Our next member spotlight is on Janet Gottlieb, who we interviewed on the blog in 2017. We followed up with Janet to see how the pandemic has affected her training, and how she stays motivated even though her PR days are behind her.
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Our first member spotlight for 2021 is on Douglas Olney. While he started running in 1975, Doug joined PPTC in 1984 and has been an active member of the club ever since, organizing many events (and coordinating the bus loading for the NYC Marathon).
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I’ve been doing these monthly meeting write-ups for a year now. A lot has changed since January 2020—at that point I wouldn’t have guessed most of our 2020 meetings would be virtual—but plenty has stayed the same.
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What a month we’ve had between this and our last meeting. The virtual Turkey Trot raised more than $19,000, and just at the start of December, PPTC hosted its 50th anniversary 50-mile race—all in Prospect Park, of course.
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If you were in Prospect Park on Sunday, December 6, you might have noticed more runners than usual looping the park wearing race numbers. Those brave souls were running PPTC’s inaugural 50 miler in honor of the club’s 50th Anniversary year.
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Editor’s note: As we collectively wind down from a chaotic 2020, the blog team thought we’d close the year by focusing on a bright spot as part of the club’s history: Welcoming the newest members of the PPTC family!
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I started running in high school in California, because I wanted to be on a team and had friends who ran track. I tried pole vaulting, but didn’t have the upper body strength or sprint speed, so I switched to distance running. I was terrible at that too.
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I was always someone who’d optimize my high school track meets by trying to do the least amount of running possible. My teammates acknowledged me as a fellow “runner,” but never without the air quotes — and I couldn’t blame them.
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On Wednesday, November 25, PPTC held its annual anniversary memorial service. This year, we also planted a tree in partnership with The Prospect Park Alliance, a contribution of positivity during such a troubling year.
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Editor’s Note: The following is the text of an address given by Allison McGinnis, Michael Koplin’s daughter, at the 2020 Memorial Ceremony held in Prospect Park at Harry’s Wall on November 25, 2020.
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Editor’s Note: Michael wrote this post in July, and it was in the process of being edited for publication before his sudden passing on October 20, 2020.
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Miles and smiles. The true worth of a life is best measured in miles and smiles. MILES – long, hard, sweaty miles. The kind of miles that make your heart pound and your breath come with effort. The kind of miles that remind you that you are alive.
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It seems everyone remembers the last time they dined out before the COVID lockdown, the last time they saw a movie, went to a museum, walked a crowded Manhattan street, hung out at a bar with friends, had a meeting in the office...before that all ended.
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On Nov. 2, 2020, the Prospect Park Track Club convened for its regular members meeting. The virtual gathering started at 7:04 p.m. with President Tom greeting the group. The guest speaker was Brooklyn Track Club member Ben Chan, a New York native and anti-racism advocate.
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This is the second part of a three-post mental health series. We interviewed two of our favorite members, Kelly and Pam, about how running has helped their mental health.
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Want to test yourself on some running trivia? Our next (and last!) crossword puzzle, Sole Mates, has you covered.
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It’s hard to believe Eric Levenstein has only been running for a handful of years. He went from run-walking the PPTC Turkey Trot in 2015 to finishing the Vermont 100-miler last July.
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For some reason I am unable to articulate, I actually paid cold hard cash to run Boston virtually. Maybe because I am still convinced it hurt me to not run a marathon between NYCM 2016 and Boston 2018, and I don't want to repeat that mistake, even if at the rate we're going, I won't actually get to run the real Boston Marathon again until 2025.
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I hit the ground hard, left leg skidding across the pavement, breath knocked out of me. "Are you ok?" Will Ngo and Jana Trenk hovered over me with worried faces. Instinctively, I reached to pause my watch, and said, "Yes, I'm fine...!" Only a mile into my attempt to run virtual Boston, and things were not going well.
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