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Going Forward

Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 5 p.m.

To all DCRRC club members,

Unfortunately, I feel that I can no longer properly discharge my special responsibilities as President of the club, which includes being in general charge of the business, affairs, and property of the club. Circumstances which I have indicated to the Board have arisen which prevent me from properly monitoring the club activities for which I am putatively responsible and therefore for personal reasons, and in the best interests of the club, I hereby resign, effective at 10 a.m. on Saturday, November 7, 2009.

The new President will be Karol Murray, the current Vice President of Operations. I have already spoken with her about this. Karol has been very active in the club and on the board, and she is a past recipient of the Justine Peet Volunteer of the Year Award. She will be a fine and capable successor and she has my complete confidence.

I leave behind a club that is even stronger than when I assumed the presidency, with several important associations and programs either implemented or expanded during my tenure. It has been my honor and pleasure to serve both the club members and the Washington running community for the past several years as a volunteer coach, as the director for several club training programs, as a board member and as club President. I am especially proud that I am a past recipient of the Justine Peet Volunteer of the Year Award.

I will naturally support Karol’s transition in any way I can, and I can be reached at peterlamberton@yahoo.com. Thank you for your continued support of the club.

Peter

Mid-Year Review

A review of where the club has been in the last half-year.

Spring 2009: 10K Training Program. Ten program participants ran in the Capitol Hill Classic 10K target race, with four runners finishing in under an hour and one athlete taking second in her age group and another athlete taking third in her age group. Thanks to Program Director Peter and all the volunteer coaches.

Summer 2009: Ten Mile Training Program for the Army Ten-Miler Race, for which DCRRC was the Exclusive Training Partner. Some Program highlights:

173 trainees registered, which potentially collected $12,110 in revenues for the club. There were 16 weeks of training provided at three different sites over two weekend days. Included for participants were three Happy Hours, one picnic, a pre-race dinner, six seminars and a weekly informative email. The Program Director was given a speaking role at the ATM Expo, and there was a club Table at the race finish line.

The Army Ten-Miler was so impressed with the professional job the club provided that it has indicated it wants DCRRC back. In a mass emailing, under the heading "DCRRC/ATM 10 Mile Training," the Army Ten-Miler Race reported that for "the first time ever the ATM used pace groups provided by DCRRC and they were a success." Thanks have to go to Program Marketer Rachel Bonistalli, Site Directors Katie, Sasha and Peter, and all the volunteer coaches.

Summer 2009: Marathon Training Program. About 100 trainees registered for 5 months of training. In addition to coaching, the MTP provided three seminars, social events, and a tent at the MCM Finish Line. Thanks to Program Directors Kristin Dahling and Alexandra Barrage and all the volunteer coaches.

Fall 2009: Army Ten Miler Race Pace Program. The Pace Program Director and other club members Peter, Jerry, Marcelo, Rachel and John led pace groups in the race, and all six led their groups to the finish line within thirty seconds of their goal times.

August 11, 2009:  Bart Yasso event. The club co-hosted, along with Saucony, a Fun Run on the Mall with noted runner Bart Yasso. At the subsequent social gathering in Georgetown, Yasso gave out free autographed copies of his autobiography. Katie Madison set this up.

Other notable club events: There were four club social gatherings, including a dinner at Generous George’s in Alexandria, two Happy Hours at Gordon Biersch in the District and a Happy Hour at Sette Bello in Arlington. Thanks to Rachel and Katie for setting these up.

There was an attempt to partner with Channel 9 (WUSA) and Pacers on a 5K race in Silver Spring last month, which was cancelled in the last week by Channel 9. However, the club got some television exposure out of it, with club member Matt Rodjom being interviewed by Channel 9. Thanks to Karol for doing so much work in setting up this race.

The club welcomed a new SLR Director (Kristin Dahling), Membership Coordinator (Katie Madison) and Volunteer Coordinator (Kristin Blanchat).

Awards were presented to the Snowball Series and Bunion Derby winners. These runners mostly ran in the normal complement of club races put on by our hard-working Race Directors club volunteers. Notable was the complete facelift given to the Larry Noel 12K (formerly 15K) by RD Ben, and the 25^th running of the National Capital 20-Miler and 5-Miler races under the direction of Chuck Evans and Bob & Delabian Thurston.

The club purchased an AED Defibrillator unit to be on hand for potential emergencies at track workouts and club races.  The club provided six volunteer coaches with the opportunity to receive RRCA Coaching Certification training this fall.

Peter