CCTF EVENTS
Camel City Track Foundation’s premier event each year is the Camel City Elite Races. Camel City Elite started in 2013 with a single race and has become one of the fastest-growing professional indoor track and field meets in the country. Held in late January or early February of each year, Camel City Elite brings some of the top track and field athletes in the world to Winston-Salem and gives top collegians the opportunity to square off against them.
The 2016 edition awarded over $60k in prize money and would turn out to be a great preview of the Rio Olympics, as three eventual Olympic gold medalists competed at Camel City Elite. Decathlete Ashton Eaton competed in the men’s 60 meter hurdles and would defend his Olympic decathlon title in Rio. Matthew Centrowitz won the men’s mile in 3:54.02 and would later become the first American to win the Olympic 1500 meters since 1908. And in the women’s 60 meter hurdles, Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin went 1-2-3. They would achieve that same feat in Rio in the 100 meter hurdles, becoming the first ever American trio to sweep the medals in that event at the Olympics.
In 2017 the Camel City Track Foundation took us to the next level as far as fundraising and in 2018 and 2019 the prize money was raised again to $6,000 for first place, $4,000 for second and additional money for third through eighth. Now, Camel City Elite is tied with the USATF indoor championships for having the largest first place prize purse of any indoor track meet in the United States. Planning for the 2023 event is underway and we are optimistic that it is going to be another great year!
The Camel City Track Foundation is also a proud supporter of other local track and field events. We have provided financial support for the Sir Walter Miler event held each summer in Raleigh. We have also hosted the WePlay Track Meet in partnership with the Winston-Salem Recreation and Parks Department. Through the generosity of the Foundation’s donors, we have also begun supporting adaptive sports and Special Olympics by covering the costs of the use of JDL Fast Track for their events.
The Camel City Track Foundation is always open to sponsoring or supporting other events that further our mission. If you have an event that you would like to propose we support, please contact Craig Longhurst (craig@jdlcastlecorp.com).