President's Column - March 2023

The Springtime races are particularly near and dear to my heart, particularly the 10K which was the only distance run in this race for quite some time. It is a bit poetic that Jackie and I find ourselves directing this race, given the impact it has had on both of our running lives. In the spring of 1976, I was on the verge of graduating from FSU. A year and a half prior, I started FSU and took up residency in Sally Hall. Turns out my roommate was a high school hurdler from upstate New York and encouraged me to begin running with him. Our runs increased in distance over time as I began exploring a sustained exercise program for the first time in my life. After moving off campus a little way, someone tells me there is an upcoming race down by the intramural fields and that with all this running I had been doing, I should do it! While I had been running over a year by this time, I had never attempted or even thought of running a race. In fact, the idea of such an endeavor was intimidating. I considered this for a bit and decided that I would ride my bike down near the start of the race. If it looked like a bunch of FSU track folks or other high-level runners, why, I would just peddle on by. Well, I rode down there, stopped and worked up the courage to do the race. The course was in and around the intramural fields totaling 4 miles, and as I later learned, the very first Springtime race ever held! Shortly after that first race, the event was moved downtown and lengthened to 10k (see history of the race on the Springtime 10K/5K/1M website). Jackie’s approach to running this race for the first time was also born out of a bit of intimidation, but more so due to the hills and distance. After watching me run the Springtime 10K, having fun and competing against my friends for several years, Jackie decided it was time to go from bystander to participant. She read in the Fleet Foot that a Springtime 10K training group would begin prior to the upcoming race. Not knowing anyone who was going to be there, and fearing everyone would be faster or that she might get lost on the winding roads of Myers Park, she decided to park at the playground and walk up to the pool area where everyone was meeting. This would give her the opportunity to turn around and walk back to her car, unnoticed, if the group looked too intimidating. Julie Clark, the leader of the training group, approached her as she was walking up and welcomed her to the group. Julie convinced her that no one was too fast or too slow and that no one would get lost due to the many volunteers on the course. She attended all the training runs and ran the race with a friend she met there! Jackie gives all the credit to GWTC, Julie Clark, and the volunteers for giving her the training tools and opportunity she needed train to run many more 10K races, half-marathons, and even a marathon! It seems as though we were meant to eventually become the race directors of the Springtime races. The training group that facilitated Jackie’s entry into the 10K world and beyond started on February 13 this year – details on the website and FB. We look forward to encouraging new and returning runners to this year’s edition of the Springtime races! Please volunteer if you aren’t running or even if you are; as you can see, volunteers are the backbone of our Club races and are appreciated by us all!