Tuesday, October 1, 2013

September Letter from the CRC President


September means two things around the Charlotte Running Community. First, the weather is cooler which makes for great running conditions. The second thing is the Blue Ridge Relay race (BRR). The BRR race has grown tremendously in just a few short years. Luckily, for CRC we have always tried to send a team. In doing so, this has led to some epic battles with the runners from Asheville and more recently with the runners from Knoxville. 

For this year’s race, I would like to congratulate the “Charlotte Running Club” and the “Stache & Dash Remixed” teams. Our “Charlotte Running Club” team organized by Ben Hovis and Mike Beigay won the BRR open division in a record time of 19 hours, 58 minutes, and 20 seconds. This was a new course record and the first time any team has broken 20 hours. Along the way they broke the “Leg” records for 9 of the 36 legs. Members of the CRC teams past and present now hold leg records for 12 of the 36 legs.

Our “Stache & Dash organized by CRC member Rob Ducsay won the mixed (co-ed) team in a time of 24:56:51. They were just a breath in front of another mixed team “JITFO” organized by CRC member Allen Strickland. They finished with a fantastic time of 25:04:00. 

I would also like to thank all of the teams that carried our CRC magnet on their vans. I really appreciate each one showing their support of our club.

Upcoming CRC Events:

Here is the list of CRC fall events. Please make an effort to come out and participate in at least one event.

·         10/5/13 7:00 AM to 7 PM CRC Uptown Throwdown 12 hour Solo/Relay. Additional details or contact run.charlotte@gmail.com

·         10/6/13 @ 6 PM. CRC Monthly Social/Fun Run. Run starts at the Metropolitan between Hickory Tavern and Dressler's. 4 miles max. All paces are welcome.

·         11/3/13 @ 6 PM. CRC Monthly Social/Fun Run. Run starts at the Metropolitan between Hickory Tavern and Dressler's. 4 miles max. All paces are welcome.

·         11/23/13 CRC Huntersville Holiday Half Prerun No. 1 – 7:30 AM Fleet Feet in Huntersville run.charlotte@gmail.com (sports med education talk starts at 7 AM)

·         11/30/13 CRC Huntersville Holiday Half Prerun No. 2 – 7:30 AM Fleet Feet in Huntersville run.charlotte@gmail.com. (sports med education talk starts at 7 AM)

·         12/1/13 @ 6 PM. CRC Monthly Social/Fun Run. Run starts at the Metropolitan between Hickory Tavern and Dressler's. 4 miles max. All paces are welcome.

·         12/8/13 Holiday Lights Run 6 PM- Freedom Park - Gravel Parking lot. Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Chip cookies will be available for everyone.

·         1/26/14 CRC Winter Classic 8k 2pm start time. Same fast course at McAlpine Greenway off Monroe Rd (Yes, we are shifting this a Sunday race)

Sunday Social/Runs:

Our next Social/Group run at the Metropolitan occurs on Oct 6th at 6 PM. Stephanie Werntz has agreed to be our ongoing organizer for this event. Her contact info is the following: stephanie.werntz@facebook.com

This run is an easy 4 miler where members can hang out and catch up.

RSVPs are not necessary. Members just need to show up about 5:50 PM behind Hickory Tavern and be ready to run at 6pm.  Afterwards members can hang out at Hickory Tavern for a beverage and food.

Board Elections:

Between October 1st and 27th, email run.charlotte@gmail.com with your nominations for the CRC ’14 Board of Directors (BOD). Requirements to be a board member: 1) they must be a member in good standing with the club, and 2) they must have been a member for previous 6 months.

Nominated members will then be contacted to confirm their willingness to serve on the CRC BOD.

Between Oct 27th and Oct 31st, nominated individuals will be spot lighted on the CRC blog so other members have an opportunity to learn about them before casting their vote.

Between November 1st and 23rd, members will have an opportunity to vote. Each member will receive an email with a link that will take them to the voting website on survey monkey.

Email run.charlotte@gmail.com if by Nov1st, this email has not arrived.  

Huntersville Holiday Half Marathon Course Preruns:

We are working with Bear Robinson (Race Director) of the Huntersville Half Marathon to lead two course pre runs. We have scheduled these runs for 11/23 and 11/30 from the Fleet Feet in Huntersville and plan to cover as much of the course as possible. These runs will start at 7:30 AM. No RSVP is necessary. Runners can just show up.

Please arrive early because a sports med education will be provided by Novant beforehand.

More information about the Huntersville Half Marathon races can be found here and on FaceBook.

CRC and Noda Teaming up for a Wednesday Night Run

CRC is joining forces with Noda Brewery to have a CRC Wednesday night run. We have not picked a date, but we are looking early November. Please watch our club’s FaceBook page for updates.  

Member Referrals:

Do not forget to tell your friends to include your name when they join the Charlotte Running Club. By doing so, referring members will receive a gift card to Inside Out Sports. We check at the end of each month and give the cards out to the referring CRC club members.

Board Meeting Update:

With no Panther’s game on our usual Thursday night we were back at the Y for our Sept meeting. Topics covered during this meeting included: Treasury report, Non Profit Status, Membership Referral Status, Uptown Throwdown Status, Mileage Program, CRC Store Opening, RRCA Runner Friendly Community Initiative, Board Elections, ’14 CRC Events, Oct Board Meeting Date.

I will hit the high points from the meeting.

The paperwork for our nonprofit status was submitted in August. I have contacted the IRS about it but at this time, it has not been assigned to an agent. Until it is, our club is in a holding pattern for getting its nonprofit status reinstated.

We initiated a referral rewards program and for the month of Sept we had one referral listed for a new member.

Rob gave a status on the Uptown Throwndown. We have teams registered and runners eager to test their abilities over 12 hours. Remember this will also be our fall social for CRC so even if you are not running, please drop by during the day. Hanging out with your fellow CRC members is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Remember, we are just a hundred yards away from Hickory Tavern so there drinks and food will be readily available.

For next year, we discussed making a change to the mileage program. Currently, we accept mileage updates via email or by pulling the mileage totals for members currently listed on the Athleticore CRC profile. However, our Athleticore group has grown beyond just CRC members. For ’14 we discussed changing the program so all mileage updates are handled via email and there would be no pulling of monthly totals from Athleticore. A final decision will be made during our November board meeting.

We are looking to open a CRC store for gear purchase again, but with one change. We are looking to use a local vender so our members will have the opportunity to avoid an S&H charge by dropping by his shop to pick up their gear. There will still be the 3 week window between the store closing and the gear being ready.

RRCA has a Runner Friendly Community Program and we all feel that Charlotte is a great place to live, raise a family, and work but it also a great place to run. We are in need of someone that is willing to help work with civic leaders, business leaders, and CRC to make this happen.  To meet RRCA requirements to be a Runner Friendly Community, it requires involvement from all of these groups. To learn more about RRCA’s program used the following link - here.

I gave an update on the plans for the Board elections which is the same as I described above.

I provided the other board members with a list of potential events for our CRC ’14 calendar. The list is fluid at the moment, but I hope to have it locked down and am able to announce it during our December board meeting.  

We discussed moving our Oct meeting to an alternate date so board members have the 31st free. The working date at the moment is 10/28.

Minutes from the August meeting can be found here.

Board Meetings:

I know this is somewhat of a reminder, but it bears repeating. Our Charlotte Running Club Board meetings are open to current club members and their guest. These meetings take place on the last Thursday of each month at the Dowd Y at 6:30 pm. There are exceptions to this schedule for November and December. Our Oct meeting will be on the 28th.

 

Once again, I would like to thank every member for being a part of the Charlotte Running Club. If there is ever a question, concern, or just a comment, please email it to run.charlotte@gmail.com. Our Gmail account is monitored daily and emails will get directed to me. The other option is seeing me personally. I run all over Charlotte and am always willing and want to listen to our member’s concerns.

 

Chilly mornings were made specifically for runners,

Bill Shires

CRC President

 

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