MINUTES FROM THE HOUSTON AREA ROAD RUNNERS ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETING

JANUARY 22, 2007

The following people were in attendance: Anna Helm, Stephen Mayor, Roger Boak, Bruce Mansur, Audrey Christiansen, Jon Walk, Tom McBrayer, Mark Fraser, Bob Hoekman, Randy Carlson, Joann Luco, Cheryl Esposito, and Annie Hadow.

Anna called the meeting to order at 6:00.

Road Race Update: Buffalo Wallow: Dr. Hoekman confirmed that there is appropriate medical coverage lined up for the race.

Park to Park Run: The Park to Park Run contacted Bob for medical requirements.

Anna is going to contact the Race Directors for these two races to request their compliance status.

The Runner of The Season checks and Ironfoot awards will be presented at the Buffalo Wallow.

Race Recap: Dr. Hoekman reported that the 30K and Marathon appeared to go smoothly and that there were no medical issues that he knew of from either event.

Bruce mentioned that the running club area inside the GRB on marathon day was congested. He is going to recommend expanding it in the future. It was also mentioned that the corral system could have been better managed, perhaps by having people giving directions to the separate corrals. In addition, the Half Marathon ran out of water late in the race. Overall, the race was very well supported this year.

Just For Kids Run: Anna distributed flyers for a program called Youth Fit 2007,  a series of events Chris Rampacek is putting on in conjunction with the Parks Department and The Y this year. Chris approached Anna about having the Just for Kids Run be part of the Youth Fit series. The Board had several questions concerning format, sponsorship, date, HARRA involvement etc. Randy agreed to talk with Chris to get a clearer idea of what he is trying to do and will let the Board know at the February meeting. Chris has a conflicting meeting on Mondays and isn’t able to attend the HARRA meetings this spring.

Footprints: Jon advised that the February issue will be complete this week and he is starting to work on March. Jon is getting good participation from the clubs, who are regularly submitting articles for Footprints. We now have a Run Houston blog on the Chronicle website – it was launched in the beginning of January. 

Membership: Anna reported for Erin. We currently have 1513 members from 719 Households. We have 533 new members this membership year.

Treasurer’s Report: Audrey reported that all is well and that the Bayou City Classic transferred $20,000 into the Trails Fund.

Website Update: Anna reported for Sarah that the website is updated and should be current. Most recently the PIM registration information has been added.

PIM: Anna reported for Jack that PIM would select the spring target race at the January 24^th PIM meeting. Bob said that he would be conducting CPR training for the PIM volunteers in late February or early March.

VVIP: Cheryl announced that she is waiting on addresses to mail out the VVIP awards. After learning that the ROTS and Ironfoot awards would be given out at the Buffalo Wallow, Cheryl said that she would present the VVIP awards there as well and will mail out any unclaimed after the Buffalo Wallow. Cheryl also brought up the idea of expanding the list of points eligible VVIP activities to include submitting articles for Footprints and other ideas.

Member Discount Program: Anna reported for Sarah that there are no updates this month.

CPR/AED:  Dr Hoekman reported no medical issues with the 30K. A long sought after Forerunner setup card has been located and purchased. With this card Dr. Hoekman has re programmed the two original Forerunner defibrillators. We now have six defibrillators- Forerunners (2), FR2 (2) and FRx (2), all programmed to the 2005 protocols. In addition, HARRA now has 13 two way radios and 13 CPR/AED packs for use in race support. Dr Hoekman will be conducting new member and renewal CPR/AED courses in February and March

Memorial Park Conservancy: Anna reported that MPC will office from the golf center one day a week. Anna will find out from them when the next trail work day is.

Club Updates: No reports

RRCA Convention: To be held in Chicago in late March. Anna is planning to go. We have the budget for one more person from the HARRA Board to attend. Please contact Anna if interested.

Fun Day at The Park: Date, May 12^th. Mark Fraser is spearheading.

Open Discussion:

Tom informed the Board that Ryan Hall’s Half Marathon time is a pending American record. USATF plans to recertify the course for record validation. Also, the no headphones rule was discussed at the USATF Convention. It was decided that it will be up to the individual Race Directors to enforce the rule.

Roger announced that he is working on ordering the marathon finisher’s towels.

There was no additional business to discuss. Anna adjourned the meeting at 7:35.