My Track Record

The College Club
Downtown Seattle

ATTENDANCE

Although the meeting was held on Valentine’s Day, a quorum was present in the form of board members Greg Crowther (secretary), Dan Hayes (membership chair), Saul Kinderis (president), Bill Roe (vice president), Liz Stahl (treasurer), and Clay Stenberg (plain old board member). Also present were club members Bill Cusworth, Steve “Hatz” Hatzenbeler (team manager), Ted Looney, Brian Oster (events manager), and Erik Probstfield.

QUOTES OF THE MONTH

“You’ve gotta do at least two years. Come on!”
–Bill Roe, goading Saul into serving another term as president

“Are you _really_ the president of this running club?”
–Greg, to Saul, after Saul made three mistakes in his first 10 seconds of inspecting Liz’s financial report

“We want to make sure Greenspan goes up another quarter-percent.”
–Clay, advising Club to hold off on reinvesting its money for the time being

“We still have lots of old crusty ones in mustard yellow. Maybe some old crusty people will buy them.”
–Hatz, on Club’s inventory of antique jerseys

STATISTIC OF THE MONTH

Number of kegs consumed by Bill Roe’s entourage while in New Zealand: 20.5

CORRECTIONS TO MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS

The November minutes listed Mark Davies as a board member; he isn’t. They also referred to the “Always Running Marathon (a.k.a. ‘Morathon’),” which, as Kristen Mora pointed out via e-mail, is technically called the “Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier.”

Liz Stahl noted that, despite her facetious comment reported in the January minutes, Matt Messner’s December 98 marathon race was an outstanding individual effort.

With these amendments in place, the November, December, and January minutes were approved.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Liz distributed a four-page handout to the Board containing a summary of Club’s recent checking, savings, and CD account activity, as well as a summary of 1999 income and expenses. Saul commented that the expenses report on page 2 looked incomplete; he was told to turn to page 3. The handout showed that $30.931.34 of Club’s $38,675.56 income for the year came from _Northwest Runner_ and that the “bottom line” of income minus expenses was $10,063.12. Current account totals: $12,140.11 in checking, $666.20 in savings, and $5,493.43 in the form of a CD which matures on February 17th.

Erik Probstfield suggested that we transfer our CD funds into a money market account, which would earn a similar interest rate but would provide greater liquidity. Saul made a vague motion to “have Liz do something different next time,” presumably in support of Erik’s suggestion. After a bit more discussion, it was decided that Liz should cash the CD on the 17th (“…and _this_ year I actually _will_ cash it,” she promised) and put the money into our savings account until we decide how we should reinvest it.

The treasurer’s report was approved.

PNTF/USATF REPORT

Bill Roe reported that the PNTF’s Annual Meeting will take place on Friday, February 18th. He also mentioned that next year’s world cross country trials will take place in Portland, Oregon and that, while we might wind up at Blue Lake Park again, alternative venues are being checked out. Those who qualify for the 2001 world championships will be accompanied to Dublin by none other than Bill himself, who will serve as the senior team leader.

MEMBERSHIP REPORT

We will order 144 more orange t-shirts — gross! — to replace the ones Dan Hayes has been mailing out to Club members. Dan’s new-millennium resolutions as membership chair are to (a) plan one or more Club-wide social events for this year and (b) draw up a plan to hire a Club coach. He will try to have a draft of this plan ready for next month’s meeting. One option is to create two tiers of Club membership a “deluxe” (i.e., more expensive) membership for members who wish to train under the Club coach and a “basic” membership for everyone else.

Hatz said that Club’s voice-mail account, originally set up for team business, does not currently get many calls. Dan will start using this account for membership-related business in hopes of stemming the tide of calls to his apartment.

NORTHWEST RUNNER REPORT

_Northwest Runner_ editor Martin Rudow was in California judging the men’s Olympic 50K racewalk trials. Liz reported that Martin had given her a $3060 check for December; no profits were due to Club for January.

EVENTS REPORT

Brian termed the Frostbite meet a “whiz-bang success.” We made about $140 on it. Brian added that Club assistance at the St. Patrick’s Day Dash would be welcome.

Edmonds District Stadium will host the Spring Break Open Meet and Northwest Relays on March 25 and April 8, respectively. Bill Roe said that improvements have been made to the stadiums discus and shot areas but that further improvements are needed; for example, the pole vault area is frequently underwater, there is no electricity on the infield, the discus cage is not safe for hammer throwers (or, more to the point, for hammer throw spectators), and the track still lacks a steeplechase water jump and inside-lane “curb.”

Also on the topic of facility maintenance, Erik noted that the hammer throw circle at West Seattles stadium is cracked and therefore unusable. Erik asked the Board for permission to round up some funds to repair the circle, his idea being that the cost could perhaps be split among the city, the Seattle Masters, and Club. The Board was agreeable to this idea; a formal motion may be made and approved via e-mail prior to the next meeting.

TEAM REPORT

A few Club athletes competed at the world cross country trials on February 12-13. Chris Udovich placed 10th in the women’s 4K and was mentioned frequently by course announcer Mike Scott. Mindy Leffler had hoped to contend as well but lost a shoe in the mud and wound up 31st. Buck Jones finished 19th in the men’s 4K and returned the next day to take 48th in the 12K.

Hatz would like to rewrite our policy on cross country team selection and funding for National Development- and International Development-level athletes. The Board agreed that N.D. and I.D. athletes should be required to earn 10 volunteer points were year, as is the case for A-level athletes.

In response to a query about team singlets, Hatz said that we still have plenty available.

BOARD ELECTIONS

Board seats 4 (Greg), 5 (Clay), and 6 (vacant) were up for grabs this year; neither Greg nor Clay elected to run for another three-year term. In addition, new mom Sally Bergesen, citing the demands of parenthood, recently resigned from the Board, leaving seat 8 open. Shelley Williams was elected to position 4, Erik to position 5, and Bill Cusworth to position 6. Meanwhile, Clay was elected to fill position 8 for the next year; “I can handle that,” he said.

The new Board then elected officers for the 2000-01 year. Saul was cajoled into serving another term as Club president. Bill Roe will remain the vice president, and Liz will continue as treasurer. Thornton “T.P.” Perry is the new secretary.

Noting the low attendance, Bill Roe said that a notice of next year’s annual meeting should be sent out to each member and that the meeting should be held somewhere other than the College Club.

NEW BUSINESS

Bill Roe said that Saul should appoint a committee to come up with an annual budget.

NEXT MEETING

The next Board meeting will take place on Monday, March 13th at 7 p.m. at the College Club. All are welcome.

PARTING WORDS

Some final thoughts before I pass the secretarial pen on to T.P.:

First, I have new respect for my predecessor, Sally, who did this job for three and a half years. I only lasted a year and a half.

Second, I’d like to thank everyone for tolerating my unorthodox and sometimes libelous style with good humor. I hope that, in trying to liven up these reports with juicy quotes and sarcastic comments, I haven’t hurt anyone’s feelings; if I have, I sincerely apologize. Please know, my fellow board members, that I respect your intelligence, admire your character, and applaud your dedication to the sport of running. It has been a pleasure to serve you.

Respectfully submitted,
Greg Crowther
Ex-Secretary
Club Northwest

HANDOUTS

1. Summary of checking, savings, and CD account activity and of income and expenses for 1999 (Liz)

MODIFICATIONS OF CLUB POLICIES

None this meeting.

The College Club
Downtown Seattle

ATTENDANCE

The first board meeting of ’00 was attended by Tom Cotner (masters liaison), Greg Crowther (secretary), Saul Kinderis (president), Brian Oster (events manager), Elizabeth Stahl (treasurer), and Clay Stenberg (board member). Hatz was at a guitar lesson, Dan Hayes was in Iowa, T.P. was teaching a class, Bill Roe was in New Zealand, Martin’s plane was late, etc. etc. etc. Since only four of eight board members were in attendance, a quorum of the board was not present and no official club business was conducted.

QUOTES OF THE MONTH

“When I looked at the results, all I saw was a bunch of ‘unattached’ women.”
–Tom Cotner, on dating options at the fall cross country meet in Long Beach

“Matt Messner made the A standard . . . because of ME!”
–Liz Stahl, on her role as the “pace bike” at the December ’98 Always Running Marathon

FINANCIAL REPORT

Clay debriefed Liz and Greg on his recent luck playing the stock market. After three months, he’s up about $1500 on an initial investment of $4K.

Tom Cotner gave Liz a disappointingly small check for PNTF entry fees owed to Club.

EVENTS

Saul reported that the contract negotiations with events manager Brian Oster, now entering their twentieth month, are almost complete. Once the contract is finalized, it will be approved in an e-mail vote as described in the November minutes.

Brian said that the books aren’t closed on the Reso Run yet because he needs to mail out some more t-shirts. He said that there were about 400 finishers in the 5K and that Club would make an estimated $800-1000 on the event. He added that participant feedback on the event was generally positive, although a couple people did not like having to wait until 12:20 to run the 5K. (The 2K started at noon.)

THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD

The next board meeting will be our Annual Meeting, at which a field of yet-to-be-declared dark-horse, third-party, and write-in candidates will vie for the honor and privilege of serving on the Club Northwest Board of Directors. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the College Club (5th & Madison, downtown Seattle) on Monday, February 14th. This turns out to be Valentine’s Day, but the meeting will be held anyway so as to give several otherwise uncommitted board members something to do on that evening. We hope you can make it, too; all club members and guests are welcome.

Respectfully submitted,
Greg Crowther
Secretary
Club Northwest

The College Club
Downtown Seattle

ATTENDANCE

Secretary Greg Crowther was on time this month and thus resumed his usual note-taking duties. He was joined by club member Bill Cusworth, team manager Steve “Hatzenberger” Hatzenbeler, president Saul Kinderis, events manager Brian Oster, board member Thornton “T.P.” Perry, _Northwest Runner_ editor Martin Rudow, and treasurer Liz Stahl. Not present were board members Sally Bergesen (on maturnity leave), Bill Roe (vacationing in New Zealand), Dan Hayes (vacationing in Cyprus and/or Iowa), and Clay Stenberg (vacationing in Bellevue).

Given these absences, a quorum of the Board was not present, so no official Club business was conducted during the meeting. No minutes were approved, motions made, contracts signed, or innings played. We’ll try again at the next Board meeting, scheduled for January 10. At any rate, here is an account of what _did_ happen….

QUOTES

“Oh, $&*@! Is that this month?”
–Resolution Run race director Brian Oster, on the Resolution Run

“How do you take out an insurance policy on a bunch of old, ruddy cones, anyway?”
–Oster, questioning whether Pro-Motion Events should have insurance for the Club equipment it uses

“I did _try_ to use it….”
–Martin Rudow, on his difficulty operating the easel lent to him by Brian Oster at the Seattle Marathon expo

“I write my best friends last, when I’m really toasted.”
–T.P., on his annual holiday tradition of opening a bottle of wine and writing cards to friends while drinking the wine

“It seems foolish sometimes to say, ‘Hey masters, come to my room for a team meeting.'”
–Steve Hatzenbeler, on managing athletes who are (in some cases) twice his age

“He fired the gun, and about four people took off in a different direction. I was like, ‘Where are _those_ guys going?'”
–Hatzenbeler, on the go-your-own-way start of the Adventure Run

EVENTS

Events manager Brian Oster gave the Board his feedback on the latest draft of the contract between his company (Pro-Motion Events) and Club Northwest. President Saul Kinderis jotted down the suggested changes.

Brian reminded the Board that the Resolution Run is still scheduled for “high noon” on December 31 at Magnuson Park. He asked Club to provide 10 to 20 volunteers. Saul won’t be one of them, as he will be biking around the U.S. at the time of the race. However, according to T.P., Mark Williams may come up from San Francisco to help with the announcing chores.

NORTHWEST RUNNER

Martin Rudow, attending the meeting as a fugitive of his family’s Christmas tree decorating party, reported that it had been “a typical month” for _Northwest Runner_. He wrote Club a check for $2300 and also passed on a $250 donation from Laurel James. T.P. said he would write Laurel an ethanol-induced thank-you note (see above). Additionally, T.P. and Brian promised/threatened to spend New Year’s Eve writing an article for a future issue of the magazine.

Martin and Greg are still looking for someone to help out with the Northwest Runner website (www.runningnetwork.com/NWRunner). Brian said that Chuck Bartlett might be able to provide some assistance.

TEAM

Hatz gave the Board a thorough report on the cross country team’s recent trip to nationals. His overall comments were that the team received a lot of support out on the course from Saul, Bill Roe, Mike Scott, and others, and that the team members had fun and got along really well and in some cases raced really well, too. He thanked the Board and Club Northwest for their support of the trip.

The senior women finished 5th out of 14 teams and were led by Nicole Hunt (21st place), Mindy Leffler (31st), and Kathleen Harri (50th). The senior men placed 7th of 16 squads and were paced by Craig Dickson (6th) and Jon Murray (34th). The masters men did not score as a team but received strong performances from Richard O’Brien (1st, 50-and-over) and Michael Allison (4th, 45-and-over).

Hatz said that several team members had expressed interest in attending the world cross country trials races to be held in February in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Board agreed that Club members competing in these races would be reimbursed according to how well they placed; for example, anyone finishing in the top 25 might be reimbursed for half of their expenses, while finishing in the top 15 might entitle you to full reimbursment.

Mark Davies gave the new Seattle Sports Physical Therapy contract to Hatz, who gave it to Saul, who signed it. SSPT wants to do more in the way of community outreach this year and may provide PT services at some Club events, though not as a replacement for medical staff.

FINANCES

According to Liz’s report, we had $664.52 in our savings account as of September 30, plus $10,243.52 currently in checking and $5,493.43 in the form of a CD. These totals do not reflect Martin’s latest check or the $750 check Liz wrote to Hatz at the meeting.

ADVENTURE RUN

Bill Cusworth distributed an Adventure Run accounting sheet showing net profits from the event to be $552, of which Club Northwest will receive 50%. Bill said that the need to stop at various checkpoints along the course led to some confusion and some blatant cheating among the 100 or so participants but that, in the end, Dan Hayes scored a convincing victory.

LEST WE FORGET….

Devoted readers of these minutes may recall that, as of last April’s Board meeting, Patty O’Doyle had yet to receive a prize for winning the costume division of the 1997 Firecracker 5000. On Monday, longtime club member Dean Ingram provided the Board with an update: Patty _still_ hasn’t received her prize but hasn’t given up yet. Brian said that he would get Patty’s address and mail her an old t-shirt or something.

WHAT NEXT?

Barring a millennial meltdown, the next Board meeting will take place at 7 p.m. on Monday, January 10th at the College Club. All are welcome.

Respectfully submitted,
Greg Crowther
Secretary
Club Northwest

HANDOUTS

1. Register Listing of checking account activity (Liz Stahl)

2. Adventure Run ’99 Accounting Sheet (Bill Cusworth)

The College Club
Downtown Seattle

PRELUDE: FORBIDDEN LOVE REVEALED

Liz: “Hey T.P., did you know that you’re Bill’s spouse now, according to Costco?”
Brian: “…Although I’m sure you’d prefer to be referred to as ‘life partner’ rather than ‘spouse’….”
Bill: “I’m filing for divorce!”
Brian, to Liz: “Now look what you’ve started….”

ATTENDANCE

After a string of recent absences, Clay Stenburg made a triumphant return to the College Club, thus quelling rumors that he had moved to Nepal to train at altitude. He was joined at the table by Tom Cotner (masters liaison), Greg Crowther (secretary), Steve “Hatz” Hatzenbeler (team co-manager), Dan Hayes (membership chair), Saul Kinderis (unshaven president), Brian Oster (events manager), Thornton “T.P.” Perry (board member), Bill Roe-Perry (vice president), Martin Rudow (_Northwest Runner_ editor), and Liz Stahl (treasurer).

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

T.P. strongly approved of the September minutes. Everyone else simply approved them.

FINANCIAL REPORT

According to Liz, Club’s current bottom line is about $28,000. This includes about $20,000 in our checking account, $600+ in our savings account, $5400+ in the form of a CD, and $1700 in the form of the latest check from Northwest Runner. The financial report was approved as submitted.

Liz asked for a clarification on our reimbursement policy with respect to Club athletes who make the “B” standard for the Olympic marathon trials. Bill confirmed that Club will pay the travel costs of athletes who make the “B” standard (2:50:00 for women, 2:22:00 for men). USA Track & Field will cover the travel costs of athletes who make the “A” standard (2:42:00 for women, 2:20:00 for men).

At this juncture of the meeting, Board members were reminded that they are eligible for Costco memberships through the Club. The caveat, according to Hatz, is that “you have to pretend to be Bill’s spouse.”

PNTF/USATF

Bill announced that PNTF’s Annual Meeting is Monday, October 18th at the College Club. Club Northwest members are welcome to attend.

MEMBERSHIP

Dan has prepared a mailing which advertises the upcoming Club Northwest Night (October 21) at the Capitol Hill FootZone to Club members. Martin offered to mail the postcards so that Dan can continue to prepare frantically (as opposed to Franekly) for his master’s defense. Bill suggested that Martin pay someone $5 an hour to put address labels on the postcards. “Five dollars an hour? That’s more than I’ve made since I took this job!” the incredulous editor protested. “Then consider it a raise and get to work!” quoth Bill.

A motion to spend up to $250 on pizza for the FootZone party and label-affixing labor was approved.

Dan reported that the last couple Club workouts at Discovery Park have attracted 12-14 runners apiece, though few competitive team members have attended.

NORTHWEST RUNNER

Martin said that the November issue would include extensive coverage of the Portland Marathon, including a cover photo of winner Matt Messner and an article by overzealous minutes-taker Greg Crowther.

Brian and T.P. will collaborate on a Club column for the December issue. That means it’s due on November 1st.

Finally, Martin reminded the Board that our profits from Northwest Runner will be relatively modest in the upcoming months, as winter is traditionally the magazine’s slow season.

EVENTS

PNTF cross country meet (November 7th, Lower Woodland Park): Bill has posted an entry form to http://www.pntf.org. According to the form, the meet begins with the masters/community/corporate/coaches/pets 6K race at 9:30 a.m., followed by the women’s 6K at 10:30 and the men’s 10K at 11:30.

Adventure Run (November 13, St. Edward Park): Saul is working with Bill Cusworth on this event. Most aspects of the race are under control. The main task remaining is to lay out the course in such a way that the runners get spread out a bit before they converge on the narrow trail through the woods.

Bill Roe said that we should send out a mailing to Club members inviting them to volunteer at either or both of the above events.

Winter 2-Mile Grand Prix (December through February): Brian distributed a memo from Tom Anderson of Super Jock ‘n Jill asking Club to (a) host a 2-mile event as part of its Frostbite track meet on February 5 and (b) sponsor an ad for the Grand Prix in the December issue of Northwest Runner. The Board passed a motion agreeing to the terms of Tom’s letter and additionally agreeing to pay the series’ PNTF sanctioning fee if PNTF does not waive this fee.

Resolution Run (noon, December 31, Magnuson Park): Brian said that the city of Seattle has fallen short of its ambitious Millennium Project fund-raising goals and is thus scaling back its New Year’s plans. He said that these developments would not greatly affect the Reso Run, which may or may not wind up being part of the Project.

The race will be held at Magnuson Park because it may be used free of charge and is close to where our equipment is stored. Race distances will be 2K (one meter for each year) and 5K (slightly over eight feet per year). In addition to the usual in-kind sponsors, Sugoi will provide apparel prizes and Brooks or Saucony will hopefully pay for some other stuff.

Brian promised that music from Prince (“1999”), David Bowie (“Space Oddity”), and the movie _2001: A Space Odyssey_ will be featured at the race; “we have to go over the top on this one,” he said. “There will be champagne,” he continued — “not for anyone underage, I’m sure.” Bill suggested that we consider incorporating some other Y2K tie-ins into the race; T.P. proposed that we give a defective floppy disk to each finisher.

TEAM

Jennifer Tonkin and Karen Steen have qualified for the U.S. Olympic marathon trials. Tonkin ran 2:38 at Twin Cities, while Steen recorded a 2:46 at the St. George Marathon in Utah.

A query about Tonkin’s current affiliation led to a thread-by-thread discussion of Club uniforms. It was eventually decided that our current policy is to insist that Club-sponsored athletes wear Club singlets at Club team races, cross country races, track races, and national championship events where Club has paid for some or all of the athlete’s expenses. Furthermore, funding standards must be met while in a Club uniform.

Hatz said that cross country team participation is down somewhat this year and that he’s not sure why this is the case. On the men’s side, there are some new faces but not many returnees, while the makeup of the women’s team is not yet clear.

The national masters cross country championship has been moved to Long Beach so that it now coincides with the fall Club championships. In light of this, the Board passed a motion to pay for six masters runners to attend the meet: the top three finishers at the PNTF race on November 7th, plus three at-large selections. Bill called the Board’s silent approval of this motion “another unanimous vote, or another unanimous legacy of apathy.”

Liz has looked into airfares for nationals. Our two main options are to fly into LAX on United Airlines for $196 per person or to fly into the Orange County/John Wayne Airport on Alaska Airlines for $205 a pop. Each airport is 22 miles from Long Beach. Liz will check the van rental rates at each airport and, assuming that they’re approximately equal, will reserve a block of tickets on the Alaska Airlines flight, since John Wayne is a nicer airport than LAX. Bill estimated that, including airfares, hotel rooms, and van rentals, the trip to nationals will cost Club about $6000. This assumes that about 21 people (seven men, seven women, six masters men, and a team manager) will attend the meet.

OLD BUSINESS

Bill said that we can get a one-sided Chronamix clock with four-inch digits for $900 and that we can get Seiko watches for $325 apiece to replace the ones John Crawford took to Virginia. Relying mostly on input from Brian and Bill, the Board decided that we should try to get a two-sided Chronamix with bigger digits and that we should hold out for a better price on the watches.

Rather than conducting a detailed discussion of Club’s bylaws and how they should be revised, Bill went over them fairly quickly, noting in particular where ampersands and italics need to be employed, and asked the rest of the Board to e-mail him their comments and suggested changes, as former Board member Mark Davies had done earlier that day. (Thanks, Mark.)

NEW BUSINESS

Saul suggested that, to facilitate future revisions of the bylaws and other statements of Club policies, any modifications of Club policies made at a given meeting should be summarized in a separate section of the minutes for that meeting. The secretary thinks this is a good idea and will try to remember to implement it.

Mark Davies asked the Board via e-mail whether he should start working on contracts with Seattle Sports Medicine and Seattle Sports Physical Therapy for the upcoming year. In response, the Board said, sure, Mark, go for it.

Tom noted that the results section of the Northwest Runner website has not been updated in several months. Hatz said that Jonathan Swanson is willing to help Club out on web-related things. And then the meeting was adjourned.

MODIFICATIONS OF CLUB POLICIES

None this meeting.

HANDOUTS

1. Register Listing of checking account activity (Liz Stahl)

2. Request for Sponsorship Support (Tom Anderson via Brian Oster)

The next Board meeting will take place Monday, November 8th at 7 p.m. at the College Club in downtown Seattle. Anyone who attends will get his/her name in the November minutes. How’s THAT for an incentive?

Greg Crowther
Secretary
Club Northwest

POSTSCRIPT: PRESIDENTIAL CLUELESSNESS CONFIRMED

Saul, on the 62-mile Haney to Harrison Relay: “Is that in Lincoln Park?”
Hatz: “Good God, man. Where the hell have YOU been?”

The College Club, Downtown Seattle

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“I just wrap my body in Ace bandages and go.”
–Club president Saul Kinderis, on how he manages to exercise while injured

ROLL CALL

Those who attended the September meeting of our august association were: secretary Gregory (“Greg”) Crowther, club member William (“Bill”) Cusworth, membership chair Daniel (“Dan”) Hayes, president Saul (“Saul”) Kinderis, board member Thornton (“T.P.”) Perry, vice president William (“Bill”) Roe, _Northwest Runner_ editor Martin (“Marty”) Rudow, and treasurer Elizabeth (“Liz”) Stahl.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

The August minutes were approved by all, including T.P., who hadn’t actually read them. “That’s the kind of faith we have in the secretary today,” Bill said, prompting the secretary to remark under his breath, “Ha! Unwitting fools! They don’t suspect a thing!”

NORTHWEST RUNNER

It was another good financial month for Rudow’s rag; Club’s share of the profits was $5,062. Martin continues to sell lots of subscriptions at road races, including 50 at the Super Jock ‘N Jill half-marathon alone. For future race outings, he hopes to acquire a _Northwest Runner_/Club Northwest canopy so that the fall rains won’t mess up his hair.

T.P. volunteered to represent _NWR_/CNW at some races this fall.

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY

Summing together all the funds in our various bank accounts (domestic and Swiss), our new bottom line will be $26,831.20 once Martin’s latest check is deposited, according to treasurer Liz Stahl. This includes one CD of roughly $5500.

PNTF/USATF

Bill Roe reported that there was no PNTF meeting last month. Any questions?

MEMBERSHIP AND TEAM

Membership chair Dan Hayes noted that the Seattle Triathlon Club is preparing a waiver for non-club members to sign before participating in STC workouts. Dan wondered whether we should likewise require non-members who attend _our_ workouts to sign a similar form releasing us from liability. The general consensus was that we should.

Noting that we do not currently have a club coach, Dan suggested that, as a service to club athletes and others, we compile a list of area coaches, perhaps in the form of a _Northwest Runner_ article. This suggestion prompted a discussion of whether club should hire its own team coach. Saul asked Dan to outline some possible coaching scenarios in terms of responsibilities and salary.

Liz said that Emily Andersen might possibly be coordinating some women’s team workouts this fall. Maybe. It’s only a rumor.

EVENTS

We continue to make slow progress toward signing a contract with events manager Brian Oster. Saul said that Brian has faxed the latest draft to Mary Holleman, who will look it over this week. Brian, Mary, and Saul are currently working on defining how much of which events are owned by Club Northwest.

Notes on specific events follow….

Terry Fox Run (October 3): Brian is willing to hire us to manage the course. However, given the recent interactions between Club and the Four Seasons hotel, Bill recommended that Club not be involved in this year’s race. T.P. agreed.

PNTF Cross Country (November 7, Lower Woodland Park): Bill has talked to Tom Cotner and will prepare an entry form. Club members competing in the race will provide volunteers as usual. The Hickmans, the Langenbachs, and (probably) Kenny Emerick will officiate as usual. The tentative schedule is as follows: masters/corporate 6K at 9:45, men’s 10K at 10:30, women’s 6K at 11:30.

Adventure Run (November 13, St. Edward Park): Summarizing an e-mail message previously sent to the Board, Bill Cusworth said that the park had been secured for the 13th and that an EMT would be on duty during the race. Saul said that, for a 100-person race such as this one, four or five people should be sufficient to handle the finish line. A motion to make Club a cosponsor of the event was moved and approved.

Resolution Run (December 31): Brooks Sports will be involved, as will the usual in-kind sponsors. If we’re going to need lots of on-course volunteers, we should start recruiting the assistance of high school cross country and track teams. Brian, Bill, and Martin will work on a Reso Run ad for the next Northwest Runner.

Northwest Relays (April 7-9, 2000): Al Bonney has reviewed Bill’s proposal. He supports it, has made suggestions on how to condense the meet schedule, and thinks we should start asking coaches to commit to the meet.

All Comers track meets (summer, 2000): Bill reported that sponsorships for three of the 12 meets have already been sold. T.P., Super Jock ‘N Jill, and Michael Allison have each bought one. The basic deal is that, for $300, you get to affix your name to an All Comers meet of your choice.

Seafair (late summer, 2000): A marathon road relay (or “Ekiden”) may be held as part of the Seafair celebration. The relay would take place on a 2500-meter loop in Magnuson Park. Bill hopes to have a proposal in place by next month.

Speaking of Magnuson Park, it is rumored that, if current plans are realized, the park will soon be the site of a 400-meter all-weather track.

OLD BUSINESS

Bill said that we need to buy two pieces of equipment: (a) a pop-up canopy for our _Northwest Runner_/Club Northwest table at road races, and (b) a new race clock. (The seconds digit of the old clock “stopped moving at Swedish and hasn’t moved since,” he explained.) He added that the current clock took a lot of abuse because it couldn’t be mounted on anything and that we should consider getting a tripod along with a new clock.

Bill estimated that a canopy will cost $350 and a new clock $2100-2500. He said that he would do some more research, decide what to buy, and advise the Board of his shopping spree plans via e-mail. The Board authorized Bill to spend up to $3000 on the canopy and clock pending an e-mail discussion of the specifics.

NEW BUSINESS

Dan Hayes congratulated Liz Stahl on receiving an award from the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The award recognizes Liz for her three years of work as treasurer of the Seattle Race for the Cure.

WHAT NEXT?

The next Board meeting will take place Monday, October 11 at the College Club in downtown Seattle.

Greg Crowther
Secretary
Club Northwest

HANDOUTS

1. Register Listing of checking account activity (Liz Stahl)

The College Club, Downtown Seattle

ATTENDANCE

The August lineup included Greg Crowther (secretary), Saul Kinderis (president), Thornton “T.P.” Perry (board member), Bill Roe (vice president), Martin Rudow (_Northwest Runner_ editor), and Liz Stahl (treasurer). According to unsubstantiated rumor, Brian Oster was detained at a regional correctional facility at the time of the meeting and thus could not attend. If you don’t get this joke, consult the July minutes. If you get it but think it’s inappropriate, feel free to chew me out via e-mail (crowther@u.washington.edu).

CORRECTIONS TO THE JULY MINUTES

There were none. They were approved as written.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Liz’s monthly handout showed our checking account balance to be $12,236.77 as of August 9th. That will increase by $3344 once the new check from Martin is cashed. We now have $662.85 in our savings account.

A motion was passed to roll over our six-month $5K+ CD, which is scheduled to mature on August 19. No action was taken concerning the Club’s boyish secretary, who is scheduled to mature gradually over the next few years.

The financial report was approved.

PNTF/USATF REPORT

Bill Roe announced that the annual PNTF cross country championship meet will be held on November 7th. The USATF regional meet will be November 20th at Blue Lake Park. In a discussion of whether the weather at Blue Lake this year could top the inhospitable conditions of previous years, Martin Rudow suggested, “How about an ice storm? That would be fun….”

MEMBERSHIP

Though unable to attend the meeting, Dan Hayes sent an e-mail message to the Board saying that it had been a quiet month and that he was now holding Saturday morning workouts at Discovery Park.

NORTHWEST RUNNER

Editor Martin Rudow noted that Greg Crowther and Rob Cook have improved the magazine’s website (www.runningnetwork.com/NWRunner) to the point where it is “no longer an embarrassment.” Martin hopes that a beefed-up site featuring downloadable entry forms will generate additional advertising revenue, as his distribution of race brochures at road races has done. He added that it would be great to have Club team members man the Northwest Runner road race booth once in a while. T.P. said that he would do this a couple times during the fall.

EVENTS

All Comers: we currently pay the Lynnwood Key Club $1000 to be our hurdle crew for the summer, which Bill thinks is too much. He also thinks we can make the All Comers meets more profitable by selling sponsorships for $300 per meet. Bill’s suggested pitch to potential advertisers is something along the lines of, “For $300, you too could have your name attached to an All Comers meet.” T.P., enticed by Bill’s crafty marketing campaign, immediately agreed to sponsor a meet next year. T.P. would like the meet to be called “The Lost Planet Runners Memorial Invitational,” although the word “invitational” may run counter to the traditional all comers (i.e. no invitation needed) format.

Terry Fox: The Four Seasons Hotel has unceremoniously dumped Club as its race management consultant, according to Bill.

PNTF cross country: Bill will talk to Tom Cotner about how the meet is shaping up. He will also talk to Hatz about which fall meets should be used to select Club’s cross country nationals team. The PNTF meet and regional championship in Portland will likely be two of the three selection meets, while the Western Washington Invitational or B.C. Championships could be tapped as the third.

Adventure Run in St. Edward Park: Bill Cusworth was attending the world orienteering championships in Scotland, so no new action was taken on his proposal.

Northwest Relays: people aren’t ready to talk about this yet, said Bill Roe.

TEAM

Team manager Steve “Hatz” Hatzenbeler was not at the meeting. Bill said that a timeline for hiring a permanent team manager needs to be established and that, in the meantime, we should try to talk Hatz into staying on as the team manager at least through the end of cross country season.

NEW BUSINESS

Saul reported that Club’s contract with event manager Brian Oster is nearing completion. The essence of it is that we will pay Brian $500 per month plus half of all net revenue. We have paid Brian through the end of April and thus owe him for May and June, assuming that he keeps the Firecracker profits as his July income.

Bill wants to update and revise our bylaws. He may distribute them via e-mail in order to expedite the revision process.

NEXT MEETING

The next Board meeting will take place on Monday, September 13th at 7 p.m. at the College Club in downtown Seattle. Be there or … be somewhere else.

Greg Crowther
Secretary
Club Northwest

HANDOUTS

1. Register Listing of checking account activity (Liz Stahl)

The College Club
Downtown Seattle

ATTENDANCE

Attendees included Greg Crowther (secretary), Bill Cusworth (club member), Steve “Hatz” Hatzenbeler (team manager), Dan Hayes (membership chair), Saul Kinderis (president), Bill Roe (veep), Liz Stahl (treasurer), and Clay Stenberg (board member).

CORRECTIONS TO THE JUNE MINUTES

1. The June minutes contained a facetious but potentially ambiguous off-the-record comment by Brian Oster concerning the Club Northwest health club. A motion was passed to strike the quotation from the minutes. I apologize to Brian for exercising poor judgment in this matter and would like to assure him that, should he wind up in jail on account of my indiscretion, I will visit him regularly.

2. The word “resemblance” was misspelled. Liz Stahl suggested that the minutes be spell-checked to prevent similar calamities in the future. (See Appendix.)

FINANCIAL REPORT

Liz distributed a report of recent checking account activity; as of July 9, our balance was $4,196.19. She added that our $5000+ CD matures on or around August 18.

Bill Roe noted that the first seven All-Comers meets have led to $1894 in deposits. He explained that the profitability of this year’s series has been enhanced by the lack of expenditures on post-meet fun.

PNTF/USATF REPORT

Among his other duties, Bill Roe is now the secretary of Pacific Northwest Track & Field (PNTF), our region’s chapter of USA Track & Field (USATF). In this capacity, he is considering printing the PNTF _Update_ as an insert to _Northwest Runner_ three to four times per year. Additional copies of the _Update_ would be sent to PNTF members who don’t subscribe to _Northwest Runner_. This scheme could potentially benefit the magazine (and thus Club) in that ads could be sold to go into the insert.

Bill also reported that he and others will be meeting in Newark later in the month to discuss the possible restructuring of USATF.

MEMBERSHIP REPORT

Membership chair Dan Hayes said that he was still recruiting people for the All-Comers 10K race on July 21 and that he will contact John Sweeney about putting together an electronic newsletter.

NORTHWEST RUNNER REPORT

A beaming Liz Stahl accepted a $10,500 check from editor Martin Rudow, who attributed the income surplus to the magazine’s expansion into the narcotics distribution industry. No, he didn’t really say that — and neither did Brian Oster.

Martin is in the process of putting together a package for advertisers in which their races will be advertised in the magazine, on the web, and at road races where the Northwest Runner booth is present. On that topic, Clay Stenberg said that he might be able to man the booth at this weekend’s “Run of the Mill,” which Martin won’t be able to attend.

EVENTS REPORT

Events manager Brian Oster skipped the meeting, presumably to avoid being quoted in the July minutes. A preliminary review of the Firecracker 5000 revealed that Club turned a small profit on it and that 550 to 600 runners showed up.

Bill Cusworth was on hand to field questions concerning his proposal that Club Northwest co-sponsor the Cascade Orienteering Club’s second annual Adventure Run in St. Edward State Park. Bill described the race as “basically a cross-country course where shortcuts are allowed.” He said that the race would be about 8 to 10 kilometers in length and that Club Northwest would be asked to provide approximately ten volunteers. The weekend of November 13th and 14th was suggested as a good time to hold the race, assuming that there won’t be any mountain biking events in St. Edward that weekend. The additional suggestion was made that one of the physicians who compete in the All Comers series could be recruited to provide medical assistance at the Adventure Run. In light of the issues raised at the meeting, Bill will prepare a revised proposal to be voted upon next month.

Bill Roe projected that the All Comers track series would earn $3200 by the end of the summer. Accounting for the cost of renting Edmonds District Stadium ($1700) and other expenses, the series should still net a small profit. Bill said that the meets were going fairly smoothly in terms of logistics, although there hasn’t been as much as he had hoped for in the way of meet sponsorship.

President Kinderis led a discussion of what to do about events manager Brian Oster, since we cannot afford to continue paying him $1250 per month. The general consensus of the Board was that we should consider paying Brian a smaller monthly stipend (say $500) plus a large percentage of all net revenue from events (say 50%). According to Saul, Brian understands our situation and is willing to reconsider our current arrangement.

Bill Roe distributed a worksheet which gave an example of how Club’s yearly revenues and expenditures might be restructured. Included among the proposed expenses were part-time wages for a team manager and a membership manager.

Bill also distributed a brochure about the Northwest Relays, a track meet tentatively scheduled for April 7-9 of next year at Edmonds District Stadium. He asked Board members to look over the brochure and give him feedback on it. Hatz questioned whether Edmonds was an adequate facility for the meet, given that it lacks a javelin runaway, a steeplechase water jump, and a curb. Bill responded that it would be prohibitively expensive to rent Husky Stadium or the West Seattle stadium.

With regard to the Terry Fox Run, we need to find out whether Four Seasons will be hiring Club to help manage the event again this year. Brian Oster probably knows.

TEAM REPORT

In was agreed by consensus that, from now on, team members who work at a Club Northwest event will be awarded two volunteer points, and those who play a major role at an event (for example, the volunteer coordinator) may be credited with additional points. Working at a non-Club event will still generally be worth one point. Athletes can now also earn points by manning the _Northwest Runner_ booth at road races; they will earn an additional point for every 10 subscriptions sold. We should make sure that the booth is stocked with Club Northwest materials as well as Northwest Runner stuff.

NEXT MEETING

The next Board meeting will take place on Monday, August 9 at 7 p.m. at the College Club in downtown Seattle. Come if you dare.

Greg Crowther Secretary Club Northwest

HANDOUTS

1. Register Listing of checking account activity (Liz Stahl)
2. Proposed restructuring of financial agreements (Bill Roe)
3. Northwest Relays brochure (Bill Roe)

APPENDIX

No, this doesn’t really belong in the minutes, but I found it amusing anyway. As suggested, I spell-checked these minutes; Microsoft Word 5.1a identified the words listed below as misspelled and offered the suggestions noted after each word. (Some of them would make good nicknames….)

Hatz: hates, hertz
Hayes: hades, hates, hayseed, hazes
Kinderis: cinders, kidnaps
Oster: austere, ester, otter, ouster, oyster
PNTF: panty, pint, pinto, pontiff, punt
Rudow: radon, ruddy, rude, ruder
Saul: skull, soul
Sweeney: swine, swingy