My Track Record

The College Club
Downtown Seattle

ATTENDANCE

Board members in attendance included Sally Bergesen, Greg Crowther (secretary), Mark Davies, Thornton “T.P.” Perry, Bill Roe (president), Liz Stahl (treasurer), and Clay Stenberg. Also present were Tom Cotner, Bill Cusworth, Dan Franek, Steve “Hatz” Hatzenbeler (team manager), Dan Hayes (membership chair), Julie Markley, Team Mora (David, Kristen, and Aubrey), Brian Oster (events manager), Erik Probstfield, Martin Rudow (Northwest Runner editor), Eric Steiner, and John Sweeney.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

Secretary Greg chastised himself for leaving Matt Messner’s 2:19:40 marathon performance out of the January meeting minutes. Also, Liz noted that the minutes had implied that Sally is still handling reimbursements for A and B team members. She isn’t. With these corrections, the minutes were approved.

FINANCIAL REPORT

Treasurer Liz distributed a two-part handout which summarized (a) recent checking account activity and (b) transactions relating to the 1998 All-Comers series. The former showed the current checking account balance to be $880.99 — which Liz said would increase to $5300 upon deposit of the checks she had just received — while the latter showed a net loss of $555.48. President Bill suggested that Club’s moribund budget committee should be revived and asked to come up with an All-Comers budget based on Liz’s numbers.

It was decided that Club’s $5252 CD which matures February 18 should be cashed and put into our savings account.

VOLUNTEERING

Membership chair Dan Hayes mentioned that Club’s voice-mail line (206-706-2620) could be modified to include a volunteer point hotline. He added that we should also emphasize volunteer point opportunities on our web page (www.cnw.org) and through our e-mail listserver, which he is in the process of setting up. Upcoming opportunities to volunteer include the St. Patrick’s Day Dash on March 14, the LifeCenter Northwest National Donation Decision Week 8K (I’m not sure of the official title; hopefully it’s shorter than that) on April 10, and the third Always Running Marathon (a.k.a. “Morathon III”) on April 24.

NORTHWEST RUNNER

“There’s nothing but good news,” editor Martin Rudow announced. He said that the cross country nationals programs were done and would be sold this weekend for $1 apiece. He also asked the Board for permission to do a mailing to area _Runners’ World_ subscribers who do not currently receive Northwest Runner. Martin said that the magazine would break even with a 4% return rate, which he thinks will be fairly easy to achieve barring unforeseen circumstances such as a war in the Persian Gulf, to which he attributed the failure of one of his past direct-mail initiatives. President Bill told Martin that he didn’t need the Board’s permission to do the mailing, saying, “This is what we hired you to do…. This is within your contract rights.” Hatz asked that Martin mention Club Northwest in the mailing, and Martin said that he would do so in the follow-up billing statement to be issued to new subscribers.

EVENTS

Resolution Run: Events manager Brian Oster owes Liz a check.

LifeCenter Northwest National blah blah blah: Brian has talked to Jill of LifeCenter Northwest and will work out a contract with her.

All-Comers summer track meets: Thus far, Brian has secured the sponsorship of at least four companies who will provide product free of charge on a weekly basis: Great Harvest (bread), Noah’s (bagels), Odwalla (juice), and Talking Rain (bottled water).

Spring Break Open Meet: Scheduled for March 27 at Edmonds District Stadium.

Seattle Sports and Events Council (SSEC): This is not actually an event but rather an arm of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce which supports local sports events. Someone made a motion for Club to join the Council as an “asset member,” which costs $100 per year. The motion passed. Furthermore, it was suggested that we send a representative to the Council’s monthly meetings. (Brian already goes, but someone else could, too.)

Also on the subject of local sports councils, the Seattle Sports Advisory council (SSAC) has sent a proposal to Mayor Schell advocating that Magnuson Park be renovated to include a 400-meter outdoor track and cross country terrain as well as other sports facilities. The current renovation plan does not include an indoor track because it would be impossible to fit one into any of the existing buildings in Magnuson Park. Since the U.W.’s Hec Ed Pavilion track is on death row, Seattle will soon be without an indoor track facility. 😦

TEAM

Hatz mentioned that Nicole Hunt has qualified for indoor nationals in the 3000-meter run and has met the indoor 3K standard twice this winter and thus will be promoted to the national development level of funding.

The mention of funding fueled a long, rambling discussion about who should have to meet which standards how many times while wearing what uniform in order to be eligible for how much money. The following motions were ultimately approved:

1. Finishing in the top 25 at the fall national cross country meet entitles an athlete to A-level funding.
2. In order to be eligible for national development or international development funding, an athlete only has to meet the appropriate standard once per year rather than twice, as is currently the case for A- and B-team funding.
3. All athletes who join Club are immediately eligible for funding one level below what their recent marks would otherwise entitle them to. When they match or exceed these marks while competing in a Club uniform, their funding will be adjusted accordingly. This funding restriction will not apply to athletes who join Club upon graduation from college.

Mark Davies reported that he is about to sign contracts with both Seattle Sports Medicine (SSM) and Seattle Sports Physical Therapy (SSPT) providing for the treatment of Club athletes during the 1999 calendar year.

BOARD ELECTIONS AND RESIGNATIONS

Mark Williams is vacating his position on the Board. T.P. said that Mark wrote a letter of resignation on a napkin from the Blue Star pub, but this could not be confirmed at the time of the meeting, as T.P. had left the letter in his car.

In other election-night action, Mark Davies declined to run for reelection. After a bit of prompting, Dan Hayes accepted a nomination to succeed Mark on the Board and was elected to a three-year term, as were Saul Kinderis and Bill Roe. A replacement could not be found for the irreplaceable Mark Williams, so his seat will left open for the time being. Anyone wishing to nominate someone for this position should feel free to do so.

BOARD OFFICERS

Noting the superb job Liz has done with Club’s finances, Bill nominated her to continue serving as Treasurer, adding, “If anyone objects, I’ll shoot them.” With any potential opposition thus quelled, Liz was unanimously reelected. Also voted into office were: Saul Kinderis (in absentia), President; Bill Roe, Vice President; and Greg Crowther, Secretary. Barring resignation or impeachment, this slate of officers will serve until Club’s next Annual Meeting, tentatively scheduled for the next millennium.

HANDOUTS

1. A register listing of checking account activity and All-Comers “QuickReport” (Liz Stahl)

Respectfully submitted,
Greg Crowther
Secretary
Club Northwest