Macon Tracks Running Club Board and Officers Meeting
March 9, 2014
Thanks to Marcus and Teri Parker for hosting us at their beautiful new home, and thanks to FM for making
fabulous bread and brownies to enjoy during the meeting.
Present: FM Barron, Chris Woodgeard, Duke Gilkey, Thomas Herman, Paul Swicegood, Marcus Parker, Bonnie
Hopkins, Larry Carpenter, and Kerry Oedel
The first order of business was to do a wrap up of the Al Toll race on Feb. 8. Chris reported that the number or
registrants was down from last year by about 30 people, but expenses were a little less, so we still made a profit
of $1900, which was about $200 less than last year. We elected to donate half of the proceeds to the Epilepsy
Foundation. Kerry announced that she is retiring from co-organizing the race next year and brought up the
possibility of having another organization or person take over the race and use the money for the cause of their
choice. Everyone seemed to feel strongly about keeping the race going. Perhaps if committees are set up like
we do with Labor Day, then it won't be so much work for just a few people. It is a lot of work to put in for just
200 or so runners, however. This can be discussed again at a later meeting.
Next we began the initial planning of the 2015 Labor Day Road Race. The theme design has been decided, a
word cloud on a red background. We decided to do white inset panels on the red shirt, with the same color for
men and women this year. We discussed various tag lines, and decided to put "Macon Tracks to a healthier
community" on the back of the shirt.
FM went through the list of jobs that need to be done and everyone was gracious to volunteer, so that nearly all
of the committee head assignments are filled. See the attached sheet for the list of who is in charge of each job.
We talked about asking the fire department to bring their big pancake maker and serve pancakes rather than
having the Chick-fil-A biscuits. We spent $1500 on biscuits last year, and it's a logistical problem to get the
biscuits to the finish line on race day morning. Marcus will ask the fire department if they would be willing to do
the pancakes and find out how much of a donation they would need.
We talked about award options and debated whether to do medals again this year or do something different.
Some of the options discussed were plates, mugs, tiles, and license plates. We would like the award to
incorporate the t-shirt design. Larry volunteered to research different options.
Chris will prepare a race budget, hopefully Caryl can make arrangements with Kathy's Rock when she does the
sponsorship solicitations, and FM will contact Kevin Nichols (DJ). Duke needs to be given the sponsorship
materials for Georgia Power so he can follow up with his contact there. Kerry will arrange for the porta-potties,
timing with Event Tech, getting the bib numbers, envelopes, and pins. Marcus volunteered to put the chips on
the bibs, so Kerry will get those ordered soon and have them sent to Marcus. Bonnie and Larry volunteered to
put safety pins in groups of 4, so Kerry will order those soon and get them to Bonnie and Larry. We want to put
the pins in the packets this year. Also, we will sort the shirts by size well before we begin to stuff the packets
and better divide the packets so that shirt size changes are caught right away before mistakes are made. Paul
will arrange for the GEICO pace car, unless we want to use that opportunity as an incentive for a car dealership
to sponsor the race. Sam can hopefully get more cardboard boxes for packet stuffing. For race registration,
hopefully Andi will take care of the computer issues, Kerry will handle dealing with the e-mails and people issues,
and Larry volunteered to input the paper registrations.
Next we brainstormed various ideas on how to get more people involved with the club and increase
membership. We talked about having more Macon Tracks shirts made and put into circulation, perhaps by
giving out a shirt with each new membership. Someone would need to be in charge of mailing the shirts out to
new members. We could post pictures of people wearing their Macon Tracks shirt to promote the club and
foster a sense of community. We can do a membership drive during the Labor Day packet pick-up and sell
Macon Tracks shirts there. As a first step, Thomas will go by Run Fit and get an inventory of what's there.
Other ideas were to have a group out-of-town race, to do the Panera Bread run more often than just on New
Year's Day, hold more fun runs or in-club races, and others. We decided that we would start off by trying
another "Pizza at the Track" night on Tuesday, April 1st. The pizza can be ordered at the beginning of the track
workout after seeing how many people are there. This might make it easier for families to come as they won't
have to worry about fixing dinner after getting home late from the track, and also will encourage more
socializing after the workout. We also debated various options for a spring social. We decided to reserve a
room at Logan's Roadhouse on Friday, May 2nd from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. Everyone will pay their own way. Lots of
people go out for dinner on Friday evening anyway, so this way maybe they can come and enjoy fellowship with
Macon Tracks runners at the same time. It also doesn't require a lot of effort on already busy volunteers.
Bonnie will ask about reserving the room and set up an event on Facebook. Kerry will send an e-mail
announcement.
Meeting adjourned!
respectfully submitted,
Kerry Oedel
3/10/2014