The meeting was called to order by John Phillips at 6:03.

Members present:
John Phillips, Audrey Christiansen, Randy Carlson, Roger Boak, Bob Hoekman, Annie Hadow, Bill Dubinsky, Terry Garrett, John Reich, Cindy Sosa, Camille Yarbrough and Tom McBrayer.

Others Present:
Chuck Cofer

Reading of the minutes:
The reading and approval of the minutes was deferred until the February meeting. There were objections to misquotes in the minutes. These were to be emended by the secretary.

Report of the President:
John congratulated all of those who ran in the hp houston marathon and associated events. He thanked the volunteers who give so much of their time for this event, and especially the sponsors, hp, El Paso Energy, and 24 Hour Fitness for their support. John also reported on the new treasurer and introduced Audrey Christiansen to the Board. Some personal issues caused Michelle Wolpert to decline the position. The transfer of papers and records will occur in a few weeks

Reports of Directors and committees:

Treasurer –
No report this month.

V.P of Road Race Management – Randy Carlson
1. Raised the issue of visibility of HARRA at the Marathon Expo. Where was the HARRA banner?

2. Discussed the proposed “short series” for the fall series and runners interested in preparing for the half marathon. He has pursued fitting this into the current races, but has gotten little or no response from the race directors of these races. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of interest amongst them. He’ll look into other options within the existing schedule. Bob Hoekman issued a concern that if we increase the number of races in the schedule, we’ll be stretching the capacity of the AED team. It would be more desirable to have the events of the short series contained in the current schedule.

3. Friends of Hermann Park have a commitment for a $2,000,000 grant for improvements, however they must raise $500,000 in matching support to be eligible for the grant. Randy reported that the improvements (fountains, improved running surface, lighting, etc) look appropriate and useful to the running community. They have approached HARRA about putting up the first $10,000 to kick off the fund raising drive to achieve this goal. There is a question as to availability of resources. The transfer of the treasurer to Audrey will occur in a week or so. She will look into the availability of funds. If there, we will pledge the $10,000.

V.P. Of Clubs – Roger Boak
1. The marathon finishers towels are ordered and should be available soon.

2. The volunteer project is still in the works.

Membership Committee - Annie Hadow
Membership count is currently at 1567.

V.P. of Communications – GiGi Wark
Bill Dubinsky reported on the progress of the latest special marathon issue. He urged people to contribute their stories, pictures and anecdotes as quickly as possible. Otherwise the issue was pretty much ready to go with space allocated to the marathon.

Students Run Houston - John Reich
There are about 40 students in the program and there is greater teacher participation than in the past. There were plenty of students at the 23 mile water stop in the marathon. Houston Fit has thrown in a lot of support with a $2000 donation and a pledge to provide additional support with coaching and other forms of participation. The next event is the Fine Arts run February 1. The week before the students will also put fliers out in the neighborhood to alert them to the street closures during the race.

AED – Bob Hoekman
The team will be starting their spring series coverage beginning in February. The training and recertification is proceeding.

Equipment – Tom McBrayer
We are in need of a new timing clock to update out stock. The new clocks are cheaper, more reliable, brighter and easier to read. He presented us with the documentation of the specifications and cost of the clock and controller. The board approved the expenditure unanimously.

Bayou City Classic – Camille Yarbrough
1. The Party in the Park is scheduled for February 8th at 9:00 in the morning. Every effort should be made to get the word out.

2. The Expo was a successful venue for sign ups for the BCC with approximately 150 entries.

3. Post card mailings have gone out and applications will be mailed shortly and more will be available at the Party in the Park.

4. Camille addressed the group on the background and history of the relationship of the Bayou City Classic and HARRA. She felt it was necessary to clarify the relationship in response to on going discussions of the Board. Most importantly, the BCC is not a separate entity from HARRA, rather proceeds from the BCC are a large and major contributor to the HARRA Park’s Fund. The Parks Fund has other contributors (affiliated clubs and organizations as well as private donors) all of which should be recorded by the treasurer. In this regard, the Fund was never meant to be a part of the general operating budget of HARRA. The proceeds from BCC that go into the fund are what are left after BCC expenses are paid.

5. A HARRA predecessor originally founded the BCC in 1976. The race ran until 1998 when it was dropped from the calendar. Chiquita Taylor, then president of HARRA resurrected the race name and the Road Race Management committee took over the race. The proceeds from the 10K were earmarked for the Parks fund to give back to the city for improvements to trails and facilities to benefit the running community. In 1999 a group of 4 board members went to a RRCA meeting in Spokane, Washington. There was a race there that drew 59,000 runners from the area and the group adopted the philosophy of making the BCC a large community event.

6. There is a strong feeling that HARRA should continue to nurture a relationship with a long time supporter of HARRA, Tad Malloy and Printing Express. Tad contributes annually some $10,000 worth of printing to the BCC, and that as a rule we should work most closely with our friends and supporters to develop and continue these relationships. The failure of HARRA to continue to use Printing Express as the Printer for FootPrints has become a serious issue. The fact that he was not even approached by anyone from HARRA about this change in printers was particularly distressing to him. John Phillips agreed in principle with what Camille was saying and will approach Tad about the changes. However he reiterated his stance that we have to do what is best for HARRA, and if we can get a higher quality newsletter for less money, then we have to do it. The bids were sent out and the lowest price was from a different supplier. He didn’t want to be contentious but he has never met Tad, has no idea who he is and if this was such a big issue why wasn’t it raised when we were going through the process re-invigorating FootPrints. He also questioned the rationale of only the BCC deriving the benefit Printing Express, particularly if we had to pay a higher premium for other services.

7. There was a lengthy discussion about the revenues from the BCC and operating expenses of HARRA during an emergency. This issue remains unresolved.

8. Randy encouraged HARRA to thank businesses and the community in a multitude of ways and develop strong relationships in any way we can. Public relations pays off.

9. Bob Hoekman admonished against the use of email for discussions on topics such as these.

New Business
The spring HARRA party is rapidly approaching. John talked about the possibility of using another site for the gathering, the Elks Lodge.

BARC has been trying to reach HARRA, without any success. They are concerned about the insurance. John reported that we have renewed through RRCA and we are good for another year.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:35 pm.