Runners in South Florida will have a new track to call home. The Tropical Park track in Miami, which hadn't any major renovations done in the last 20 years, underwent a face-lift and was recently opened to the public by hosting an All-Comers Track Meet on Monday. Belen Jesuit coach Frankie Ruiz, a fixture in the Miami running community, says this project has been a long time coming.
"I am not the only catalyst in this effort. There have been several people calling for the renovation for years. We assembled a few local advocates about three years ago and began meeting with public officials using a slightly more urgent tone. Some who joined me in those early meetings included President of Royal Caribbean Cruiselines Adam Goldstein and Miami-Dade County Public Defender Carlos Martinez. After several meetings park's director Jack Kardys shared the news that a space in the budget had been made to get the track and field renovated. From there things rolled rather quickly as the Miami-Dade County Parks Department assembled a stakeholders committee including Coach Ryan Raposo, Tim Byrnes, Robin Beamon and Carlos Barquin among several others to help provide input into the design, vendor selection and so forth."
In a recent conversation with Coach Raposo, he told me the park was an old horse racing track in it's day, the site of several road race finish lines, and it used to host every major track meet in the city of Miami back when he was running. Ruiz went onto say that the old Miami Runners Club had their headquarters under the original grandstands, which have since replaced by new smaller stands after Hurricane Andrew trashed the place.
"I wish I could show you old photos of the original stands, it is amazing how closely they resemble Hayward Field. I know that sounds like blasphemy but the stadium really had a bit of that touch. I know the stands may never have been as filled as races at Hayward but nonetheless it is cool for me to think Miami has some connection to the mecca in Eugene on practically the opposite end of the US."
Edit: Here are two historic photos of the old Tropical Park facility and horse track, circa 1960s.
In a day where a lot of tax payer money goes to projects for professional stadiums, a place the average person can't benefit from, Tropical Park is different. Although, it isn't the first public track in the country, it is one of the few in Miami-Dade County. He says the impact on the community is large, calling it the Central Park of the suburbs.
"It is arguably the most popular park out there and if not in all of Miami-Dade County. This park isn't the best designed park but it has many elements that attract runners and we have sort of molded ourselves to what it has to offer. Anyhow, I think this park will spark calls from other sections of the county to either renovate or build new tracks."
Ruiz is one of the passionate members of the running community spreading the word of the sport and it's benefits. He realizes this projects popularity and wants to get other initiatives going in other parts of South Florida.
"Track is far from dead, heck if this past week's All Comers' Meet is any indication it is healthy than ever! I remind people every chance I get that running is the most popular sport in high school. Our newspapers and other media have led us to believe otherwise. When you add the number of kids in both genders that run XC and Track the numbers blow just about every other sport out there. Despite this fact our schools are poorly outfitted without tracks and our parks aren't much better. Most of the time the tracks play second fiddle to soccer fields, football fields, baseball diamonds, and dog parks!"
Now with a new home for South Florida's top talent to run, many meets in the county will be held there including the Louie Bing, the Sam Burley, the Dade County Youth Fair, the GMAC Finals, and more! Ruiz, who ran his first track meet on the very same Tropical Park Track at an All-Comers Meet, says he is looking forward to seeing many meets being held there for years to come.
"I know in a few years that the track will need another face-lift simply out of the kind of use it will get. I urge our public officials to maintain it as best as they could but not to restrict its use. This track should get the use it deserves and money should already be set aside for maintenance. I hope that other young people can run their first track meets here and in turn be attracted to running for the rest of their lives."
