MINUTES FROM THE HOUSTON AREA ROAD RUNNERS ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETING,

MARCH 19, 2007

The following people were in attendance: Camille Yarbrough, Anna Helm, Roger Boak, Bob Hoekman, Bruce Mansur, Annie Hadow, Audrey Christiansen, Susan Middleton, Cheryl Esposito, Ted Traynor, John Phillips, Chris Rampacek, and Randy Carlson.

Anna called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM.

Race Update:

Bellaire Trolley Run: Susan demonstrated that the race is prepared to meet the HARRA Race requirements. The course has been recertified. The finish will be a little different this year due to construction.

Law Week 8K: Dr. Hoekman confirmed that the Law Week Run will have sufficient medical coverage.

LP Run: Dr. Hoekman advised that the LP Run is prepared to meet the HARRA requirements. There is an error on the entry form concerning the Age Group awards. Awards will be given out correctly at the race. Open men will run first this year.

Race Recap:

Bayou City Classic: Camille said that the numbers were down this year, probably due to Spring Break and the Rodeo. She is considering changing dates for next year to bring in better numbers. There were 1431 chip wearing finishers; 1700 signed up. Otherwise, the race went well.

Just For Kids Run: Chris proposed that he would like to take over as Race Director for the Just For Kids Run. His idea is to make it more fitness oriented. He is working with YMCA Region IV (which includes 53 school districts) as well as the Parks & Recreation department, so he intends to be working with lots of children. He has a large volunteer pool to pull from as well. He is looking for equipment, security, volunteers and sponsorship from HARRA.

Randy added that he is pursuing sponsorship. He and Camille are considering having the BCC 10K provide some sponsorship to the Just for Kids Run. The Board discussed this idea and is having HARRA and the BCC 10K as backup sponsors. John recommended pursing sponsorship by child, having the sponsoring company(ies) sponsor by head. The Board agreed to think more about it and revisit next month.

Footprints: Anna reported for Jon. Jon would like to stress that we need to communicate to our membership that all Inside Texas Running subscriptions will lapse if your HARRA membership lapses. In the April issue there will be a 2 page article on the Seymour Liberman Trail written by Doug Spence. Jon reported that he is continuing to get good participation from the clubs.

Membership: Anna reported for Erin that we currently have 1614 members, 605 of whom are new. The HARRA Buys You Lunch $5 discount program will be in effect for the month of May.

Treasurer’s Report: Audrey reported that the ROTS checks have been paid. The equipment storage has been paid for one year. $1000 of membership dues revenue has come in in the past month as well.

Website: Anna reported for Sarah. Due to Jerry Smith’s retirement, Sarah will send out announcements three times per month. Anna is going to ask Sarah about posting the announcements on the website as well.    

Tour de Bayou: Roger reported that he is set to go with the TdB. The second one will be at Shepherd and Memorial. The next to last one will be in Hi Chi Minh. Roger will check with Trivantage to see if they’re still interested in sponsoring since his contacts recently left. Roger advised that he is still working on the Club awards from Fall 2006. Also, he announced that the marathon finisher’s towels will be available at the remaining HARRA races

PIM: Anna reported for Jack that the numbers are up for this session (155). A lot of the people are new to running.

VVIP: Cheryl reported that she has collected volunteer forms from about half of the races. She is going to check on the events she is lacking prior to the banquet. She is working on distributing the remaining awards from 2005.

Member Discount Program: No update.

CPR/AED: Dr Hoekman advised that he has good volunteer turnout this year and has teams committed for the remaining races. 

Memorial Park Conservancy: No report.

HARRA Fun Day: John reported for Mark. He has a band booked. Mark is working on getting necessary permits. John is getting equipment. Mark and John are working on getting beer. We’ll need grills. Races and games are in development. Anna offered to help get the event publicized on the HARRA website.

2006-2007 Board Nominations: Anna announced that we are looking for Board Nominations for next year. We will need these by the end of April to make the June Footprints deadline. Anna is going to confirm this deadline with Jon Walk.

There was no additional business to discuss. Anna adjourned the meeting at 7:50.