History
The Northwest Florida Track Club [ NWFTC ] was started way back in 1973 by Richard Westbrook and Jim Oeltmann.
Richard is a master at motivating people, particularly youngsters, to run. In addition to being the first Club president, he wrote the newsletter, put on a monthly "Run For Your Life" race, coached at Ocean City, Pryor, and later Choctaw. He also still found time to run 80 to 100 miles a week which allowed him to win many of his own road races.
John is one of the few people around who had run what seemed to be an impossible distance - a marathon. His enthusiasm for running, particularly the Boston Marathon, led many of us to wonder, "If he can do it, Why can't I?" With the push that we got from those two guys, running has become more and more popular in this area. Today we have a race within a couple of hours drive just about every weekend. If the trend continues, who can guess what it will be like in the years ahead.