PMTC - A History
The idea for the Power Miler Track Club was born on a June evening in a condo that overlooked a Pensacola, Florida beach. It was the summer of 2006, two months shy of the one year anniversary of the day Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans and wreaked havoc in the months and years that have followed. As a runner, and therefore by definition a creature of habit, I had struggled to log the miles following the hurricane that I had accustomed my legs, lungs, and mind to over the last four years of college. Some of that had to do with juggling new life circumstances - a job, namely. Most of that, however, had to do with dealing with the various disruptions of daily life that the storm presented. On that June night in the Florida condo, I was out of shape. And I had had enough of it.
Ross Doyle and I decided that night that we would round up our fellow runner-friends and start a training group. With The Talking Heads’ "Psycho Killer" playing from a stereo in the background, we brainstormed the name "Power Milers". Later that night, I stumbled on an article in Scientific American debating the merits of categorizing Pluto as a legitimate planet. In the article, the journalist used the term "skullduggery" to describe the antics of those wishing to demote Pluto from the list of venerable planets. And for no other reason than that I liked the word and the scarcity with which it is used, a mascot was born. The skulls.
Now that we had a name and a mascot, we just needed some members to breathe life into the fledgling group. In July of ‘06, I presented the idea to fellow coaches and runners whom I knew were in the same boat as me over the last year - once in shape runners whose training had fallen apart in the months following the hurricane that had left many of us in different cities and houses for months at a time, rendering any effective and consistent training - more or less - non-existent. Brendan Minihan, Chris Kelley, Sherri Thompson, and Phil Sims committed to the concept. While working the Gulf States Distance Running Camp, we decided that, beginning in the fall of ‘06, we would meet each Tuesday evening for a track workout. After some discussion, we agreed upon Pontiff Playground because it was centrally located and offered a cinder track free from the distractions of Audubon Park and the congestion of City Park.
The first workout, however, actually did take place in City Park for reasons I can't recall. I do remember that it was ridiculously hot and humid, and that Ross and I completed roughly 6-8 x 400 meters. The next week, the group took flight. Shortly thereafter Scott finished reading Neal Bascomb’s The Perfect Mile and declared the following quote from John Landy the “Official Power Miler Credo”:
"I just go out there and work. I have to punish myself to get anywhere. There is no gray, only black and white...the harder, the better."
He printed the quote on glossy presentation paper and distributed copies to the group members a few weeks later. Ryan Allen took the reins on producing our first club t-shirt. By the end of that summer, we had a name, a mascot, a credo, club colors, and a t-shirt. That is our history. Hard work - paved in black and white - has set the foundation for a track club that is now stronger, faster, and better than ever before.
Ross Doyle and I decided that night that we would round up our fellow runner-friends and start a training group. With The Talking Heads’ "Psycho Killer" playing from a stereo in the background, we brainstormed the name "Power Milers". Later that night, I stumbled on an article in Scientific American debating the merits of categorizing Pluto as a legitimate planet. In the article, the journalist used the term "skullduggery" to describe the antics of those wishing to demote Pluto from the list of venerable planets. And for no other reason than that I liked the word and the scarcity with which it is used, a mascot was born. The skulls.
Now that we had a name and a mascot, we just needed some members to breathe life into the fledgling group. In July of ‘06, I presented the idea to fellow coaches and runners whom I knew were in the same boat as me over the last year - once in shape runners whose training had fallen apart in the months following the hurricane that had left many of us in different cities and houses for months at a time, rendering any effective and consistent training - more or less - non-existent. Brendan Minihan, Chris Kelley, Sherri Thompson, and Phil Sims committed to the concept. While working the Gulf States Distance Running Camp, we decided that, beginning in the fall of ‘06, we would meet each Tuesday evening for a track workout. After some discussion, we agreed upon Pontiff Playground because it was centrally located and offered a cinder track free from the distractions of Audubon Park and the congestion of City Park.
The first workout, however, actually did take place in City Park for reasons I can't recall. I do remember that it was ridiculously hot and humid, and that Ross and I completed roughly 6-8 x 400 meters. The next week, the group took flight. Shortly thereafter Scott finished reading Neal Bascomb’s The Perfect Mile and declared the following quote from John Landy the “Official Power Miler Credo”:
"I just go out there and work. I have to punish myself to get anywhere. There is no gray, only black and white...the harder, the better."
He printed the quote on glossy presentation paper and distributed copies to the group members a few weeks later. Ryan Allen took the reins on producing our first club t-shirt. By the end of that summer, we had a name, a mascot, a credo, club colors, and a t-shirt. That is our history. Hard work - paved in black and white - has set the foundation for a track club that is now stronger, faster, and better than ever before.