Anchorage Running Club Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

June 02, 2008 City Hall Mayor’s Conference Room: Officers present: Betty Cronin, Bonnie Swanson, David Ramseur, Ed Wilson, Greg Dixon, Jim Lieb and Mike Halko. Members present: Charles Utermohle, Lupe Marroquin and Ole Jordan.

ARC runs held so far this season were recapped.:

Club storage unit: ARC rents a storage unit on the Seward Highway for race equipment and it has become disorganized and hard to find items. Mike Halko agreed to check with the unit owners about a larger unit for the club. It was agreed to spend up to $500 on shelving to better organize the unit. Once a new unit is settled on, the club will recruit volunteers to help with a clean-up day.

Medical support team: ARC has contacted a local team of medical volunteers about providing medical backup at races. The group did not respond to a request for a proposal to cover all ARC races, so Ramseur will follow-up with them. The board felt strongly that we need medical back-up.

Finance report: Ed Wilson circulated a detailed financial report which shows the club with nearly $57,000 in overall income so far this year, expenses of nearly $19,000 with a remaining balance of $38,020.65. Ed said the city is charging more for race permits and per runner trail fees – doubled from last year’s $1 per runner. Ed agreed to show club scholarships as an encumbrance on the balance sheet, which will be due in the fall. Ed also said the club needs to buy some computer equipment and new timing equipment, which he will acquire.

Big Wild Life Runs: Race director Mike Halko reported that planning for the Aug. 17 BWL Runs are well underway. A separate account has been set up to cover BWL race expenses, which currently totals about $14,000. Halko said permits are in place, shirts and hats are being ordered and sponsors are enthusiastic about the race.

Halko is working to show the running movie, Spirit of the Marathon, in conjunction with the race which could be a club fund-raiser.

He reported that Coast magazine will produce a BWLR guide in their July issue, with 2,000 over-runs for club use.

Halko showed off a new race poster featuring races sponsor images designed by a local artist and the board was enthused about its use. Utermohle suggested modifying the poster so it could be used as a backdrop for photos after the run.

Halko appealed for more volunteers, especially to help with setting up the race course. ConocoPhillips has agreed to finance new permanent mile markers and volunteers are needed to help post those on race day.

Halko said the BWLR 5-k race needs to be recertified and the club is looking for assistance in doing so. Halko agreed to make all bib numbers unique to avoid confusion.

Website report: Greg Dixon distributed a website report which showed 3,475 visits to the ARC website between May 2 and June 1, 2008, with an average daily number of visits of 3.25. The vast majority of visitors to the site are from the U.S., followed by from Canada, Ireland, Spain and Afghanistan.

Newsletter report: Editor Jim Lieb reported the next newsletter will be published the first week of July, with the copy deadline the last week of June. At the suggestion of Lupe Marroquin, the club is investigating the possibility of distributing the newsletter electronically – all or in part – to save paper.

Upcoming races: the Mugwumps 10-K is the next club race on June 18. Peggy Cobey is looking to train a new race director for this run and is seeking candidates.

Dome partnership: Halko reported interest by The Dome in a closer partnership with ARC. One ARC membership benefit idea is free time in the Dome in the winter, such as for one week or perhaps once a month. Halko will explore these options with Dome management.

Membership issues: The board discussed encouraging all members to register electronically through active.com to reduce volunteer time necessary to fill out duplicate paperwork. Active currently charges a small fee for processing, and there was discussion about whether that fee should be included in the overall membership cost, or in addition to the membership fee. It was also suggested exploring multi-year memberships.

Next meeting: the next club meeting will be held in mid July, at a date to be determined by the president.

Ramseur showed off an award ARC received from the Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau, which is a bronze moose statue.

The meeting adjourned at 7 p.m.

David Ramseur for Peggy Cobey, Secretary,
Anchorage Running Club