GRTC PRESIDENT’S LETTER 3.1.23
LOOKING BACK ON 2022 FOR GRTC: 2022 is now in the record books. The Freezeroo series awards were given out in Webster on 2/18 and the RROY series awards were given out at our banquet in Spencerport on 2/25. That event was a great and fun evening where both Terry Christo and Mike Nier were inducted into the GRTC hall of fame. We also formally approved a new name for our club.
There will still be some legal/bureaucratic steps over the year, but we will move toward being called the “Greater Rochester Running Club” or GRRC. This name will more accurately describe who we now are, with our mission as a not-for-profit organization being to support running in the Rochester area. And importantly (in the modern world) this name change put us in the right place in search engines for runners to find us.
LOOKING FORWARD TO 2023:
Now, with a new name in the works and starting a new year, GRTC (soon GRRC) has a great slate of running options for everyone for 2023 (SEE INDIVIDUAL SECTIONS BELOW FOR DETAILS). The Rochester Runner of the Year series (RROY) starts off its 13-race series with the Runnin’ of the Green on 3/11/23. Our Ultras series starts with the Mind the Ducks 12-hour ultra on 5/20/23. And this year, to improve your running skills and knowledge, we will have both our 7 week “traditional” running clinic at Nazareth College track starting Wednesday 4/26 and a new 7 week “westside” running clinic starting Monday 8/21/23 on the track at Roberts Wesleyan College in North Chili. We will also have our third annual summer picnic in Durand Eastman Park on 7/29/23. And we will again have a bus to the Utica Boilermaker race on 7/9/23. GRTC truly has a great lineup of running activities for 2023 to fit our club mission of supporting running in the Rochester area.
ROCHESTER RUNNER OF THE YEAR SERIES (RROY): The new 2023 RROY series takes off again with the Running of the Green race on March 11th. Sign up today for a start on this year’s series. https://www.runninofthegreen.comhttps://www.runninofthegreen.com.
GRTC works with individual race directors to promote the RROY series and provides the awards for series winners. GRTC members also get a signup discount for all the RROY races. We therefore encourage all GRTC members to take full advantage of their membership value and participate in as many of these races as possible, to support the individual races, the series and running in our region. As in the past one needs to run only 4 races over the year to be eligible for RROY awards, and 6 races gives you a consistent participant award at our Banquet. As a GRTC member, consider these YOUR races throughout the year.
RROY races for 2023:
3/11/23 – Running of the Green 5-mile
5/21/23 – Lilac 10K
6/9/23 – McMullan Mile
6/17/23 – Stache Dash5K
6/18/23 – June Jaunt 5K
7/16/23 – Jungle Jog 5K
8/27/23 – Black Diamond ½ marathon
9/3/23 – Oak Tree ½ marathon
9/9/23 – Heritage Hero 10K
9/10/23 – The Potato Run 10K
10/21/23 – Scare Brain Cancer Away 5K
11/4/23 – East Avenue Grocery Run 5K
11/23/23 – The Feast Thanksgiving 5-mile
GRTC ULTRA RACE SCHEDULE:
And with the new year, don’t forget to sign up for some of GRTC’s long distance ultra-events. too. The ever popular Mind the Ducks will start us off on 5/20 in Charles E. Sexton Memorial Park (formerly known as North Ponds Park) in Webster. And with additions, this year we have a broad race selection for everyone’s enjoyment, including a 24-hour option at the Candlelight event. With tremendous course support for all, if you’ve never given an ultra a try, this should be your year.
5/20/23 Mind the Ducks 12-hour daytime ultra. Charles E. Sexton Memorial Park (formerly known as North Ponds Park) in Webster 6/10/23 9 hours for 9 lives ultra. Shortsville
7/15/23 Candlelight 12/24hr ultras. Rotary Sunshine Camp in Rush
10/7/23 CanLakeUltras 25K/50K/50mile. Canandaigua Lake
11/23 Bound for the Hounds 6 hour ultra. Shortsville
GRTC SPRING RUNNING CLINIC: And back again this year starting Wednesday April 26th, will be the annual GRTC Spring Running Clinic. This 7-week course on the track at Nazareth college and culminating in the McMullan mile race on 6/9/23 (included in registration) will again be coached by Mike Reif and Carolyn Smith-Hanna, both GRTC Hall of Fame members. Each two hour session starting at 6:00 pm includes a didactic talk about running issues, group warmup exercises, individually tailored workouts for runners of any pace and level, then group cool down. This program emphasizes training approaches for improving running speed/efficiency and teaches how to build speed for competition. GRTC members get a $20 discount. Come join us to “tune up” your running for the 2023 season. https://runsignup.com/Race/NY/Rochester/GreaterRochesterTrackClubSpringClinicsandTrackWorkouts
GRTC SUMMER RUNNING CLINIC: A similar format to the spring track clinic, but with more of an emphasis on running in the heat, this 7-week program will run Mondays 6:00 to 7:30 pm on the track at Roberts Wesleyan College. Coaching will be by Vickey Beaver with speakers and topics to be announced. Each session will have a featured topic, group warmups, workouts, and cool down exercises. It will conclude with a 1-mile race on 10/6/23. Stay tuned for signup to go live in future.
BOILERMAKER BUS TRIP 7/9/23. As in the past, we will again have a bus to the Boilermaker race for participant convenience. Plans are to leave at 3:45 from St John Fisher College and return back by 3:00 PM. Participants do need to sign up for the race themselves. This has been a well-received and fun trip for many years. Organized again by Wilt Alston, registration will go live on RunSignUp in the near future. Stay tuned.
GRTC SUMMER PICNIC 7/29: This third annual GRTC summer picnic is a great time for fun, fellowship and food. It will again take place at the Acorn Shelter of Durand Eastman Park. There will be a fun run in the morning followed by games, fun activities and good food (with options for all dietary needs). Stay tuned for full details and signup.
RIT TRACK AND FITNESS CENTER: A reminder for those who have struggled with outdoor training on these cold and dark days, is that GRTC has arranged for our members to be able to purchase a membership in and access to the RIT fitness center and RIT’s Gordon field house indoor track. Each individual must set up and pay for their own membership, but RIT has an ongoing list of current dues paid GRTC members. This is a great addition to the value of your GRTC membership. RIT membership durations are 3 months ($110), 6 months ($220), 9 months ($330) and 12 months ($396) and must be purchased at the RIT Student Life Center main office, open weekdays from 9:00 AM to 4:00 pm. (Tuesdays and Wednesdays till 6:30 PM). Office address: Hale-Andrews Student Life Center 1218, 113 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester NY 14623 (585-475-2620). Full details about all the facilities, hours available, parking and RIT COVID protocols for use can be found at www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/criw/. You MUST show proof of COVID vaccination when signing up. Masks are optional. Check it out.
2023 GRTC OPTIONS/VALUE: Once again for 2023 make a point to take the time to rediscover the true joy of running (and the running community) in our area. GRTC has lots to offer over the whole year. And take advantage of the multiple GRTC membership discounts we offer. Get out and do all the RROY series races (a $65 discount value for those doing all). Sign up for our ultra races this year (discounts for members). Sign up for our spring and/or summer running clinics ($20 off for members). Take advantage of the boilermaker bus on 7/9/23. And come out on 7/29 for our annual summer picnic. As always, if you want to continue to have opportunities for running in the Rochester region, come join (or renew your membership in) GRTC. We have a place for you. A modest $20 yearly membership goes a long way to keeping our sport vibrant and maintaining running events/opportunities for all. See you out on the road. Join: https://runsignup.com/Club/NY/Rochester/GreaterRochesterTrackClub
Doug Jones (President GRTC)