“Change is the only constant in life.” Greek philosopher Heraclitus made this statement around 500 BC. It’s still true!
Of course some change is welcome – who’s looking forward to a change to cooler fall weather for running workouts? Bring it on! We’re also looking forward to a return to traditional fall races that had to be modified or canceled last year due to the COVID pandemic. COVID – that was an unwelcome change which continues to create inconvenience for most and tragedy for many. Boo, hiss.
But back to fall races, the Salem Lake Trail Runs are coming up on September 25. This is one of the club’s biggest and most popular races. It will be the 2nd race in the FIT 4 or Forfeit Race Series. The last two $5K races of the year will be held on Sept. 14 and Oct. 12. And TCTC will be timing a few contract races including the Quarry Rocks race for Special Olympics on Oct. 2 (change in location to Jamison Park this year) and the Ardmore RAH! Races on Oct. 16. I hope to see many club members running and/or volunteering at these awesome races.
Another COVID created change is the rescheduling of the Boston Marathon from Patriots Day (April 19) to Columbus Day (October 11). Many TCTC members will be running the race and we’ll be cheering you on!
Our big summer race, Beat the Heat, had to deal with a last-minute change in venue this year! This had nothing to do with COVID but was caused by a construction project at our traditional site next to the Wake Forest football stadium. Fortunately, the staff at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds was very accommodating and the race was held with over 500 in attendance. Thank you sooooooo much to the awesome volunteers who helped make this happen. Special thanks go out to those who stayed after the sudden change in weather (what a storm!) or came back the next morning to clean up.
Our TCTC Night at the Dash changed from a traditional June activity to July this year. Apparently, this was well received with over 100 TCTC members and guests signing up for tickets. It was so much fun seeing everyone and catching up. And that bright red TCTC Tent sure did look good near the stadium entrance. Great exposure for the club.
As we continue to plan for the coming months and next year, we’re hoping to resume many of our traditional activities such as a holiday party and winter seminar. We don’t yet know what changes we’ll need to consider with the numerous challenges of planning an event these days, but we’re committed to providing our members with opportunities to engage and share running experiences.
If nothing else, some of the challenges we’ve faced over the past 18 months have given us pause to think about what and how we do things as a club. Some things we will change because we must and some we will change to make us even better.
And with that, I’ll leave you with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi – “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
Happy Running!
Er