ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Eddie Garcia ran 2:18:50 to best the 2:19:00 qualifying standard to be eligible for the 2020 Olympic Games. Running almost perfectly even half-marathon splits of 1:09:26 and 1:09:24, he placed 22nd overall in a very elite field of international athletes in the Chevron Houston Marathon. He was the seventh USA citizen to finish. The top ten finishers consisted of three Kenyan, three Ethiopian, two Mexican, one American and one Irish runners. 

With a temperature of 33 degrees F (1 degree C) for the 7:01 am start in downtown Houston, the weather was favorable for the thousands of runners running in the marathon and the accompanying Aramco Half Marathon. There were some light winds on the mostly flat course that also finished in downtown Houston. Garcia ran much of the race with fellow Greenville resident Cole Atkins, who finished one place ahead of him with a time of 2:18:44. 

GTC-ELITE was established in 2012 and produced four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles. The post-collegiate, Olympic development program is sponsored by ASICS, the 46-year-old Greenville Track Club, ScanSource, Joy Real Estate,   generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), The ATI Running Academy, ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, Stryd Running, DorsiFlex and Synergy Performance (mental performance).  The club is a proud member of both the Road Runners Club of America and the USATF. ​

ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Joe Niemiec ran 14:53 to win the 41st edition of the Greenville News Run Downtown 5K. It was Niemiec's first competition as a member of the post-collegiate, Olympic development program as he relocated to Greenville from Michigan to join the program in October. He took the lead after a first mile of 4:55 and ran alone for the remainder of the course though downtown Greenville. 

Results: @
https://results.rmraces.live/Greenville-Track-Club/events/2019/2019-Greenville-News-Run-Downtown-5K/results

The traditional kick-off for the running year in Greenville will take place on Saturday, January 19 with the 41st annual Greenville News Run Downtown 5K. This historic race starts on S. Main Street and finishes on East Broad St. in front of the Greenville News. Registration is still available at: https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Greenville/RunDowntown. 

Packet Pickup on Friday begins at 11:00 am and runs until 6:00 pm at Academy Sports located off Woodruff Road. 

For coaches, teachers and parents of high school runners, Greenville Track Club-ELITE coach Laura Caldwell has authored an article regarding tips for college recruiting. Caldwell is one of the directors for the Women's Running Coaches Collective, a group of current and former elite runners and coaches, whose mission is "to support, unite, inform, inspire, encourage and empower women coaches at all levels of our sport."

You can read the article by accessing the following link: https://mailchi.mp/a27412bd75fd/womens-running-coaches-collective-needs-you-239757?e=fc4117f48d

Women coaches are encouraged to sign up for bi-monthly emails from the WRCC. 
Sign up for our list! 

The WRCC  can also be found on Facebook as
"Women's Running Coaches Collective". 
And you can add to the conversation at their email address - womensrunningcoachescollective@gmail.com
PLEASE tell them what you would like to learn as a coach?  What information would you like to make your job more of a success? Who would you like to have interviewed?

The Women's Running Coaches Collective

• Nikki Rafie
• Helene Hutchinson
• Melissa Hill
• Laura Caldwell
• Charlotte Lettis Richardson 
• Amy Yoder Begley

The Greenville Track Club is establishing the GTC Youth Running Program to provide direction, coaching and encouragement to the youth in the Greenville community. The program will be called The GTC Rabbits and is scheduled to begin on January 23, 2019. 

The program director is USATF-certified coach Victor Pataky, a member of our ASICS Greenville Track Club-ELITE post-collegiate, Olympic development program. 

The plan is to conduct two to three practices per week in the late afternoon on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. 

Ages: 8 through 14

​Each member will receive:

• Expert coaching by GTC-ELITE athletes 
• Group practices on Monday, Wednesday and most Fridays  afternoons (4:30 - 5:30 pm) 
• T-shirt with GTC Rabbits (Youth Program name)
• Free entry into TD Bank Reedy River Run Youth Mile or 15% discount for TD Bank Reedy River Run 5K
• Potential free entry to selected track meets.

Fees & Costs for Winter/Spring Season (January 23 - May 24, 2019)

• Free to current or new Greenville Track Club members. Potential members should join the GTC before registering for the GTC Rabbits to receive the $50 discount. Please select "Membership" from the menu at the top of this page. 

​

• $50 for non-GTC members

For more information go to GTC Youth Program.

Presentation will be "Important Decisions" by our own Frank DeVar, a former Greenville Track Club-ELITE runner and former NCAA DIII All-American. He is a Certified Professional Trainer (CPT), who specializes in strengthening and stretching for athletes.

Location: Puerta Vallarta Restaurant, 3275 N Pleasantburg Dr, Greenville, SC 29609 (Diagonal to Cherrydale Cinemas).

6:00-6:30 pm - Food Ordering and Social Time. 7:00 pm - Club Business and Program

The Greenville Track Club inducted four members into their Hall of Fame during their monthly meeting on Monday, October 1, 2018. 

The four deserving were Dave Geer, Kevin McDonald, Tim Stewart and David Wamer.

For more information regarding the GTC Hall of Fame please visit GTC Hall of Fame.