President’s Message - December 1991
Calling All Voices…

Two interesting proposals arose at our November meeting. The first was traditional; the second revolutionary. Both are worthy of consideration.

The first proposal was that the club should do more to encourage team entries at races offering team competition. While this is not a new idea, it was given concrete support by placing an additional $200 in the budget for funding such efforts.

The benefits of team competition include pride, personal satisfaction, and increased publicity for the team. As a club dedicated to promoting the benefits of running, we should, as a matter of pride, relish competing against other track clubs. Granted we are not going to cause CMS, Tri-Valley, or the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team any sleepless nights. Nonetheless, we can compete against many clubs, and might even come to excel in certain categories (witness the ongoing success of our mixed masters relay team). 

Jack O’Rourke has noted that because most running is an individual activity, we add another dimension to our running experience when enter team competition. The added incentive of trying to reach team goals can enhance individual training programs. The satisfaction of being a team that does well can bring rewards that may never be experienced in individual competition. 

Finally, there has been much discussion at club meetings regarding ways of generating publicity to bring in new members. Having the club name appear frequently in team race results is an excellent way to attract the attention of those likely to join running clubs. 

On an altogether different note, it was during a discussion of the upcoming Jingle Bell run- our annual Christmas caroling at local nursing homes- that Paula Giles made her revolutionary suggestion. It was that GFTC participants actually rehearse be- forehand! 

Like all revolutionary ideas, this was greeted with a mixture of shock, skepticism, and indignity. It is hallowed tradition in the GFTC that we approach our singing like a Fun Run. That is, we all start out together and then proceed at our own speed, along routes of our own choosing to the finish of the lyric- out of breath and at staggered intervals. It has been an unquestioned tenet of club philosophy that our musical genius is too large to be shackled by the constraints of tempo and harmony. Just because the Mormon Tabernacle Choir brainlessly chooses to sing from the same page, adhering to notes probably written centuries ago, doesn’t seem to mean that we have to wallow in the same automaton-like mediocrity. Whom among us hasn’t experienced the thrill of giving Ray Murphy an eight bar lead on the piano and still beating him to the finish (just like on the race course)? And weren’t we all proud when Rich Chesmore and Bob Smith lapped the entire club on “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, finishing in 1:14 flat (still a club record)? Still, any organization must always be open to new ideas. It would be a mistake to reject any idea, even one as radical as this, out of hand. Thus, we will try to set aside time at the December meeting for a rehearsal, to be led by Paula. 

Art