W50 trackster/roadster Diane Sherrer writes a running column for The Ithaca Journal in New York State. In her current offering, she says point-blank: “Track and field has been the heart and soul of running for centuries, and yet the prospect of racing around the indoor or outdoor oval is intimidating even for the brave of heart. But you all need to get over yourselves. Step away from those marathons, and lace up your track spikes.” Well said, champ! We need more of this, everywhere.

Here’s the track portion of Diane’s column, in case the link goes bye-bye:
The oval need not be intimidating
You never know what you can do until you try.
Track and field has been the heart and soul of running for centuries, and yet the prospect of racing around the indoor or outdoor oval is intimidating even for the brave of heart.
But you all need to get over yourselves. Step away from those marathons, and lace up your track spikes.
The Finger Lakes Runners Club, the Triple Cities Runners Club and the Syracuse Chargers all host a series of all-comers meets on weeknights during the summer.
In all venues, all-comers meets are geared for all abilities and ages. The meets are low-key and developmental, inexpensive and enlightening. Where else will you see seniors joining elementary school age kids on relay teams, or the region’s best masters runners racing against the best high school runners?
Here’s a look at the summer track schedule in Central New York:
Finger Lakes Runners Club
There will be three all-comers track meets, two at the Cornell University track and one at Dryden High School.
Tuesday, June 6: Cornell University; registration opens at 5:15 p.m., and the meet begins at 6 p.m. Order of events: 2-mile, 200 meters, 1,500 meters, 800 meters and a Mixed-Age-Gender Relay (MAGRS) — 400-200-400-200 meters.
Wednesday, July 5: Dryden High track; registration opens at 5:15 p.m., and the meet begins at 6 p.m. Order of events: 3,000 meters, 100 meters, one mile (including special youth mile heats), 400 meters and a 4×200-meter relay.
Tuesday, Aug. 8: Cornell University; registration opens at 5 p.m., and the meet begins at 5:45 p.m. Order of events: 1,500 meters, 200 meters, 5,000 meters, 800 meters (includes a race walk heat), and the “3Rs” — the grand finale of the season, and top secret!
The FLRC meets are free for all FLRC members, and free for all children ages 6 and under. For non-members, the fees are $2 for students, and $3 for adults. Individuals who volunteer to work a portion of the meet will receive a free pass to participate in the meet. For information, visit www.fingerlakesrunners.org, or e-mail meet director Tim Ingall at timingall@hotmail.com.
Triple Cities Runners Club
All-Comers track meets are held almost every Wednesday evening from May through August at the Maine-Endwell High School Track. Registration is open from 5:30 to 6 p.m., and the meets begin at 6 p.m.
The fee is free for all TCRC members; non-members pay a one-time fee of $3 for the series. TCRC offers four events each meet without variation: one mile, 800 meters, 400 meters and a 2-miler.
For information, visit www.triplecitiesrunnersclub.org.
Syracuse Chargers
The Syracuse Chargers host both track and field events, but you must bring your own implements.
This summer, the Chargers will sponsor four meets on Monday evenings at Jamesville-DeWitt High School.
The dates are June 12 and 19, and July 10 and 17. All meets begin at 6 p.m.
For complete information, visit www.syracusechargers.org, or e-mail meet director Tom Shafer at shafrun@worldnet.att.net.
Genesee Valley Harriers
This Rochester-based club usually hosts a series of summer track meets, but I was unable to find any scheduled series this season.
What I did pin down was the annual Tour de Pain XII, a mixture of cross country running at Cobbs Hill Park, immediately followed by track racing at McQuaid High School. Save Aug. 24 as the “pain” date.
GVH also hosts the Innovative Edge Summer 5K Cross Country Series at Cobbs Hill Park. The dates for those series races are Aug. 3, 10, 17 and 24. For details, go to www.gvh.net.
Empire State Summer Games Tryouts
Central New York scholastic and open runners who wish to qualify for the Empire State Games, must attend the regional try-outs. The Games will be held July 26-30 in Rochester.
The Central New York scholastic and open track and field tryouts will take place at East Minoa High School in East Syracuse.
The dates and times are as follows: June 16, 3:30-9:30 p.m.; June 17, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.; and June 11 — race walking qualifiers only — 8:30 a.m., at Baker High School in Baldwinsville.
For information on qualifying, contact regional director Ken McInerney at (315) 652-1918, or visit www.empirestategames.org. Call the Empire State Games hotline at (315) 474-8889.
Masters track and field specialists must qualify by a do-it-yourself project. I’ll provide you with information on that process in a future column.