But her assistance goes beyond simply managing the Facebook page. She helps put out water and signs for a number of these groups and makes sure they all have the resources needed to be successful.

In addition, identifying a way to help runners, she started a new opportunity that occurs between seasonal training groups, called the GWTC Goes Long. In her own words, the GWTC Goes Long training group was started as “a place where people could come and learn how to build up their mileage safely with nutrition provided and routes already picked out for them so all they have to do is show up that day…which in my opinion is the hardest part – showing up.”

Finally, Tracy is the daughter of a military veteran and her father’s service continues to inspire her. Three years ago she volunteered to help the Tallahassee Veterans with the annual VetFest 5K on Veterans Day. In a twist that is all too common among club members, she soon found herself as the race director. Adding her own personal touch to the event, she provides raffle prizes during the awards ceremony that include running accessories. Most importantly, she ensures that runners feel welcomed and successful by providing medals to all finishers, one of the only 5k and 1 mile races in town that does this.

Moving forward to 2017, Tracy’s passion for giving back continues as she begins her first term as a club Board Member, serving as a Director-at-Large. I am sure we will continue to see great things from her. Please join me in congratulating this year’s Cleveland-Caldwell Advancement of the Sport award recipient, Tracy Godin.