www.ArkansasRRCA.com

The Western Arkansas Runners (RRCA Club) in Fort Smith has proposed bringing back the Hall of Fame in conjunction with the development of a long-distance runners museum at Fort Chaffee.

If you support this proposal, please post your comment.

For further information, contact Jeremy Maxwell at jeremy.maxwellness.com.

Note from David:

"I appreciate your efforts to reinvigorate the Hall of Fame. It’s been a goal of mine get it going again and relevant. That discussion gets brought up in LDRC meetings and later dies. So, if nothing else, your messages will get that more to the forefront of thinking. But I have zero bandwidth right now to deal with it. Give me until after the 2016 GP awards and I will give it attention."

Perhaps the Western Arkansas Runners will be given the opportunity to present their proposal at the 2026 Grand Prix Awards on February 4.

The Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority has been generous to grant the Western Arkansas Runners club a 3000 sq' building in the Historic District of Fort Chaffee. The building is currently used as a "club house" for members as well as headquarters for the Women Run Arkansas Clinic and the site of several area races. The old Fort Chaffee is being developed as a mix of residential and commercial buildings. This area with miles of desolate roads and trails has been a refuge for runners, walkers, and cyclist. W.A.R. and Fort Smith Parks and Recreation is dedicated to preserving this area for recreation.

I have often thought that this building could serve as the physical site for the Arkansas Road Runners Hall Of Fame. I think it could serve as part museum as a showcase of runners with memorabilia of old race t-shirts, trophies/medals from past races and training journals of Arkansas running legends such as Tom Aspel and area runners such as Melissa Satterfield, holder of state road race records, and Bill Coffman, the only person on earth to have competed in the Pike's Peak Marathon every year since it's inception.

Area runner, Lloyd Hanning, has already donated his library of over 100 books including papers from Arthur Lydiard as well as several marathon posters.

With all the commerce coming to the newly developed Fort Chaffee, thereby increasing the demand for property, I am not confident that the W.A.R. building as a stand alone "club house" is sustainable. I think an Arkansas Runner Hall Of Fame / Museum located in this area would preserve the property and serve as a shrine to the Arkansas running community.

Please let me know your thoughts on this matter and who to contact that may also be interested in this venture.