I spent several hours writing my lead in for this letter and
then promptly just deleted all of it. This is something that I do more often
than I care to admit. Writing it the first time forces me to organize my
thoughts. By deleting it, this just helps me write it better the second time.
On November 16, I had the privilege to join a host of our
CRC members supporting our local Thunder Road marathon. Based on my personal
observations and the feedback from others, this year was perhaps the best
supported Thunder Road marathon in memory.
Supporting a marathon is not easy. Unlike a 5k or a 10k,
Marathons usually cover a wide area and getting from point A to point B can range
from being difficult to nearly impossible. Then, there is a time factor.
Forty-five minutes to one hour will get most runners to the finish line in a 5k.
To really support a marathon, people have to be willing to dedicate a six or
seven hour block of time.
I speak from experience because I was out early in Saturday
morning helping setup and then cheer at the TrySports 9.5 mile cheer station.
Then, I rode my bike across town to our CRC cheer station off of Central
Avenue.
This was our first year owning an official cheer zone along
the Thunder Road marathon. As President I feel it is part of my role to gather
a list of what we did well and what we need to work on because I want us to be
back next year. I want our club to have an even better Thunder Road cheer
station. I want runners to look forward to seeing our CRC Banner hanging on the
course and know that we are sending so must positive energy their way.
Like I said, I have started my list, but I could really use
everyone’s help. Let me know of both
positive and negative aspects of your experience. Email our club at run.charlotte@gmail.com. They will
get forwarded to me.
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.
·
12/7/13 CRC Annual Meeting Triple C Brewery
Company - 1pm– new board members
announced, yearly recap, and plans for ‘14
·
12/8/13 Holiday Lights Run - Freedom Park -
Gravel Parking lot. Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Chip cookies will be available
for everyone (Run starts at 6pm – meeting between 5 and 5:30).
·
12/11/13 Board Meeting Dowd Y 6:30 PM
·
12/15/13 SLR and CRC Fund Raiser (Ugly Sweater
Run 2.0) at McMullen Greenway. This event is being lead by CRC members: Chuck
and Cora Player
·
1/26/14 CRC Winter Classic 8k 2pm start time.
Same fast course at McAlpine Greenway off Monroe Rd
Sunday Social/Runs:
Stephanie and I talked about the Sunday group runs and felt
it would be good to take a break from them for a while. With the holiday season
upon us, we recognize that our members are traveling more and a Sunday evening
run just does not work well for them.
We planned to bring back these runs in the New Year once
things settle down.
Club Gear:
Our gear from the club’s online store is ready for pickup.
Please drop by the Greylyn Business Park (next to McAlpine Park main entrance)
- 9313 Monroe Road Suite H for the pickup. Office hours are from 8:30-5:00,
Monday-Friday starting next week.
Holiday Lights Run
On Sunday December 8th at 5:30 PM we will be
meeting at the gravel parking lot across from the Freedom Park off of East
Blvd.
Once everyone has gathered, we will snap a few pictures, and
then let everyone enjoy a run through the local neighborhoods known for excellent
light displays. The run should start by 6pm and covers about four to five miles.
Returning runners will be greeted with Hot Chocolate, Chocolate
Chip Cookies, and of course water.
Printed course directions for the run will be given to the
runners before starting.
Thunder Road Cheer Zone:
I would like to thank
Rob and Caitlin for organizing our club’s cheer zone for the Thunder Road
Marathon. Caitlin got the ball rolling early and Rob jumped on board to help.
Seeing this kind of participation makes me appreciate their help all the more.
I was excited to see so many members, some even bringing
friends, to help our cheer zone on marathon day. I have to doubly thank those
members that ran the half marathon and then came out to help support our cheer
station. To me, this is going up above and beyond to show your CRC spirit. Even
thou, I realize that they were cold, tired, and ready to recovery for the rest
of the day. This is the kind of support that shows just what type of members
that our club has.
To each of you, please know that I really appreciate you for
taking time out of your day help show your support of our club’s cheer zone and
the Thunder Road Marathon.
Winter Classic 8k and Resolution
Series:
Everyone should be aware by now that our Winter Classic 8k
registration is currently open. Please register early and encourage your
friends to register. We are giving
members a discounted registration price of $20 dollars so sign up now.
Also I wanted to let you know that we have a new team
category this year so get five of your buddies together and sign up.
I am also proud to announce that our Winter Classic 8k race
will join the Resolution Series of races this coming year. Our race will join
the Joe Davis Resolution Run on 1/4/14, The Village 10k on 2/1/14, the
Charlotte 10 miler on 2/22/14 and finally, the RaceFest half marathon on
4/12/14. More information about the series can be found here.
Nonprofit Status:
We continue to await an IRS agent to be assigned to our
case. In the mean time, I have written an extended summary of on our club’s
website. I am happy to have a side bar conversation and answer any
questions.
Runner Friendly City Initiative:
The RRCA submission process for Runner Friendly City
application was the first of November. Being that we only started talking about
applying for this status a month ago and the amount of effort required in obtaining
all of the necessary information and signatures; I felt this just was not
possible to do at this time.
The best course of action for now is to put this effort on
hold until the first of January. This just makes the most sense given the
availability of individuals to help and the current time of year.
So what are we doing now? Well, I am actively recruiting
individuals to be on this team. We are hoping to have 10 to 12 people to be
involved and to have our kick off meeting sometime during January of ’14.
Board Elections:
Our board election has concluded and the top four candidates
will be announced during our annual club meeting at Triple C Brewery 12/7/13 at
1pm. Please thank each of these candidates for being so willing to step forward
and serve. As a current board member and President, I cannot express how
appreciative that I am to see this occurring.
’14 CRC Board of Directors Candidates
·
Laurie Knowles
·
Todd Mayes
·
Paul Mainwaring
·
Melinda Law
·
Eric Bilbrey
·
Lee Neitzel
·
Billy Shue
·
Wen Norvell
·
Joey Church
·
Brad Belfiore
Huntersville Holiday Half Marathon Course
Preview Run Recap:
Two weeks and two course preview runs are in the now book. Both
weeks saw a number of runners take to the road and get familiar with the
course.
Please thanks Bear for marking the course with double red
arrows and Mike Beigay for leading our groups runs.
CRC invades NoDa for a Group Run
Recap
We had a
great crowd of CRCers turn out at the NoDa Group run on 11/6/13. I cannot thank
everyone enough for coming to run and/or talk running. I cannot think of a
better way to spend an evening and talking about Charlotte Running Club.
Really
appreciate some of the perspective board members for coming out: Eric, Brad, Lee,
Melinda. I would also like to thank our current board members for attending:
Ben, Billy, Jessica, Rob, Stephanie, Katie, and Laurie.
From the
Winter Classic 8k (WC8K) Race committee, we had Steve and Lori. I would also
like to commend Lori for her work with (WC8K).
She has put together some awesome signage and has been working tireless
to help prompt our club’s race.
Member Referrals:
We had a couple of more referrals for November. Remember,
each referral gets you a gift card to Inside Out Sports (** while supplies last
**)
CRC Membership shirt:
Everyone renewing their CRC membership before 1/1/14 may
pick up their CRC membership shirt at the Winter Classic 8k. This will give you a chance to wear your club
gear after the race for a CRC group picture.
Running Warehouse discount code:
Our old Running Warehouse discount code made its way on to
the internet and was being used by more than just CRC members. Running
Warehouse noticed this uptick in club purchases and has since changed out
discount code. We will no longer be able to post the discount code on our
website but members needing the code can request it by emailing our club’s run.charlotte@gmail.com .
Going forward, please don’t share the code publicly. Running
Warehouse can pull our club’s discount permanently if the code gets abused by
non members.
RRCA Membership Renewal:
Once again we will be renewing our membership into RRCA. A
check will be sent to them during the month of December. The cost for this
membership is expensive to the tune of $1500 dollars. Most members may not
realize but we do need this membership because it provides our club with
liability insurance. It covers us during our group runs and socials but more
importantly, this insurance covers us for our major events like the WC8K, Track
Series, and Club’s relay race. Without, we would not be allowed to Park and
Rec’s facilitates.
If you have ever wondered where your members dues go,
between our RRCA membership and club socials consume the bulk of it.
Board Meeting Update:
This month’s board meeting had a full agenda. We covered our
non-profit status, board elections status, member referral status, RRCA renewal
status, membership renewal email status, RRCA Runner Friendly Initiative
status, WC8K Status, Mileage Program Status, CRC Online Store status, Annual
meeting date/time/location status.
Feel free to contact me if anyone needs additional details.
Board Meetings:
Our annual club meeting will be held at 1 PM on the 7th
of December. Triple C Brewery
Company will host our meeting and has graciously volunteered their large
conference for the meeting. As we get closer, I will post reminders on our FaceBook,
Twitter, and www.charlotterunningclub.com
pages. During this meeting our ’14 elected club officers will be announced, and
I will recap ’13 and talk about our plans for ’14.
Our ’14 board will meet on December 11th at 6:30
at the Dowd Y. The first order of business will be to nominate and approve the
two at-large board member and then to elect club officers for the ’14 year.
Wrapping Up:
The Charlotte Running Club is a group of like minded
individuals that have a passion for running. I realize that I do not know each
of you personally, but still we all share a common trait. We love running and
the feeling that comes from it. This is what bonds us together.
This is the time of year where we should all be thankful. I
am thankful to be a part of this club. By being a member I have made a whole
lot of new friends that share my passion. I sincerely hope everyone else feels
the same way.
This always deserves repeating. If there is ever a question,
concern, or just some general feedback on what the club is doing, please email
it to run.charlotte@gmail.com. Our
Gmail account is monitored daily and emails will be 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.
Remember Running is important but Family is more important
so spend some extra time with them this time of year,
Bill Shires
CRC President
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