GRTC President’s Letter 5.1.21
On January 1st 2021 we all celebrated, and rang in a New Year. Now on May 1st we are ringing in a New Normal. COVID continues but we are making strides as a community to open activities with appropriate precautions. Getting back to “how things were” may yet take time, but we are moving ahead step by step to get there safely. With that in mind, GRTC has the following activities planned for everyone to celebrate the spring.
For May don’t forget to sign-up for our in person annual Spring Running Clinic with starts in less than 2 weeks! As with last fall’s clinic, it will be at Center Park in Fairport for 7 consecutive Wednesday nights, 5/12/21 to 6/23/21 from 5:45 to 8:00 PM. Coaching will be under GRTC Hall of Fame members Mike Reif and Carolyn Smith-Hanna. We will though have some new topics and speakers this year so plan on some new experiences if you have done the clinic before. Cost has been maintained at an affordable $45 for the series for GRTC members. Non-members participate at $65 which includes a year’s GRTC membership. As always this is a fantastic way to start the running season, tuning up your skills and building back one’s training after COVID “down time”. We do plan to still follow the basic COVID precautions we have all gotten used to, but having put on this event last fall I can assure you that the program maintains the in-person camaraderie that this series has always been known for. Sign up today. https://runsignup.com/…/GreaterRochesterTrackClubSpring…
For June our new 3 race virtual series, the “Terrain Trio”, will allow for running a varied selection of distances and surfaces. Run between 6/13 and 7/4/21, it will include a 1600meter course on a local track of your choice, a 5K trail race course at Mendon Ponds Park and a 10K “road” race course on an out and back section of the Erie canal path between Fairport and Bushnell’s basin. One can sign up for events individually for $15 or for the 3 event “Trifecta” series at a discounted price of $40. Results can be submitted with Garmin or Strava data. This promises to be a great series which we hope may evolve into an in-person “traditional” race format in the future. https://runsignup.com/…/GRTCsTerrainTrioVirtualSeries
For July we are planning an in-person membership picnic at Mendon Ponds Park midday at the Canfield Woods shelter on 7/24/21. We plan on an in-person fun run at 11:00, a delicious lunch, and a good time socializing together. We will also be presenting awards there for the winners of the Terrain trio. More details about this and a signup link will be coming out soon. Meantime pencil it into your calendar for July 24th.
And for the ultra-distance enthusiasts, start ramping up your training now! We are poised to finalize details and initiate registration for our 2021 GRTC ultra-race series. Plans are now going forward for the Candlelight 12 overnight ultra and relays to take place on 7.17.21 at the EquiCenter in Honeoye Falls. A rescheduled Mind the Ducks 12 Hour daylight ultra will go forward in Webster on 9.4.21. The Can Lake 50mile/50K/MiniCan25K event should occur on 10.9.21 in Canandaigua. Watch your email and our website for updates on all three races. We hope to have registration for these events go live on Runsignup over the next month.
As I have said too often before, 2020 was an “interesting” year that none of us want to repeat, but there is more and more light at the end of the tunnel each month that I write this. The above GRTC offerings help us start that return to the new normal. Sign up today for our in-person annual Spring Running Clinic starting in May. Sign up for the Terrain Trio series in June. Put 7/24 on your calendar for our membership picnic at Mendon Ponds Park in July. The running community and runners themselves ARE resilient and we WILL all come out of this stronger. I look forward to a robust recovery of our sport in 2021, and hope everyone in GRTC will be a part of that. See you out on the road (still 6 feet apart for now).
Doug Jones (President GRTC)
GRTC Membership: https://runsignup.com/…/Roche…/GreaterRochesterTrackClub
GRTC purchases: https://grtc.threadless.com