My MCRR

Since my years of being a Medina County Road Runners Club Officer have now come to an end, I thought it may be appropriate to say a few words about the club. Unfortunately, Angie Kovacs stole my thunder with her farewell note in last month’s newsletter. I had been planning to say many of the same things. Really. But now that It’s a new month and new newsletter, I will say them anyway.

I thought I was a pretty accomplished and competitive runner when I joined the club in 2008. MCRR was only a year old, and even though I knew a few other runners in the area, I knew none of the MCRR members at the time. My running and especially my friendships were in for some big changes. The changes have all been for the better.

Joe and Lisa Herbert, along with just a few other runners had started the club. I learned about it from Connie Gardner in Second Sole. I'd had a not so wonderful experience with a different running club. Although folks in that other club were not unfriendly, they also weren't overly outgoing, warm or welcoming to newcomers such as myself, either. I just figured that run clubs simply weren't my thing. From the start, however, MCRR proved that such was not the case at all.

Right away, I met Joe and Lisa, and also Ladd Clifford, Chuck Dammon and a few others. I learned that I wasn’t quite as great a runner as I’d thought – at least when compared with others in the club, and in Medina County. I think Roy Heger and John McCarroll were already members. Connie, Ron Ross, and several other greats had yet to join, although several of them did so soon thereafter. Everyone was outgoing, and I formed several immediate friendships.

Most importantly, I had folks to run with. Yes, I’d had running partners before, but now I had so many! And there were meet-ups at races and other events. The possibilities seemed limitless. I was having a blast. As the years went by, more and more of my newfound friends joined up. I still run with many of them on a regular basis. What could be better than that?

I became the second President of the club, stayed on for a few years, and then continued to serve as a club Officer, including the all-important Vice President position ;). Serving on the Board has been a privilege and an honor. Now with Angie also stepping down, it’s time for Bob Pokorny, our new President, along with some new and some ongoing Officers to take over. I have utmost confidence in them, and in everyone in the club.

As MCRR begins its second decade, I couldn’t be happier with our direction. Our best days are yet to come.