PPTC Monthly Meeting Recap: November 2020
On Nov. 2, 2020, the Prospect Park Track Club convened for its regular members meeting, as it always does on the first Monday of every month. The virtual gathering started at 7:04 p.m. with President Tom greeting the group.
“I love our monthly meetings,” he said. "It’s one of the most normal things that I can do once a month, and especially getting together and seeing the faces of all the other club members and our friends.”
There were no new members to introduce, so the meeting proceeded straight to announcements.
Announcements
Jana T. has organized club fundraising for Michael Koplin’s memorial, which will include a dedicated plaque on a park bench near Harry’s Wall. Tom also passed along thanks from Michael’s family for the “kudos board” with more than 70 notes of well wishes from the club.
Sara gave an update on the new Welcome Wagon Committee: Keep an eye out for an email about the committee’s PPTC Pal program, which will allow new members to match with a veteran member as a way to get introduced to the group. The committee is asking for about 20 members who joined in 2020 to participate, as well as veteran members: “If you are a PPTC pro, we are inviting members to be a pal for the pilot program in November and December.”
Stephanie announced that PPTC hoodies are for sale, and existing orders so far have been sent to the vendor. Remember to keep your hoodie and non-hoodie orders separate, because hoodies will be sent directly to your mailing address. “Please bear with us as we work through all the orders.”
Stephanie also shared that a group of club leadership got a meeting with New York Road Runners to discuss a letter the club sent, asking NYRR to be more transparent about their work to prioritize diversity and inclusion. “If you have anything you want us to share, please feel free to email it to the board, and we will do our best to make sure it gets addressed at the meeting,” Stephanie said. The meeting is Thursday.
Murray celebrated the success of PPTC Baby Boom onesies—they’re all distributed, but we will get more.
Featured Speaker
Lillian introduced Ben Chan, a New York native, runner, and vocal advocate for anti-racism in the running community and beyond. Ben spoke about witnessing his mother experience discrimination, as well as his own experiences with racism, starting in childhood and continuing to present day in his new home of Keene, New Hampshire.
“Witnessing all of that and living through all of that … it turned me into the kind of person who realized that if I didn’t speak up for myself no one would,” Ben said.
“I invite confrontation … I understand not everybody has developed such a thick skin. This was out of necessity. I’m a very introverted person, and I’m sensitive. I had to learn to deal with this so I wouldn’t fall apart.”
Ben Chan, the guest speaker at PPTC’s November meeting
This summer, Ben brought attention to racism in the running world when legendary ultramarathon race director Gary “Lazarus Lake” Cantrell removed Ben’s finisher post of the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee (GVRAT), in which Ben recounted the miles he ran, the audiobooks he got into, and the racist and homophobic slurs he heard along the way. The post included a photo of Ben wearing a “Black Lives Matter” singlet. Later in the summer, Ben’s team for another virtual ultra run by Cantrell, Circumpolar Race Around the World (CRAW), was told to change their name from Black Lives Matter to something else or withdraw from the race and take a refund. The team, which included PPTC members, withdrew.
Ben then took some questions from the club. Here are a few of them:
Q: How do you go about seeking support and how did you go about determining who was safe to talk to about navigating microaggressions?
A: “I’ve experienced so much racism, I’m kind of hard into it, it doesn’t bother me. I invite confrontation … I understand not everybody has developed such a thick skin. This was out of necessity. I’m a very introverted person, and I’m sensitive. I had to learn to deal with this so I wouldn’t fall apart.”
“Wherever I go, it’s important I feel I belong. That’s how I go about it. If the space doesn’t already exist, I’m creating this space.”
He went on to talk about how this summer, he decided to open a “safe-space” meeting for his running group, Brooklyn Track Club, where people can log on and talk about racism. “I’m not here to talk at you, I’m not even here to talk to you, I’ll sit here and be silent. I think that just giving people the room to say ‘I’m uncomfortable with this’ ‘Yeah so am I let’s talk about it,’ then let’s not avoid it let’s talk about it.”
Q: How do we continue to discuss racism in the running community now that it’s no longer trending?
A: “You gotta keep talking … and amplifying other people’s voices. I worry a lot about that I’m taking up too much space.” Ben encouraged the group to support others that are leading the conversations and movements for anti-racism in running.
Q: How do you find joy in the work? It’s really emotional labor. How do you sustain it?
A: “Yeah it is, but I also feel inspired because people push back. People, even if they know they’re going to lose, they keep on fighting back. There’s a lot of struggle but there’s also a lot of humor and happiness when you find people you can talk to, when you find people who say, ‘Yeah, I’m going through this, too.’ … Hearing from those people that this matters that everybody’s presence matters is what keeps me going. But there are times I need to turn everything off and take a break.”
Q: What other outlets are you using to share your stories to amplify and underscore that racist bullying behavior is not acceptable?
A: Ben shares often on Facebook and Instagram. He also made some suggestions for how running clubs can better support members. “We need a place where runners of color can come and share our experiences: ‘This has happened and it’s not OK.’ As long as it doesn’t exist, people can avoid having this conversation.”
Q: What other suggestions do you have for us to promote antiracism in our club?
A: “I think it just starts with learning to talk about diversity and inclusion openly. We’re all capable of doing hurtful things and we all need to be talking about these things in order to evolve.”
Q: I saw on Facebook you recommended the Golden Ultra series because you found it to be particularly inclusive. Are there any other ultras or marathons you would recommend as being particularly inclusive?
A: Ben mentioned Harlem Run, Banshee Running (Oregon), and the Yeti Trail Series. “It’s one thing to say we’re diverse and inclusive. It’s about creating room for voices. It’s about leadership.”
He gave an example of a question to ask of race directors before signing up for an event: “Are you open to presenting your customers with the information that this land, these are the people that lived here on the land before it became what it is today? I think that’s a small thing to do, that any race director could do, ‘Oh this is what happened on this land. I don’t have a comprehensive list off the top of my head, but it’s important to ask questions.”
The meeting wrapped up at 20 minutes past eight, with lots of Zoom claps for Ben. Tom reminded the group of the next meeting: Monday, Dec. 7.
“Be safe, be healthy, take care of yourselves, and be supportive of each other.”
A recording of the meeting is available on PPTC’s YouTube channel.
PPTC is a diverse and supportive team. We want to showcase and celebrate the diversity of our club and membership, and encourage everyone to share your stories with us.
———
Text by: Christine DiGangi
Produced by: Alison Kotch