President's Column - December 2024
Jennifer Hay, Vice PresidentThis is my last article as your vice president. I don’t know how I let Jerry talk me into sharing the President’s letter responsibilities with him, but I’m glad he did. I liked having a way to make his presidency a smidge easier because I’m confident I made it harder in other ways. It also made me carve out additional time to consider how I could contribute to the Club.
I used to think of Gulf Winds Track Club as Carter’s (husband) and Hawthorne’s (son) people. They’re the fast runners in the family. They’re the ones who love to race and then hang out for the awards and chat with people. I even sent them to the January awards events and holiday parties without me. But you people sucked me in and made me care. You also showed me that GWTC isn’t just for the fast people and the ones training for Saturday morning PRs. Above all else, GWTC offers the village to support everyone in their pursuit to be their best selves. I have so enjoyed serving as your vice president the past two years. I’m proud of the work we did to expand the group run schedule, including starting a new training group for the half marathon. I’m excited to have the Running Shorts e-mail announcements going out each month to keep you in the loop. And I’m also glad to see the increased enthusiasm for getting involved and making new connections. As I pivot to my new position as Director of Communications, I hope to increase Club membership and outreach with new Instagram and Strava accounts and updates to the website—and to find new ways to help us grow and thrive as a community. As I figure out what all that will involve, I’d love to hear your ideas for how to make our Club even better. Text me: 850-294-9395. Y’all are awesome! ❤
FROM THE PRESIDENT
Presidents Column March 2025
I have written time and again about my old running group, the Sloths. Not unlike the group runs that many of you are now a part of, this group of friends came together and bonded as a result of daily runs from a downtown office building in the middle of our...
Vice Presidents Column February 2025
If someone had told me seven years ago that I’d be VP of a track club and writing an article about how much I love running, I would have told you that was crazy. I never ran until January, 2018 – running was a necessary evil of ‘real’ sports like soccer and tennis. My...
Presidents Column January 2025
There is this program that I listen to some weeks on NPR that the hosts always begin by sharing the the best news they have heard all week. Well the best GWTC news I have heard all week was the announcement by Race Directors Jack and Laura McDermott just prior to race...
Presidents Column November 2024
Enjoying the cooler fall weather, which at the GWTC means election time in tandem with local and national elections, Turkey Trot, the 5/10 Mile Challenge, the Ultra and then Tannenbaum to round out the year! Hoping I can run some some of these as I have been suffering...
Presidents Column October 2024
My entry into the race directing world happened in a rather random way more than a decade ago—2012ish. My favorite partner in crime on the DeSoto Trail PTO board, Amy O’Kelley, and I declared that carnival hosting wasn’t our thing and decided to start a 5K as the...
President’s Column September 2024
Fall is Coming!! September always signals the start of lots of racing and used to signify an almost guaranteed break in the weather with a cool front or two blowing through. This would ensure that at least one or two of the three signature September GWTC races could...
President’s Column – August 2024
One of my favorite things about our recent member survey is seeing how much y’all value the GWTC running community. It sounds like most of you are having fun working together to be your best self. (There are a few lone wolves out there who said they’re just in it for...
Presidents Column June-July 2024
I subscribe to Popular Mechanics magazine. While the name is a bit of a misnomer in my view, I mostly have a subscription because my Dad always had one. There are always interesting articles, but the magazine starts out with a section called “Can’t Stop Thinking...
President’s Column – May 2024
Jerry and I have spent a lot of newsletter space telling you how much we value Gulf Winds Track Club and its members. We’ve talked about our fave GWTC memories, group runs, races, volunteering, youth programs, and superstars. Now, we want to hear from you. GWTC is...
President’s Column – April 2024
First and foremost on my mind this month are the Springtime Races, which Jackie and I direct. All is well at this point due in some measure to a new Volunteer initiative of the club’s(more on that in a bit), but also due to the marketing efforts of Jon Brown and the...