"Not voting is so last season." Kenneth Cole.

"Using 2002's material is so... (urm) retro!" T.T.

"Thank you also for being an inspiration for all of us. You have such a positive outlook and you are so supportive of us back-of-the-pack runners. We appreciate it."
                                                                       Supreme High Court Judge Denny Chin.

Roland Soong, Central Park TC webmaster:
TOBY 2002 CAMPAIGN KICKS OFF:
All NYRRC members have received or will receive a proxy statement in the mail about the upcoming NYRRC board of directors elections. At this point, we endorse the nominee Toby Tanser and we urge all our readers (who are members of NYRRC) to vote for him. Voting is easy --- just check the names of the your chosen nominees, sign your name, enter the date and mail the proxy form back in the postage-paid envelope.

This endorsement is a personal one (by the Central Park Track Club website editorial staff of one), and does not reflect any official positions of the Central Park Track Club. This is the first time that we have actually made an endorsement. In the past, we have provided space for candidates as a matter of public interest, but this will be the first time that we actually advocated someone. Given our very exacting standards (just read our restaurant reviews to see how hard we are to please!), this was not a specious decision. We will offer you our specific reasons. We point out that this does not imply that we disapprove of any of the other nominees. Rather, Toby Tanser is the one nominee for whom we had sufficient information to make this endorsement.

In the proxy statement, the nominees' biographies describe their qualifications. Toby Tanser has his own statement on his website. We have also made some clarifications on the Toby Tanser legend. So we will not reiterate the factual details here.

First, we esteem the New York Road Runners greatly as an organization. This is a group of people who 'get it' --- namely, the successful integration of media communication, marketing, promotion, merchandising, volunteerism, community involvement and organization is the path to growth and excellence. This sounds simple and obvious, but a lot of people don't get it. You have to have lived elsewhere to appreciate how fortunate the New York City running community really is.

Reflecting the importance of integrating multiple approaches and activities, the NYRRC Board of Directors has a diverse representation of people who are drawn from advertising, marketing, running publications, sports medicine and so on. Clearly, people will contribute most effectively in their areas of expertise. Any organization will face the problem of evolving in the direction preferred by its leaders, rather than always following the objectively optimal paths. The New York Road Runners serve multiple constituencies --- elite athletes (as in the New York City Marathon and the Mini Marathon), local professional or semi-professional runners, competitive club runners, middle-of-the-pack runners, beginning runners, youth runners, etc. The constituency that this particular website represents is that of the competitive running clubs. We are first and foremost for the Central Park Track Club but we are more (after all, we average 1,000+ users per day when we have only 200 paid members) as we are the de facto website for people on other clubs. We would argue cogently that this constituency forms the core of the whole running community --- we are hard-core frequent racers, heavy-spending consumers, running folklorists, opinion leaders, unpaid running evangelists and all that.

The NYRRC has more than 30,000 members. Sociologists say that any social organization of more than 150 people will break apart because it is no longer possible to form intimate relationships with so many people. Nobody will claim that they personally know all 30,000+ members. Rather, runners bond closely together in smaller groups in the form of the running clubs, which are formed for reasons such as location, schedule, competitiveness, sponsorship, coaching, socialization, nationality, and so on. The danger here is in the Balkanization of the whole running community into various compartmentalized cliques, and there can only be tensions when they interact solely in competitive situations. In this regard, we believe that Toby Tanser has already done a great job in breaking down these barriers.

Toby Tanser is currently competing as a member of the Central Park Track Club. This fact had zero impact on our endorsement decision. In fact, if he was the type (but he is not) that said "My blood is orange-colored," we would consider that to be a BIG MINUS. What impressed us was the fact that he is also involved with the Urban Athletics team, The Reservoir Dogs, the Project A.L.S. Marathon Team, the Nike RunNYC summer/fall sessions and even the NYC Police Academy cadets, thus showing the ability to transcend sectarian interests. His website Tanser.org is the single most informative source about the local running scene, where people can find out about news also about the New York Harriers, Warren Street, Moving Comfort, Westside Runners, Westchester Track Club, etc. Toby's first star endorser is NYRR Runner of the Year Paul Mwangi, who is a member of West Side Runners and also a frequent visitor of his website. For those of you who are frequent visitors of Toby's website, we ask you to step back one moment and think how much less you would know without its presence. We therefore see Toby Tanser will be a major contributor to the development of greater cohesiveness in the community. Along this theme, please read his 2002 Club Team Championships wrap-up story on the NYRR website. We do not see any other nominee with this type of qualification and/or track record.

Second, over the past ten years or so, we have observed the increasing globalization of our runners. Whereas twenty-years ago, we seemed to be a homogeneous group of mostly young educated professionals, we are now from many nations with many backgrounds. Globalization is not unidirectional; it is about interchanging of ideas and experiences. Toby Tanser is a tremendous store of information about the global running scene, best known for his book on the Kenyan runners, his extensive network of personal contacts among elite runners and coaches all over the world and his encyclopedic knowledge of running facts. His website Tanser.org is also frequently visited by his friends across the globe. We do not see any other nominee with this type of qualification.

Third, Toby Tanser is a professional elite athlete who has competed at the top level. As the old saying goes, he is our 'teammate who rides in the other bus' to the starting line. The elite athletes are the people who get media attention and are therefore important for the visibility of the sport, but they also have unique needs and conditions. We believe that having a professional elite athlete on the NYRR Board of Directors should be a requirement. We do not see any other nominee with this type of credentials.

Fourth, Toby Tanser is also a personal running coach to individual runners. It is physically demanding to have several clients per day, but it is also mentally demanding as this is a client-focused job that has to be tailored to the psychological make-up of the individuals. Although elite athletes get media attention, the race events still derive their revenues from mass participation, which will in turn attract major advertising and sponsorship. We believe that it is important to have someone who has a track record of being in tune with the middle- and back-of-the-pack runners.

Obviously, we wrote all of this because we believe and we want to tell you what we believe. Now it is up to you. Voting is easy --- check the names the nominees of your choice, sign your name, enter the date and mail it back.

Read Sir Roland's Vote CPTC 2002 page - *Click* - Thanks Roland!!

Dan Capiello (The Reservoir Dogs):
"By now everyone should have received their NYRRC proxy form to vote for the board of directors. Most of you will recognize a name on that list - Toby Tanser. He is running for the board of directors and will be great for NY running if elected. Obviously Toby knows the running scene in NY and as such can make changes that are beneficial to us - the runners. He has helped many of us achieve our personal goals and can make a difference to all runners in this position. I urge you all to vote for him. Rarely do I try to persuade anyone's opinion, but I do feel strongly that Toby can make a difference if elected."
Ramon Bermo (Team In Training):
"Those of you that are members of the NYRRC will be getting or already gotten a proxy for the election of NYRRC board of directors. A good friend of mine, Toby Tanser, is running (no pun intended) and I urge you to vote for him and not just because he is my friend (most of you probably know him as well from seeing him in the park,). Anyway, he is a runner that can bring great things to the organization. I could give many reasons why you should vote for him, but I don't want you to spend your day reading when you could be running. Just trust me, if you want things to improve in the running community, he is a person that can do that. And if you are still not convinced, just do it as favor to me!"
From Diane Kenna, New York Harriers:
"You can't spell New York Road Running without Toby Tanser. Well okay, you actually can but that's beside the point. Toby has, in just a few years, made quite an impact on the local running scene. His exceptional talent, commitment to the sport and individuality (have you seen some of those outfits?!) make him uniquely qualified to serve on the Board of Directors of the New York Road Runners club.

In a sport which is quite often overlooked by local and international media, it is refreshing to meet someone with so much knowledge, enthusiasm and appreciation for running. Toby is a wealth of information regarding runner statistics and race results. His writing is informative, entertaining and inspiring. He has been able to immerse himself in the running community, befriending local teams, elite athletes and novices alike. His coaching is top-notch and he motivates runners of all abilities to strive toward the highest level of achievement. Toby's work with beginner runners through the NIKE Run NYC clinics and other volunteer clinics is a wonderful boost for our sport. He can take a beginner runner and turn them into a running addict overnight.

From his international running experience, Toby has been a member in many running clubs throughout the world. This provides him a unique insight into what can make a successful running organization. I think Toby would be a refreshing addition to the Board, able to come up with creative, practical solutions to some of the problems facing our club, while maintaining the love and enthusiasm for the sport that is inspirational to us all."

From John Prather:
"I don't know that much about New York running. I come from a land far far away, commonly known as Arizona (you know, "It's a dry heat"). Nevertheless, I have been called 'an out-of-towner who is in touch,' which is much better than "an out-of-toucher who is in town," I guess. So with such a ringing endorsement, I take great pleasure in offering my own endorsement of Toby Tanser for NYRRC Board of Directors

I had a blast being a runner in New York this summer, with its strong club system, its vibrant racing schedule, and its myriad special events. The city offers so much for so many runners, as must NYRRC. It seems to me that Toby is a rare individual with his finger on the pulses of both the elite and the back-of-the-pack runner. Both are vital to the sport, to its survival and to providing it with its beauty. I used and then deleted the word "egalitarianism," because clearly the fast and slow aren't equal in winning awards. But they are indeed equal in making the sport as charming and wonderful as it is, one which brings together people of all ages, nationalities, occupations, interests, and talents. Our sport must never lose that. And anyone who knows Toby -- even if only from his website -- knows that he is uniquely capable of transcending all distinctions and doing what's best for the most people.

For me, Toby's greatest quality may be the sense ethics he brings to the sport. As an athlete, coach, agent, event manager, journalist, announcer, official, and fan in the sport for 30 years, I love our sport in the most idealistic sense. I abhor cheating, I love seeing kids and their voyage of self-discovery, I am inspired by older runners whose competitive fires never waned, I am awed by people running as fast as I once could but never will again, and I am humbled by those determined to do something very hard very well. All are equally vital parts of the New York running landscape. Like me, Toby respects each and every runner for who they are, and for who they might become.

In his own way, Toby has become New York running for many people, for those who keep abreast of the stories on his website, and for those who took their first running steps as a result of his tutelage. I don't believe I can say it any more eloquently than Roland did on the CPTC website, so if you haven't read his endorsement, I strongly urge you to do so. Meanwhile, I'll conclude with this thought: I've been in the sport since dinosaurs ran the stopwatches, and Toby epitomizes all that is good with running. His experience and his idealism are most needed."

"Shame on me, I didn't get my vote in. I was planning to be there but I helped a friend with an errand in New Jersey late in the afternoon and we got stuck in traffic. (I was thinking about that all evening but then figured, "hey- everyone loves Toby, how could he not win?") If you lose by one vote I will really owe you. Well, I've got my fingers crossed."
M. Rosenthal, NJ.

We hear from Dorian D'Angelo, "Good luck to you on Monday. I got my vote in for you."
Thanks Doreen.

Continual thanks to all the people who have stood behind me in this campaign, you’re the best! Last week on the bridle path I ran with Raphael V. Lunas who ran Yonkers Marathon as a training run yesterday (in prep. For NYCM), and he remembered that he has not voted yet, but he is voting Toby! Yet another runner on the roll! Did I mention Alayne Adams (One of NYC’s and Canada’s premier runners) voted 4- time for me (family members), so a huge thanks to her!

Mr. Don Preven, "my thanx & appreciation for ur help & encouragement. it is a privilege to know u & it's always a joy & pleasure to be with u & the guys & gals at workouts & races. the NY Running Community is fortunate to have Toby Tanser as one of its members. my continued best wishes for good health, good running & a good life! KEEP ON KEEPING ON." Thanks Don that was a great endorsement!

A nice letter from Christa, also useful to those thinking about focus races for next year: Dear Toby, Praise: I always enjoy reading "Toby's World" and have developed a habit of checking it regularly. Thanks for all of the great information. Support: Even before I encountered the "Vote4Toby" promotion, I had already voted for "Toby" by sending in my ballot. I wish you success as I'm sure you would do an excellent job on the board.
Wishing you well, Christa Acampora." Thanks for that one!

Mary Spera, "I voted for you! You rock!" Thanks Mary, you’re da best!

Alayne Adams becomes the star of the night as she gave me Four (family) Votes! Awesome, and a big, big thank you. For those of you not in the know Alayne was second in the weekend’s TuneUp race… a great post-vacation result! A great result period!

From Alan Ruben, the president of the Central Park Track Club: "Members of the New York Road Runners (NYRR) will be receiving in the mail an opportunity to vote for up to 5 directors of the NYRR in the next couple of days. Our men's team leader in Saturday's Club Championship 5 mile race, Toby Tanser, is standing for election. On behalf of the Central Park Track Club, I would like to urge our members to vote for Toby because, apart from being a nice guy, he is a competitive runner who would be a strong advocate for club runners in New York City like ourselves."

From the two time NYRR runner of the year, Paul Mwangi, "I voted for you yesterday and forced 4 more to. I will see who else I beg."