Greenville Track Club, Greenville, SC
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 Since our June meeting is scheduled for Tuesday June 3, we will meet at the Eastside High School track for a tailgate gathering, including hot dogs and chips, and either volunteer or cheer on the participants at our first GTC All Comers Track Meet in 2025. Festivities are scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm. Looking forward to seeing our GTC members there.
For more information on the All Comers meet: https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Greenville/GTCAllComersMeets  GTC founder and current co-president Bill Keesling, Eduardo Garcia and GTC-ELITE coach Mike Caldwell Greenville Track Club founder and current co-president Bill Keesling presented Eduardo Garcia a commemorative plaque in honor of his participation in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at the club's May meeting. Eduardo was also highlighted as the meeting's speaker and entertained the attendees with details about his amazing experience leading up to and during his time in Paris. He is currently rehabbing from his second hip surgery since undergoing an injury (one procedure on each hip to clean up previous damage to tissues). Eddie has been a member of Greenville Track Club-ELITE, sponsored by the GTC, since 2018. His future plans include regaining his competitive fitness and focus on the LA '28 Games.  Eduardo recounting his Olympic experience to GTC attendees. Eduardo "Eddie" Garcia joined GTC-ELITE in March of 2018, following his collegiate career at the University of Florida. As a Gator, his standout performance was winning the 2015 Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship at 10,000 meters and was a three-time NCAA qualifier at that distance. Holding dual citizenship status, Eddie choose to represent the United States Virgin Islands in international competition. He represented USVI at the Central America Games in Barranquilla, Columbia in 2018 and again in the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. He placed 12th in the marathon in the latter competition with a time of 2:19:10, not far off his best of 2:18:50 at the 2019 Chevron Houston Marathon..
After relocating to Greenville he ran personal bests of 29:18.25 for 10,000m on the track (ISV national record), 29:57 for a road 10K, set the South Carolina State record in the Half Marathon with a time of 1:05:25, in addition to the aforementioned marathon time in Peru. He was ranked number one numerous times in the South Carolina Road Race Rankings. In December, 2020, Eddie once again set a new South Carolina resident State Record for the Half Marathon with a time of 1:04:32, knocking another 53 seconds off the standard. Garcia was named the USATF South Carolina Long Distance Runner of the Year for 2020. During his time with GTC-ELITE, Eduardo also improved his marathon time by 8 minutes and 11 seconds (2:25:17 down to 2:17:06) and his Half Marathon from 1:06:17 to 1:03:53--an improvement of two minutes and 23 seconds. Eddie has run US Virgin Island national records for the Marathon, Half Marathon, 15K, 10K. and 5K. His international accomplishments include participation in the marathon at both the 2022 World Championships in Eugene and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.  Join us at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, May 6th for our May Greenville Track Club meeting and meet our own Olympian Eduardo "Eddie" Garcia. Eddie will tell us about his Olympic experience last summer and you can enjoy some good eats at Coronitas Mexican Restaurant located at 2119 Wade Hampton Blvd, Greenville, SC. We hope to see you there.
  Top: James Quattlebaum & Below: Alyssa Bloomquist. photo: Steven Moore @ mooregems Greenville's James Quattlebaum and Simpsonville's Alyssa Bloomquist won the men's and women's championships at the 47th edition of the United Community Reedy River Run 10K on Saturday morning. Quattlebaum won the race for the fifth time and has the most victories in the long history of the event. His time of 29:03 is also the fastest in the race's history. Bloomquist ran 35:36 to defend her title as she also won in 2024. The accompanying 5K race was won for the second consecutive year by Greenville's Steven Pearce with a time of 16:53 and Anna Kathryn Strom won the women's division clocking 19:19. It was a beautiful Spring morning in downtown Greenville and the two races attracted over 2100 runners and walkers. The 10K course started on S. Main Street and passed over the namesake Reedy River a total of six times before finishing on Falls Street near the United Community headquarters. The post-race festival was fun for all. Click Here for RESULTS  Reedy River Run 10K champions past and present: James Quattlebaum (2021-24 & 2025) and Dave Geer (1989). Photo: Sam Inman  You may download the February/March Greenville Track Club Newsletter here. It is a BIG ONE, so read and enjoy! 
 GTC members enjoying some music while dining before the business portion of the monthly meeting. The Greenville Track Club's March meeting was conducted at Coronita's restaurant on Wade Hampton Blvd on Tuesday, March 4th. After some brief club business updates, Greenville Track Club-ELITE Director/Coach Mike Caldwell shared some interesting numbers regarding the club's post-collegiate, Olympic-development program. That information is presented below.  Thanks to Bill Blask for providing the above photos from our GTC February meeting at which awards were presented to the winners and placers in the 2024 GTC Running Series and the Corporate Shield competition.
Congratulations to all of the runners/walkers who braved the cold and wet conditions in Saturday's 46th edition of the GTC Run Downtown 5K. It was great to see everyone out there on the roads. Big thank you to race director John Hart and the many volunteers that made it possible. We couldn't do this without you volunteers.
That was our first event in the GTC Running Series for 2025. And the awards for the 2024 GTC Running Series will be presented on Monday, February 3 at the annual GTC Awards night. That will be held at Hampton Park Church on State Park Road at 6:00 pm. RSVP at https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Greenville/GTCAwardsMeeting The next GTC race in the Running Series will be February 1 – GTC Green Valley 10-Mile & 5K Road Races Race Director: Michael Caputo [email protected] Register or Volunteer: https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/TravelersRest/GreenValleyRoadRace The GTC Run Downtown 5K was also the first event in the 2025 Corporate Shield race series. The next CS event will be March 8 – Milliken Earth Run 5K Roger Milliken Center – Spartanburg https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Spartanburg/EarthRun Following those events will be another GTC Running Series race: April 19th – United Community Reedy River Run 10K (premier race) and 5K Register or Volunteer: https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Greenville/ReedyRiverRun Register soon as the price increases after specific number of registrations this year. Plans are to enhance the RunFest immediately following the 10K and 5K races in the United Community parking area on Falls Drive. Jersey Mike's mini-subs will once again be provided to finishers. Registration is underway for the Spring Season for the GTC Rabbits--our Youth Running Program https://runsignup.com/Race/Dashboard/Overview/79456  Join us on Saturday, January 18th for the 46th running of the historic GTC Run Downtown 5K. One of the oldest races in the Upstate, it starts and finishes on Greenville's iconic Main Street. It is the initial event in the 2025 Greenville Running Series and also a Corporate Shield competition. For a view of the 5K course you can watch this video produced by race director John Hart. https://youtu.be/ucXer8YYMZ0 To REGISTER CLICK HERE. runsignup.com/Race/SC/Greenville/RunDowntown  |
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