As I look back at the events of last month, I marvel at what has transpired at AREC in the last 9 months. I remember coming to run for my first time in August 1998, and finding a great core of people - Todd Rose, Bernard Mills, Laura Chaides, Barb Hager, and Diane Belanger - small, but dedicated. When we got together to discuss the evening's run or perhaps, carpooling for an upcoming race, it was just like a group of friends making small talk.
Flash forward to this month. Our fearless leader, Todd Rose, has been working a day shift at work (and skipped for reasons unknown on his birthday), and thereby missed EVERY run in March. Does our size diminish? Do the Todd groupies skip just because he isn't there? No. In fact, every week, people are walking into the street just to avoid our scantily clad group on the sidewalk.
And yet, even with this large group, I feel like we're still one big happy family. Nearly everyone stays afterwards to talk or eat. People get excited about doing races together. For example, last weekend, Marlaigne, Karine, Sam and I all ran the Compton races (and 3/4 of us won medals!) together. And now, the most amazing feat of all, 4 teams (!) are running Jimmy Stewart Relay Marathon. Last year, we had to beg and plead just to get one (and not all the team members were committed). If you're not running, come out and cheer us on!
Finally, I just want to mention again the prospect of becoming a "real" club - "real" meaning insurance, team jerseys, and maybe even putting on our own race. We're still working on it, but would love any input, because after all, this is OUR club!