Jamul Toads
Jamul Toads
obv. the Washington Street Track Club
-gaunt is beautiful
what about father murphy's
Irish-American AC dominated its era.
ADANAC track club! Go Canucks
Only one: Rudolpho Gomez Track Club. Greatest singlet ever.
The Gooch wrote:
Glenhuntly Athletic Club in Melbourne, Australia - Ron Clarke, Deek, and Sonia O'Sullivan for starters.
Def. a good track club. I ran with the club a couple times when I was in Melbourne the past four months.
Victory Athletic Club out of Louisville, KY in the 80's. The Club quickly achieved national status by winning the TAC Open Men's Cross-Country Championship in November, 1980.
They had guys like
John Wellerding, Dave Long, Dave Murphy, Nick Rose, Martin Brewer, and others that I cant remember right now.
van wrote:
Greater Boston
Rodgers,Hodgie,Meyer,Thomas,Salazar, even Dederian !
Coaches: Sev and Squires
At 2:19 I was only the tenth guy in the late 1970s.
But GBTC at that time was an anomaly as was Athletics West. What I'd consider for a club is an incorporated, non-profit organization with an open membership, democratic process, coaching staff, men and women at all ages and a community out reach and who largely train together.
Excellent all-star, sponsored clubs will form from time to time but longevity and service to large numbers of runners is an important part of "greatness."
Tom
Da Old Maryland Track Club der hon
Speed Kills wrote:
SMTC has:
Set or tied 37 World Records
Set or tied 60 American Records
Earned 19 gold medals, 5 silver medals, and 3 bronze medals for a total of 27 medals
But SMTC isn't a traditional "club" as in other parts of the world. It was based in Santa Monica until they had a shot at getting Carl Lewis. Then they had a group of sprinters in Houston and a group of distance runners in California. I'm not even sure if the Houston guys ever set foot in Santa Monica. If you consider a club as a group of athletes living in the same place and training together -- rather than just a bunch of people who wear the same uniforms -- I would respectfully submit that SMTC should really be considered two clubs. While either was still a formidable force, I might go with GBTC in the states or Gateshead in Europe since they fit more within my definition of "club."
Derderian wrote:
van wrote:Greater Boston
Rodgers,Hodgie,Meyer,Thomas,Salazar, even Dederian !
Coaches: Sev and Squires
At 2:19 I was only the tenth guy in the late 1970s.
But GBTC at that time was an anomaly as was Athletics West. What I'd consider for a club is an incorporated, non-profit organization with an open membership, democratic process, coaching staff, men and women at all ages and a community out reach and who largely train together.
Excellent all-star, sponsored clubs will form from time to time but longevity and service to large numbers of runners is an important part of "greatness."
Tom
Tom,
I agree with you on GBTC setting the bar for the rest of us. Although 2:19 does not make our top 10 list, we certainly have yet to approach the top end of that group. Our whole reason for starting the program is because you folks proved what was possible with a group of athletes getting together and making each other better. The mark that you guys set 25 years ago, and how you did it, is remarkable. Anytime I have an opportunity to pick Bill or Greg's brain about the things they saw as important, I take advantage.
I do take offense to what you call "all star sponsored clubs". I see many clubs as a restrictive group that tend to be way too political and in turn do not serve the large number of runners in both genders that they may have set out to do when they started. We have had community speed sessions for over 20 years (we have only been in business for 15 and the elite program has been in existence since 1999) the group is about 250 strong. All ages and all abilities and both genders. There are no dues, there are no uniforms and there certainly is no Board of Directors as we feel that would add way too much structure. We have Thursday night Tempo runs that are about 75 strong. There are no dues because we don't want someone to feel obligated. On a national level no one is aware of these people but they see themselves (and I do as well) as an integral part of the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project. These elite athletes are part of the running community and these elite athletes are equally as proud of the community as the community is of them. We have guys that can't break an hour for a 10k that can tell you the name of every athlete that ran in the Olympic Trials in the 10k or marathon in the US. These are all community folks (53 of them) that rented a bus to drive down to Birmingham Alabama to support the group (their friends and training partners) So are we one of those "all star sponsored clubs"? Call it what you want, but our community outreach is much greater that any "club" in our area.
Not in order of greatness:
Santa Monica TC: no need to explain!
Southern Cal Striders: all events in the 60's to 70's. From distance runners to sprinters and field events
Bayer Leverkusen: German club where most of their olympians are memebers
Berlin Dynamo: DDR's most powerful club, they had everything too.
CLUB DIRT all the way!!! So good that we won't let Christopher Cowan sign!!!
Also the Los Angeles Track Club in the 60's, when Igloi was there. They had a lot more than Bob Schul. The LATC once held every Ameican Record from 800 through 10000.
NYAC!
HFC Striders
Liberty AC
Tom,
...
I do take offense to what you call "all star sponsored clubs".
Kevin,
Sorry, I do not mean to offend or critize, but to point out distinctions. Clubs with a sponsor are different from clubs with many sponsors or none and clubs that are non-profit 501 (c) 3 corporations run by an elected board of directors are different and clubs that go out and throw their shirts on scattered runners are yet different. Certainly there is a continuum. Some clubs have an owner who makes the rules and some are democracies. There is a difference that may or may not be like college DI, DII, DIII.
Tom
HSI? hehe