Vital volunteers

Track series = a fine, long-running tradition!

It occurred to me, moments after I received this awesome photo from the equally awesome Bob Kopac, that we don’t write about volunteers and race officials nearly enough. We’ll try to remedy that today.

And, what better event to focus on the volunteers than the Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club’s annual Summer Twilight Track Series?

The summer series began last Friday night at Arlington High School. After a one-week hiatus because of the July 4 holiday, the series will resume for the next three Fridays in July – on July 11, July 18 and July 25.

There are so many good things to say about the summer series, but let’s start with this: As far as volunteers and event management, it’s the equivalent of four races! Each early evening at the track requires hearty, loyal volunteers, and the photo above represents several decades of dedication and service to the track series.

How many generations of runners were hatched from this series? The short answer is: MANY. Our three children grew up with the knowledge that summer Friday nights in July were spent at the track, where they learned to enjoy running, they loved getting the finishers’ ribbons … and maybe we’d score some post-meet comfort food and ice cream too!

Jamie and Jackie Stroffolino are the current summer series directors, having taken over the series last summer. Jackie emailed an enthusiastic first-week meet report (it is below) as well as a subtle call for volunteers on July 18 – hey, it’s not like they’ll be chillin’ by the pool … Jamie is doing a 100-mile trail race that weekend!

Anyway, let’s all support the track series, an event with roots tracing back well more than 50 years. Kudos to the Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club for keeping it going. Parents, grandparents and most importantly the kids owe the club an eternal debt of gratitude for putting the fun in the run – for many toddlers, for the first time!

The first-week volunteers in the photo above: Jamie Stroffolino, Olivia Stroffolino (Jamie and Jackie’s daughter), Tom Curtis (Jackie’s dad), (MHRRC “Founding Mother’’) Linda Stow, Jackie Stroffolino, Nancy Angell, Bob Selcov, Tom Storey. Other volunteers included Marsha Kramer and Jayme Schultz (who had a son in the series and she signed up to help, according to Jackie). Below photos of volunteers are also from Bob Kopac. More action photos from the series will follow in future posts!

Here is Jackie’s email:

We had a very successful first night at the track series!

A HUGE thank you to the volunteers from last evening - Bob S, Tom S, Tom C, Bob K, Marsha, Linda, and Nancy.

We handed out 151 bibs and had 205 registrations by the end of the night. All kids 14 and under got an awesome t-shirt and we handed out countless finisher ribbons.

So many families left the track happy and the smiles on the kids' faces crossing the finish line is priceless.

Just a reminder that we are not running on 7/4. We'll be back at it for the remaining 3 Fridays in July on the 11th, 18th, and 25th.

Just one more thing... Jamie is running the Vermont 100 this year, which means he and I actually have to miss one evening, July 18th. If anyone is around that week, we're looking for all-hands-on-deck that night! If anyone knows other MHRRC friends who may be able to help out, please reach out.

Thanks all!

Jackie and Jamie