As I wrap up my first year as the president of this incredible running club, I think about what I am thankful for and goals I have for this next year.
First, I am thankful I can and want to run. It always makes me smile when I share with “non-runners” that I run. They often tell me they don’t understand or hate running. They have no idea what they are missing. Running is something that makes us feel strong and brings us together like no other experience.
I am also thankful for all the support I have had as president. The knowledge and experience of our active volunteers and past presidents have helped me have a successful first year.
One of my goals for my second year as president is to try more trail running. I love the idea of enjoying nature and embracing the trail. I want to make time to get to know the trails and the Steeplechaser trail runners.
Another major goal for this coming year is to get to know more members of our club. I want to hear why our members run. Our theme for the general meeting this year was “What Moves You?” My goal is to learn more about what moves our runners. What motivates them? Who inspires them? What are their goals? I challenge all of you to meet new Steeps this year too! Check out the short video clip that started our general meeting this year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBRceHIXMx4
As always, our club has been busy. Here are a few highlights…
Our training seasons ended strong. We are so thankful for Billy Clem for heading up the marathon training group and for Josh Roane and Crystal Tressler’s guidance during the half marathon training. We are lucky to have such dedicated volunteers leading and encouraging us toward our goals. Thank you all very much.
Our competition committee, led by Shannon Matthews and Ruth Taylor, are working hard to gather names and prepare for our annual awards banquet on January 27th. We truly thank them for their hard work in choosing the best Steeps for each category. It is quite a task!
The social committee is keeping us social with so many fun activities! The Halloween Run and Happy Hour were a great success, and partnering with Charm City for a sip and shop was perfect too. We are looking forward to the Ugly Sweater Happy Hour on December 21st! Syble Roane and Heidi Novak are also busy helping to prepare the annual banquet. Finally, watch for the upcoming breakfast runs organized by Karen Ochs starting in January!
We wrapped up our two final signature races for the year. The Market Street Mile was on September 9th. Thanks to Liz Liotta and Peggy Waxter for taking on the roles of race director. Our final signature race was Rick’s Run, September 17th. Thanks to Crista Horn for directing this beautiful race! I absolutely loved it. My goal is to run at least two loops next year.
We have two new race directors for this coming year. Keary Johnston and Paul Smeck will be our new Market Street Mile race directors, and Alex Young will be heading up the Summer Solstice. Thanks to these volunteers for stepping forward to take on this responsibility.
We are always thankful to Harriet Langlois for insuring that are race directors have what they need. Thank you, Harriet!
Until next time, enjoy the run, and I will see you on January 27th for our annual banquet.
“Even when you have gone as far as you can, and everything hurts, and you are staring at the specter of self-doubt, you can find a bit more strength deep inside you, if you look closely enough.”
— Hal Higdon
Jill Cameron
President, Frederick Steeplechasers Running Club