2021 Van Cortlandt Track Club Meeting Minutes

VCTC General Meeting Minutes End of Year Wrap-Up [TO BE UPDATED]

Saturday, December 11^th, 2021

It is 11:05am, and we will get started with some announcements. We will have our Pete McCardle Run tomorrow. Typically it’s sponsored by the NYRR but they have not done so in a while. Because it is at Van Cortlandt Park, we have decided to put it on ourselves albeit informally. Though it’s a run we love to hate, we will put it on as a “Fun Run.” Tomorrow, December 12^th at 10am we will meet by the Tortoise and the Hare. We will also put on the Santa Run on Sunday, December 19^th. We will meet at the Tortoise and the Hare at 11am. The NYC Half spots names need to be submitted for those who have not had an opportunity to sign up for the race.

The general purpose of this meeting is the big picture meeting with respect to the governance of the club.

Board of Directors = 5 Board of Director Members

Each person serves 2 year terms. Each year about 2 positions expire. On the Board we have:

President
Vice President [VP]
Treasurer
Vice Treasurer [VT]
Secretary

This year the VP and VT positions are up. In order to serve, you must meet a certain set of criteria as governed by our bylaws: one year on a committee, and 2 years as a paid member. We hope that through these bylaws, we have people who have been committed to the club in some way. No one is bound to run if they are eligible. If they do want to run, the elections occur in January. We have 2 open positions this year, and one person is resigning. Richard “Rick” Bloomer (current President), Rhashida Hilliard (current Secretary), and Andrea Rafael (current Treasurer) are at the end of their first year. Bette Clark (current Vice President) and Jill Staats (current Vice Treasurer) are at the end of their terms. Though Andrea is at the end of her 1^st year, she will be resigning at the end of this year. Thus, there will possibly be a lot of turnover next year, 2022. The nomination process has been in talks for the past couple of weeks. First we get the list. Then, the ballot goes out in early January. After the ballot goes out, the vote happens in about the 3^rd week of January. Once the ballots are counted, the new Board is “sworn in” in February. February is when the new Board has their first meeting. Below is a list of the eligible individuals. Those with a strikethrough have declined their nominations:

~~Susan Adiletta~~
Jean-Marie Andrews
Bridget Brown-Williams
Sal Carretta
~~Scott Ceniza-Levine~~
Gee Chamorin
Bette Clark
~~Dick Conley~~
Wendee Corsino
Kate Donovan
~~Stephany Evans~~
Dave King
John Lanning
~~Rigo Martinez~~
~~Sean Moore~~
~~Susan Moore~~
Jennifer Mone
Monika Macezinskas
Clelia Milan
Ken Rolston
Glen Shane
~~Steve Shernicoff~~
Jill Staats
Mandi Susman
~~Beni Veraz~~

We will verify the list and update. If you are not on the list put are interested in being a member of the board, consider serving on a committee, please. This concludes the elections process for now [11:34am].

Challenges and highlights of 2021– COVID has been the challenge. Trying to manage the various entities [CDC, VPCA, NYS, NYC, etc] and what they have been communicating re: COVID has been a challenge.

Despites the challenges, we had a really good year. We have resumed races and people have made phenomenal progress in their results.
Summer Series 2021 was a members’ only race series, and it was not as easy despite being for members, but we got it done. We still had a runner of the year for both men and women.
We still had our runs and our various celebrations such as the SS Party and the Bronx-10 celebration. Coach Ken can share our race results later.
We also received a Community Service Award from the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance [VCPA].
We also made a donation to the VCPA.

Committees [11:39am] – Below is a brief overview of all of the Committees:

Social – Susan Adiletta, Jean Marie Andrews, Bridge Brown-Williams, Wendee Corsino, Rhashida Hilliard, Dave King, Sean Moore, & Jill Staats
Athletic – Bette Clark, Dave King, Ken Rolston, Glen Shane, and the Captains.
Communications – Scott Ceniza-Levine, Gee Chamorin, Melissa Gonzalez, Clelia Milan, Susan Moore, Steve Shernicoff, and Mandi Susman*
Clothing – Bette Clark, Susan Moore, & Beni Veraz
Membership – Jean Marie Andrews, John Lanning, & Mandi Susman
Outreach – JoAnn Gomez
Charity – Dick Conley
Race Directors – Urban Environmental Challenge [UEC] & Summer Series [SS] are short-term in.

Social with Susan Adiletta [11:47am] – The next social event is the Santa Run as put on by Dave King and Sean Moore. Social Committee is essentially in charge of “fun.” We need to consider various factors, especially with changing guidelines in terms of physical distancing and what have you. This year we were able to have a couple of social runs to Elmsford. We were able to modify some of our events such as the Summer Series Party and the Bronx-10 After Party.

This year we will not have our Annual Awards Dinner.

Wendee and John Rau were able to celebrate the First-Time Marathoners. This was the 5^th year. It was held at The Punch Bowl on 238^th Street and Broadway. The Santa Run establishments might require proof of vaccination at the time of the run. Right now the NYC establishment does require it.

The Social Committee needs a new head.

Athletic Committee [11:54am] looking back w/Coach Ken– It has been an interesting year. We have had a somewhat truncated Road Runners’ Season. Normally there are 11 points races, this year there were seven and two of those were cut. Van Cortlandt Park [VCP] almost got a points race in for the 2022 year, but hopefully in the upcoming years. Susan M and Caroline helped Amy Berg Stephens to a personal PR in the Philadelphia Marathon. The Summer Series went pretty well. Bob Rooney has had a fantastic season. He has stepped up and really helped out with workouts. Kevin Shelton-Smith has helped us with the chart of the races that Ken plans to transcribe to paper.

Below are the results of the age group placements after the end of the running season for 2021:

Men’s Open B [Captain Sean Moore] = 2^nd
Women’s Open [Captain Susan Moore] = 6^th
Men’s 40-49 [TBD] =
Women’s 40-49 [Captain Susan Moore] = 6^th
Men’s 50-59 [Captain Sean Moore] = 13^th
Women’s 50-59 [Captain Jennifer Mone] = 4^th
Men’s 60-69 [Captain Sal Carretta] = 5^th
Women’s 60-69 [Captain Stephany Evans] = 1^st
Men’s 70+ [Captain Sal Carretta] = 4^th
Women’s 70+ = [Captain Monica Macezinskas] 4^th

Armory Races are coming up. There will be one on December 16^th. There will be races at the Armory at the end of the winter 2022. Coach Ken is hoping to get the team a membership to USATF so that we can participate in some of these events.

Fieldston Hills training begins in January 2022.

First clubs point race = Washington Heights 5K in early March 2022.

There will be a possibility of Senior racers to drop 4 races

Tam Gavenas, who is now at Andover, won his age division at the race last week. He has been running well while away.

Bette with NYRR update [12:06pm] – NYRR is going to require proof of vaccination as of the Joe Kleinerman race in January 2022.

They are opening up 4 spots for the NYC Half, which is new since it is not a points race.

Communications with Rick for Steve [12:10pm] – Aesop’s Bench is a weekly publication that gets sent out to club members. Steve will need more help with Communications’ efforts moving forward.

Bette would like to volunteer to help Steve out with the Newsletter.

A special shout out goes to Susan Moore with her social media engagement and helping to attract new runners.

Thank you to Scott and Gee who have been quick to respond to tech updates.

We need volunteers to help with Communications Committee

Clothing– no updates

Membership– The membership numbers are posted at the end of the minutes. Totals are artificially low because Family Memberships do not add the family members’ names. One request is that people update their memberships through RunSignUp and add family members if they have a family membership.

Outreach formerly with JoAnn [Pate] Gomez [12:15pm]- No update

Charity with Dick Conley [12:15pm] The budget was in a spot where we could make donations prior to the pandemic. Right now we are not making those donations

Race Directors [12:16pm]- James Moloney has stepped up for the upcoming year 2022.

Stephany would like to assist with the Summer Series; Jean Marie Andrews has been very helpful in the organization of the last Summer Series races.

By-laws [12:20pm] – We will need to revisit these with respect to how people serve on the Board.

Race Timing [12:20pm] Timing, registration, and management- We will need a committee to assist with race timing as we decide on how we plan to proceed as indicated below.

Looking forward to 2022 [12:26pm] –

Kids Club volunteers – Mandi can use some assistance.
Expansion (or not) of our races – What are the pros and cons of expansion of our races?
Select a timing system (perhaps short term & long term). We likely need to establish a committee. For the short-term, we need to focus on the UEC and SS as they are connected to our second and third points of whether we want to expand and how we plan to keep time of races should we decide to expand.
Firm up structure of committees – We are looking to clarify what it means to be a committee member.
Continue to learn RunSignUp and also learn more about Race Day as it is integrates with RSU.
Revisit a newsletter -Years ago Dave and Bette helped put together a newsletter. We are looking to rekindle some form of a newsletter provided there is interest.
Write descriptions of roles, committees – We need better descriptions if we are looking for volunteers to fulfill particular roles.
Create a blog for members to post info and stories – We would like to provide an outlet for people who are interested in sharing their stories thanks to Mandi and Bette.
Implement waivers – We would like to find a way to keep track of participants without disrupting practices too much. Susan Moore had an idea of how this could be done.
Formalize archiving and communication of club records – Kevin Shelton-Smith has been keeping track of club records, and Coach Ken would like to formalize those archives.
Archive race results – Ken does a great job, but these are not being archived . This is related to the previous point. We would like to keep track of these races in a more organized way.
Race Director for Summer Series – As mentioned previously, we will need assistance. Thank you to James Moloney for stepping forward as a Race Director. If you would like to assist, please contact the Board Members at board@vctc.org.

Open to the floor [12:35pm ]– Previously, Susan Moore had suggested creating a Google Doc for suggestions and ideas for volunteering. Santa Run announcement from Dave – 11am at the TH, $10 for soda and $20 for beer. It is a cash only event. The stops are Heritage House, Whistling Donkey, & Tortoise and the Hare. The run will be between 5-6 miles. No exact distance. If you wear a GPS watch, it will give an exact distance. Dave and Sean would like a tally of who plans to attend. Last stop needs proof of vaccination. Bring a mask.

The Newsletter was discontinued because there seemed to be a lack of interest. Dave and Bette would be interested in bringing it back in a modified format if there is a genuine interest.

Fun Run will be at 10am at the Tortoise and the Hare on December 12^th – Thank you to Dave for remeasuring the trail though he will not be there.

NYRR and the treatment of slower runners- How is NYRR going to address this? They are aware of that slower runners have been neglected on the course, and they are working on this.

Jill is willing to help out without being a formal board member. She will be happy to continue doing that so long as the by-laws support this.

Bette is willing to stay on as our ambassador and be our primary contact with the New York Road Runners.

Membership Report as of December 11^th , 2021

	Total
Single	117
Junior	3
Senior/Veteran	29
Senior/veteran couple	15
Family	57
Lifetime	11
Kids Club	16

Total	248

Treasury Report then and now

Meeting is adjourned at 12:54pm

VCTC Leadership Board Minutes
Thursday, December 9, 2021

Meeting begins at 8:18pm

AGENDA

Tonight’s agenda is fairly simple, and it regards the following:

Set the agenda for the annual meeting

In the past we have started with listing all of the eligible people to be nominated regardless of whether people will or won’t accept. This time, we will send out email to eligible people and allow them to accept or deny, then we will put up the list of those who have accepted. We will put everyone who is eligible to be nominated. Do we lead or conclude meeting with this agenda? It is probably best to start with the nominations before we lose people.

2. Organize committee wrap-ups (with committee leaders) etc.

Five bullet points on the end of year [or wherever we are at the point of the meeting] vs start of year:

Financial
Membership
Successes and Challenges
Athletics
Communications

3. Goals we have for 2022

Importance of setting race dates since we would potentially ask for Race Directors. For example, we’d probably start the Summer Series on May 19^th and end on August 11^th.
Interviews from members, maybe something between a newsletter and what goes in Aesop’s. We have blogging capacity on our website. People can submit a blogpost on the website.
Maybe we can archive our photos, blogs, and newsletters. Maybe we can set up a gallery of races or events.
We have talked about timing and having a Timing Committee. Once we choose a system, another group can be our longstanding committee who focuses on timing.Urban Environment Challenge [UEC] might have to be ad hoc. We will need a system for the summer. We’ll need something long- and short-term.We also need to decide on the direction we would like to take with our races. A lot of these conversations can happen in tandem.
Help we will need going forward: Mandi needs help with the Kids Club [someone to come on Saturdays from 4-5pm].
We also talked about having a system put in place to keep track of people who are attending our workouts for a variety of reasons.
Volunteering- to be addressed at the annual meeting.

4. Help we will need going forward etc. to share at Saturday’s meeting

Susan M: Can we create a Google Form to request help? Maybe we can have each age group captain put out requests for help for their particular teammates.
The Committee Chair position seems to have become fairly loose so much so that we don’t have one particular director. The truth is that we have many people who want to help but don’t have the time. What can we do to ease that load? We want people to bring their strengths.
We will need to clean up the list of members since people have multiple emails, for example. Also, some people are not paid members but are also running for VCTC. NYRR will have members’ names and ages.
We will need to work with RSU to make potential improvements in the future with respect to members’ ages to properly place them within age groups.
Also, membership was not getting the information regarding new members joining.

There is nothing else for tonight’s meeting.

Meeting’s adjourned at 9:37pm.

VCTC General Meeting Minutes

Saturday, November 13^th, 2021

Meeting begins at 10:00am welcoming newcomer, Maggie.

Bette begins by thanking the marathoners and welcoming all of the attendees. Rob Jacklosky starts the meeting by formally presenting the Irving Ladimer Community Service Award to VCTC for its dedication to the weekly upkeep of Van Cortlandt Park. A special shout out goesto Beni Veraz, Rick Bloomer, Willy Kaye and the countless volunteers who dedicate their Monday mornings [or whenever they are available] to helping to maintain beauty and order at Van Cortlandt Park.

Just a quick reminder that this is the last meeting before the annual meeting on December 11^th. Just as a heads up, we will most likely conduct the last meeting via Zoom. On that note, this is also the time of year where we look to the upcoming year for Board replacements and committees. These committees include but are not limited to Clothing, Membership, and Race Directors. So, think about what you might want to do if you haven’t done anything but want to contribute to the club. Withrespect to the Board, every year 2-3 positions are up. This year Bette and Jill plan to vacate their Vice Presidency and Assistant Treasury positions, respectively. In order to run for the Board, you have to have been a member of the club for at least a year and have served on a committee. We welcome new people with fresh eyes and new perspectives. With respect to positions, there is flexibility in which positionspeople can hold. We will soon provide a list of who’s who and what’s what.

We will now shift our focus [10:10am] to Membership [John Lanning], RunSign Up, and Membership Renewal with Mandi – We are moving to use RunSignUp, which is similar how we sign up for a race. It is pretty straightforward. Mandi will follow up and send a link to people who have not claimed their membership. It is an annual renewal from when you sign up as opposed to a calendar year renewal. The club does not absorb any fees. You pay a nominal fee of about $2 when you renew each year unless you are a Lifetime Member. Kate Donovan would like to know if VCTC made an agreement to protect people’s data. According to Mandi, there is no special agreement. We just follow their privacy agreement. Also, they have very good customer service. We want to thank Mandi for her diligence in getting migrated to this new platform. Our members’ page is already on RunSignUp, and the club’s page will soon move there as well.

Additional updates: We need a new Social Director. Currently, Susan Adiletta, Jill, and Jean Marie have been leading the charge with respect to social affairs.

Looking ahead, Sean Moore and David King plan to organize the Santa Run. Historically, it involves 3-4 pub stops, an ugly sweater, and about 5 miles of running.

Coach Ken plans to move the Tuesday track workouts to the hills of Fieldston in late December, early January. The same for Thursday tempos with Rick.

December 4^th is the last points race of the year. So far, the women’s 60s team is in 1^st place. In December, there will be a meeting to discuss next year’s points races.

Call for Captains- Generally, our Team Captains start at 40 years of age as seen below:

40s men- TBD
40s and open women – Susan Moore
50s women – Jennifer Mone
50s men – Sean Moore
60s women – Stephany Evans
70s women- Monika Macezinkas
60-70s men- Sal Carretta

We are looking to redefine the role of the Captain and have under 40s runners represented in a meaningful way. Hannah Sprat and Alessandro Casiraghi have been contacted as Team Captains for the under 40s group.

Coach Ken plans to put on a couple of races in Tibbetts Park most likely in early winter. He is also looking into the benefit of having VCTC join USATF as a team as opposed to having individuals join so that we can participate in various events such as the upcoming Masters Indoor Championship at the Armory on March 18-20^th, 2022. Masters is defined as anyone 25 or over, so it might be nice to get a group from VCTC to represent.

Other events to look forward to are the UEC race and Summer Series. We are planning to safely open up to the wider community, and we need people to consider directing and co-directing these races. We will also need a team of people to consider helping time races. As we grow, we will decide whether we should invest in a more extravagant timing system.

Please continue to send your race times to Coach Ken. Also, Kevin Shelton-Smith, who is across the pond, has been keeping records of people’s time.

Clothing: Beni V. plans to order new singlets. If you would like to order hats, caps, sweatshirts or jackets, let him know as well. Additionally, Susan M.’s clothing website is still up and running.

Lastly, if you have any ideas, do not hesitate to share them.

Treasury as of Saturday, November 13^th, 2021:

Accounts	Current
Cap One Checking	7,273.93
Cap One Savings	2,623.53
PayPal	5,368.49
Total	15,265.95
Petty Cash	179.35
Total	15, 445.30

Below is a list of New Members as of Friday, November 12^th, 2021

NEW MEMBERS

Walter & Adis Rau (Family)
Leo Costa (Kids Club)
Aria Costa (Kids Club)
Guadalupe Cabrera (Single)
Maureen Carson (Single)
Andrew Averill (Single)
Thomas Cooke (Family)
Clyde Cooke
Tarah Cooke
Quinn Cooke

	Total
Single	115
Junior	3
Senior/Veteran	26
senior/veteran couple	15
Family	53
Lifetime	10
Kids Club	12

Total	234

Meeting’s adjourned at 10:51am

VCTC Leadership Board Minutes

Thursday, November 11, 2021

Meeting begins at 8:17pm

AGENDA

RunSignUp migration w/Mandi Susman [& Scott] – We should be pretty well ready to go. Just have to make sure that John and Jean Marie are getting the emails when there are new members so that they can send the welcome email. All the five Board Members are listed as Board Members and Mandi is Club Director, so we all receive emails. Steve is not able to see the email marketing tab. There might be two settings: one for getting email and the other for monitoring things. The www.vctc.org page will only be accessible through RunSignUp and Aesop’s Bench will eventually be accessible through RunSignUp as well. Instead of a menu, there will be a link to the different pages.
USATF races at the Armory in March 2022 w/Coach Ken – A couple of months ago Carolyn Cobb mentioned that there would be a 3-day event at the Armory. Coach Ken printed out the information, and it looks as if the Masters starts at the age of 25. Coach Ken will do more investigation to see if it is more beneficial to join USATF as a team as opposed to individually. Susan M– one of the regulations is that you must wear the same tops and bottoms. Coach Ken is also thinking about getting us into the indoor track at Manhattan College. On the note of racing, thank you to Kevin Shelton–Smith who puts together age group races in the form of a narrative. Perhaps we can have it put together in a separate email. And thanks to Scott for helping to make everything readable. Lastly, Tuesday night, November 9^th was a very happy night and an overall good vibe with the return of the marathoners and everyone and the energy of everyone at practice according to Coach Ken.
Additional agenda items: Rick did a check-in as he usually does and Becky expressed interest in wanting to get more involved with the club. She envisions the club hosting an ultra marathon; she also offered to help write an inclusivity statement.
The second item is related to singlets- Do we want to do a new singlet order as some sizes are needed?
Upcoming elections w/VCTC Board– The second week in December will be the annual meeting. We need to get a Nomination Committee together. Jill and Bette are not running again. At this point we should be asking people to consider joining a Committee if they are not yet eligible to be on the Board just yet. Mandi, Susan, and Bette will help to get the word out about elections and running for the Board.
The Irving Ladimer Award to VCTC for Community Service will be delivered to VCTC by Rob Jacklosky.
Soon to discuss will be race timing, UEC and future Race Directors and future races.

Meeting is adjourned at 9:02pm

AGENDA

VCTC General Meeting Minutes

Saturday, October 9^th, 2021

Meeting begins at 10:01am

AGENDA

Updates:

Captain Lawrence Run is one week from Sunday, October 10th. The goal is to map out a 20-mile course on the South County Trail. There will not be any set times. Runners will need to figure out at what point they will start. There will be cyclists for the 1st and last runners. Different start points will be published.
Marathon: We will have a cheering station by the Madison Avenue Bridge near 138th street. With respect to transportation, we will not be providing a bus, but we will have volunteers provide rides for marathoners.
RunSignUp [RSU]: On November 13th we will go live with RSU. A link will go out a week before with the instructions on how to claim your account. Mandi has been working diligently behind the scenes to ensure a smooth transition to this new platform. She will be available to assist those who might need it on November 13th.
Race timing: We are looking to upgrade our timing system. Stephany had the idea to get a Timing Committee together. This is something we are looking to put together in the near future.
USATF Masters Championships at The Armory on March 18-20, 2022. Stay tuned.
Clothing: No news from Beni and Bette.
Social: Nothing new. There will be no Awards Dinner this year.
Athletics: Nothing new.
Communications: If you have anything you want to contribute to Aesop’s, send it to communications@vctc.org

Below is a list of New Members as of Friday, October 8, 2021

NEW MEMBERS

Arní Álvarez (Single)
Katherine Van Loan (Single)
Brittany Johnson (Single)
Ariela Ortiz (Single)
Michael Morris (Senior/Veteran)
Alia Winters (Family)
Kim Burke (Single)
Gabriella Ramirez (Family)
Francesca Fanelli (Single)
Doron Fagelson (Single)
Michelle Healy (Family)

	Total
Single	140
Junior	5
Senior/Veteran	28
senior/veteran couple	24
Family	78
Lifetime	8
Kids Club	11

Total	294

Treasury Report is forthcoming

Meeting’s adjourned at 10:15am

VCTC Leadership Board Minutes

Thursday, October 7, 2021

Meeting begins at 8:19pm

AGENDA

This will be a quick meeting, hopefully. We need to decide on Communications as well. Steve took care of this by 8:26pm. That is, inquiries from the website will be forwarded to the VCTC email account.

Quick status of progress with RunSignUp [RSU]: We’ll start with RSU w/Mandi at 8:21pm. Mandi was finally able to go through the data and as of today, about 95% of our current members should be on RSU. For individuals whose membership has lapsed, we are not sure about what will happen, but they will have to renew. They should have received a renewal email from the old website, though they might not reply to those. What is in RSU now is current. Bette and John Lanning should have access to the data. We will launch RSU on November 13^th. Mandi will be available to help those individuals make the transition. An email will go out about a week to a few days prior to the launching. Currently, we are still in good shape with the membership, but the one thing that is still outstanding is the waiver. Bette had already begun working on a waiver, and the one in RSU is very generic. We tend to be a little more specific with our own waivers, but it is just a matter of figuring out how specific the waiver needs to be. To ensure that the transition is more seamless, members will just need to claim their membership.

2. Transportation to marathon bus/ferry hubs: We are not getting a bus. Individual drivers will escort those individuals in need of a ride. There are people who have offered rides.The next step is to send out a carefully worded email re: please verify that you need a spot, verify time and place.

3. Waivers: Going back to waivers, moving forward we will need waivers at workouts for newcomers. The questions are: Who is distributing them and how will we distribute them? We can possibly do QR code on the website or a link on the website. We can add a link through social media. The first thing to do is create the waiver and then have the link. Perhaps do a Google Form through VCTC online. Whoever has access to that email will have access to the confirmation. It would be a form via email. Bette can work with Gee and Mandi and/or Susan to get the form created and distributed. Rick is willing to distribute a paper form and it will be shredded afterwards.

The goal is to finalize a form in a language we like with date, email, name, and whatever, get it approved, send it to Scott and Cc Mandi, Steve, and Gee.

4. {9:02pm} Club direction with races: Race expansion [number and size]; choosing an appropriate race timing and management system to meet our need. What change in direction if any do we want to go with int terms of races? Do we want to increase number and size of races? Do we want the races to be revenue generating? At minimum we can leave things as is for 2022. Gee suggests we first explore what is around and go visit other races and get in touch with other race directors first. See what other people use, find out cost, is the equipment rented, etc.? There are other groups who might be willing to share.

Rick has already done some preliminary research on the equipment and the lowest priced system thus far appears to be at least $3,500. Thus, if we find out what our race direction is, we can determine what it costs. Steve thinks we can do some more research. Gee thinks we need compatible systems and does not agree with doing import/export of data. It becomes cumbersome. We will figure this out moving forward.

Upcoming: USATF Masters Indoor Championships at The Armory on March 18-20, 2022.

Meeting’s adjourned at 9:13pm

VCTC General Meeting Minutes

Saturday, September 11^th, 2021

Meeting begins at 10:00am

Rick starts the meeting by welcoming first-time attendees to the Saturday Leadership Meeting: Wakil and Didem.

[Rick]There has been a lot of trepidation about this day twenty years later. Let us have a short moment of silence for what today means.

{10:08am} We’ll start with Amy Stephens a nutritionist to elite and distance runners, a member of VCTC for 5 years, and a runner for the past 8 years. Normally this presentation would be on Zoom with visuals, but we will do this as a talk. I [Rhashida] will try my best to capture all of what has been shared.

Food choices affect how bodies produce energy. They affect energy, metabolism, gut, fluoride, mood, and hormones. The focus of this talk is what to eat before and after a race and hydration.

Pre-workout food: Two to four hours before workout have a balanced meal. In the case of Vannies, our balanced meal would be lunch since our workout is at 7pm. Some possible foods to eat are quinoa, sweet potato, chicken and rice, a turkey wrap, and fruit.
Snack: protein & carbohydrates or carbs. Don’t eat too late. One hour before a workout go with liquid carbs like Gatorade or fruit. Right before a workout it is best to have something that is easily digestible [if you must eat something].
Morning run: Two hours before have protein and carbs. You don’t need eggs because they might be a little heavy. Maybe have ½ a bagel with peanut butter and honey or a bowl of plain white rice or oatmeal with milk or water. Have a good amount of carbs. *fat doesn’t convert well.
Marathon week: Food is the priority. Eat carbs – pasta, rice, tuna, kebabs, bland oatmeal, etc.
Race day: Two to four hours before have a smoothie of milk, ice, spinach, banana, peanut butter, and honey. *Calcium is good. If you don’t drink {lowfat} cow’s milk, find a soy, almond, or oat milk that is fortified with calcium.
Weekend food: Potato, rice dish, corn dish, eat bread.
Day before race, marathon or half marathon: Don’t pack in the fiber such as a salad.

With respect to a race, determine when your start time is and walk back four hours. Eat something even if you are not hungry. If you’re nervous before races, eat a carb snack. Override what your body is not used to. The intelligent brain has to take over. When you have a long race like 1.5 to 2 hours, you are eating for the last six miles. It is okay to have goo within an hour of a race. With respect to fats, they are awesome on a regular basis. Good fats include nuts, seeds, olive oil and avocado but not a croissant or bacon, egg, and cheese. The question to ask yourself is: what’s the purpose of this food?

If you are fasting {for religious purpose}, try to do your run closer to when you can eat. With respect to intermittent fasting, it isn’t ideal for athletes. Carbs are your energy. Remember that the first 30 minutes after a workout your body looks for nutrients.

Favorite recovery foods: dairy {not cheese}, soy beans, Scratch, bananas, and nuts. Eat the proper meals and prep good food. Adjust for age.

If you have any questions for Amy Stephens send them to info@amystephensnutrition.com

{10:36am} The 5^th Avenue Mile is on Sunday, September 12, 2021

[Coach Ken]: Run fast. Just past the ¾ mile will be a cheering squad. This is one of Coach Ken’s favorite races because the rotation of ages, cheerers, etc. Some race day suggestions include be ready to go since it’s only a mile; get a good warm up in; do 4-6 stride outs; get your turn over ready. Look out for Sal.

At 7:30am, males and females will run together. There will also be an A and a B segment. For those who need it, there will be a pop-up privacy tent. Rick will be there with the camera. At 11am are the younger racers like the Guerrero Brothers.

{10:44am}[Mandi] RunSignUp: On November 13^th, 2021 we will be going live with RunSignUp [RSU]. Current club members will already be in the system. Just make sure to click the link when or if you have already received it. The next meeting will be our go live date. Your renewal date will already be in the system as well. There’s a fee to pay each time you renew. RSU has nothing to do with NYRR but it is aligned with RRCA, which is where we get our insurance. Also, Lifetime memberships do transfer over with RSU.

{10:48am} Bette has been working with the NYRR on feasible options for getting marathoners to the start of the race. Look out for a link to a poll regarding transportation and a call for volunteers with respect to marathon transportation. It will be in Aesop’s Bench.

{10:52am} [Wendee] First-time Marathoners’ Party: On the first Monday after the marathon, Wendee and John Rau host a shindig for first-time marathoners at Mr. McGoo’s. Unfortunately, since Mr. McGoo’s lost their license, the venue will change. This year the celebration will be held at the Punch Bowl located at 5820 Broadway, on the corner of 238^th Street near the 1 train. In order to enter the bar, you must be at least 25 years of age and fully vaccinated. The way the party works is that past marathoners and anyone who wants to contribute whatever money they can to the event. The money raised goes towards offsetting the cost of beer, pizza, and a cake. The first-timers are NOT expected to contribute. During the celebration, the first-timers share their experiences on what it was like to run the marathon. Others can contribute after the first-timers have shared. If you have any questions, please direct them to Wendee at wendeecorsino@gmail.com

{10:54am} [Susan A] Bronx 10 Mile Picnic: The picnic will take place on Sunday, September 26^th from 12-4pm at the Museum House Park Grounds right after the Bronx-10. Stephany E. will bring utensils. Everyone will bring their own food, drinks, and chairs to sit on. There is a request for music if anyone has a device with suitable music. There is NO plan B if it rains. Please note that this is a members only event.

Yankees Game– This year’s Yankees game outing has been postponed indefinitely. If there is a group that would still like to attend this years’ games, Susan A. is willing to help with respect to group pricing, but the club will not be organizing the outing for this year.

Orchard Beach Run: In the past the club has organized an Orchard Beach Long Run in preparation for the NYC Marathon. Due to ongoing construction along Pelham Parkway, the run will most likely be to Captain Lawrence on October 17^th. It will be similar to the Captain Lawrence Spring Run, so stay tuned.

{11am} Membership: Fees for membership will go up by $5 for every category minus Lifetime to cover what we lost/did not gain during the pandemic. This fee increase will help us to subsidize events such as our pizza parties and the Annual Awards Dinner. First RSU will go live on November 13^th as planned. After we have gone live with RSU, the membership fee will most likely increase in the new year circa January or February 1^st. In addition to our transition to RSU, everyone will have to sign a waiver regarding their participation in running.

[Steve] Communications: Steve would like to thank Susan Moore for helping the club to have a social media presence. He needs help with Aesop’s and would like to hear from anyone interested in assisting.

Membership: Membership would also like to give a huge shout-out to Susan M. for her social media presence. Susan Moore in return would like to than Becky Doster for following her on social media and helping to spread the word. Susan is also looking for assistance in helping to get the word out and attract younger and newer members to the club.

Clothing: Singlet prices will need to go up.

Athletics: We will be on the track until December. Now that we are moving closer to the marathon date, there will be a focus on longer repeats. Since it is getting darker earlier, please bring headlights, particularly for Thursday’s workouts on the flats.

Below is a list of new members as of Friday, September 10, 2021

NEW MEMBERS

Anticia Whitehead (Single)
Margaret Hollinbeck (Single)
Garrett Hill (Single)
Tamrat Gavenas (Kids Club)
Eric Halperin (Family)
Derrick Kiser (Single)
Anna Rudawski (Single)
Allen Mo (Single)
Wakil Pranto (Single)
Joy Ellis (Senior/Veteran)
Jochen Wittlinger (Family)
Colleen Flaherty (Family)
Stefan Sucre (Single)
Eleni Grigoriadis (Kids Club)
Monique Thomas (Senior/Veteran)
Mantel Thomas (Single)
Edwin Harris (Single)
Katie Heinemann (Single)
Musamih Abdulkarim (Single)

	Total
Single	136
Junior	5
Senior/Veteran	27
senior/veteran couple	24
Family	82
Lifetime	9
Kids Club	11

Total	296

Treasury as of Friday, September 10, 2021:

Accounts	Current
Cap One Checking	6,467.93
Cap One Savings	2,623.09
PayPal	4,772.65
Total	13, 863.67
Petty Cash	179.35
Total	14, 043.02
Sweatshirt Order	938.00
Net	13, 213.91

Meeting is adjourned at 11:13 am

VCTC Leadership Board Minutes
Wednesday, September 8, 2021

AGENDA

Meeting begins at 8:02pm

A couple of people on the social side wanted to get started first, so we will begin with Susan Adiletta.

1. Social:

Bronx-10 mile picnic – it was decided that people wanted to bring their own food as opposed to going to KSC. We can use the Museum House Grounds. With respect to food, it means people must bring their own food, drink, trash bags, and whatever people want to sit on. That is all we can do in the time of COVID. Coolers and ice will be provided. Thanks to all who have contributed. People will have to be off the grounds by 4pm. There is no Plan B if the weather is unfavorable. Susan will begin posting information about the picnic after the 5^th Avenue Mile, which is Sunday, September 12^th.
Yankees game – Susan is feeling pretty uncomfortable promoting the game for October 1^st and would like to come to an agreement that we push it to next year. Rick is comfortable either way, but the game will most likely be postponed. Perhaps if people want to go, they can get together on their own.
First-time Marathoners Celebration – Wendee and John Rau normally have the First-timers shindig at Mr. McGoo’s, but they lost their lease. So, the question is: where would be alternative since they lost their lease? Rick suggests the Tortoise and Hare. Hopefully they will allow us [Wendee et al] to bring a cake.
2. Training run to Orchard Beach, Captain Lawrence, or Dobbs Ferry – We normally do a training run to Orchard Beach, and we have done Captain Lawrence in the spring. Would people still want to go to Orchard Beach or another run to Captain Lawrence given some of the parameters? Another suggestion is a pub at Dobbs Ferry. Bruce is familiar with the pub in Dobbs Ferry. Rigo thinks it is better to have at least one long run as opposed to no run. The only situation is that Dobbs Ferry might not offer a shorter run option, but it might be nice to have a change of scenery. Actually, Bette says going to Dobbs Ferry might be an advantage because it is shorter than Elmsford. Susan M. says that the route to [Pelham Pkwy] Orchard Beach has a lot of construction going on, so it might make sense to try something different.
Date: TBD though typically the takes place 3 weeks prior to the marathon. This would be roughly October 17^th.
3. NY Marathon: Transportation to NYRR buses/ferry – What do we want to offer and how? NYRR wants us to use their transportation as opposed to taking personal transportation. This is part of their agreement with the city re: COVID. If we comply with their preference, there won’t be a team bus, and the wave times will most likely vary. The other option we would probably offer is getting people to NYRR transportation. If we do, how would we do it? Do we want to get people to midtown or to the ferry? A possible transportation option is to get a volunteer to drive down at 5am. Currently we don’t know the wave times and the number of waves either. We will just have to ask people who would be interested in transportation. Next steps: Get names of possible runners? Do a poll? Look for volunteers.
4. Captains– We would like to get a meeting with current and prospective captains ASAP. Rigo crafted a well-put statement that Bette reviewed and tweaked. We need to finalize it, especially as people are racing again.
We also need Captains for the younger runners [20s and 30s]. The next steps would be to make sure we have a list of the current and prospective captains and get a date for a call.

5. Going live with RunSignUp: We just need to do an audit of the current members against what is already in RunSignUp. Mandi will need to compare what is in RunSignUp versus what John L. has sent with respect to membership. It most likely will take one afternoon to power through it. We also need a quick review of the waiver in RunSignUp. It seemed there was nothing related to COVID on the waiver, but RRCA does have a waiver. For those who might have difficulty with the RunSignUp platform, they do have very good support. The other transition is that the email marketing we do is something that can be done through RunSignUp. The same with doing the newsletter. Overall, anything that requires constant contact can be done through the RunSignUp platform. Before we roll it out to membership, it will help if Leadership has claimed their accounts.

With respect to waivers, is it possible to get a waiver on RunSignUp if a person comes to practice, for example, or does it have to be connected to a race? This is something we will have to explore. With RRCA, there is the stipulation that participants must sign a waiver, so hopefully there is a way to connect the two seamlessly. There’s the possibility of having a QR code generated that allows people to sign the waivers. Microsoft Office has something called forms. It is super easy to use, and it can possibly have a link and QR code, and it all goes to a place that we can access. RRCA has suggestions for how to facilitate the process of having various waivers. So firstly, we need to draft something. Then we can have paper and electronic copies. If we circle this waiver situation back to RunSignUp, Mandi will just need to get the information from John L. regarding members. What do we need to do moving forward? Possibly roll out RunSignUp by November 13^th with Mandi doing a tutorial during the November meeting. Maybe we can do an online help night before the launch date. Will we raise membership fees at this time as well? It seems the two should go hand-in-hand. We can also raise the rates by the new year. We need people to sign waivers, pay the RunSignUp fee, or consider paying the higher membership fee in the new year. There is a lot to consider even if it is related to a couple of dollars and cents. To sum up, we will go live with current membership fee, but members still pay the RunSignUp fee. We will revisit the membership increase at a later date. The Board is in agreement with this.

Meeting’s adjourned at 9:18pm

Saturday, July 10, 2021

Meeting begins at 10:30am

Funk Shui: On Thursday, July 29th the band Funk Shui will be performing from 7-8pm at Van Cortlandt Park [VCP] in partnership with Van Cortlandt Park Alliance [VPA]. This is the same day as our SS race. Be sure to enjoy the music as your run across and around the flats.

Community Service: Community Board 8 [CB8] contacted Rick informing him that VCTC has been selected to receive the Irving Ladimer Community Service Award as a token of their appreciation for the club’s contributions to the community. Thank you to all again to the many contributors for helping to keep our community clean, green, and pleasant. Please refer to the minutes from June 12th for more information about this award.

Membership fees and RunSignUp– On Thursday, July 8th, the Board held a meeting and discussed the difficult but necessary decision to raise the club membership fees by $5 per membership type minus Lifetime and Kids’ Club [for now]. These new fees will be as follows:

$10 to $15 Senior/Veteran individual
$20 to $25 Senior/Veteran couple
$25 to $30 individual
$35 to $40 for family

Lifetime members will just pay the RunSignUp fee [once we switch to RunSignUp on September 15th]. We will absorb the RunSignUp fee for all other membership types except for Lifetime and/or Kids’ Club. As of now, the Kids’ Club is $10 , so any changes with respect to that price are TBD. All information regarding the aforementioned changes will go into Aesop’s Bench.

The decision to raise the membership fee stems from the loss of revenue over the last 16 months in addition to our recurring costs. Generally speaking, VCTC gains much of its revenue from the SS races. Likewise our cash flow breakdown tends to be as follows:

We collect $6,500 a year overall

Our main expenses have been the Summer Series Party = $3400 & the Annual Awards Party = $4500.

Recurring fees:

(rounded)RRCA $ 2,600 – 3,000/year
Website Hosting $ 120
Paid Membership Pro $ 150
Locker Rental $ 200
PO Box rental $ 120
Total: $3,200 – 4,000

Given our recurring fees and lack of revenue, we will need to raise the fee and cutback on subsidizing events by making them more localized and informal until we readjust. We thank you in advance for your understanding.

Summer Series Races & Celebration: The SS Races for 2021 will retain Members Only status since our permit does not allow for activities beyond 7pm. Our SS Party will be on August 12th and will most likely be a local pizza party. The family of the late Betty Adams of Lloyd’s Carrot Cake for whom the 2021 Summer Series has been named will be invited. Stay tuned for upcoming details.

Captains [10:40am]: The role of the Captain has been expanding. This expansion will go beyond points races and include more of a mentorship role, whereby the Captains will be expected to welcome new members into their age group and contact their age group teammates from time to time. We owe the inspiration for this expansion to Jennifer Mone, Stephany Evans, and Sal Carretta. Once the description of the Captain has been finalized, a Captains Zoom meeting will be arranged for possible new Captains [Hannah Spratt 20-30s Women; Alessandro Casiraghi 20-30s Men; Sean Moore Mens Open] and current Captains. Stay tuned.

NYRR: Previously VCTC was granted 4 spots for 50th Anniversary TCS Marathon 2021. We now have 6 additional spots. We have not figured out a bus situation yet since the times might be too staggered. Once we know what NYRR plans to do with respect to start times, we can decide if a bus will be needed.

Credit – If you selected to be credited for the races that were cancelled in 2020 but think you have not received a response from NYRR, please check your email. Correspondence was sent out in October 2020. If you did not receive an email, contact Bette Clarke: board@vctc.org with the Subject: NYRR Refund for 2020 Races.

New races – There will be 3 fall races in VCP but there are no current dates or distances.

Committees

Social

Susan A – The Bronx 10 mile celebration picnic will take place on the Museum House grounds on September 26th. The Yankees game outing will take place on Friday, October 1st.

Sean and Dave – There will be a late August Beer Run. The date is TBD. Last year the Beer Run took the form of a tailgate. In 2019 it was a Pub Crawl. Stay tuned for the details for the 2021 Beer Run.

Coach Ken

The hills workout will start at 6:30pm as opposed to 7pm soon. Training for the 5th Avenue Mile and the Bronx Mile will begin in 2 weeks. Also, congratulations to the 26 runners who ran in the July 10th Hope and Possibility Race.

Communications

Steven Shernicoff would like to give a huge thank you to Clelia for her dedication to Aesop’s Bench. She will be stepping down from that role while Steve transitions into the role. If anyone is interested in taking over the newsletter, do not hesitate to reach out to Steve. It will be a 1-2 hour weekly commitment.

Clothing

New members of the club receive a letter with Beni‘s contact information so that they can receive a singlet. If any new member is in need of a singlet, please reach out to Beni, Rick or Jean Marie.

Membership

Below is a list of new members as of July 9, 2021. Welcome to the club!

NEW MEMBERS

Elizabeth Montgomery
Sebastian Golings
Brian Pinter
Oonagh Kirman
Hillary Bell
Peter Stone
Kristine Irizarry
Deirdre Constant
Joan Kassel
Timothy Craig
Jordan Brensinger
Michael Angell
Romper Duval

	Total
Single	130
Junior	4
Senior/Veteran	27
senior/veteran couple	24
Family	84
Lifetime	9
Kids Club	10

Total	288

Treasury as of July 9, 2021:

Accounts	Current
Cap One Checking	6,095.63
Cap One Savings	2,622.65
PayPal	5,254.28
Total	13, 972.56
Petty Cash	179.35
Total	14, 151.91
Sweatshirt Order	938.00
Net	13, 213.91

Meeting is adjourned at 11:07am

VCTC Leadership Board Minutes
Thursday, July 8, 2021

Board Only Meeting begins at 8:08pm

Membership Fee: The topic we are discussing is whether we will be raising the membership fee. And the answer is that it is inevitable given our current situation of not generating revenue to help offset the cost of our events. For now we will consider abandoning our practice of subsidizing events until we are back to normal. The main question is, “what are the fixed expenses per member?”Our RRCA insurance is roughly $3000 per year and is calculated by how many members there are. Also, in the past we were subsidizing many events such as the Annual Awards Dinner, the End of Summer Series Party, etc. If we are raising the fee, we would need to justify why and give a bit of a breakdown to put the costs in perspective. That breakdown is forthcoming [at the General Meeting].

What we anticipate doing is raising the membership for each category by $5 minus the Lifetime Membership and the Kids’ Club Membership. The prices will be as follows:

$10 to $15 Senior/Veteran individual
$20 to $25 Senior/Veteran couple
$25 to $30 individual
$35 to $40 for family

Lifetime members will just pay the RunSignUp fee [once we switch to RunSignUp on September 15th]. We will absorb the RunSignUp fee for all others except for Lifetime and/or Kids’ Club. As of now, the Kids’ Club is $10 , so any changes with respect to that price is TBD. All information regarding the aforementioned changes will go into Aesop’s Bench.

Agenda

RunSignUp status [8:35pm]: We will need to decide on membership fees before going live on RunSignUp. We will give people until September 15^th before raising membership fees.

Status of social events [8:39pm]: We anticipate ordering pizza for the last Summer Series [SS] race on August 12^th. The SS party is on a Thursday night, it’s members only, and there will probably be a lot of young people. The goal is to keep things simple and localized. This means: Bronx Ale House; Tortoise and the Hare; Last Stop. If weather permits, it might just be at the Tortoise and the Hare statue.

The post Bronx 10-miler celebration will probably happen on the Museum House grounds. Other possible options are Mr. McGoo’s, but we will not be subsidizing anything. Perhaps keep things simple after the Bronx 10, which is on September 26^th

We are still working on the Yankees games, but it looks like Friday, October 1^st will be the date.

NYRR information: Points race spots selection policy – We will have to revisit this when we receive more information from the NYRR. At the time NYRR did not have more than 4 spots for us for the TCS Marathon. The 4 people who were selected should expect to get their codes in the first two weeks in July. Overall, it is harder to make selections if we do not have all of the information about spaces from NYRR, but so far it starts with 4 spots, generally. Our decision-making policy is contingent upon NYRR status. Furthermore, we have some universal policies for selecting runners for available spots that were worked on two years ago. Broadly put, the selection is at the discretion of the Board and the Captains. *The information regarding selection falls under Team Points. The page will be updated for the upcoming races.

With respect to refunds of the 2020 races, people have been asking questions regarding their refunds or reallocation of race funds after the cancellation of the 2020 races. Please look in your email for correspondence that should have come in October 2020 from NYRR. If you have not received an email regarding your refund/reallocation, contact Bette Clarke: board@vctc.org with the Subject: NYRR Refund for 2020 Races.

Captains [8:56pm]: Rigo produced a general description of what a captain’s role should be, and we need to vote on it. It is not a finished issue. We are still finalizing our list. So far, we have three new people who are interested in assuming the role of Captain:

Hannah Spratt-Women’s 20-30s
Alessandro Casiraghi-Men’s 20-30
Sean Moore-Men’s Open

Our plan is to provide the draft description to potential Captains. We have not had to push forward because a big component of being a captain was Teams Points races. Also, being an Ambassador is the other component, which entails reaching out to new age group members. Once Bette finishes the description, we will have a Captains meeting via Zoom.

Waivers status [9:04pm]: As soon as next race [July 15^th], Gee will bring the updated waiver and make sure everyone signs it. We have about 50 people who run the SS races regularly, and Gee will make 100 copies. There is a new waiver for each race, so the waivers will have the date of the event. Also, since the event waiver is different from the membership waiver, we will, ultimately, need each VCTC member to sign a waiver. If people are not renewing, we will not have a waiver for that person [as it will most likely be linked to RunSignUp when we make the transition in mid-September].

Race timing [9:11pm]: Gee has a Bib idea but will not talk about timing. He’ll have a sticker with the name of the runner and put it on the bib number. Gee will put the list of all of the runners who have been running up to this point. Timing will continue as before.

Additional Questions:

Are we promoting the Betty Adams Summer Series? We had her children attend different races, and we will probably plan to have someone attend the final Summer Series event. Bette will get in touch with the children to let them know the date.
Are we going to have overall winner of the series? We will reconfirm this later. We did not come up with a process.

Meeting’s adjourned at 9:24pm

VCTC General Meeting Minutes
Saturday, June 12, 2021

Meeting begins at 10:30am

Rick begins: Bette had an idea of starting the General Meetings at 10am since it’s closer to the time when people finish their Saturday morning group run. Moving forward, we will aim to start the in-person General Meetings at the stadium at 10am.

Quick update: As new developments occur w/COVID-19 protocols regarding what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable, we recognize that things will seem frenzied on our end. Please be patient as we attempt to work through the changes as a club keeping in mind that we have your best interests and health as our top priority.

Marathon: The NYRR has opened up the race to 33,000 runners. Bette has been very active with NYRR in terms of how many spaces we will have and whether securing a bus is sensible. She has put an announcement on Facebook regarding the June 15^th cutoff to register for guaranteed entry into the marathon and the limited team spots for those who do not have guaranteed entry. If you do not have guaranteed entry, VCTC will be sending in submitted names on a rolling basis if you are interested in running the race. We will keep you posted on the status of your request. With respect to the marathon, it is going to be a points race. Vera wants to know if we will have our VCTC table, but there may be a lot of restrictions. So far, NYRR has opened up spots for volunteers for the course but not the expo. In terms of transportation, we are not sure if we will have a bus because everything is contingent upon waves. At this point, it might make sense to either have someone drive or have people rely on public transportation. We will keep people informed as things develop.

Membership: We haven’t raised fees in a long time. Though we also do not want to raise fees, our reserves have diminished due to the decrease in revenue over the past year. As we think about options, we would like to consider whether the club wants to continue to subsidize events and raise the membership fee ever so slightly, not subsidize events, or a combination of both. Overall, we want our members to be aware that we intend to continue hosting social events and yet we also recognize that every event, however big or small, incurs fees. For example, the Summer Series is not generating the same revenue as in previous years, and it used to be a huge boost for the club. Muffins and insurance are also expenses. Whatever decision we make will be in everyone’s best interest as we gauge what would be the most reasonable avenue to take in terms of membership fees and the cost social events. Stay tuned.

NYRR Points Races: Recently there was a vote about when points races should begin. What the club voted on is what will be put into effect. Thus, the points races are as follows:

NYRR Retro Run 4M August 7^th
Harlem 5K Honoring Mayor Dinkins August 14^th
5^th Avenue Mile September 12^th
Bronx 10 Mile September 26^th
NYC Marathon November 7^th
Event TBD December 4^th

We are not sure about how many points will be allocated to each race. They will be capped.

Community: We have given a lot to the Van Cortlandt Park [VCP]. For example, we have three Goat Ambassadors, and they are Beni, Bette, and Jill. We have Trail Stewards, the Monday Morning Clean Up Crew, and Vital Volunteers. Our efforts have not gone unnoticed. Recently, Community Board 8 [CB8] contacted Rick informing him that VCTC has been selected to receive the Irving Ladimer Community Service Award as a token of appreciation for the club’s contributions to the community. Thank you to all the many contributors.

Betty Adams– Firstly, Rick had the fortunate opportunity to speak on behalf of VCTC at the event honoring Betty Adams at VCP on May 22^nd. With respect to the Summer Series [SS], we never mentioned renaming it. Thus, the 2021 SS will be dedicated to Betty Adams, and in subsequent years one SS race will be in her name.

Stephany asks that people continue to support the SS, keeping in mind that it is still currently a Members Only race. If anyone wants to race, they can join on the day of and will also be required to sign the updated waiver with new language regarding COVID-19. Should we open the SS races to the public, we will need at least 5-6 people who would be willing to learn how to time these races. Rick is willing to do a demonstration via Zoom to test drive how to keep track of the runners’ times.

Social– It currently looks like Friday, October 1^st is the best time to attend the Yankees vs Tampa game. Susan Adiletta will keep us posted.

Currently, we are aiming to have the end of SS race near the Tortoise and the Hare statue.
The details of the post Bronx 10 mile race are still be determined as long as the race will be in effect. At current we plan to have the post Bronx-10 celebration at the Van Cortlandt Museum House.
Sean M and Dave K are working on the pub crawl/bar run. It will most likely occur at the end of August 2021.

Communications: Mandi’s been doing a very good job with RunSignUp. It is looking more like a possibility. More to come.

Clothing: Beni and Bette are planning for the fall. The last clothing order that went out should be coming in soon.

With respect to Squad Locker, keep in mind that once something is branded, it is considered customized and cannot be returned. Perhaps Susan M. can get sample sizes. If not, be very careful with sizing when you order.

Athletic: Tuesdays are hill days; Thursdays alternate between Tempo Runs and the SS races; Saturdays are long runs. Soon Marathon Training will be added to the Saturday calendar; Sundays are Willie’s Walkers Day.

Membership: Below is the list of new members and a breakdown of current membership as of June 11th.

NEW MEMBERS

Christen Ritter (Kids Club)
Gregory Gustafson
Dominic Rocchio
Joseph Yudelson
Joey Yudelson (Junior)
Ilse Ratzan (Kids Club)
Richard Garland
Michael Langke
Dana Molloy
Ifte Ahmed (Junior)
Robert Poole
Neil Fitzgerald
Glendy Reyes
Donald Winston
Arielle Ortiz (Kids Club)

	Total
Single	123
Junior	3
Senior/Veteran	27
senior/veteran couple	24
Family	82
Lifetime	8
Kids Club	11

Total	275

Treasury:

Accounts	Current
Cap One Checking	5,769.93
Cap One Savings	2,622.42
PayPal	4,678.53
Total	13, 070.88
Petty Cash	179.35
Total	13, 250.23
Sweatshirt Order	938.00
Net	12, 312.23

Suggestions [11:12am]: There were few suggestions posed by various members regarding where to host future events: Kingsbridge Social Club [KSC]; Yonkers Brewery; McGoo’s Pub. These will all be investigated.

Meeting’s adjourned at 11:14am

VCTC Leadership Board Minutes

Thursday, June 10, 2021

Meeting starts at 8:32pm

Rick goes over the agenda.

Susan Adiletta [8:34pm]: It’s Yankee season, and they are selling group tickets. She called to asked about the protocol. By the time we go, there will be no distinction between vaccinated and unvaccinated seating. Joe Tucker is our guru, so Susan got some advice regarding when we should possibly attend a game. The options are: Tampa, Oct 1^st; Cleveland, September 17^th; Baltimore, September 3^rd. Joe thinks Tampa might be our best bet. The cost of the ticket is pretty much similar to previous ticket prices. Friday night seems to be the best time with respect to work schedules. The Board approves of moving forward with promoting the game and, subsequently, purchasing of the tickets.
Post Bronx 10-miler: If there is a Bronx 10-mile race, do we want to have a celebration after the event? According to Susan A., we have usually footed the bill. The last year we had a celebration was in 2019. We think it might be good idea to have another celebration, and perhaps the participants can pay as opposed to the club footing the bill. We could tentatively have members pay $10. Currently, the question posed by Andrea is: how many people would come to Kingsbridge? There were about 20 people or so in the past. Perhaps organize it at Kingsbridge or first organize with the Van Cortlandt House and see what would work best.
End of SS party [8:45pm] Confirm what it will be, who will manage it. The Golf House is out of the question because it costs a bit much. The pizza party sounds like a good idea. Tortoise and Hare does not seem like an option. Perhaps the Bronx Ale House. Or we can gather at the overhang by the Tortoise and the Hare statue. At present, Jill suggests that we see how it goes. Wendee suggests a nearby rec room or a church that is willing to rent out a space so if it rains we’re covered [literally and figuratively]. Jill will look into the Bronx Ale House or a community center, though the best option is keeping it as close to the park as possible. Keeping it close to the park is the best option because we lose people once we have to transport ourselves. Jill will look into everything since we have enough lead time.
a. Process for selecting marathon spots and status of requests. [8:50pm]. Ken’s thought was first-come, first-served. His question is: first of all, how many have requested to come in? Are we way over 4 people? Bette: we don’t even know yet who wants a spot because registration is over on June 15^th. We’ll have to wait to see if someone has requested a spot but was not guaranteed one. Ken suggests that we send out a message outlining the situation that the race will accommodate 33,000 runners, so people who requested a spot probably got it. This year has been unusual, and we will have to see what people say. Ken also likes the idea of allocating 2 spots for potential points-racers and 2 for people who would like to run. We can poll people to let us know if they have qualified for guaranteed entry and if they plan to run. Today is June 11^th so we need to send a note out regarding the marathon and potential requests ASAP. b. Marathon Bus [8:59pm]- We need to think about getting a bus given the potential for multiple waves and how spread out they will be. We usually break even when getting a bus, but the main concern is whether the waves are extremely spread out and if it would make sense to get a bus. If the NYC Marathon is anything like Boston, we might have to rely on public transportation.
Waivers: when, what, where, who, why? RRCA has not gotten back to Bette but she and Gee have worked on a waiver. The waiver talks about contagious diseases and other information, but the main concern is about whether the members need to sign the waiver. The current waiver has information about COVID-19, but we still do not know who needs to sign it. Overall, it has to be up-to-date, so if it’s not up-to-date, it’s not valid. New members do not have waivers. Now that they are updated, we all might need to sign it. The question regarding any waiver signature is whether it was attached to membership or if people signed the waiver during the race. Do we need to update anything? Jean Marie: Can we make this part of best practices? Maybe the Board can have people sign waivers before a race? Gee says it has been an issue this year if people are not coming to races. There are many questions about waivers. Maybe Mandi can answer the question regarding waivers and RunSignUp. Rick [9:11pm]: As of right now, we will just have new members who join VCTC on Thursday, June 17^th sign a waiver. If no one joins that night, no one signs. We will still wait for RRCA to get back to us. Race Directors are clear on this message.
When to return to normal SS races– Is this something we want to consider? Do we want to open up or wait to see what the city says? We could possibly jump from accommodating 30-40 people to possibly accommodating 200 runners at a race. This would mean we’d need a timer. José mentioned something about the timer and the system that currently exists. There are options for timing people. He suggests an updated system. Gee suggests that we will need a team of about 5 people. Stephany suggests the index card method that John Rau explained. As people come in, they are handed an index card with a number, and they write their name, age, and time on the index card. We re-collect the cards and organize them accordingly. Overall, Jill said we should just wait until we have confirmation of 70% vaccination. Then, we open up. Finally, we will look into getting a permit when we see what the Parks Department says.
Mandi will give quick update about RunSignUp [9:22pm]:Mandi updated the members on the list that she received from John Lanning. Only Members can see the link on access page on the VCTC page. One login, one access point. The reason to do RunSignUp sooner rather than later is because RRCA is connected to RunSignUp. Mandi will dedicate time to go through the actual process. You do have to create a RunSignUp account. More information about this whole process is forthcoming. Stay tuned.
Stephany [9:34pm]- Can we get an answer the question about the muffins? Give a muffin for first place for each category? Right now there are 30 muffins and 2 cakes, which costs us about $80 according to Jean Marie. We will continue distributing prizes the way we did for the last race.
Gee has asked about the results. People would like to see their results from the race. Coach Ken will look into the results, and there will be a link put into Aesop’s Bench.
Meeting’s adjourned at 9:41pm.

VCTC General Meeting Minutes

Saturday, May 8, 2021

Meeting begins at 11:04am

Updates on the following:

COVID policy– you might have seen the announcement go out and after meeting with leadership, we decided to reiterate the policy and expectations. It would be reasonable to wonder since people in the world are getting a lot more relaxed. We have decided to continue wearing masks. Other organizations are maintaining the mask-wearing as well. For example, the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance is maintaining mask-wearing as are other large entities. We ask for your continued cooperation.

Summer Series– Stephany and Jean Marie are on the call to address this as the races are coming up soon. Stephany– Probably most people on the call know the drill regarding the Summer Series, but it is starting on Thursday, May 20^th. The first few races will be club only. We will see how things proceed to decide if we will invite others later. We won’t be doing timing, so you will have to time yourself. Once we open up in the summer, we will need a timer [person] to keep track of the racers’ times. It will be added to the newsletter. With respect to the price of the race, there is recommended donation of $5. People will be asked to register by filling out sheets within their particular age groups. We are still planning to have carrot cake and muffins for age groups for both men’s and women’s groups. Question: will there be a discounted full series fee? Answer: the Race Directors have just decided that it makes more sense to pay per race just in case there are spikes in COVID cases or things change. No one will be turned away if s/he does not have $5, but the recommendation is $5 per race. We are hoping that the races will go back to normal, but overall, we will need a Timing Crew for our various races: Summer Series, UEC, etc.

Also, this year is in memory of Betty Adams and we are thinking about inviting her son and daughter to honor her contribution to our previous races. We just want to acknowledge Betty Adams. We will do this in a bigger way in the future. Perhaps we can invite the Lloyd’s staff at a later event.

In www.runningintheusa.com our races are listed, so we might want to make sure to contact the website to let them know that the races are not open to the public.

Mosaic Mental Health 5K– Virtual race throughout the month of May. May is mental health month, so the race is consistent with that timeframe. On May 30^th at 9am, Dick Conley will be running the race. You can run with him and/or donate a fee.

Kevin Shelton-Smith– Has decided to keep track of club race records. For example, if you have broken a record, it will be recorded. The records have 5-year age groups right up to the oldest member of the group. Coach Ken will also be keeping track of anyone with personal records.

Fundraiser– Shout out to the club for our fundraising efforts to help keep our park clean. It has received $1,000. So thank you for volunteering your time as some of us have adopted a section of the park and/or for donating funds. This all makes a huge difference.
VCP is starting a Litter Ambassadors Program to possibly give out orange trash bags to keep track of people’s litter collection efforts. The goal is to give out the bags to people who are having a party or some celebrations. Are they receptive to the idea of keep track of their trash? This is what the orange bags will be for. They will determine if people are putting the garbage in the bags.

Captains– Captains for 20- to 30-year-old age groups. We have decided that we want to expand the role to have an ambassadorship to invite new members in those groups, but we also want to open up to younger runners. Jennifer has been reaching out to new VCTC members. Rigo has agreed to write up the information for the role of the Captain. Bette will look up what we already have on file so that we can clarify the expectations of a captain and help to improve their role. We also want to recognize 20- to 30-year-olds. Current captains will be contacted for input and whether they want to continue in their current roles.

RunSignUp– Not much of an update but there’s an initiative to move membership [renewal] to RunSignUp. We will discuss with Mandi and Scott offline the security, maintenance, and cost of this platform. It looks promising right now, but it will be actively discussed and pursued.

May 16^th Captain Lawrence – Run, walk, bicycle, however you want to get to the Captain Lawrence event. Jean Marie– You do not have to do all of the 15 or so mileage. There have been postings regarding various entry points. Just get there by 12pm. There are 4 spots left at press time. Rick– Leave where you want, when you want and arrive by 12pm. Jill– shout out to Jean Marie and Rick for organizing the logistics of this event.

To the Hills– Coach Ken -There will be a change from the track to the hills. Last track workout will be Tuesday, May 11^th and will move to the hills on May 18^th. It has gotten to the point where the track is getting a bit too crowded, so we will be in the hills until the end of August 2021. Note: Ken will continue to post the Workout of the Week [WOW]. Also from May 13^th -23^rd, 2021 he will be away and will miss the Captain Lawrence event.

NYRR news– Bette– There is nothing new other than they have been running in-person races in small numbers but they have not said anything about the marathon. Steve– The Halloween race was 6 feet apart, 10 second intervals of people being released. They will be running the Frontrunners race, and the Mini 10K is already sold out.

Committee Reports

Treasury –

Social updates: Captain Lawrence is coming up and Sean will co-plan a summer run later in the year with Dave. Susan A. started to look for something in January not related to the annual to kick-off in hopes that we have a better running season, but the cost is still very high and seems untenable. Wendee– updates on the Palisades. It will be mapped out soon. You can do various distances of 5K, 10K, etc. There is parking.
Communications– Big communications piece is that Scott has been doing an amazing job in keeping things operational behind the scenes. Aesop’s Bench in Spanish is available
Athletic- Mentioned above.
Outreach-Rhashida has decided to assume Outreach responsibilities while JoAnn continues to lend support behind the scenes. Thank you, JoAnn for the work you have already done.
Clothing– Bette and Beni will plan to close out the second order of sweatshirts next week
Membership– below is the list of new members and a breakdown of current membership as of May 5th.

NEW MEMBERS

Emily Meisner
Ozzie Akpata
Caroline Cobb
Suvi Hynynen
Sarah Manton-Hollis (Kids Club)

	Total
Single	110
Junior	0
Senior/Veteran	27
senior/veteran couple	22
Family	84
Lifetime	10
Kids Club	8

Total	261

Meeting is adjourned at 11:51am

Acknowledgements – Eid Mubarak for those who have been fasting between sunrise and sunset from April 12/13th to May 12/13th, 2021.

VCTC Leadership Board Minutes

Thursday, May 6, 2021

Meeting starts at 8:17pm

By-laws– We’ll start with something that might be a little easier like the by-laws. Rigo and Steve worked hard on by-laws, and Mandi brought it to our attention that we had not fully voted on them. We now are at the point where we might have to vote. First, as a board we are voting to agree to let the membership vote. What is the process? The member voting is supposed to coincide with the annual meeting at the time of the election. As a board, we will go over the by-laws and formally vote. Then it goes to membership. The minutes should be on the website. The leadership meeting right before the annual meeting of 2019 has the amended by-laws. We will vote on them soon.
Summer Series dedication to Betty Adams [8:22pm]-How are we approaching the renaming of the Summer Series? Will it be renamed for one year, for a single race, or in perpetuity? Jill– We do not need to rename the whole series in her [Betty Adams’s] name but rather a race. Rick seconds this because the Summer Series is one of our most iconic races. Andrea also agrees with the idea of naming one race. Bette thinks it should not only be for this year because we are not fully honoring her [Betty Adams] since there is no fanfare this year. Maybe we can have a race each year that is not named after anyone in particular but can be dedicated to a particular person as we see fit. Rhashida and Stephany agree with either the first or the last race being named after Betty Adams; it probably makes sense to name the last race the Betty Adams race since the carrot cake is the prize. Jean Marie says that every race will have carrot cake and muffins. The last race will have awards, so how can we distinguish between the other races where runners actually always receive carrot cakes or carrot muffins versus the last race? Is the last race going to have trophies and/or a special prize? TBC
Discuss recent adjustments to COVID rules and how this might affect us– This is a natural segue into this topic about COVID. Maybe at our workouts we say if you are vaccinated, you do not wear a mask. We should err on the side of caution. As things are opening up, will we feel okay with opening up to other clubs? The NYRR is requiring the use of masks as are other places. QDR races are not requiring masks according to Bobby. At the start of the race, yes. Bette said the Celebrate Life Race did require masks. Given the varied approaches, we as a club will ask club members to wear masks.
Captains [8:50pm]- It may not be resolved tonight, but we currently do not have captains for 20- and 30-year-old men and women. It starts at 40. We don’t have a specific age-group captain for 20s and 30s. During this time, we might want to think about what being a captain means. Captains are advocates for their age groups. Perhaps we can have a 20/30s captain. This is a perfect opportunity to meld the competitive side of things with the social side. There are some new members who might be willing to participate in activities either as captains or some other activity. Maybe we can have a little paragraph of what the Team Captain is or does. Some guidance for any new or existing Captain would be helpful so that s/he/they will know how to best cultivate relationships with their age-group members. Also it would be helpful to know the commitment level and expectations.
Shout out to the minutes writer from Sal to Rhashida. Thank you, Sal!
VCTC apparel– Betty and Susan have been working on a statement and are in the process of revising the statement or blurb regarding the apparel to highlight what is official VCTC wear. Beni and Betty are working on an order of about 40 sweatshirts. Also, what is the official color of the singlet? Anything with the logo is the short answer, but we tend to use the white and purple one. It also depends on inventory and size needed.
Bobby– Is there a contact for a VCTC baby onesie?
If it is really going to rain, how will we conduct the Saturday meeting?

Meeting is adjourned at 9:22pm

GENERAL MEETING MINUTES

Saturday, April 10, 2021

Meetings begins at 10:33am

Rick starts with welcoming remarks. Alex and Hannah are attending a general meeting for the first time. Bette would also like to give gratitude for those who have been able to gather.

AGENDA

Clothing Committee: Bette and Beni

There are leftover singlets. There was a popular reaction to the sweatshirts. Another order will go out. The price goes down the more sweatshirts that are ordered. This is the same for ordering jackets. It is better to order them in bulk. Beni is keeping track of those who have ordered. Beni also has a store of singlets on hand. All other items must be order.

Another option that was introduced by Susan Moore is the Under Armour gear through the https://teamlocker.squadlocker.com/#/lockers/vctc-team-store?_k=vt717t site. There are compression shorts, badger shorts, masks. There are no minimums. Just keep in mind that Under Armour tends to run larger. If you have any questions for Susan, send her a Facebook message. She goes by Susan Marie. You can also send an email to board@vctc.org or refer to Aesop’s Bench for contact information.

Urban Environmental Challenge {UEC} Race – On April 18th at 10am, we will be hosting the UEC race. Kate Donovan is the organizer/Race Director for the UEC. She still needs volunteers for this 5K/10K event. The goal is to have people repeat the 5K loop twice if they opt to run the 10K. At the time of this meeting, the start location of the race will be the Tortoise and the Hare statue. There is no advance sign up. Just come with your donation if you have something to contribute. No time will be taken. There will be no permit

Summer Series { now referred to as the Betty Adams Summer Series}– The Summer Series races will begin on Thursday, May 20th at 7pm at the Tortoise and the Hare statue. Similar to the UEC, it is members only with few exceptions. We are not promoting the race. The Summer Series will end on Thursday, August 12th.

Captain Lawrence Run– The run will be on Sunday, May 16th. The target arrival time is 12pm. Do whatever it takes to arrive by noon as the brewery is located in Elmsford, NY. There are 7 tables reserved, and each table seats 6 people [42 spots]. The number of tables are capped due to COVID guidelines and to make contact tracing easier. The event will be open to current Van Cortlandt Track Club members only and Jean Marie will be keeping a list as people sign up. The route this year will be simpler now that the Putnam Trail has been opened. The official route will be the Putnam Trail to the South County Trail to the North County Trail to the brewery. This year we are encouraging participants to organize their start points (anywhere they want along the route) and their start times based on their personal pace. The overall message will be to do whatever you need to do to get to the brewery by 12. We are working out the particulars for water support or even a possible water station. Jean Marie has started to post the event both on Aesop’s and Facebook. Please let her know if you have any questions or concerns.

Queens Distance Runners would like to possibly do a joint activity that is either Bronx or Queens based. JoAnn has offered to be a liaison for collaborative projects though things have been stalled temporarily due to COVID.

George Washington Bridge {GWB} Run– There is the possibility of a GWB Run if anyone is interested. The logistics will need to be worked out in terms of what time would yield the least amount of cyclists.

NYRR – NYRR has been hosting in-person, limited capacity races in addition to multiple virtual races. With respect to the NYC Marathon, there are so many unknowns, which includes but is not limited to capacity. How many runners will be allowed to run? In order to figure out the full logistics, it would behoove people to make their choices about whether they want to run this year or next. The deadline to decide is, Thursday, April 15, 2021. Similar to the NYC Marathon, is the Boston Marathon. So far, the Boston Marathon is capped at 20K, and there are many rules, regulations, and restrictions. This would apply to ALL big races.

In other NYRR news, Mitch has been involved with NYRR activities. He mentioned that NYRR is starting to decenter Central Park and looking for ways to get more involved with other boroughs. Further, the Striders have been going to Senior Centers, and they have been providing exercise programs online.

Membership Renewal, etc – Mandi and Scott {our tech expert} have been working behind the scenes to facilitate membership renewal via RunSignUp {RSU}. In the past, Mandi and Bette learned about RunSignUp through NYRR. The process seems to be one that will make renewing membership easier. There seem to be other pros to transitioning to RSU. More details will be provided as we look more into transitioning to this platform.

Acknowledgements – Ramadan Mubarak for those who will be fasting between sunrise and sunset from April 12/13th to May 12/13th, 2021.

Communications – Melissa Gonzalez has been providing Spanish translations of Aesop’s Bench. If any member would like the Spanish version of Aesop’s, please send an email to communications@vctc.org.

Membership – Below is the breakdown of VCTC’s membership as of April 9th, 2021:

NEW MEMBERS

Devon Levy
Andrea Villazon
Mark Pinckney
Becky Doster
Ronny Marte
Daniel Doherty
Damien Kelly
Michael Sclafani
Alain Spira
Doryon Stanfield (Kids Club)

	Total
Single	108
Junior	0
Senior/Veteran	26
senior/veteran couple	23
Family	80
Lifetime	10
Kids Club	8

Total	255

Treasury

CapOne Checking $5195.43

CapOne Savings $2334.13

PayPal $3258.69

Total $10,788.25

Meeting’s adjourned at 11:12am

VCTC LEADERSHIP MEETING MINUTES

Thursday, April 8, 2021

Meeting begins at 8:18pm

Wendee from social with possible upcoming events–

Scavenger Hunt -Get a team together and chose from different programs. You choose from a menu, it’s set up by teams, and you end up at a bar. The team that wins the most gets a prize.
Escape Room– There are approximately 4-6 people in a room. You “run” against the clock. You compete against teammates in another room.
Run 4^th of July weekend– 178^th and Fort Washington
Palisades Run – Wendee will reach out to the President of New Jersey Achilles to map out the run.
Roc the River– 5K, 10K, XC, Half Marathon, Full Marathon on the same day They feed you well and give you hoagies. The prizes for the age categories are nice. There are amenities for children.

1a. Mandi– Rick failed to put her topic on the agenda, but we will start 8:29pm

The site was published even though we are still deciding. The link will be put up so we can share it. Runsignup.com/club/VanCortlandTrackClub

We’ll return to it.

2. Susan Moore approached Rick about masks. Possibly a social promotion incentive with the VCTC logo. It’s a PR move. They can be promoted on social media. Masks are possible $5.83 each with a shipping charge of $9.95. Possibly the price can fluctuate depending on the amount of masks ordered. It would possibly be a gift or something that people might purchase. We will discuss the possibilities as a board offline.

3. Mandi [8:36pm]-

Under description is our mission statement. We can add whatever details we want to the “description” page. When ppl pay thru RunSignUp, someone who has access to the membership list has to give them access to the member’s only section of the website.
How important is it to have a password to access the information. Without the password, we can remove the Member’s Only section of the website. Email a link. It’ll be put in an Aesop’s Bench Newsletter. Without a password, people will access if they leave a club or if they share it. Do we need a password for the section of the website for Member’s Only.
It would be a 2 step process to sign up through
RunSignUp. We will address the tool offline. As a board, we will discuss a few questions to flesh out the details and benefits of using RunSignUp.
Looks like the Kid’s Club will be up and running either this weekend April 10/11^th or next weekend April 17/18^th.

4. Races [8:52pm]
UEC– Kate spent this week rounding up volunteers. The main thing to worry about is the course. Kate will be getting together this week. Jill will be there. Kate will purchase goodies from Costco, and she has leftover swag from previous races. There are about 10 course marshals lined up. Kate has a list of volunteers from the past. We will use the Saturday meeting as a call for volunteers and runners. We might do a 5k of two loops. Coach Ken wants to know if we have any indication of how many people are running especially given the level of preparation for the race. We will make the race as simple as possible. Kate will not discuss this right now but will have answers. The goal is not to start at the Tortoise and the Hare and to possibly start in the parking lot though it seems to make the most sense to start at The Tortoise and the Hare because the measurements would be more accurate, and we would need fewer course marshals.

Kate would like to start in the Golf Course parking lot to avoid the chaos from the past. The goal is to also finish close to where we start.

The details of the race will need to be decided by Tuesday. Kate will possibly provide PPE and put out a table to provide for the runners. The parking lot is right by a few bathroom facilities as well.

5. Summer Series Stephany & Jean Marie [9:09pm] – We have our dates, and we will mimic what UEC is doing to see how the summer series will possibly be handled.

Should Jill put in for permits? It’s limited to 50 people, and you must submit a COVID plan. It will be strictly kept to current VCTC members.
UEC isn’t using bibs which means the summer series might not use bibs. It will probably be informal. People can donate at least $5 and run the race. If someone does not have the $5, they can still run. The money will go back into the club. We would still like to do the muffins and cakes, but the leftover money will go back to the club. If there is any money left over, we can donate it to a charity. Now that this will be called the Betty Adams Summer Series Race, we will possibly include Betty’s family. We have thought about a banner, but it would possibly bring too much attention.
The Betty Adams Summer Series- is this for the year or ongoing? There was some confusion. Coach Ken said it was an idea he posed and it was meant to be permanent.
Question: If people who have always participated in the Summer Series show up, do we still allow them to participate? It would require pre-registration. Members will get priority. The goals is not to advertise the race but to have something fun to do. Perhaps the Summer Series will also attract other clubs to collaborate or to attract new members.

6. Clothing Committee: Bette and Beni [9:22pm]–

We ordered 80 sweatshirts. We have 30 left. There’s a huge difference in price when we order in bulk. The more you order, the less expensive the price.
Question: Do we want to subsidize or do we tell people that we need a certain amount of sweatshirts to get a particular price? We will tell people that we need a certain quantity in order to place the order or people will have to be willing to pay extra. Right now, the sweatshirts are only available to members as in they are not on the public page.
The store that Susan Moore put together is more for advertisement for our club. It’s not official gear. As we are trying to make more of a social media presence, the branding becomes more important.
Sweatshirts can be open to the public but the singlets are for club members.
Currently singlets = 87 women’s and 56 men’s; 4 jackets; caps, socks, and other items are in our clothing inventory.
Overall, whatever gear we sell, we want to make it accessible and reasonably priced and make sure that members and non-members get it.
Question from Jean-Marie: Is it okay for Susan Moore to post the workout gear on social media? People agree that it is okay.

7. Non-members 9:39pm
Benefits, access to member FB group or not, purchase clothing, etc. At what point do we give nonmembers access. Why be a member? What happens when a person leaves a club? Do we allow a person access after paying once?

Meeting is adjourned at 9:43pm.

GENERAL MEETING MINUTES

March 13, 2021

Meetings starts:

Ken’s races [11:07am]– We go back on the track. Daylight savings time hits. Ken will need to be in Albany so Dave will probably be there. We’ll be on the track until June 2021. Most likely, we’ll put on a race at the end of the month: 2X2 relay.

Rick wants to know our thoughts about how “habitable” the track is. According to John Lanning the track tend to be very busy between 5:30-6:15pm. Coach Ken suggests we negotiate with other people who are on the track. The hope is that everyone will be vaccinated by May 1^st -July 4^th, 2021.

2. Monthly club meeting [11:11am]–

We will return to outside, in-person club meetings in April. We will do this. We are talking about the possibility of having outdoor stadium meetings. Related to monthly meetings, Scott did a good job of updating the calendar and making sure it’s operational. Because we have a very light race schedule, we’re trying to sustain every second Saturday for the monthly meeting. Jean Marie offered to try to keep the calendar up-to-date. Everyone else is welcome
Exposer on the North Hills in the woods, there’s someone who has been exposing himself mainly to women. Be mindful of this. Northside of Henry Hudson near the restroom, north of that area.
We had the VCTC Café. We’ll try to have another one. Should we do one 3-4 months from now or 6 weeks from now?

Communication/Website: emails, passwords, access, recovery, website scrubbing and updating, etc. [11:16am] –

There were stray emails going out to members whereby various members received a Test email. It has been rectified for now. We are hoping it will not happen again, but it was resolved expeditiously.
Reminder is that we’re going back to the track on Tuesday [March 16^th] and the flats on Thursday [March 18^th]. The Monday Fun Runs will resume on March 22^nd, 2021.
Willie’s Walkers is a new group that walks at 8am on Sundays. They generally start out on Putnam, and cut into Tibbetts and go into the OCA. People generally walk between 4-6 miles.
Before we go into the races, Mandi is thinking of resuming the Kid’s Club in April at Horse stables at 4pm on Saturdays.

4. Upcoming VCTC races for VCTC members only until we have further guidance and confidence [11:16am] –

UEC, formally known as the Urban Environmental Challenge, our 10k trail race in Van Cortlandt Park will be April 17^th We probably won’t have bibs, and we’ll have staggered starts and will need volunteers. We are not putting in for a permit because that requires a [COVID] plan with respect to distance and safety measures.

Summer Series [5k trail race starts at statue, goes into the trails and North Hills, and ends at the statue] These are held every other Thursday, and will start on May 20^th, with no clock, kept under the radar, 50 participants maximum. The series will end on August 12

Ken’s in-house races 2X2 race on the Flats and Cemetery Hill.

We will need volunteers.

5. Other updates [11:29am]– We are pretty short on social but will attempt to do the Captain Lawrence race on May 16^th. It does not matter how you get there: run, skate, bike, drive, jog, skip, with any combinations in between, etc. It is roughly 20 miles from Van Cortlandt Park

6. Clothing updates and progress [11:34am] – We will now move into clothing and an update from Susan Moore. Once we close out the sweatshirt orders, Susan will display the link for members to order athletic wear: t-shirts, shorts, masks, fleece blankets, just pay attention to sizing and brands. Put in your credit card info and address and the merchandise will be shipped to your home. There are also skirts. There are also booty shorts for those who are interested.

7. As for any updates from the Road Runners – A lot of people have left, and they had to let some people go internally. The Division of Equity and Inclusion {DEI} person is Erica. She is trying to rebuild relationships. DEI has to deal with restructurings. They are still looking for a CEO of the NYRR. NYRR is continuing to get their permits in order. Their rules are sanctioned by city, state, local rules on providing safe measures for runners. There’s a spring forward 4m race on March 27^th. There is another 4m race in April, and a 1 mile race in New Jersey on May 1^st. They still plan to have the marathon but need to decide on parameters as dictated by whatever the safety rules and precautions are. Also, this is the 20^th anniversary of 9/11, and the Road Runners Club is trying to work with the NYPD to collaborate on some activities. The bottom line is that we must be patient and wait and see. *With respect to 9+1 and the marathon, this is also an area in which people need to be patient because this all depends on numbers, capacity, and what is fair. It is a lot to resolve. The club points series will be voted on in May. Because of the uncertainty of the race calendar, they’ll have to decide whether to have a series of races or a club only race in May.

8. Communication/Website with Steve [11:47am] – Scott is doing a lot of testing and a lot of things have to be updated. Hopefully within the next 2 weeks things will be resolved. Aesop’s is now released in Spanish for those members who might want it.

9. Treasury update:

3/13/2021
Accounts	Current
Cap One Checking	5,020.30
Cap One Savings	2,203.37
PayPal	4,370.65
Total	11,594.32

Petty Cash	179.35
*Total*	*11,773.67*

Sweatshirt Order	1142.73
*Net*	*10,630.94*

———————————————-

People have been renewing but not as much as they would have [if there were no pandemic.] If anyone wants to sponsor a member, anyone can sponsor them.

10. Membership Update

NEW MEMBERS

Michelle Lawrence
Kristin Bond
Blair Gilmartin
Catherine Ochoa

	Total
Single	96
Junior	0
Senior/Veteran	25
senior/veteran couple	22
Family	80
Lifetime	10
Kids Club	8

Total	241

11. Outreach committee– JoAnn Pate had offered to reach out to other clubs. She mentioned something called Bridge the Gap Run, but it has mostly been put on hold due to COVID. Still JoAnn is planning to manage that effort. Also the Parks Alliance is planning to do the 21 miles of running in Van Cortlandt in ’21. You are pledging to say you will run or hike 21 miles in VCP. It’s based on your honor to log your mileage. It costs $37. Perhaps this can be linked into the UEC race.

12. Working with VC Park Alliance– We want to keep volunteering alive. There are a lot of new opportunities for volunteer work with respect to keeping our park well.

Meeting’s adjourned at 12:06pm

VCTC LEADERSHIP MEETING MINUTES

Thursday, March 11, 2021

Meetings starts at 8:19pm

Shall we get started. We have 2 main items:

Primary

Communication/Website – emails, passwords, access, recovery, website scrubbing and updating, etc.

Who wants to start it. Rick, can we just narrow it down. Have we changed into passwords [Rick]. Steve: we have not changed anything. We can change things but I won’t do it unilaterally. We’ll change the passwords, and Rick will update the passwords or Scott will change them. If anyone is accessing the shared inboxes through gmail, Scott will help to change that. There was an issue with the inbox messages, but Scott is in the process of updating everything. It’s being restored. Jean Marie, shouldn’t we put something on Facebook? Scott says not every member will get an updated email message. Don’t explain, just tell people to ignore test copy of website. Are people getting alerts on the calendar? Membership emails have Mandi’s name on the top. There’s an emailing system associated with RunSignUp, so we will move to that.

Google alerts. Recovery- do we want to fix or change the recovery email? Make sure people know who to contact. Steve as the gatekeeper volunteers to be the second factor in the recovery emails. New people added to VCTC will need to know what to expect if they have their account added to VCTC. Steve will communicate with the person with a password.

This all requires some coordination. The other option is to turn off the 2-way factor so that Steve does not have to coordinate with someone each time. Steve and Scott will collaborate with one another. Rick: Also, is there anything that Mandi is still on that needs to be changed? Representative: RRCA [Mandi].

Website updating/scrubbing- Jean Marie started updating things. She has been able to do some stuff: adding COVID protocols, taking out old things. She recently sent an email about some other updates that need to happen: updating the Board. Is there a way to take things off without deleting them completely. If you are editing the page, there’s a way to suppress pages [maybe]. On dashboard, side bar, appearance, menus: add or subtract pages. Jean Marie is willing to do simple updates. Who is the person who needs to do the updates? Is it better to turn over things to communications [Bette] or divvy up the activities. Steve is happy to do any edits anyone needs. If someone wants to change the content, you can defer to communications [changing menus & structure0 Right now the calendar is not useful. Bette is fine with working with the calendar but is happy to turn things over. Scott looked over the calendar today and was able to improve things in members: calendar.

Bette wants to color code, and Steve says maybe layer. Rick: have a list of upcoming events. Simple text list of dates. Steve is happy to make changes to the website especially if pictures are involved, just make sure that formatting is fine.

Conclusion about calendar: it’s a work in progress; we have all the meetings; once we have races, we will put those; when we move locations, we will update that. Bette would like to work with Jean Marie to update the calendar. Rick would like to make sure everyone can access the calendar and can read it. Scott has been working on it.

Upcoming VCTC races (UEC, Summer Series, Ken’s in-house races.

Secondary 8:48pm

UEC [Kate @ 8:48pm]- There’s a discussion that we’d like to have an intramural aka team only UEC race. First order of business is to decide the date. We will need to decide if permit is needed. It’s probably going to be in April. The last positive feedback last time was that there were two distances, and was inclusive and helped alleviate the load for volunteers who would have to stay out in the cold for a couple of hours.

First order of business, when is Easter? So, maybe the race will be 4/11 or 4/10. *SN: Taconic is running their races. Bette mentioned that Taconic has been very strict about their own races. They have been very safe. Maybe not as fun but safe. Are we considering opening up our race [since there is a way to race safely.] We probably need 5 weeks. Jill: after speaking with Christina, in order to put on a race, you can put in for a permit a month in advance, have a COVID plan, and open the race to no more than 50 people. We’ll still need volunteers

This was easy money, but this time around it might be too much effort for the requirements. Kate votes to keep things intramural and perhaps run staggered groups. No permit, just keep it as a club activity. Use this as an opportunity to learn more about how to organize a race for 2 distances [Kate]. Is there a problem with us congregating. They’re also asking people to do the 21 miles in VCP. Maybe we can tie into the 21 miles for VCP. The race would probably be nearly identical to the original race but slightly different. Date: April 10^th/11^th and look at other schedules. Or April 17^th/18^th, April 24^th/25^th . Sunday: 10am. Anything about a kids’ run? Mandi, please look on the kids’ club page. 9:03pm- Thanks Kate [Rick]. SN: The female fight club received a summons though the leader is a Vital Volunteer. The Tortoise and the Hare is visible. Maybe start at the parking lot.

2b. Summer Series {Stephany} we haven’t done much on that except starting with the dates. Starting on May 20^th [it’s usually built around Memorial Day] June 3^rd, June 17^th, July 1^st relay, July 15^th, July 29^th, August 12^thKeep this in-house to start and see how things go. Once we understand the health ramifications, we’ll consider opening things up. We used to offer the package, but this might be a pay-as-you-go race, but we don’t want to handle money. Right now it’s on a public page, but it can easily be changed or say tentative dates [Bette, Mandi, Scott]. For people who don’t have the ability to pay for the race ahead of time, what is the suggestion. Exact change. We want to prevent crowding around the table and hope to practice social distancing. No clock. Jill’s suggestion is that we need to see how things are going. We need a month to request a permit, so it helps to wait. Rick: something else to think about is that the flats were crowded. It will be a little more difficult running in the park. It’s very different than it was in 2019. Bette: what are you saying? Rick: we need to consider the changes. People are congregating. Jill is running low on bibs. Mandi is available to help for summer series. It doesn’t hurt to have bibs though wearing the bibs is contingent upon whether it’s an open race

3. Clothing updates and progress {Susan @ 9:17pm} https://teamlocker.squadlocker.com/#/lockers/vctc-team-store?_k=vt717t

You go, you buy, you pay your own shipping. This is by no means replacing our team apparel. This is wicking material. The items have 2 logos, and are white, black, grey, and purple. Susan will share on Facebook and Twitter and maybe Aesop’s. There are various items to choose from [no hats]. There might be a possibility to just use the teamlock.squadlocker.com if it’s well done. 9:23pm

4. RunSignUp – feasibility {Mandi @ 9:24pm} – The RunSignUp page is in draft. Mandi will pull up her page. Or Bette will pull up the email. We cannot change the membership date?

This portal is oriented towards races. There’s email ability to communicate/send correspondence like Aesop’s bench. There is a certain about of clean up that needs to happen, so that will need to happen before it goes live. It’s in draft form.

Service = same cost as signing up for a race. It’s about $2/race. It can be charged to the member, or charged to the club, or it can be split. The money we’d use to pay for the membership fee would be the money. How can we simplify the payment process, reducing the chances of having members overpay.

Checks with pending status until payment is received. Board members have the ability to manage the page to keep track of people’s status. How will RunSignUp mitigate membership renewal and race sign ups and other activities involving payment.

2 systems = membership only pages can be on RunSignUp; we can have a store just for VCTC members. Andrea’s concern is managing 2 websites. RunSignUp would be for members’ only.

5. Next steps [9:41pm] Clean up has to be done. The graphics are not that great. Andrea is a listed board member.

Scott- do we want to have a functional website? RunSignUp might not do it, but we have not been utilizing our site fully? There needs to be a commitment from the board to say the private website will be maintained or just have RunSignUp for private information only. Let’s try to avoid having us have to maintain 2 websites.

Do we want VCTC.org to be our private website or RunSignUp. We’ll need to further discuss RunSignUp. Mandi will screen share so that we can further discuss RunSignUp.

We want to close out the sweatshirt order. Deadline in about 2 weeks.

Meeting’s adjourned 9:52pm.

Ken’s races- he’s not available.

GENERAL MEETING MINUTES

February 13, 2021

Opening comments, from President (Rick)– 11:05am

This is the 1^st board meeting of the new board. Unfortunately, COVID has deprived us and the club of many things including the ceremony at the annual awards dinner and a transition from the previous board to the new board. Without the ceremony things get minimized and glossed over. So Rick wants to give Mandi an opportunity to address the club and to thank Mandi and Steve for their contributions.

There were no runners of the year w/o races, but three amazing performances were recognized

Coach Ken was able to have a ceremony in which three runners were honored:

Adil Filali: Runner of the Year
Diedre Keane: Community Activism, Civic Duty in addition to her running- reminded us of our civic and community mind
Liam Cawley: Race of the Year

We also want to acknowledge civic and community-minded accomplishments outside of the running club’s activities:

Selma and Sarah have been involved in the Friendly Fridge, whereby they help to stock refrigerators with free food for those who might need it. Last stop has been providing the electricity for the refrigerator near the 242^nd 1 train stop .
Kate Donovan has been helping people with various mobility challenges to get registered to vote or to get out to vote.
Trash thrashers– A group of volunteers convene at Van Cortlandt Park on Monday mornings and help to pick up trash around the park. Susan Moore brings her whole family. People also come out on other mornings as well to help maintain the park grounds. Overall, we would like to find ways for VCTC to establish itself in the community, much like the late Betty Adams would have done, as she was not just a business owner [Lloyd’s Carrot Cake] but a community member.

Rick also wants to take a moment to welcome Rhashida. One of the things we wanted to do was to get a calendar and that is what Rhashida will address.

Meeting dates for 2021, from Secretary (Rhashida)

We plan to hold our General Membership Meetings on the second Saturday of each month and the Leadership Meetings on the Thursday evening prior to the General Leadership Meetings barring any unforeseen emergencies or necessary changes of plan. Below are the dates for the meetings for 2021. They will be posted on Facebook and in Aesop’s Bench in advance of the meetings.

Meetings for 2021

March 13 (March 11)
April 10 (April 8)
May 8 (May 6)
June 12 (June 10)
July 10 (July 8)
No August meeting
September 11 (Sept 9)
October 9 [or 16] (Oct 7 or 14)
November 13 (Nov 11)
December 11 (Dec 9)

Leadership meetings going forward (Rick)

We would like to streamline the Leadership Meetings. Please send your information in advance so that we can include people who might have something specific they want addressed.

This is not to keep people out; it is more about having people who want to address something in particular actually getting their voices heard.

Bette mentioned that this is about having a distinct meeting that is different from the General Meeting.

Committee positions and possibilities, from Vice- President (Bette)

Below is the current list of the committees that Bette put together.

If you see your name on the list but are not interested, please contact us so that we can update the list. If you are interested, also let us know. What are we looking for? Race directors- Carolyn, Kate, Bobby, Stephany, Jean Marie

We don’t really know what is going on [with races] right now, and Ken Rolston has been orchestrating what will be going on moving forward. Mandi might want to be involved in Race directing and putting on races. For example, if there is a race that needs some assistance, we can have people address the point person.

Athletic Committee – Bette and Rick have been debating turning this over to other people

Susan Moore has agreed to be the open women’s captain. Matt Soja is open men’s. He will continue if no one is interested but he is willing to hand it over. Currently, the ClothingCommittee, headed by Beni Veraz, can use some helping hands. Read the list below.

Race Directors:

Carolyn Hehir
Kate Donovan
Bobby Asher
Stephany Evans
Jean Marie Andrews

Committee Members:

Athletic:

Bette Clark (Co-Captain)
Rick Bloomer (Co-Captain)
(Matt Soja) (Open Men’s)
Susan Moore (Open Women’s)
Susan Moore (Women’s 40’s)
Rigo Martinez (Men’s 40’s)
Sean Moore (Men’s 50’s)
Jennifer Mone (Womens’ 50s)
Sal Carretta (Mens’ 60s and 70s)
Stephany Evans (Women’s 60’s)
Monica Macezinskas (Women’s 70’s)
Ken Rolston (Coach)
Glen Shane (Coach)

Communications:

Steve Shernicoff
Clelia Milan
Gee Chamorin—technical
Scott Ceniza Levine—technical
Susan Moore-social media

Clothing:

Beni Veraz

Membership:

Jean Marie Andrews
John Lanning

Social:

Wendee Corsino
Jill Staats
Susan Adiletta
Rhashida Hilliard
Sean Mooore
David King
Jean Marie Andrews
Bridget Brown-Williams

Community Outreach/Inter-club Liaison

JoAnne Pate
Joseph Tucker
Mitch Strong
Susan Adiletta
Steve Shernicoff
Jill Staats

2×2 Relay Race Feb 14 from Coach (Ken)

Due to the impending inclement weather, the 2×2 relay will be canceled. There is a possibility it will be rescheduled for the following dates:

Next weekend looks nice, but there’s a 5-miler on February 21^st, 2021

Weekend of the Washington Heights 5K

Maybe early March

Possibly St. Patrick’s Day Race though they have a St. Patrick’s Day race in Taconic

NYRR report and updates (Bette)

NYRR Updates

Brooklyn Half Cancelled
NYC Half Virtual March 20-28
Virtual Black History 5K Feb 19-28

In-person events:

March 7 Washington Heights 1 mile:
March 27 Spring Forward 4 mi
April 18 Central Park 4 mi
Nov 7 NYC Marathon- According to Christine Burke (Sr VP of Strategic Planning), NYRR is working toward the November 7^th marathon and is optimistic that the marathon will happen, albeit with adjustments to the operations.

We may have a bit more to share at the Club Council meeting in a couple of weeks, but the most significant updates won’t come until the spring.

Other smaller clubs have been holding races. These include NYC Runs & Elite Feet. These organizations have fewer restrictions. According to John Lanning, who has been participating in races, Elite Feet’s races are capped at 50 members per wave, a mask is necessary to carry but you do not have to keep it on as long as it’s safely done.

Taconic Runners has restrictions similar to NYRR.

Celebrate Life is planning to have an in-person race

Fundraising for Van Cortlandt Park Alliance (Rick)

Rick has been working with the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance. We have a fundraising page, and we are looking to raise money to help clean up the park. They do not have the staff to keep the park clean, so Vital Volunteers was launched in the summer of 2020. There were more people signing up than they had funds to provide supplies for the volunteers. We are championing VCTC to help raise funds to help keep the park clean.

Coach Ken suggested getting signage to remind people to keep the park clean, but official signage is a process according to the park. It is complicated.

Susan Moore will share the fundraising link on social media.

Community Board 8 [CB8] has a Parks Dept meeting according to Gary. It is mentioned in the Riverdale Press. You can request to speak in advance at the CB8 meeting.

Committee reporting:

Social [Susan A]: Not much has been going on due to COVID, but Susan encourages anyone in the club to put forth any ideas to the club, and the Board will decide on whether to approve them. Some examples of social events we have are the Santa Run and Summer Series Races. Just bring your ideas forward. Susan is still interested in the dinner if there’s the marathon and picnic after the Bronx 10-miler. Also, keep in mind that the Kingsbridge Social Club has been generous and supportive of VCTC, so please consider supporting them if you are thinking of ordering takeout.

Clothing (Beni, Bette): Beni is getting the jacket order ready. Twelve people are interested in jackets, and 10 people have paid. In 2-3 business days the order will go out. The order will be shipped to Jill. The sweatshirt order will be through Custom Ink and does not have a deadline yet.

In the near future, we will consider ordering via Eastbay or a running company for attire that is specific to running.

Coaching Athletic (Ken):

Ken would like to possibly have The Herd Immunity 5k – July 2021 to celebrate that we have reached herd immunity if enough people are able to get vaccinated.

With respect to practice, we will stay in the Fieldston Hills for a couple of weeks or longer to make up for a few of the cancelled practices due to road conditions affected by the weather. It is always about safety first, so if roads are sketchy we will not have practice.

In mid-March, we will move to the track, perhaps w/Coach Glenn

Ken wants the Urban Environmental Challenge to happen in early April with modest numbers. People love that race. Hopefully we can do that.

We plan to rename the Summer Series to the Betty Adams Summer Series to honor the late Betty Adams, who contributed the sweet treats for the winners of the Summer Series races

Track and Back Hills for summer

Susan M suggested that the donation from the summer series go to the VCP Alliance.

With respect to Workout of the Week [WOW], it has been helpful for many people, including people who are currently not in New York City or the surrounding areas. WOW will continue to be posted every Monday or Tuesday to help people who are elsewhere, but the workouts are planned with the NYC terrain/weather conditions in mind

Communication (Steve)

Spanish version of Aesop’s- There are about ½ dozen people who get Spanish translations of Aesop’s now. Andrea has suggested that we have people choose without having a separate Spanish version of Aesop’s if we can get the Spanish version translated in time to have English and Spanish versions posted simultaneously. The idea is to have the same message at the same time. Melissa Gonzalez is happy to do the translation of Spanish, but needs 2 days advance notice. All will have to be coordinated between Clelia and Melissa.

Susan M. has been using Twitter to get VCTC put on the world’s map. For example, Susan tweeted a post that got retweeted by Olympian and author Kara Gaucher. It got over 10K views, it was retweeted, and it allowed people to see a tweet that originated from VCTC. This can drive people to our site. We can use this same strategy to garner support for the trash pickup and other events.

Riverdale Press isn’t interested but Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz might be interested. CB8 retweets messages, depending on time of day. Susan will use consistent hashtags like Throwback Thursday [TBT] or maybe Earth Day, or any other recognizable title.

Outreach (Jo Ann) NEW!!

Bette has been reaching out to Jo Ann Pate, who has been reaching out to Boogie Down Bronx and other clubs to coordinate interclub activities. It’s been in a holding pattern due to COVID.

Regarding the late Betty Adams, Bette Clark sent a condolence text message to her son. He said to stay in touch. He asked for Bette’s mailing address. The son delivered a carrot cake and samples of other cakes. Special treats were going out to their fans. Bette was able to share with her niece and she promises to provide us [VCTC] with a carrot cake in the future. In the spring there will be events in the VC Park.

Membership (Jean Marie, John): There are currently 242 Members of VCTC. The newest members are Karen and Tony Gallinari, 60s. Stephany and Sal reached out and introduced themselves.

Overall, there has been a drop in membership maybe due to COVID or something. Active memberships are being deactivated because people are not paying. Club members have been generous enough to assist with covering the cost of outstanding membership fees.

Though membership is down, we have proven now more than ever that the club has been a very good source of support for many people during the pandemic. The social aspect has been lifesaving for some. It’s a reminder of how vital the running club has been, particularly for the social aspect.

Now is the time to bring creativity and new ideas. Some examples of creative ideas have been, providing a canopy with hot chocolate, etc.

Financial (Andrea): The largest part of financial is coming from Membership fees, so it’s important for people to pay. We have not been having races. We have to remind people to pay their fees. If anyone is experiencing any hardships, please send a note to Jean Marie or Andrea.

With respect to financials we have:

$4,900 checking
$2,200 savings
$3,700 PayPal, including the clothing order, so this will drop
$180 petty cash
Total is $11,000 club money [reduced a little but we have not been having races]

Road Runners insurance, Crown Trophy, PO Box- all paid off

The social event is our big event, and it did not happen.

We were donating a lot more of the race proceeds to charity but we had to put a cap

We were told not to have too much money in our account, but we also should have money to run the club

Now we do not have the Award’s ceremony
We do still have fixed, recurring costs : $2,400 for insurance, post office fee, storage at the Golf House, jack orders [club funds the shipping fee], and we don’t have races. Membership fees are currently our only source of income. Coach Ken is still giving the coaching, and people are still benefitting, so it would behoove us to renew our membership if we can.

Open discussion (all): No comments.
Closing comments (Rick)– Thank you for coming. Meeting was adjourned at 12:25pm.

VCTC Board Minutes

Thursday, February 11, 2021

P.O. Box , who will visit? Jean Marie will retrieve the mail

Roles and expectations – [TBD] Priority for the Board. Then focus on the committees

Bank? Capital One is closing in Riverdale but it is a non-issue w/respect to VCTC’s banking needs since transactions are handled online/non-issue

Insurance?- We need someone to pick up card to file taxes since we missed 2019

RRCA dues?

Po box paid? It’s paid

Any outstanding payments? Beni might need helps with clothing orders

Email passwords reset – As a member of Communications, Steve has been in charge of this. He has agreed to continue in his capacity as a member of the Communications committee

Leadership Meetings moving forward– Leadership meetings- Monthly reminder/invitation do we send a reminder or do we target the important things

Do we want a mass invite for people on Leadership list? Agenda multiple days in advance. Email to everyone who might want to discuss. There is no obligation or expectation. In the week we are having a meeting, get the agenda ready. [8:30-8:31pm] Experiment with how we’ll put forth an agenda and how we’ll proceed. Rick will draft up a quick blurb and let people know what the expectations are.

[8:32pm] Update list of committee members, race directors, etc. We’ve decided to update list of various members, reach out to members and see if we can get them back. Rhashida will compile a list of activities and keep them in a central place

Our races, permits [8:33pm]- Jill usually applies for permits. It seems that nothing has changed since the last time, We don’t apply for track permits anymore

Bank balance statements – [8:35pm] {Adrian/Adrienne offered this suggestion} It is good practice to have a printout of bank statements for outgoing and incoming Board. The last statement was received 2 weeks ago

Membership renewal process-[8:38pm] RunSignUp will be Mandi’s project; something has to change with membership renewal and the VCTC website

Three ways payment can happen on RunSignUp:

Club pays
Members pay
Split between Members and Club

There is no cost to the club if we use PayPal; think about what the difference in cost is; we have to decide if we want to use this system at all; Mandi wants to do a data dump from the current site and see how things work; VCTC website has some complications with the renewal process; passwords are ridiculous and long; how do you notify people?; possibly get feedback at the Saturday meeting, maybe get Mandi to explain; get on the phone with CapOne and get Zelle. GoFundMe page, but it takes a processing fee; Paypal fee vs RunSignUp fee;

Give Mandi specific questions to answer for Saturday’s meeting: how much does it cost/what is the process?

Spanish versions [8:50pm] Is Melissa going to do the Spanish translations moving forward? Newsletter in Spanish?

2021 goals

Scheduling meeting dates for year [8:54pm]- Put meeting dates in Aesop’s w/Zoom Recurring meeting link

March 13 (March 11)
April 10. (April 8)
May 8. (May 6)
June 12. (June 10)
July 10. (July 8)
No August meeting
September 11. (Sept 9)
October 9 [or 16] (Oct 7 or 14)
November 13 (Nov 11)
December 11 (Dec 9)

Tax card (was not submitted for 2019–notice retrieved from PO Box) – Mandi or Steve

Communications: email/FB announcement responsibilities- [8:55pm]- To make sure we put in the invitation

If something gets posted on FB, Communications, who will send it out? Meetings must be posted on FB. Copy from Aesop’s to FB. Reminders used to be President. Rick likes to use his cartoon and has agreed to send the announcements. Anyone can paste the Zoom link. The VCTC Board is inviting you. Facebook page for announcements or limited to certain members/pin/ Admin can pin/Make announcement then pin

RunSignup- mentioned above

Jacket order-mentioned above

Agenda topics for Saturday – Summary of what we discussed tonight/typical update/who wants to be on a committee?/Discuss the cleanup we have been doing/Twitter feed- Susan Moore/How do we want to handle the captains/define captains’ roles/open men’s team/Susan open women’s captain/we want to determine if age group captains want to stay in those jobs

9:07pm Meeting’s adjourned