Current MPA student Nick Wolk found his perfect summer internship that combined his love for running with his career goals.
At the Pittsburgh Track Club, Wolk coached a camp for young runners, and he supported the team’s marketing, community engagement, fundraising, and sponsorship coordinating.
Wolk is, himself, a dedicated and lifelong runner. As a Pitt undergraduate, he was one of the Panthers’ top long-distance runners. In 2021, during an extra season of eligibility he pursued after graduating with a BS in Economics and Political Science in the spring of 2020, he set the program’s outdoor 5,000-meter record with a time of 13:53.02, beating a mark he had previously set himself.
Earlier this year, he was profiled in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as he was training to compete in the elite men’s field in the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, where he represented the Pittsburgh Track Club, and his longest run yet.
“As a runner, I think I’m a little bit more mature,” Wolk told the Gazette. “It’s not so much about standing out and making noise and being somebody. Now, it’s more about testing my own limits and seeing how good I can make myself.”
Wolk said his internship with the Pittsburgh Track Club allowed him to develop a wide array of hands-on skills relevant to his career interests.
“In my career, I would love to combine my passion for the sport of distance running with my skills in nonprofit management,” he said.
The Pittsburgh Track Club is a new nonprofit organization established in 2021 to grow and support the sport and community around distance running in the City of Pittsburgh. They host races, weekly community training sessions, individualized coaching, youth camps, and other events.
"I’m grateful to work in this industry while supporting a small but growing organization,” said Wolk.
In addition to his studies at GSPIA, Wolk spent the past year working as a volunteer assistant coach with the University of Pittsburgh's division 1 team.