Upper Valley Running Club

March Board Meeting, March 23rd, 2020, 6:00 pm via Zoom meeting. 

Attendance: Tim Smith, Amanda Kievet, Jim Burnett, Geoff Dunbar, Alex Hall, Joffrey Peters, Krissy Flythe, Dorcas DenHartog, 

Absent: Paul Coats,, Rebecca Stanfield-McCown, Tiffany Currier

Called to order: 6:10pm

• Check in with board members – re: COVID 19. 
• Geoff: UVRS post Shamrock Shuffle reschedule and all races on hold
• Rebecca – report from her: Mt Washington RR still on but stay tuned. 
• Jim – CHaD still on but stay tuned. Mike Kokko has agreed to coordinate pacers for 2020 CHaD Hero Half and will connect with Rebecca to get help. Rebecca confirmed that she will be Pacer Coordinator for 2020 CBHM. Mike Silverman (CBHM co-race director) is looking for Start Area coordinator to replace Ken Stone. (Geoff – Mike Silverman asks a UVRC volunteer coordinate runner drop offs and parking issues in the Start Area and report to the Start Area coordinator.
• Krissy: Leb. Park and Rec. Dept. maintains guidelines for social distancing while outside; rail trail: some users some do not understand social distancing.
• Tim: his UVRC challenge , ‘Road Less Run’, to substitute for TNT/Sat runs. Other options to post? How to draw membership attention?  Newsletter opportunity to communicate with the club. Use Strava first to post runs.
• Krissy: re: UVRC FB – who can post? Geoff: anyone can post; not heavily used; good to use both Strava and FB
• Tim: Two Beer Tuesdays – on Zoom? Dorcas: suggest members order a ‘take out’ from Salt Hill or local establishment to show support. 
• Tim: Zoom account, $15/month for unlimited meeting time; could be used for Couch25k and other opportunities. Jim – agreed. Use Dartmouth account for next month or two before deciding on our own account. Amanda: if Tim sets up the Zoom meetings, Amanda will put it on Meetup 
• Amanda: website makeover coming along – updates between now and then; and she can pull in magically info from Word press to new site. 
• Krissy – Olympic Trials Marathon viewing at Salt Hill – good attendance, 12-15 people attended. 
• Krissy – latest membership numbers not mentioned.
• Jim – Annual Banquet 2020: Banquet will be on Saturday November 15th???  At the Dartmouth Outing Club and there will be voting for board members and Pres., VP, Sect. and Treas. predetermined). Current board members terms are ending this year and they should declare their intentions to continue or step down. Jim intends to step down as Pres. but remain on the board.  
• Tiff – UVRC apparel update. Forwarded to next month.
• Jim – Upper Valley Running Expo April 4th 10-12 at Cioffredi’s. Cancelled due to COVID 19.
• Next Meeting: Monday, April 27th, 6pm. Via Zoom meeting

February Board Meeting, February 24th, 2020, 6:00 pm at Salt Hill Pub, Lebanon, NH

Attendance: Tim Smith,, Amanda, Jim Burnett, Geoff Dunbar, Alex Hall, Joffrey Peters, Krissy Flythe, Dorcas DenHartog, Tiffany Currier

Absent: Paul Coats, Rebecca Stanfield- McGowan, 

Call to order: 6:10pm

• Amanda: Report on new website work. Should be up and running in three months (build site, provide feedback, couple newsletters, point to Lebanon Park and Recs, show UVRS scoring;  Amanda donating her time. Alex will check to see if mailing system is the same as before (@all will be similar); we have paid for current hosting approximately November; savings of ~ $124/year starting in 2021; same URL; mobile and search engine friendly, easier to maintain, not so easy to hack. 
• Jim – re: Pacer organizer for CHaD Hero Half 2020
  • Rebecca looking for someone who is organized, timely; reach out to Rick Currier? Mike Koko?
  • Action Item: Jim will check with Rebecca and see if she is committed to coordinating CBHM pacers and if she recommends Mike for CHAD pacer coordination. 
• Rebecca – MWRR – update
  • Eight bibs to distribute; will know when after lottery closes
• Amanda – Winter Event at Brookmead Conservation Area – debrief
  • Cabin ‘rented’; Tim hauled up camp stoves for tea and cocoa; good couch to 5k group, small attendance numbers (15 people); two skied/snowshoed; people who came had fun; donations made to Land Trust; Amanda had proposed$100 for the use/donation; Krissy asked for an invoice to pay the Land Trust; Tim: recommendation for next time – add a trail run; Joffrey: parking is an issue; for the future – a weekday? Team up with UVLT more so they could co-advertise and be there for education and support, and UVPub Run/Trail runners include too; for first-time event, very successful. Next: The Greens?  Moose Mountain Lodge?
  • Joffrey: Expanding social events to spring – a ‘spring fling’; an outdoor event where people could run/hike.
• Krissy: volunteers for Shamrock Shuffle. 
  • Has reached out with a hail mary in the past
  • Sign holders needed. 
  • 10-12 volunteers needed for last year. (Rob Daniels, Rebecca, Tiff and Rick Currier, 
  • Krissy will send out an email request to UVRC members. 
  • Needs a leader of the Fun Run! (suggested she reach out to LHS and HHS track teams)
• Tim and Dorcas – “Planning Your Running Year” presentation at Howe Library, Tuesday, February 24th after TNT. 
• Rebecca and Geoff – Volunteer Program, volunteers for MWRR and Shamrock Shuffle?
• Krissy, Rebecca – Olympic Trials viewing at Salt Hill – update; Krissy will advertise Saturday, February 29th at Salt Hill/Lebanon. 
• Geoff – UVRS
  • Volunteers needed to help; 
  • Gonneermans keep track of who volunteered.
    • Action Item: contact race directors’ emails requesting help for the Gonnermans 

        * Geoff: RedZone 5K – debrief

       * Membership

Membership to date ~ 165 people

• Amanda: Fall Social
  • Contacted Laura LaMontagne and we have a hold on November 14th for Fall Banquet, re: construction for DOC house;
• Jim: Election time, November 2020
  •  end of Jim’s 2-year term – time for a younger member to take the reigns, but would like to remain on the board. Jim posits Rebecca, Amanda, as possible candidates. Anyone else? 
    • Action Item: discuss /consider who wants to continue on the Board, recommendations for replacements
• Tiffany: UVRC apparel choices
  • Short sleeve shirt – 100% polyester/wicking material, soft, dark green
  • Long sleeve zip up pullover cover up with reflective notes and logoed embroidery
• Krissy: Shuffle Day
  • Mile markers at the Lebanon Garage, Jim will get them and put them out 
• Krissy: Budget
  • Leb. Park and Rec. spring/summer 2020 brochure
• Jim: Advertising our race series with other running clubs
  • He received a brochure for a Vermont race series: 
  • How could we /how much for UVRC to print and send out a slick series brochure.
  • We receive it b/c we participated in the …
  • (Geoff) What if we send it to whoever signs up for Shamrock Shuffle
  • (Krissy) Cost ~ $500-$1,000. Vs. $200/race income 

• Next meeting: March 23rd, 6pm in Salt Hill Lebanon. 

January Board Meeting, January 13th, 2020, 6:30 pm at River Valley College, on the mall in Lebanon NH

Attendance: Tim Smith, Rebecca, Amanda, Jim Burnett, Geoff Dunbar, Alex Hall, Joffrey Peters, Krissy Flythe, Mike Gonnerman (non-board member)

Absent: Paul Coats, Tiffany Currier, Dorcas DenHartog

• There was a discussion about the time for the board meeting. It was decided that we will try 6:00PM for board meetings going forward.
• Open Door – The event was cancelled with short notice based on the snow storm that evening. A couple of folks showed up and they were open and could see the facility and ask questions. Discussions about rescheduling the event have already started:. 
  • Proposed Jan 17th (Friday) as a backup date for the open house event.
  • Consensus in the room is the short time frame, and the kickoff to a three day weekend, probably would not make for a successful event.  
  • If Carly wishes to move forward, we will support to the extent we can. But our recommendation would be to push out further to allow coordination with the club.
• Updates to ongoing responsibilities.
  • Action: update Mary Peters, who is no longer the leader of Saturday morning runs. Hannah Taska leader @ 9 am at O&B’s, Scott King C25K leader @ 8 am at CCBA
  • Action: are there other items that need to be updated?
• Mount Washington: 
  • Rebecca is taking over organization from Mike Gonnerman
  • Mike Gonnerman is in attendance for knowledge transfer
  • Policy: unclear whether or not volunteers are able to volunteer and run on day of. 
  • Everyone who wants to run should sign up for the lottery. 
  • Rebecca will be sending out the process to club members soon. Turn around for needed action is quick.
    • Club’s draft policy for the process:
      • If you get selected, you will be in charge of providing a volunteer
      • Bypass numbers will go to those who are not selected, and are able to provide a volunteer. 
      • Need 8 volunteers at check in time. Doesn’t hurt to have some extra people around to help out. 
  • Need some incentives for club members who could volunteer but not run if we run into issues there. 
    • Rent a house or hut?
    • Group camping?
• Jingle Bell Run
  • It was great. It was well attended regardless of the fresh snow fall.
  • Should we combine the annual dinner party and the jingle bell run? 
    • It could be at the DOC house, catered by Ramuntos
    • Should occur after the tree lighting ceremony to avoid that night and also take advantage of the tree decorations
    • Geoff/Amanda will talk to Nancy (the event organizer) about the proposal. 
•  NHGP
  • Schedule is set. Number of events is now 4 out of 5. Schedule is on the NHGP website. 
  • New England half marathon is the longest event. 
  • Events are no longer disqualified after a couple years of attendance, allowing a race like Shamrock Shuffle to remain year after year.
  • Scoring has been modified slightly. Team scoring will be based on your best 4 scores out of 5 races. However, any individual who wants to compete to win their age group should attend all 5 races. It’s unlikely you can miss a race and still win.
• Shamrock Shuffle
  • Discount code for NHGP? 
  • 10% discount as inclusion for NHGP
  • It was decided that the cut-off for UVRC membership will be February 1st. The code will be shared via email after this cutoff so only members can take advantage of the 10% discount. 
• UVRS 
  • Initial meeting has taken place
  • The committee is talking to race directors to get final details squared away.
  • Similarly to past years, the RedZone will kickoff the schedule. 
  • RedZone will now count towards participation. In some races, you can run the shorter event for participation credit to complete the series, but those runners will not count in the age group scoring.
  • The race schedule was discussed among the board, but will not be announced until the RedZone race.
• Apparel store was not discussed in Tiffany’s absence. 
• Jim Cioffredi/Mark Goodell
  • Cioffredi’s will be hosting a runner’s expo on April’s 4th
  • We may be able to set up a booth dependent on availability of volunteers (Jim & Tim are tentative). 
  • We should have flyers promoting the club available. 
• Tim Smith is proposing and volunteering to host a seminar on periodic training
  • Tim will talk to Dorcas to explore this seminar topic. 
  • Presentation/Seminar will be on year long training cycles. Talk to folks about training for a singular big race or what the popular big races in the area are, and designing a training schedule for success.. 
  • Suggestion to do the talk/presentation, but also published a follow up piece in the newsletter.
  • Shooting for a February date. This will try to preempt runners having already set up their yearly goals. This should be a good resource to runners who are still deciding, or are new to planning their annual running goals in advance. Early March would be a suitable alternative. 
• Social calendar:
  • Most social events happen in the second half of the year. 
  • Proposal to add a winter event at a cabin in Norwich as part of the Upper Valley Land Trust. This is part of the Brookmeade area. 
    • The long term plan for the Brookmeade committee is to restore the cabin. Currently there is no heat and no electricity. The event UVRC is exploring would occur well before their organization’s ability to restore the cabin.
    • There may be a fee to clean out and prep the cabin if we want access to the inside. 
    • UVRC could use the area around the cabin without issue. 
  • Timing: Late February/early March event?
  • Tim/Amanda in charge
• Dartmouth Relays
  • UVRC provided some volunteers for the event. 
  • Dartmouth is in the process of expanding their indoor practice facilities. The discussion about getting any access for the UVRC to Leverone during the winter has been dormant for many years, as Dartmouth did not have the ability to allow community use outside of their collegiate teams. 
  • UVRC may submit and application/proposal for winter access to the facility in the upcoming years.
  • Helpful to have a list of UVRC members with Dartmouth work/alum connections.
• Olympic Trials viewing party for the club?
  • Laura Hagley has qualified, and is competing in the Olympic Trials this year. 
  • Saturday, February 29, 2020 – Atlanta, Georgia.  Coverage starting at 12noon (?)
  • UVRC will plan to reserve a room at the Lebanon Salt Hill. 
  • If the programming is available through Comcast, than Salt Hill can accommodate the request. 
  • Rebecca/Amanda will be in charge of organizing. 
• Couch to 5k
  • 10 week program in spring culminating at RW&B 5K, July 4th, 8 week in fall. The 8 week program would start immediately after the spring session, July 4th. 
• Next meeting: February 24th, 6pm in Salt Hill Lebanon. 
• 2019 Budget ended with $1,000 in the UVRC account

Action Items for February 24th meeting:

• Jim – Email Carly Wynn to have her recommend a make-up date for the Open House at Open – DONE
• Geoff – update ongoing responsibilities, such as Hannah Taska now leading Saturday Runs – DONE
• Rebecca – re. MWRR, send out email to membership explaining registration and volunteering for MWRR – DONE
• Amanda, Jim – Ask Nancy Dunbar for her thoughts about combining the Jingle Bell Run with the Annual Banquet – DONE
• Jim – contact Cioffredi’s to confirm that UVRC would like to have a booth at the Runners” Expo, April 4th – DONE
• Tim, Dorcas – set up date for meeting at Howe Library to make a presentation on the topic of Setting Up Your Yearly Training-Running Schedule –Tuesday, Feb 25, 7:00-8:00.DONE. 
• Amanda, Tim – set up a date to have a winter (late February- early March)activity gathering at Brookmeade cabin in Norwich –
• Krissy, Rebecca – make arrangements to watch the Olympic Trials Marathon on a big screen TV at Salt Hill Lebanon, February 29th, 2020 – DONE
• Krissy, Keriann – send out email and submit article to Newsletter announcing 2020 C25K program schedule

December 16, 2019

Lebanon Town Hall

UVRC September Board Meeting Minutes

Present: 

(Board*): Jim Burnett**, Dorcas DenHartog*, Alex Hall*, Amanda Kievet*, Geoff Dunbar*, Krissy Flythe(*), Rebecca Stanfield McCown*, Joffrey Peters*, 

Not present: Paul Coats (on sabbatical)*, Tiffany Currier*, Tim Smith *

1. Jim: Meeting called to order 6:35 pm
2. Open Door Wellness Center update: 
   1. Free open house, January 8, 2020, 6 pm-7 pm, 18 N. Main Street, WRJ, VT. 
3. Rebecca: Hats! We have hats
   1. Volunteers at least 3 events, couch to 5k coaches, and board members earned a UVRC trucker hat. 
   2. Those who have earned a hat will receive an email Thank you and note that they can pick it up at the Jingle Bell Run, Tuesday, December 17th. 
   3. Confirm parameters for next year – those who qualify: volunteer at 3 events, coach Cto5K, board members, and committee members. 
   4. Encourages race directors to communicate with UVRC about the need for and UVRC volunteers (Jim). 
4. Geoff: Awards for UVRC series finishers
   1. Will receive a gear bag 
5. Amanda: Jingle Bell Run
   1. Amanda will lead; Geoff has been volunteered. 
6. Krissy: LOH/Lebanon Town Hall
   1. Renovation completion date undetermined 
   2. Meeting room available, though smaller, at  River Valley College OR Jim’s house.
7. Jim: 2020 Race Series
   1. Meeting date: 
      1. For UVRC race series club has 5 nominations: Skip’s Run 4M, Shaker Seven 7M, Run With The Law 5K, Red White and Blue 6.2M, Tiger Run 12K, 
   2. New England Road Race Grand Prix Series 2020 is published
   3. Capital Area Racing Series (CARS) 2020 has eight races published, starting in March.
   4. Talk of changing the scoring system so clubs with fewer members can score well, rather than leaning towards 3 scorers per age group; instead, xc scoring and age-graded scoring for masters division, so 20 member participants clubs could do well. 
8. Geoff: UVRC series 2020
   1. About five committee members coming back
   2. The first meeting in early January 202o to choose the races. 
   3. Expect to announce it at the Red Zone 5k in Wilder, VT. 
   4. Need a new scorekeeper
9. (Tim): TNT 
   1. Is going well, tho’ low attendance
   2. Pub Night, however, is well attended
   3. Best news – three + people coming from Couch to 5K. Kerianne has been posting good notes encouraging people to come for a social run.
   4. Couch to 5K 2020 – Amanda and Kerianne will discuss during the drive to Buffalo. 
   5. First Lebanon Park and Rec/UVRC Couch to 5k outreach announcing Saturday workouts, 8am Carter Community Building, indoor stretch, and workout. 
10. Krissy: A race for everyone else, 0.5km
    1. To consider, a run done in Texas, it has raised >$7K (fundraiser for Lebanon Park and Rec. Department), ending at Salt Hill. What does the board think? YES!
    2. ‘Perfect Day in May, Point Five K’ (Alex)

Next Meeting:

• Monday, January 13th, 6:30 at River Valley College, on the Mall in Lebanon – across from Omer and Bob’s (15 Hanover Street, Lebanon).   (After Dartmouth Relays)