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Articles, tips, miscellany

Frontrunner, Front Runner or FrontRunner

by Corbin Woodling, Frontrunners/Frontwalkers Chicago

In the July FRONTPAGES, there was a historical perspective on the formation of the Front Runner dynasty. This article detailed the start of the first club in 1974 and traced the evolution from the early beginning to the current sixty city international status.

On a related topic, it is interesting to note the differences between the various clubs throughout the country and abroad. Like a Darwinian model, each club has evolved to have its own individuality and originality while retaining much of the common traits of the larger organizational sphere.

The most obvious and noticeable difference between any of the running and walking clubs is the nomenclature used to identify the organization. Frontrunner, Front Runner or FrontRunner? All of these terms are used depending on what specific club you are referring. For example, it is Orlando Frontrunners, DC Front Runners and Baylands FrontRunners. Another variable is, of course, Frontrunners/Frontwalkers which is shared by several clubs, including Chicago. The legal name of the Chicago group, as it appears on our charter, is Frontrunners Chicago but since 1989 when Frontwalkers were added, it has been changed logistically to Frontrunners/Frontwalkers Chicago.

"The spelling has been one of the topics raised at the International Forums since day one and there seems to be an amiable lack of consensus," states Warren Snaider of the DC Front Runners. "Early on, the clubs tried to suggest that the word (or words) Frontrunners comes first, to be followed by the city name." The first International Frontrunner Forum was held in Chicago in the early 1980's and are usually held every few years. The next forum is being organized by FrontRunners San Francisco. Snaider states, "the only definitive answer is that the first club to use the expression was San Francisco's but that the book title on which it's based is two words, namely Front Runner taken from the book The Front Runner by Patricia Nell Warren.

"I think we must simply credit or blame the irrepressible nature of homosexual people for this appalling lack of conformity."