The writing below was part of the permit application sent to the Pine Bush Preserve Commission to create the Dodge the Deer race. It was written on December 14, 2002.

HISTORY OF THE ALBANY RUNNING EXCHANGE

The concept of the Albany Running Exchange began in the summer of 2002. Josh Merlis, who had run for the University the prior two years, wasn’t going to run on the team anymore, but he still wanted to promote the sport on the campus. Ian French, who had also run for the team, was looking to stay in shape but without the competitive pressures. They kept bouncing the idea around, but it wasn’t until late August that Josh met Nick Ng at a running camp in Connecticut and found out that Nick would be attending Albany and was interested in running for a club. The school year began, and it was still an idea until the middle of September when Josh was emailed by Chris Chromczak, who had heard that there was talk of a club beginning. Dave Dinaburg, a former member of the crew team, also was looking for some type of organized running group, so finally Josh went to the Student Association at the University at Albany and picked up the necessary paperwork to begin the club.

The last few days of the month, Josh and Dave went around the campus putting up flyers for the first club meeting, which was to be held the first night of October. It was during that week Josh and Dave came up with the name “Albany Running Exchange.”

At the first meeting, forty-five people showed up. It was both a great, and surprising, turnout. The meeting began as follows:

The purpose of the Albany Running Exchange is to bring together both students of the University, as well as community members, who share a common interest in running. Whether it be for sport, hobby, or simply to lose a few pounds, the ARE functions as a “match-making” service, as well as a running club, where members can find other members to run with.

The first group run was held two days later. Seventeen people showed up. At the second group run, four days later, twenty-four students came down to run. The interest was unbelievable, and even as the summer faded into fall, turnout was still anywhere between twelve and eighteen people.

While the main focus of the club is to promote running as a healthy leisure activity, even those who don’t bring a competitive mindset to the group runs have recently expressed interest in challenging themselves by running races. In late November, four members of the club competed in the Philadelphia Marathon. It was the first for three of them. In addition, several other members have discussed competing in some of the more popular races around the region, as well as working up to the marathon distance.

Ultimately, however, we are predominantly undergraduate college students who do not have the means to support racing in popular marathons and tackling infamous races in neighboring states. In order to support our healthy habit, we have to fundraise.