RRCA Leadership

George Rehmet

President

Lisa Rippe

Vice President

Barb Jewell

Treasurer

Goody Tyler

Secretary, At-Large Director Blaine Moore

Eastern Region Director Sue Brown-Nickerson

Central Region Director Betsy Boudreaux

Southern Region Director Stephen Wright

Western Region Director

Samantha Collmar

At-Large Director

Jean Knaack

Executive Director

The year 2020 started on a high note with the highly successful USA Olympic Team Trials Marathon hosted by RRCA Member, the Atlanta Track Club. The RRCA was proud to be a sponsor of the breakfast for the athletes the day before the race and to be there to cheer on the many RunPro Campers and RRCA grantees.

A significant high point of the race was seeing Aliphine Tuliamuk cross the finish line as the female winner. Aliphine was an RRCA Elite Support grantee in the fall of 2019 and earned a bonus from RRCA in 2020 as a grantee who won the race. The Trials also marked a significant milestone for the sport, as it boasted one of the largest and most competitive fields perhaps ever assembled for an Olympic Trials marathon.

A few short weeks after the success of the Trials, the running community, along with the world, forever changed as the global pandemic caused by the deadly spread of COVID-19 brought world-wide shutdowns of business, sporting events, schools, and more.

On March 15, the RRCA seemed to be hit early by the mass cancellations in the sport, as we were forced to cancel the 62nd RRCA Convention in Portland, Oregon due to state restrictions for gatherings. While the event did not occur, we thank our host organization, the Oregon Road Runners Club, especially Stephen Wright, for their hard work planning what would have been, a great event. We are thankful that we were able to recoup the deposit from the hotel, which allowed us to refund attendees.

As the effects of the pandemic became clear, the RRCA worked to inform and educate members and the running community about managing event cancellations, pivoting to virtual events, and trying to find a new path forward for the sport. Through the challenges, the RRCA Coaching Course team pivoted the program from an in-person offering to an online course hosted via Zoom. The change in delivery proved to a be a positive for the program, as we engaged a more diverse audience of attendees, including an increased number of international coach candidates in the program.

While few events took place after March 15, the RRCA was still able to provide grants through the Roads Scholar program by supporting athletes that had previously attended RunPro Camp and continued to progress in the sport. With a limited number of schools opening in the fall, the decision was made to scale back the Kids Run the Nation grant totals. That noted, the RRCA was still able to provide funds to deserving youth programs that were able to safely operate in 2020-2021.

Following the tragic murder of runner Ahmaud Arbery coupled with the national dialog about racial inequity in the country, the RRCA board and staff engaged in a series of critical conversations with coaches, race directors, club leaders, and runners to discuss race, safety, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the sport and in the RRCA. As a result of discussions, the RRCA Board approved a revised mission statement and presented members with updated bylaws for approval at the 2021 Meeting of the Membership. The new bylaws clearly spell out the RRCA’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the organization.

While 2020 was not the year that anyone had planned for, it showed the running community is able to face adversity and find creative ways to adapt and change in order to deliver opportunities for runners to remain engaged in the sport. We look forward to a brighter 2021 and a strong return to an evolved normalcy for the sport and the running community.