It has been a great honor and wonderful experience to serve as the Chair of the USATF Masters Long-Distance Running Committee. I have met a lot of truly wonderful people. I especially appreciate the huge support by the members of the MLDR Executive Committee, our subcommittees, our race directors, our enthusiastic participants, and all those who have supported us in building a very strong calendar of races coming out of the pandemic. As some of you may know, I have been challenged with some serious health issues, and after much thought, I felt that the upcoming USATF Annual Meeting would be the best opportunity for our Masters LDR Committee to identify a replacement from the many qualified candidates.
A year ago, together, we embarked on a journey to achieve three key objectives.
- First, build a strong, geographically diverse set of Championships — and announce and market them at a much earlier date.
- Second, greatly improve communication with our potential participants — so we could increase participation at our events.
- And third, build a closer and synergistic relationship with Masters Track and Field.
Achieving these objectives required a huge amount of work, including establishing 3 new subcommittees – a Championship Subcommittee to identify a set of 10 annual championships with great partners for our Grand Prix, a Communication Subcommittee to find ways to increase our participation, and a Technical Subcommittee to work with our race partners to make sure that our events are successful. As I look back on the year, I am greatly appreciative of the huge effort that our many volunteers and participants have made in achieving these objectives, including:
- Starting up the post-Covid LDR racing with record attendance at the 12k Championship in New Jersey – our highest attended road race championship in history,
- Getting a quick start on a very solid 2022 Masters LDR Grand Prix Schedule, with 9 USATF Championships and 1 WMA event,
- The terrific participation in our quarterly Ambassador Calls,
- Developing and distributing our 2022 Grand Prix Cards at our 2021 events and with our clubs and associations,
- Improving synergy with Masters Track and Field, including helping with a record attendance at the Outdoor Nationals for the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races,
- Pulling ahead of the bid and contract process so we could better market our events,
- Working with the National Office and Masters Track and Field to improve the content on our websites,
- Improving our “race checklist” and launching a cadence of zoom calls with our race partners and our Technical Subcommittee to follow-up on the list to ensure the quality of our events.
Most important, I would like to leave a huge shout-out to all of those who participate in long-distance running. We do this not only because of the health and fitness that it brings, but importantly, the comradery, happiness, and joy of sharing our passion with those around us. I hope to see many of you on December 11th at the USATF Club Cross Championships in Tallahassee, Florida where we will celebrate our 2020/2021 Grand Prix winners and kick off our 2022 Grand Prix.
