HTC Executive Board Meeting

27 September 2010

Board Members Present: David Purinton (President), Harold Tinsley (VP – Communications), Jim Oaks (VP – Programs), Eric Fritz (VP – Races & Equipment), Joey Butler (Secretary), Suzanne Taylor (Appointed Member – Co- Rocket City Marathon Director), Dink Taylor (Appointed Member – Co-Cotton Row Director), and Craig Armstrong (Appointed Member – Past Board Member)

Board Members Absent: Kathy Youngren (Treasurer)

The Huntsville Track Club Executive Board Meeting was held on September 27, 2010 at the Lodge at Southwood Presbyterian Church. David opened the meeting at 6:30 pm.

The meeting began with a discussion of marathon issues including the following:

• There are approximately 1000 entries as of the date of this meeting and that number is expected to rise to around 1250 by October 1^st, which is the next date for a fee increase.
• Publix is a new sponsor. They will primarily supply products for the race.
• Guest speaker this year will be Sarah Reinertsen. For more info, please refer to her website at http://www.alwaystri.net/homepagealwaystr.html
• Dick Beardsley will be the speaker in 2011.
• The board discussed a few names for potential 2012 speakers. Dink and Suzanne will look into those.

Next the board discussed a letter to the city concerning police fees. There is concern that the city will start charging fees for services provided at HTC races. The board pointed out (among other things) that the HTC brings in a lot of out-of-town guests to the city, which provides significant tax revenue to the city. The HTC also regularly donates to various groups in the city. David has drafted a letter and will email to the board for review before sending to the city leaders.

The next topic dealt with the Autumn Chase entry form. It was pointed out that the form did not contain the HTC logo. Only Huntsville Hospital was listed. The HTC was mentioned in small print. David will talk to Joe Francica, Autumn Chase Race Director, to see if we can get this corrected for next year.

Suzanne noted that there has been a request for a hand-cranked wheelchair at the Huntsville Half Marathon. David noted that the USATF only supports rim drive wheelchairs. The hand-cranked wheel chairs are more in line with bike races. Suzanne will inform the person that the request is not supported under USATF rules.

There will be a race director meeting at the Monte Sano Lodge on Tuesday, October 12. The club will provide a meal for the race directors and board members plus 1 guest for each.

The club discussed and voted on the annual HTC awards. These awards will be presented at the HTC Award Banquet at Monte Sano Lodge on Monday, November 8. A meal will be provided to those who sign up in advance.

And lastly, 2 items were mentioned for informational purposes only:

• The new greenway in Hampton Cove is almost complete. Ralph Stone is interested in having a new race to christen the greenway.
• Terreme and the City of Huntsville are planning on a midnight New Year’s Eve run near the Old Airport Fairgrounds. It sounds like they are planning on around 4000 participants.

There was no other business and the meeting adjourned at 8:20.

The following items were discussed via email by the board since the last board meeting:

• The board approved a request to raise the fees for Eurocross from $12 to $15.
• The board discussed and approved a slight change to the Huntsville Half Marathon course which relieves some of the congestion at the start. John DeHaye has already certified the new course.
• Dink and Suzanne Taylor will be race directors for the Huntsville Half Marathon in 2010.
• A new fee structure was approved for the Huntsville Half Marathon.
• Due to a scheduling conflict, the date of the 2010 Autumn Chase was changed to Tuesday, September 28.
• The board approved a new Ironfoot Award which will be given to those who sign up to run or volunteer at the Monte Sano 15K, Huntsville Half Marathon, and Rocket City Marathon. To receive the award, you must participate in all, volunteer in at least one, and be an HTC member.
• Approved a new fee structure for the Ribbon Run.
• Approved the 2011 and 2012 HTC Race Calendars

Note: This was not mentioned in previous meeting notes, but there was an HTC meeting on July 12 at the Monte Sano Lodge. There was no business, but approximately 100 attendees were treated to 3 presentations from HTC members. Dink Taylor discussed many years of running the Strolling Jim 41 miler in Wartrace, TN, Rob Youngren discussed running the Antarctica Marathon, and Kathy Youngren discussed running the Badwater 135 miler across Death Valley.