1. Jean suggested we move Item #8e - Volunteer Recruitment - ahead in the schedule because an invited guest, Rachel Miller, would like to contribute to the discussion.

1. January 22: Shooting Starr Hillandale Race
2. January 30: McDonald’s Breakfast Run

1. Motion to accept minutes, Cathy moved, Bill seconded, unanimous

1. Halloween Young Run — recap/update on event from race director Kimberly Price
1. Race has grown considerably, online registration really helped, but we now need to cap growth, we are short of volunteers, had to do an emergency t-shirt run because they came up short, maximum capacity of 3,000 was almost reached (approx. 2,800 registered this year), and our goal is to maintain this mark
2. Kimberly passed around copies of the budget from the past three years, and read an email message from the head of the City of Rockville Parks and Recreation Department discussing major cuts in the recreation budget and asking the club to increase registration fees for the race so that the race can give the City more money
3. this year the race gave $3000 to the City, but the email from the City does not specify how much more they want
4. Board expressed reservations about increasing registration fees and instead suggested Kimberly talk to the City, with Jean’s help, educating them on the notion that race fees are typically not intended to make money for races but rather profits come from sponsorship, and asking the City to find new sponsors for the race, with the club offering to work with the City on this task.
5. Another important point to emphasize to the City is that the fees for HYR were historically low in order to encourage low-income families to participate, hence they should not be raised
2. Rachel Miller - Stride Clinic t-shirt update
1. Rachel showed us the shirt and the total cost was $16 per shirt for 200 shirts, and that should cover more than a year, Racquet and Jog will split costs between club, Rachel Miller and Dr. Adam Spector
2. May need to change the location of the clinic, looking at Philbin's on Shady Grove, but he requests a link to his site from MCRRC web site and a free ad in the Rundown, Rachel is checking liability issues with Mike but will try this for February; wants the Board's approval with the link and an ad in the Rundown
3. Motion: Board authorizes an ad in the Rundown and a link from the Stride Clinic page on the web site in return for Philbin's hosting the stride clinic, Craig moved, Bill seconded, unanimous
3. Volunteer Recruitment
1. Bill Riggs lead the discussion of ways to improve recruitment and utilization of volunteers for club events, with Rachel Miller contributing to the discussion as an invited guest
2. Rachel talked about Marathon in the Parks (MITP) Medical Coordinator job, found there were too few volunteers doing too many things, it was difficult, she suggested changes in the administrative structure for the race, such as volunteer coordination but also the steering committee, and Mike Acuna agreed with her assessment, we need more volunteers and a better way of utilizing the volunteers, the safety plan required many more volunteers that were really needed
3. Suggestion to put MITP on the agenda, maybe not next month, one suggestion to boost MITP participation is to provide for relay teams
4. Question is how else to increase volunteers and to recruit new volunteers
5. we need to try something different, ways to get new people involved
6. Need to know quickly where are volunteers, to be used by people who need to know to go into the Web site, Brian said he will be working on it, need to ask him to do it within next 30 days, Pike's Peek had its volunteer page done by Clark Concepts and they were paid, and Pam expressed a willingness to do this, need for a centralized database for volunteers
7. Another issue is that training programs require participants to volunteer, but there is no coordination among the coaches and programs, so that some events are well-attended by volunteers while others get none
8. Suggestion: make it a requirement for the Stride Clinic, ask participants to pick a volunteer event, and this should be done for all club training programs
9. Need for a Board member to be in charge of volunteer coordination, and to work with the Volunteer Coordinator
10. Suggestion: establish a volunteer component for Championship and Cross Country Race Series
11. Volunteering for club is now considered community service and we have a call out to high schools, but there are problems getting volunteers this way
12. More prominent notice of volunteering needs that is updated frequently, need to update the database to do Broadcast emails for volunteering
13. Also there is a problem with people not having a positive experience when they do volunteer, how can we make it a positive experience; At the race there should be thanks given to the volunteers in an announcement before the start
14. Get people to sign up for club races at the races, make different colors for flyers from different races
15. Remove volunteer qualification from Race Management Support (RMS) jobs, for most jobs there is no need for experience
16. Leadership question: RMS giving people experience to then take on more leadership experience
17. Need to announce a new process for volunteers, and to apologize to club members if they felt they were not being fully utilized or we were not sufficiently appreciative of their contributions; write a short article in the Rundown to do this and to explain a new system for volunteers
18. Action Item: Bill Riggs will work with the Volunteer Coordinator, Karen Pecararo to summarize the suggestions, prioritize them and report back at the next meeting (and we will ask Karen to also come to the meeting).

1. The total cash in MCRRC accounts as of Dec 31 (not including Marathon in the Parks, Pike's Peek, and Halloween Young Run accounts) was the following:
1. Checking $21,979.34
2. Savings $25,628.90
3. Savings - Clubhouse $3,448.24
4. Merrill Lynch $31,254.51 (as of November 30, 2004)
5. TOTAL Bank Accounts   $82,310.99
2. Marathon in the Parks Bank Accounts (as of January 2, 2005)
1. Checking $13,995.60
2. Savings $ 1,369.71
3. TOTAL Bank Accounts   $15,365.31
3. Pikes Peek Bank Accounts (as of January 4, 2005)
1. Checking $10,215.37
2. Savings $2,061.47
3. TOTAL Bank Accounts   $12,276.84
4. Halloween Young Run Bank Account (as of January 4, 2005)
1. Checking  $7,747.69
2. TOTAL Bank Accounts   $7,747.69
5. November Financial Information
1. The December financial statements indicate a net loss of $12,965.27. Significant income was received from:
• Membership dues $4,065.00
• Experienced Marathoner’s Program Post-Marathon party $690.00
2. Significant expenses included:
• RRCA Dues for 2005 $10,086.31
• Rundown $3,583.65
• Race Director Awards $1,736.86
• Payroll $1,388.99
3. Budget Items for 2004:
1. Income
• Short on membership by >$4000
• Short on First Time Marathoner’s (FTM) program by approx. $2500
• Over on RMS by >$6000
• Total Budget Shortfall on income of approx. $5000
2. Expenses
• Over on FTM by approx. $2000
• Over on Team programs by >$1700
• Over on Intervals by >$2500
• Under on Club race program by >$3000
• Under on Race Permits by >$1000
• Under on Recognition Programs by >$2000
• Under on Community Outreach by >$1800
• Total budget reduction in expenses of approx. $12,000
3. Budgeted Net Expenses were reduced from $9890 to $2090
4. Old Financial Action Items:
1. Open Legg-Mason Account: paperwork to be signed tonight — in process
5. New Financial Action Items:
1. Christina discussed a new draft accounting form for Race Director, problem is how to do the paperwork, suggestion is to see whether Mildred will do it
2. Action item: Christina will ask Mildred if she was willing to do the bookkeeping following race registration
6. Motion to Accept Treasurer’s Report
1. Jean moves to accept the Treasurer's report,  Jim seconded, unanimous
7. Apportionment / Committee Reports
8. Unfinished Business
1. Policy for naming club races
1. Cathy suggested we need to revisit the motion from last meeting about naming club races. At the last meeting the Board agreed to use a club race near Memorial Day to incorporate remembering club members who have passed away, but we did not state that in the future, club races will not be named after an individual. The Board agreed that the intention of the motion was to provide for memorializing club members who have passed away but not to name individual races after someone.
2. Amendment to the original Motion regarding naming club races: The Board approves the club policy that, in the future, no races will be named after an individual. A single race near Memorial Day will be selected to remember club members who have passed away over the preceding year, as stated in the original motion, Bill seconds, 6 in favor, 1 against, 2 abstained, passed.
2. Review Action Items from December 2, 2004 board meeting
1. Back of the Pack Running Group t-shirts; Jean; tabled
2. Equipment Needs: Janet gave information to Jean, completed (separate discussion)
3. RMS Clinic: Jim talked with Phil, most difficult job is tag pulling in addition to timing, no clinic is being planned at this time as there is no need, completed
4. Handicap Race: Craig’s written report, presented it at this meeting (see attachment to minutes)
5. MCRRC member complaint, letter was sent out, have not heard back from the member
3. Awards — review/discuss award winners for club awards
1. Board reviewed nominees for all of the awards, and noted that we have sufficient nominees from which to choose a winner
2. Lifetime Achievement Award: The Board discussed nominees for this award and voted on each nominee, comparing their achievements against the criteria (thereby allowing for multiple winners), the selected Lifetime Achivement Award nominees and winner(s) will be announced at the Awards Party.
9. New Business
1. Compensation for RMS Coordination.
1. Phil is very enthusiastic about working hard on RMS and bringing in more club money, currently his computer rental was providing some compensation, but now it should be clarified that the club should remunerate Phil for his work coordinating the RMS and for his expertise and experience. Janet presented Phil's fee schedule based on different race categories.
2. Motion: Craig, The club will increase the level of reimbursement to the RMS coordinator, Bill seconds, unanimous
2. MCRRC position on removal of Bikepath from ICC plan
1. Janet sent emails to members of the county council and governor's office regarding removal of the bike path, suggests the club act as an advocate
2. Jean pointed out that the current Maryland law is that there be a bike/walk path for every new road
3. Board will send a letter to the State of Maryland on behalf of the club that we support a bike path as per Maryland law. Bill moved, Cathy seconded, unanimous
3. Runner Safety Awareness.
1. Janet talked with Jodi Finklestein, who is willing to hold clinics in the spring to promote safety
2. Discussed other methods of raising awareness, including communications in the Rundown and listserv, one suggestion was to have a buddy system for runners, also we used to have a notification of attacks but now we don't, RRCA coordinated with police and then sent out to all clubs, Irv Newman said he would get involved as the state rep, Henley does not have the time to do this
3. One suggestion is that we hand out whistles to club members to alert others of problems
4. Another suggestion is to make sure all club training programs discuss safety
5. Action Item: Janet will share suggestions with Jodi Finklestein, and will work with Jodi to add a regular Runner Safety column in the Rundown
4. Leadership Development
1. Bill Riggs chaired a discussion about the need for a system to identify and develop leadership in the club, and to help new people to develop their leadership skills
2. Bill encouraged a wide-ranging discussion to solicit as many suggestions or ideas as possible
3. One suggestion was to go through the volunteer database and see who seems to be the most active
4. Suggestion: Race director clinics are also useful to identify and recruit potential leaders
5. Suggestion: New online volunteer site could become a volunteer database
6. Suggestion: RMS jobs are also ways of identifying capable leaders
7. Suggestion: Dovetail these efforts with volunteer recruitment, by advertising for leadership positions
8. Suggestion: Use currently identified leaders in the club to get nominees for potential leadership positions, perhaps for leaders in training programs and other club leaders to feedback information about potential leaders
9. Identify leaders and also identify who needs leaders, to tap them on the shoulder
10. Suggestion: to have a leadership retreat/seminar, identify potential leaders and invite them to attend, make it an honor, have current leaders identify their roles during this seminar, hold it once a year
10. Announcements
1. Jean received a memo from Valerie Grasso, club member asking the club to donate a membership that she would auction at her school. Motion: The club will donate a family membership to Valerie's child's school to be auctioned, Janet moved, Bill seconded, unanimous
11. Closure
1. Review Action Items
1. Volunteer Recruitment: Bill Riggs will work with the Volunteer Coordinator, Karen Pecararo to summarize the suggestions, prioritize them and report back at the next meeting (and we will ask Karen to also come to the meeting).
2. Race Accounting: Christina will talk to Mildred about how to do the bookkeeping following race registration, for club races
3. Runner Safety: Janet will share suggestions with Jodie, and work with Jodie to add a regular Runner Safety column in the Rundown
2. Motions Passed
1. Stride Clinic New Location: Board authorizes an ad in the Rundown and a link from the Stride Clinic page on the web site in return for Philbin's hosting the stride clinic, Craig moved, Bill seconded, unanimous
2. Amendment to the original Motion regarding naming club races: the club policy is that in the future no races will be named after an individual but rather to use the single race near memorial day to remember club members who have passed away as stated in the original motion, Bill seconds, 6 in favor, 1 against, 2 abstained, passed
3. Auctioning Club Membership: The club will donate a family membership to Valerie Grasso’s child's school to be auctioned, Janet moved, Bill seconded, unanimous
4. Compensation for RMS Coordinator: the club will increase the level of reimbursement to the RMS coordinator, Craig moved, Bill seconded, unanimous
5. MCRRC position on removal of Bikepath from ICC plan: On behalf of the club, the Board will send a letter to the State of Maryland that we support a bike path as per Maryland law. Bill moved, Cathy seconded, unanimous.
3. Next Meeting: February 3, 2005, at 6:30 pm at 100 Maryland Ave, 5th Floor conference room.

Gary Resnick

Secretary, Montgomery County Road Runners Club

1. Select a warm-weather date.
2. Select a race that is less likely to attract non-club runners.
3. 5 miles is about the maximum distance, given the club’s demographics. 5k would probably be best, as the time differential between the earliest and open[last] starters would be shorter.
4. Using the standard 5-year age groups is recommended. It preserves intra-age group head-to-head competitions.
5. Publicize the nature of the event, including the time of each handicap well in advance of the race.
6. Conspicuously post the time handicaps pre-race on-site.
7. Remind runners that they should start based on their age at the start of the race season, not their actual age on race day.
8. Using a countdown timer to start the groupings worked well.
9. Publish both clock and net times in the results.

Craig’s Conclusions: Craig noted mistakes in the execution and follow-up of this first attempt at a handicapping race, however the experiment was on the whole successful. Based on the lessons learned, he does not recommend adding the handicap feature to any of the races currently scheduled for 2005.