Hello Twin City Track Club! For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Jay Welch, and I am the new Editor of the Twin City Track Club Flyer. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “New editor?! But we loved Sheri so much! She did a fantastic job!” I heartily agree with you, and I hope you’ll join me in giving Sheri Masters an enormous thank you for the incredible contribution and service she’s done for the club in handling this position over the last few years. She certainly made it look effortless and, although I have some big shoes to fill, my hope is to continue to build upon the legacy of excellence that we all have come to know and expect from this publication.
So, now I’ll bet you’re thinking, “Ok Jay, that was nice and all but who exactly are you?” Fair question. Read on for a little more about me.
I grew up in Greensboro, NC and ran track while attending Southeast Guilford Middle School. Upon entering High School I traded my pursuit of athletics for a pursuit of academics at The Early College at Guilford. While at ECG, I met my incredible wife, Briana Welch. Safe to say it was one of the best decisions of my life to attend that school. After High School, Briana and I lived in Charlotte for several years where we finished college, got married, began careers, and welcomed our beautiful baby girl, Sofia Rose, into this world.
After relocating our little family to Winston-Salem, we were eager to start building a new community in our new home. We stumbled upon the track club as they were setting up for Ultimate Runner in 2020 and joined up the next week. We attended the September $5 5K later that same year and the rest was history.
Since then, we have raced almost every TCTC sponsored race in the area, volunteered with the club through Race Timing, Hanes Park Cleanups, Packet Pickups, and whatever ways we could find to give back to this organization that has given so much to us. That’s why it is such a huge honor for me to step into this position for the 2024/2025 year.
Professionally, I am an RRCA certified run coach offering virtual and in-person one-on-one and group coaching to adults through my company Running To The Light. Briana is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor working at a private practice in Winston-Salem and together we own Crazy Running Greensboro where we train youth runners throughout Guilford County in the fundamentals of running, athleticism, mindset, character building, and how to race events all the way from 100m to 5K.
Personally, I am an avid runner myself. My favorite races to run? Ultramarathons! I am scheduled to run the Pilot Mountain To Hanging Rock 50 Miler this September and the Beast of the East 100K this December.
While I love what I do professionally (getting to give back to the running community with my skills, knowledge, and experience is amazing) and I love personally competing in races from 5Ks to Spartan Obstacle Course Races to Marathons and Ultras, the biggest passion that drives me is the desire to see families come together and share a common love for movement: specifically running. My daughter runs, my wife runs, and I run. Personally, I can attest to the transformative power this sport has had on our lives and I want to see other families experience it too. If you want to learn more about our story, check out an article I wrote about us here.
So, what can you expect for the Flyer moving forward? We will still seek to bring you relevant, fun, and uplifting stories from our community delivered with excellence. The one thing that we will be pursuing more is your involvement, your voice. In all the hustle and hurriedness of everyday life sometimes it’s easy to forget that you’re not just another cog in the wheel. You have a story to tell, and it matters. Moreover, we want to hear from YOU! It doesn’t take a degree or specific skill in writing to contribute to this landscape. All it takes is a willingness to step up and share your voice. We can help with the rest. This is our newsletter; I aim to see it reflect more of who we are as a whole.
Thank you for welcoming me and I am honored to have this opportunity to serve you. See you out on the roads, tracks, and trails!
