Greetings to all walkers and runner in the tri-state area.  My name is Chris Thomas and I am the new President of the GERWC.  First I would like to extend my thanks to Gordon Benfield for the great job he has done these past years.  Gordon loves everything about running, walking, coaching, racing, and the socializing.  Gordon will not be far away if I should need him.

 The Evansville Running/Walking Club is great!  The club is great because it has great people on the board.  Each person does an outstanding job at what he or she does.  I feel honored and privileged to lead these special people.

 The fundamental question that every runner must ask him or herself is “why run”.  What events pushed you towards this sport called ‘Running’?  Here are the external, environmental forces that made me take up running.

 History of Chris Thomas in Running

I was born in Pasco, Washington and was the eighth of 9 children: with 6 older brothers, 1 older sister, and 1 younger sister.  All nine of us were born within a 9-½ year span.  So I spent my early childhood years fighting for food, socks, underwear and numerous other things.

 My younger sister was my wake up call.  She beat me in nearly every endeavor: punt, pass, and kick, basketball, tennis and you name it.  She was a great trash talker, and rubbed it in every chance she got.  So what do you do when your younger sister is a sports prodigy and your left to scrounge around looking for socks and underwear?  Such is life. 

 The only sport left for me to try was long distance running.  I ran a 4:22 mile in high school and I still hold the Jeffersonville 3200-meter record of 9:22:2.  My fastest 400 meters was 60 seconds.  My best 5K time is 15:07 in 1985, and my marathon PR is 3:03, which I ran in 2004 at Nashville.  My best times for 2007 were 4:39 for 1-mile in Louisville and 16:20 for a 5K in Owensboro.  Also, I was 11^th overall in 2007 YMCA ½-Marathon.

 Personal Running Goals for 2008 -      4:30 for the mile

      16:00 for a 5K                                                            

                                                                  2:50:00 for the marathon

 

Running/Walking Club Goal for 2008:

Add fun activities to our ‘schedule of events’ for our membership.

                               (Watch for Details.) 

Please feel free to e-mail me any of your running/walking questions at cjthomas@myway.com 

Have fun with your running and don’t take it too seriously.  You cannot run great all the time.