Greenville Track Club celebrating 40th Anniversary

GREENVILLE, SC – It started with a small group of dedicated runners heading over the top of Paris Mountain. Now it is more than 1,000 runners, walkers, and athletes of all types that have created the backbone of the Upstate’s outdoor sporting community.

The Greenville Track Club will celebrate its 40^th Anniversary this year with several events and initiatives including the formation of a Hall of Fame, a commemorative race guide coming out soon, getting more children involved in programing and a greater focus on giving back to the area community.

“The Greenville Track Club is about more than racing,” said Michael Burchett, the club’s president. “Over the years, we have come to represent a wide swath of athletes from walkers to first-time runners to high-level marathoners. It is all of Greenville.”

The celebration will start in earnest with the 35^th running of the TD Bank Reedy River Runs on March 2 and 3, Burchett said. This race has become one of the Greenville Track Club’s signature events along with the Greenville News Run Downtown, the Paris Mountain Road Race, the Sunrise 8K and the Spinx Runfest.

The Greenville Track Club’s history starts when Bill Keesling was named head track and cross country coach at Furman University in 1969. He wanted to create a similar running community that he had seen in Knoxville while coaching at the University of Tennessee. He organized the first Paris Mountain Road Race in 1971 – a 12-mile route that drew less than a dozen people.

But from that,  he started seeking out more runners in the community and the Greenville Track Club was formed in early 1972.

“The focus then was to create a running community in Greenville that would have ties to Furman's track and cross country programs as well as offer opportunity for training and racing for the community at large and the high school programs as well,” Keesling said. “From those early days it is gratifying to see what has happened over these 40 years.”

Jim Roberts, the club’s vice president and a member since 1976, said the club has grown because of its commitment to offering quality events. The Greenville Track Club currently sponsors 13 running events plus an additional six Corporate Shield races that focus on a business community competition.

The group hosts more than just road races, Roberts said. It also holds trail races, a summer track meet series, a highly successful children’s running program and a race challenge for seniors.

More Greenville Track Club’s information can be found at www.greenvilletrackclub.com.