PPTC Monthly Meeting Recap: June 2020
(Apologies in advance for any misspelled/misheard names. We’ll happily correct any errors).
The Prospect Park Track Club has members-only meetings the first Monday of the month. Since April 2020, instead of gathering at our usual place, Da Nonna Rosa on 7th Avenue in Brooklyn, we’ve had virtual meetings. In addition to familiar faces and a lot of PPTC red, the meeting featured a club favorite/least favorite: ravioli pizza, made by Jana V.
Given that this recap was written three weeks after it occurred, this post serves more as a historical document than as an informative bit of club communication. Either way, here’s what happened:
Opening Statements
President Tom opened the meeting much like he did the previous one—addressing the stress brought on by the pandemic and everything related to it. This meeting also occurred on June 1, a week after a police officer killed George Floyd in Minneapolis, which sparked global protests against police brutality and anti-Black racism.
“What’s happened in recent times: That cumulative stress now has gasoline thrown on it,” Tom said. “Adam is going to address how our club is dealing with that a little bit later, but what I wanted to talk about is, you know, I always use the analogy that we’re like a surrogate family, and when there is a crisis in a family, the family pulls together and they’re supportive and reach out to each other.”
Tom continued: “I know a lot of you were attracted to joining our club because of our inclusion and support and outreach of runners of all different ages and abilities, and I certainly value that as part of our family.”
New Members
Next, Tom asked for new members or members attending their first meeting to introduce themselves and share why they joined the club, how long they’ve been members, and what running goals they have.
Four new members said hello. Reasons for joining included:
Feeling optimistic about the future, looking forward to socializing, and having accountability buddies.
Loved PPTC’s events, especially the Al Goldstein Summer Speed Series, fireworks runs last summer, and new member runs.
We all unmuted and clapped for the new members.
Announcements
Usually, the next portion of the meeting involves members sharing stories about their recent races, but that segment has understandably been a little less prominent during the pandemic.
Adam started off the announcements section: “I’m really glad to make the announcements today even though it’s a tough, uncomfortable subject. We as a club, given the current environment, made the decision that we needed to be more proactive members of our community and take a stand in regards to anti-racism and supporting BIPOC people in our communities. It wasn’t enough for us to say that we’re supportive of diversity and inclusiveness: We needed to take more concrete action.”
In addition to the statement posted on the club website, PPTC has also helped spearhead a group of people representing various running clubs in the community dedicated to promoting “actual inclusiveness in our community, instead of just playing lip service to it.”
PPTC has also started an intra-club working group to address the ways we’ve fallen short in the past and how we can be a force for serious change in our communities. PaFoua and Allan expanded on the inner-club efforts, which so far have included discussing the following things:
What barriers exist that are making people think racism is an uncomfortable thing to discuss as a club, particularly when they relate to running, like Ahmaud Arbery’s death?
How can we actively speak out against racism?
How can we better support our BIPOC communities?
PaFoua, Allan and Adam encouraged everyone to keep speaking up, and to reach out to leadership about any ideas for how we can improve.
Next up, Stephanie and the race committee hosted the virtual awards ceremony for the Running Together Apart 5K that occurred in May. Here were the highlights:
76 finishers
5 PRs: Erin, Karl, Cressida, Ricky, Beth
9 cities
More than $2,000 raised for local organizations, including the Park Slope Ambulance Corps
The Top Three Finishers
Women: Jana T, Holly, Leiba
Men: Noah, Tom A, Shane
Following the success of the inaugural RTA 5K, which was open only to members, the race committee announced the next virtual race: the Virtual Al Goldstein 5K, June 17-23, open to the public.
Crystal spoke on behalf of the social committee, and unveiled a distance challenge that started on June 3. “This is all about running consistently over the summer. It has been hard to stay motivated, so we planned a virtual run to 500K to the Olympic Training center at Lake Placid.”
PPTC members can sign up to run 500K or 1,000K between June 3 and Sept. 7.
Predictably, this triggered some competitive chatter in the meeting chat.
Guest Speaker
Jana T then introduced this month’s guest speaker, new member and physical therapist Andrew Eisen. Andrew opened a PT practice in Gowanus in March (which he had to close shortly thereafter, because of the pandemic). Good news: Ascent Physical Therapy is back open. Some members may recognize Andrew from the injury prevention clinic he hosted in February, or from his work with the Ultramarathon Training Group.
Andrew specializes in orthopedics and has a sub-specialty in manual physical therapy. He described his practice as “very hands on,” and noted that PPTC members get a discount on sessions.
That’s all for June. Next month’s meeting is July 6.
Text by: Christine DiGangi
Edited by: Linda Chan & Alison Kotch
Produced by: Alison Kotch