WRL Track Club Runs in Hartford
The War Resisters League Track Club relaunched in October with the Hartford Marathon. Three WRL members participated: Patrick Sheehan-Gaumer ran the full 26-plus miles, and Mike Levinson and Frida Berrigan participated in the half marathon (Mike walking, Frida running). The Run for Peace raised more than $2,500 for WRL and ignited the imaginations of many.
Since then, the running has continued. On a dreary December day, the club participated in a 15k cross-country race in the Bronx. Pierce Woodward, Ana LaGuarda, and Berrigan crossed the finished line together, soaked to the bone and muddy to the knee. Levinson, Sheehan-Gaumer, and his daughter Rosena were on hand for cheering. The following weekend, right before the big blizzard hit the Northeast, Bill Ofenlach, Brian Hynes, Sheehan-Gaumer, and Berrigan ran a 15k race in New York City’s Central Park. It was freezing, but the snow held off until mid-afternoon.
In its earlier iteration, the WRL Track Club entered a number of military races (Marine Marathon, Army 10k, etc.,) and on occasion tried to hold banners as they swept across the finish line. We have not gotten to that point yet, but we are well on our way. We still have some t-shirts and sweatshirts, and if you’d like one (sizes and supplies limited) email Frida.Berrigan[at]gmail.com. They cost us just under $10 piece to make, so a contribution along those lines would be helpful.
Plans for 2010 are emerging. We have our eye on the Worcester Half-Marathon on June 13 and hope to participate in the Peter DeMott Peace Trot, a 5k run in memory of a peace activist and dear friend from Ithaca, N.Y., that is tentatively scheduled for Father’s Day (June 20).
Join up! Email Frida or Patrick: sheehpa[at]gmail.com.
New Organizer on WRL Staff
Talented and skilled organizer Kimber Heinz joined the WRL staff as Organizing Coordinator in November. Originally from Florida, she attended the New College of Florida and worked as an ally with intersex activists and in support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. She is a graduate of the Women and Gender Studies master’s program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Former coordinator of the LGBTQQI youth organizing project of Gay Straight Advocates for Education in Greensboro, N.C., Kimber is interested in community health issues, anti-violence work, radical education, feminism, anti-racism, and queer organizing. She intends to continue the work in GI resistance and the outreach to WRL organizers and other activists across the country begun by her predecessors and also hopes one day to have an extremely wrinkly sharpei dog.
Welcome aboard, Kimber!
