2002 Community Award

The Gulf Winds Track Club Community Award is given to an organization or individual that over a period of years, through financial or other contributions, has supported running in the community at large. Previous winners include: The Trust for Public Land, Shannon Sullivan, Susie Busch-Transou, Manny Joanos and Mary Register.

This year’s honoree provided support to our community of runners by permitting us to use their facilities while the FSU track was under repair. A track is a core part of GWTC’s effort to support runners and this year we saw Maclay School, under the able direction of Gary Droze, with the support of the Athletic Director and the Headmaster step up to the starting line and graciously provide the use of the Maclay School track for a variety of club events. In addition to the track this commitment included other facilities that we don’t always notice such as driveways, parking lots, bathrooms, and water fountains that were critical. What was going to be a three-month renovation at FSU stretched into more than six months. Maclay School became the host of the weekly Summer Track Series, an event attracting hundreds of kids and adults, along with the Tuesday evening intervals while the FSU track was out of service. Maclay School has also been the site of the Grand Prix event, Breakfast on the Track for the past five years.

The fitness of our community and our community of runners depends on more than just physical fitness. We also rely on the ability to give of what we have, to volunteer, to connect with one another and to provide help when there is a need. Maclay School has done all of this by supporting our community of runners at a critical time by providing their facilities and resources this year.

I am pleased to ask Mr. Bruce Irvin, the Maclay School Athletic Director and Coach Gary Droze to come forward and accept the award.