Syracuse Chargers cancel fun run program at Onondaga Lake due to lack of volunteers

The Syracuse Chargers Track Club has canceled its weekly Thursday night fun runs at Onondaga Lake Park because no one has volunteered to oversee the program for 2012.

By Sarah Hall

As of Tuesday, June 19, 2012 -11:16 a.m.

Liverpool — For 40 years, runners looking for a low-key training opportunity could get it through the “fun runs” put on by the Syracuse Chargers Track Club at Onondaga Lake Park in the summer months.

Those days are gone, at least for the 2012 season.

“Unfortunately, we've had to cancel the Thursday night Fun Runs at Onondaga Lake Park for the 2012 season because no one has volunteered to oversee them this season,” said Bob Heimenz, webmaster for the Syracuse Chargers, in an email to the CNY Triathlon Club. “As an all-volunteer organization, the Chargers can only do as much as our volunteer resources support.”

The Syracuse Chargers Track Club, based in Fayetteville and originally known as the Syracuse Track Club, was founded in 1969 to help support development of track and field, long distance running and race walking in Central New York. The name changed in 1972, and the organization gained nonprofit status in 1986. The organization has more than 2,000 members, making it one of the largest running clubs in the United States.

According to its website, the SCTC has several goals: educating others about track and field, long distance running and race walking, as well as the organization itself; keeping the community fit by conducting races, training runs and year-round training programs for youth, adults and special needs populations; maintaining a competitive teams program that supports Chargers athletes of all ages in USA track and field championships competitions; and maintaining memberships in both USA Track and Field and the Road Runners Club of America.

Among its most popular endeavors are the fun runs. In addition to the runs at Onondaga Lake Park, which started in 1971, the SCTC offers runs at Oneida Shores and Highland Forest. The fun runs offered a certified course in which participants could choose their own distance and set their own pace. The events are family-oriented, starting every week with a kids’ run.

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