A large crowd poses for a photo on Harrisburg’s City Island in June before running two miles to celebrate Harrisburg Area Road Runners’ 50th Anniversary.
Several dozen friends gathered on a Saturday morning in June to celebrate many miles, lots of T-shirts, a few injuries and special friendships.
In a time when many social organizations are struggling, the Harrisburg Area Road Runners Club (HARRC) is marking 50 years of helping residents of the capital region become the best versions of themselves through physical fitness and socialization.
The group also inducted its inaugural Hall of Fame class: Rick Blood, Carroll Myers, Walt Greene, Nick Marshall and Park Barner.
Greene, a founding club member, began running in 1966 while stationed with the Navy in Seoul, South Korea.
“My uniforms were showing every bit of my 160 pounds, which I attributed to little or no exercise,” he said.
Running for sport was in its infancy in the 1970s, but Greene and a few other marathoners saw a need to gather like-minded people to push each other to improve their times. Marshall was elected HARRC’s first president.
They hosted a race every Sunday that didn’t collect entry fees or distribute awards. The Harrisburg Patriot-News published the results weekly, and participation grew. Carroll Myers was one of the club’s earliest members.
Myers attended Dover Area High School before Title IX required schools to offer girls the same opportunities as boys. She was forbidden to train with the boys’ team in high school and ran with the men’s team at Lock Haven University.
In 1975, she had never run more than eight miles non-stop but registered for the Harrisburg Marathon on a bet. Her supposed running buddies dropped out early. She finished and was hooked on the sport. Running professionally for Adidas took Myers to many different cities, but her favorite marathon was always back home.
“I always loved making HARRC proud of their course and a well-organized race,” she said. “Big cities had nothing on Harrisburg.”
HARRC welcomed newbies such as Myers and professional runners like Park Barner. Known as “the human metronome,” Barner ran ultramarathons across America while remaining loyal to his beloved Harrisburg. He certified the course’s length in the first several years of the Harrisburg Marathon and ran in every race.
The American Ultrarunning Association considers Barner to be the first celebrity ultrarunner, a title he never sought nor embraced. Always keeping his eyes on the road, he even turned down an invitation to appear on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” because he preferred to use his vacation days for road races.
Rick Blood learned about HARRC in 1975 when his father read about it in the newspaper. His father was not a runner but joined his son—then a high school sophomore—on Sunday mornings. The welcoming group recruited him to become a race director and timer, and his son still cherishes several of the stopwatches he used.
“I’m very thankful for the people I got to meet and become friends with because of my association with HARRC,” Blood said. “I can also attribute a lot of my development as a distance runner to the road runners club.”
That One Thread
As HARRC grew and friendships formed, the original members always made room in their pack for newbies. Brad Colwell joined in 1985.
“That was back when runners wore blue jeans and basketball sneakers,” he said, while watching more modernly dressed athletes cross the finish line at HARRC’s 50th anniversary run.
The group has evolved over the years, Colwell said. In the early years, HARRC runners were more focused on their times.
“Our way of socializing was trying to beat the guy in front of you,” he said.
The regular Sunday runs are also a thing of the past as today’s runners use Facebook to organize outings that fit various schedules.
Colwell served as HARRC president for several years and was a member of the Hall of Fame selection committee.
“I got so much from this running community,” he said. “I just wanted to give back.”
As he watched his five friends receive their honors, Colwell remembered runners he had said goodbye to, especially Gary Grobman, who died in August 2023. HARRC named Grobman male “Runner of the Year” three times. He competed in nine Boston Marathons and was at the finish line in 2013 when bombs exploded on Boylston Street.
The HARRC Hall of Fame was Grobman’s idea, and Colwell and others were honored to carry out their friends’ wishes.
Those who were in focus at the HARRC 50th anniversary celebration now have gray hair and wobbly knees and can spend many hours sharing stories of the club’s past. That group is also excited about the future, which is in the hands of current President Kelly Waltman. She joined HARRC about 10 years ago for many of the same reasons as her predecessors—she was searching for community. HARRC has kept her motivated, accountable and social. She encourages runners of all abilities to join the club and reap the benefits so many others have for half a century.
“Sometimes, there is no better feeling than after you have gone for a run, even if it didn’t go how you thought it would be,” she said.
HARRC members often also run with other groups such as Harrisburg River Runners, Harrisburg Beer Runners, Fleet Feet Running Club and Appalachian Running Club. Waltman enjoys those groups but is honored to be at the helm of the one that started it all.
“HARRC has been that one thread through the running community for 50 years,” she said.
Harrisburg Area Road Runners Club runs are open to runners of all ages and abilities. To learn more, visit www.harrc.org.
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