Location:
Cleveland Park (Shelter 29, Near Greenville Zoo entrance)
Greenville, SC 29607

Description
The GTC Rabbits is the Youth Running Program for the Greenville Track Club. The mission is to provide an opportunity for young people to become involved in the world's oldest fitness endeavor.

The program will be directed and coached by Ashley Lavelle, an experienced middle school, high school, and college cross country and track coach.  She is also a relatively new mother, which gives her a unique perspective. Ashley is a longtime Greenville Track Club member and has served on the board of directors.

Ashley is currently developing age-specific practice plans. For additional information, you can contact her through youthrunning@greenvilletrackclub.com

Ages: 8 through 14
 
Each child will receive: 
-Expert coaching
-Regular group practices 
-T-shirt with GTC Rabbits (Youth Program name) logo
-Participation in various competitions (optional) including the GTC All Comers Meets, which will be held Tuesday evenings at 6:15 PM during June and July (June 6-25 and July 11-25, except possibly July 4th week) at Eastside High School (June) and Greenville High School (July).

The group will meet Monday and Thursday evenings at 5pm from June 1-July 31. Will meet at Cleveland Park at Shelter 29 (near Greenville Zoo entrance). We will also have some workouts at the Greenville High School Track (Dates TBD)

Costs:
$50 for non-GTC members, but  FREE to current Greenville Track Club members.
dult guardians, if they don't already have one, are encouraged to obtain a GTC family membership  before registering to receive the $50 discount. Family memberships $25 for one year. https://runsignup.com/Club/Join/815
The discount will be applied for GTC members during the registration (see below) process on RunSignUp.


REGISTER FOR PROGRAM

Join us this Monday, May 1, at World Piece Pizza for our monthly meeting! Food and fellowship starts at 6 pm. 

Our speaker this month is Mike Caldwell, race director of last week's United Community Bank 45th Reedy River Run. He will recap that event and give us some interesting insight on what goes on preparing and conducting such an event. Mike is also the coach of our Greenville Track Club-ELITE program, which provides opportunities for post-collegiate, Olympic-development athletes. 

Word Piece is located at 109 W Stone Ave. The pizza is very good. 

Our speaker this month was Anne Williams. Anne is a GTC Hall of Famer, sub 3:10 marathoner, and instrumental in advancing women's running. Her talk was centered around women's running history in Greenville and brought back memories for many of the meeting's attendees, who also enjoyed some tasty pizza at World Piece on Stone Avenue. 

Below is an excerpt from Anne's HOF Induction Bio.

Considered to be the female pioneer of the GTC, Anne was initiated into race directing when she and her sister, Mary Ross, took over the directorship of the Paris Mtn. Road Race. That continued for a number of years. She was an avid volunteer and director of many early races and the all-comers track meets for the GTC. She assisted with fundraising and other organizational aspects of the only indoor track meet ever held in Greenville, hosted by the GTC and Furman Track and Field. Liberty Life Insurance Company sponsored a women's only race called "Run Jane Run" and Anne assisted Lucy Foxworth, who directed that event. 

A few years later Anne initiated and directed Women on the Run, for several years. Women on the Run averaged 1200 women in any given race and then, Governor Richard Riley, directed that the week of these races be deemed "Women's Race Week". Based on her GTC race directing experience she created a "how to" book for others to utilize and used this blueprint to put on races for women in 11 different cities around the U. S. One feature of her races included a six-week fitness clinic prior to each race, free to the public. Another key feature of races she directed brought world-class athletes into Greenville including the late Greta Waitz, Joan Benoit Samuelson, and Gabriella Anderson among others. She was the first GTC race director to insist on course certification under TAC and now USATF rules. 

An avid runner herself, Anne was SC State marathon champion in 1982 with a time of 3:19. She also ran Boston in 3:09, 5K in 18:09 and 10K in 38:06. She has run more than 10 marathons including New York, London, Grandfather Mtn. (5 times) and Pikes Peak. Anne always competed wearing the GTC singlet. She is married to Art, who was a founding member of the GTC and past President

Join us this Monday, April 3rd, at World Piece Pizza for our April meeting! Food and fellowship starts at 6 pm. 

Our speaker this month is Anne Williams. Anne is a GTC Hall of Famer, sub 3:10 marathoner, and instrumental in advancing women's running. Below is an excerpt from Anne's HOF Induction Bio.

Considered to be the female pioneer of the GTC, Anne was initiated into race directing when she and her sister, Mary Ross, took over the directorship of the Paris Mtn. Road Race. That continued for a number of years. She was an avid volunteer and director of many early races and the all-comers track meets for the GTC. She assisted with fundraising and other organizational aspects of the only indoor track meet ever held in Greenville, hosted by the GTC and Furman Track and Field. Liberty Life Insurance Company sponsored a women's only race called "Run Jane Run" and Anne assisted Lucy Foxworth, who directed that event. 

A few years later Anne initiated and directed Women on the Run, for several years. Women on the Run averaged 1200 women in any given race and then, Governor Richard Riley, directed that the week of these races be deemed "Women's Race Week". Based on her GTC race directing experience she created a "how to" book for others to utilize and used this blueprint to put on races for women in 11 different cities around the U. S. One feature of her races included a six-week fitness clinic prior to each race, free to the public. Another key feature of races she directed brought world-class athletes into Greenville including the late Greta Waitz, Joan Benoit Samuelson, and Gabriella Anderson among others. She was the first GTC race director to insist on course certification under TAC and now USATF rules. 

An avid runner herself, Anne was SC State marathon champion in 1982 with a time of 3:19. She also ran Boston in 3:09, 5K in 18:09 and 10K in 38:06. She has run more than 10 marathons including New York, London, Grandfather Mtn. (5 times) and Pikes Peak. Anne always competed wearing the GTC singlet. She is married to Art, who was a founding member of the GTC and past President. 

We are excited to have Anne speak and look forward to seeing everyone Monday night!

Come join us on Monday, February 6th for our Annual Awards Night at Hampton Park Baptist Church! We look forward to celebrating YOU and all of the amazing accomplishments from 2022. It will be a night full of fellowship, food, and celebration as we recognize Running Series Award Winners and Corporate Shield Champions.

If you plan to come, please register at the following link at Greenville Track Club Awards Night. This banquet is free to attend, but please register so we can have a headcount for food.

We look forward to seeing you there as we reflect on the successes of 2022 and look ahead to another great year of competition in 2023!

Our next Greenville Track Club race is the historic Green Valley Road Races in Travelers Rest on Saturday, February 11. There is a 10-Mile and 5-Mile race. After a two-year stint of running from Hampton Park Baptist Church due to COVID-19, the courses are back near the original area and run through beautiful Green Valley. You don't want to miss these races. Each registered runner will receive an embroidered vest, too. 

REGISTER HERE.

On a cold and brisk Saturday morning Greenville's James Quattlebaum ran a fast 14:14 to win the 44th Edition of the GTC Run Downtown. His time equals the event record of ASICS GTC-ELITE's Austin Steagall set in 2017 on a different course. Quattlebaum is the 2021 South Carolina Long Distance Runner of the Year and is currently ranked first in the SC Road Race Rankings. 

ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Jason Weitzel and Eddie Garcia placed second and third. Weitzel, the 2022 Run Downtown champion, who is ranked second in the SC Road Race Rankings, improved his time from 14:37 last year to 14:29. That is now the third fastest performance in race history. Garcia ran 14:40, which now ranks equal fifth in race history, equaling former ASICS GTC-ELITE's Adam Freudenthal's time from 2013. 

The women's race was won by Greenville's Sydney Welch with a time of 18:19. She was followed by Piedmont's Sunday Davis at 18:43, Greenville's Grace Smith at 19:11 and Rachel McCoy of Raleigh, NC at 19:11. 

​Other top performances were turned in by 53-year-old Philippe Giguere who ran 16:49 to place sixth overall and first Master and Easley's Eddie Posey (age 50) who placed 9th overall and second Master with a 16:53. 

The Run Downtown is produced by the 51-year-old Greenville Track Club and is the first race of the 2023 GTC Running Series and also a Corporate Shield event. 

RESULTS LINK

The first GTC running event of 2023 is on January 21. The historic Run Downtown 5K will feature a new route this year and will start and finish on S. Main Street. The new route will include some running on the Swamp Rabbit Trail this year before returning to S. Main St. This is the 44th edition of this race and 2022 winner Jason Weitzel is registered to run again. 

Don't miss out on a great Saturday morning in downtown Greenville. REGISTER HERE.