Milestone: Greenville Track Club celebrates 50 years

It was 1969, and Bill Keesling had a simple goal. He had been named Furman University’s track and cross country coach, and he wanted to get the community involved.

Replicating a group he had seen at the University of Tennessee, he created the Greenville Track Club in 1972 with eight members, mainly Furman professors and a few friends he’d recruited.

“The running scene was very limited at that point,” Keesling says. An early race in 1972 attracted just two participants, each of whom paid 50 cents to enter.

Within a couple of years, there were 200 members and a full slate of events, including Green Valley Road Race and a grueling 20K up Paris Mountain — both still on the calendar and more popular than ever.

As the group celebrates its 50th anniversary this month, Greenville Track Club has more than 1,200 members and puts on 14 running events — road races, trail races, summer track meets — along with six Corporate Shield races focused on the business community. The club has added numerous events and programs, including Asics GTC-Elite, which trains post-collegiate Olympic hopefuls.

But the ever-humble Keesling, who still competes in 100- and 200-meter races at age 81, says he isn’t sure why the group grew so quickly and achieved such longevity.

Photos: Greenville Track Club Paris Mountain Road Race

“I didn’t have a blueprint,” says Keesling, who was Furman’s coach until 1978. “It just happened. Obviously, you hope when you start something like this that it will continue. I’m pretty amazed it has been going for 50 years and has done all that it has done.”

Bill Keesling & Robin Walter — Greenville Track Club president Robin Walter and founder Bill Keesling in front of the GTC office. Photo provided

The organization celebrated this week at Pangea Brewing, bringing together the elder statesmen who cobbled the group together as well as younger members who are increasingly taking on leadership roles.

Robin Walter, GTC president, is motivated by the leadership of the people who kickstarted the Upstate running movement, and wants to do her part to keep its legacy alive. “That’s my reason, after hearing about 50 years of this, is how do I keep the momentum going for the next 50 years, and keep it going for 50 more? They set the tone and we need to keep it going.”

“I didn’t have a blueprint,” says Bill Keesling, who was Furman’s coach until 1978. “It just happened. Obviously, you hope when you start something like this that it will continue. I’m pretty amazed it has been going for 50 years and has done all that it has done.”

Adrian Craven, who was part of the group from its earliest days (and recently competed in a cross-country 8K in Florida at age 85) says much has changed since the young, hardcore group would gather for fast miles in thin-soled shoes, followed by a lot of eating, a bit of drinking, and sometimes dancing on tables at Gimbo’s on Duncan Chapel Road.

A variety of pursuits came and went over the years, including the Great Road Relay, a regional 25-mile race that gathered up to 100 teams of five, who ran five miles each and then celebrated with a beer and spaghetti picnic at Cleveland Park. For several years, a GTC group ran the entire state of South Carolina, from the North Carolina state line to the coast. It took about 38 hours, Craven says, and one year, they were greeted at the finish by Sen. Strom Thurmond.

Other events were formed and stuck around for the long haul. The Reedy River Run got its start in 1978 and will be held for the 44th time on April 23 with a 10K and 5K. Hundreds of runners will take to the streets, from elite athletes to mid-level goal-setters to those seeking a casual stroll through downtown Greenville and a new t-shirt.

The start of the Paris Mountain Road Race 10K in 2021. Photo by John Olson

For everyone

Embracing all types of runners, joggers and walkers has been key to the group’s expansion and continued appeal. Kerrie Sijon, administrator and a member since 2000, says she was too intimidated to join at first. “I thought it was only fast people,” she says. “I never felt like I was worthy of joining.”

Then she met several members and got invited to run the Reedy. She did it, and then another race, and before she knew it, she “got the fever.” She went on to become social coordinator and volunteered at races, and soon, the joy of volunteering outweighed the joy of running, though she loves both.

“My new goal in life is to embrace the community, giving back and clapping and watching them have fun and being proud,” she says.

Walter’s story is similar. She moved to Greenville in 2013 and “had never run in my life,” she says. Many of her new friends and neighbors were runners, and signed her up for the Big Pumpkin 5K at Spinx Run Fest, a popular, costume-filled event held each October. Quickly hooked on running and racing, an injury led her to volunteer at a race instead of competing, and before she knew it, she was on the GTC board, then vice president, then president of the club. “I just love it,” she says. “It’s so rewarding. I love being a cheerleader.”

Mike Burchett, who joined in 2004 and has served as president several times, says he joined because he loved running (and wanted the race discount members receive), but has stayed involved because of the people and because of the good the group can do in the community. “We want to get more people running, but also volunteering and in the leadership cycle as well,” he says.

Photos: 2021 United Community Bank Reedy River Run

The group has worked on numerous charitable efforts, including raising funds for the American Cancer Society, working with Meals On Wheels, assisting high school cross country teams, partnering with elementary schools, and funding features on the Swamp Rabbit Trail like water fountains and benches.

“We all remember that feeling we had (as new runners),” Burchett says. “The physical changes, breathing better, and the emotional high, and that feeling you get when you are nervous and don’t think you belong, but then you realize, this is where I belong,” Burchett says. “As long as we don’t lose sight of those experiences we had early on, we’ll be successful at bringing people in and growing.”