Erie Runners Club members have turned their passion for
running into a positive force in the community. BY BERNADETTE WILSON
n 1976, a group of five running enthusiasts formed
an organization, the Erie Runners Club, that has kept
thousands of people from Erie County—and from
around the world— moving.
“Everyone is welcome,” says David Comi, the Erie Runners
Club president for the past 20 years. “We don’t discourage
anyone. Running next to you may be a surgeon, a lawyer, a
stay-at-home parent or a factory worker. No one looks down
on anyone else.”
The Erie Runners Club (ERC) has evolved from holding
events in the 1970s where a handful of runners followed a
vehicle with a cooler in the trunk around a course on Presque
Isle to hosting a Boston Marathon qualifying race.
FROM ERIE TO BOSTON
Runner’s World magazine included the Erie Marathon
with its flat, shaded course on Presque Isle, in the 2019 top
ten list of marathons that help runners qualify for Boston.
The Erie Marathon is also known for qualifying the highest
percentage—46.2 percent of runners in Erie qualified for
Boston in 2018.
Registration for the 2019 Erie Marathon, which was held
Sept. 8, closed in June when the number of runners reached
the maximum of 2,200. Comi points out that only 35 runners
are from the Erie area. The rest of the field is from 46 other
states and 15 countries, including Chile, Peru, Ecuador,
and Guatemala.
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“That’s about 3,000 visitors eating, sleeping and enjoying
Erie that weekend,” Comi says.
ERC gives local restaurants a heads up that there will be
athletes looking to do some carb-loading the night before and
encourages them to have a $10 pasta dish on their menus
that night.
ERC VOLUNTEERS
Hosting the marathon, as well as the larger events on ERC’s
calendar, takes hundreds of volunteers. Comi says there is
a core group from ERC that runs smaller events, but the
organization needs 500 volunteers for the marathon, about
200 volunteers for its half marathon and about 150 volunteers
for the UPMC Hamot/Mayor’s Cup.
At one time, the ERC gave volunteers a T-shirt as thanks
for their help, but the club found that making a reciprocal
donation back to volunteers’ organizations was a better way to
encourage support. Comi explains that any organization that
brings 10 or more volunteers to an event will receive $10 per
volunteer for their organization ($5 for the UPMC Hamot/
Mayor’s Cup) from the ERC. Organizations that volunteer
for ERC events include ROTC, school swim, soccer and cross
country teams, the YMCA, and scout troops. High school
juniors and seniors who volunteer at ERC races can earn
service hours required for graduation.
Volunteers of all ages are welcome to help, with kids
passing out cups of water to runners as they pass by and older