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President’s Column – May 2007 "It isn’t what you once did that really counts, but what you keep doing." Johnny A. Kelley (2 Boston Marathon wins, 15 top five places, 58 total finishes, the last at age 84)Remembering Trent Jackson’s Olympian Service to the Community On March 25th, we lost another member of the GRTC Hall of Fame. Trenton Jackson was an inaugural member of the Rochester Track Club Hall of Fame, inducted in 1970 in recognition of his outstanding running career. Career highlights included:
In common with many members of the GRTC Hall of Fame, Trent Jackson’s greatest contributions to the community came after his induction. Coaching first at East and then at Franklin, Trent’s basketball teams won six Section V championships in 26 seasons, with a record of 388-181. On the court and in the classroom, Trent touched the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands of young men and women. As Al Nash, basketball coach at Freddie Thomas, said in the D & C: “He was definitely hard on us but he wanted you to reach your potential, never settle. That’s the way he competed. It became a respect thing. You didn’t want to let him down.” Let us all strive to reach our potential… athletically and in service to others. That is a fitting way to remember Trent Jackson. Encourage Youth and New Runners A goal of the Club is to add resources for young runners and new runners on the club web site. Contact our Newsletter Editor or Webmaster if you can contribute articles and information on beginning running to the club newsletter and web site… even compiling a page of links to other sites would be a big help. And, of course, remember to tell new runners about the GRTC. Other goals will depend on the interest and availability of members to work on youth running and new runner programs. The club is looking for members interested in starting programs for young runners. Opportunities could be to set up programs in the schools to prepare older students to run on relay teams in the Rochester Marathon or for younger students to run the marathon distance at their school (e.g., a mile at a time around the school grounds). Call for Volunteers 1 – Medved Lilac 10K and Family 5K on May 20th The Lilac 10K on May 20th takes a multitude of volunteers to make it safe and successful for the runners. Wilt Alston, Hillary Cardin and Deb Wyspianski are coordinating the GRTC volunteers. Contact information is on page 2 of your newsletter. If you won’t be racing the event, please join me in volunteering. Call for Volunteers 2 – JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge on May 31st With more than 9,000 participants, this is the biggest running and walking event in the area. Mitzi and Dick Lewandowski are organizing the GRTC water stop at Mile 1. If you won’t be racing on your company team, please plan to volunteer. Competitive Team Last year GRTC teams finished 2nd in Masters Men and 1st in Mixed Masters at the Rochester Marathon and set a new Masters Men Record in finishing 2nd overall at the Fleet Feet Sports Relay (50 miles around Canandaigua Lake). If this sort of thing sounds like fun, let any board member you are interested in running on a GRTC team. Runners of all abilities and ages are welcome to join. Tom Perry May 2007 |