Greenville Track Club's founder (1972) and current co-president Bill Keesling earned a silver medal in the Shot Put at the Huntsman World Games in Utah on Monday, October 6. He put the shot 8.24 meters to place second in the 85-89 age division. Then on Tuesday he got busy and won the Standing Long Jump, placed 3rd in the 50 meter dash, 4th in the 200 and 5th in the Javelin throw. On the final day of competition, Bill placed 3rd in the 100 meters and 4th in the Discus Throw. Congrats Bill for representing the GTC so well.
Summary:
Make plans to join other Greenville Track Club members and guests for our October Monthly Meeting on Tuesday, October 7. Past president and current board member Joe Hammond will expound on the topic of "The Joy of Running." Come and enjoy some tasty Mexican food and a beverage at Coronitas Mexican Restaurant, 2119 Wade Hampton Blvd, Greenville, SC 29615  October 7 - GTC Monthy Meeting
Speaker: Joe Hammond on "The Joy of Running" 6:00 pm - arrive and order food 6:30 pm - announcements and speaker's presentation Coronitas Mexican Restaurant, 2119 Wade Hampton Blvd, Greenville, SC 29615 October 11 - GE Cross Country Race 6K Hartness Nature Preserve CS Race Director: Emily Headley Register: https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Greenville/GECrossCountryRace
Race Director: [email protected] Register or Volunteer: https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Greenville/SpinxRunFest
November 1 – GTC Paris Mountain Trail 16K and 7K SC Cross Country Championship Paris Mtn State Park Director: Mike Burchett [email protected] Register or Volunteer: https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Greenville/ParisMountainTrails16K November 15th - Zoom Through the Zoo 5K Greenville Zoo/Cleveland Park - Greenville CS Race Director: Lydia Thomas Register: https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Greenville/zoomthroughthezoo
Dec 6 – GTC Paris Mountain Road Races 10K and 20K (Premier Race) Director: Matt Thomas [email protected] Register or Volunteer: https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Greenville/ParisMountainRoadRace
Dec 13 – GTC Santa Run 5K Sugar Creek Club House - Greer Directors: Bill Blask & Jose Villa [email protected] Register or Volunteer: https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Greer/GreenvilleSANTARUN
 
 Join fellow Greenville Track Club members tonight (Tuesday, August 5th) at Coronitas Mexican Restaurant located at 2119 Wade Hampton Blvd, Greenville, SC 29615 for our August meeting. Help us celebrate Bill Keesling's birthday and also gain some knowledge from Physical Therapist Kent Kurfman. 6:00 pm. Hope to see you there.
August 2 – GTC Paris Mountain Trail 7K Paris Mtn State Park Director: Mike Burchett [email protected] Register or Volunteer: https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Greenville/ParisMountainTrails7K August 16 - Edouard Michelin Memorial 5K Michelin Campus - Donaldson Center CS Race Director: Brian Ilcheson Register: https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Greenville/EdouardMichelinMemorial5k
September 19 - BMW Performance Classic 2 miler BMW Performance Center - Greer CS Race Director: Robert Morse Register: https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Greer/BMWPerformanceClassic
October 11 - GE Cross Country Race 6K Hartness Nature Preserve CS Race Director: Emily Headley Register: https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Greenville/GECrossCountryRace
Race Director: [email protected] Register or Volunteer: https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Greenville/SpinxRunFest
The Greenville Track Club Youth Running Program, the GTC Rabbits, visited Furman University's track complex for their Thursday afternoon practice session. Veteran Furman coach Mickey McCauley entertained the Rabbits and some of their parents with information about Furman's Cross Country and Track programs and the many running opportunities available in their future.
For more information regarding the GTC-Rabbits please visit: https://runsignup.com/Race/SC/Greenville/GTCRabbits  Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Ryan Drew and Noah Fisher placed first and second in the Red, White and Blue 5K at Furman University on July Fourth. Drew repeated his victory from 2024 and his time of 14:13 is the fastest recorded on the current course. Fisher was only four seconds behind with a time of 14:17. They were followed by GTC-ELITE alum Ricky Flynn whose 14:24 is a new Age 37 South Carolina state record. Madison Timms of Anderson, SC won the women's overall title with a winning time of 18:08. She was followed by Greenville's Eulene Agra (18:26) and Felicia Sciortino (18:45) of Travelers Rest, SC. The race, of which proceeds go to support Furman University's Cross Country and Track programs, had 1166 registered participants. RESULTS LINK.   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. |
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