Mid Michigan Track Club

1. About Tuesday at the “Y” lot. There are about 2 dozen porta-johns but they are all padlocked until Saturday gameday. Closest stops might be at Bigby’s on Hagadorn-Mt Hope corner or porta john just inside the gate of Evergreen Cemetery.

2. Pizza. Everyone pays and tips for own drinks. If you paid 3 dollars dues this year, pizza is on MMTC. If not, you are responsible for your eats.(put your money in the “dues” pot.) There will be a pot to put the three bucks in if you owe. Using honor system. Make your own change and use your own memory.

3. When ever we run at parks or cemeteries we should remember that as we approach walkers it is our responsiblity as the faster moving people to move over to avoid a collision, the same as bicyclist. Also, like the bicyclists, an alert as you come up behind a walker so that they are not startled and veer into your path is indicated. An “on you right (or left)” or “runner behind you on your right ( or left) “as do the bicyclers should be the polite and effecient way to approach the walkers. Certainly a “get out of the way” or a “move over” is not good PR for either the running community and particularly the track club.

Please read letter below:

-Gordon

Dear Gordon Schafer:

I took a look at your website and I see that your club meets at various spots once a week to run together. What a great way to do something you really enjoy as well as meeting up with like minds that you enjoy connecting with, while engaging in physical wellness.

I walk at Evergreen Cemetary six days a week and it is truly a beautiful and peaceful place to be, connecting with nature and also doing something good for my own well being. While I have been walking at this cemetary, I noticed that there is an elder woman and her husband that come in around 6 pm almost everyday to take pictures of deer. Also there is a handicapped woman that walks with a walker, and braces on her legs, and she has a service dog with her. She walks there two to three days a week as well.

I am telling you all of this because while I was surprised to see your running club at Evergreen this evening, I thought in my mind, everyone has a right and deserves to be there to enjoy the peace and tranquility whether it be riding bike, walking or running, or for those that have family members buried there to give their respects to their loved ones that have passed on.

As I was finishing the last leg of my walk, I was greeted by the front end of your running club and someone yelled at me and my son to “get out of the way!” I respect everyone’s right to be who they are, and also respect any and every situation to be what it is. We all come from the same place regardless of spiritual practices or religious beliefs. We all have a need for our soul to evolve, heal, love and find peace. Let us use the universe in a way that is simple, loving and free. Mitakuye Oyasin my brother and please share with your group that we are all related and no one is better then the next and that to be rude is just human-less.

I respect your right to be there and be who you all are, please do the same in return.

Sincerley,

Stephanie S Gogarn