Chairman's Chat

There's a few bits and pieces to update you on this month so I'll try to keep it brief...

Since the last Newsletter, we have crowned our Club Championships (well done Jack & Emily Pitcher), our Time Trial Winner (well done Caron Finn) and successfully staged the fifth Doynton Hard Half Marathon (thanks to all who helped, well done to everyone who raced). In addition, there have been three races in our 2020 Club Championship already this year (The Riverbank Rollick, Slaughterford 9 and The Longleat 10k). And we held our 8th AGM!

The AGM is a necessary formality. We are bound to have one by virtue of our Constitution, and having a Constitution is a requirement of our affiliation to England Athletics. The Constitution also determines how the club operates and the remit of the Committee acting on behalf of club members. Your new Committee, a repeat of last year's Committee bar one change, will meet soon and start planning more exciting things for 2020.

There was also a vote at the AGM which saw members agree to increase the annual club membership fee from £15.00 to £20.00. Ok, so a 33% increase seems like a bit of hike but this is the first time that we have put the fee up in the club's history. And there is a good reason for doing so - read the Kit bit below for an explanation.

The Chairman's Challenge is an irregular feature of EGRC but when I find inspiration, I like to throw little challenges out to the membership and see what happens; the rewards are usually alcoholic so it is worth participating in them. January, even with me cocking up the initial draw by missing out 20-odd people, saw Adrian Grimshaw bag a bottle of fizz for achieving a Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal on Strava. February's challenge is a little different and I hope that Debra Parsons hasn't slapped me and unfriended me by the time March comes around - read details of the Chairman's Challenge for February (or should I say Debruary) here: https://www.facebook.com/events/116690049738205/

You'll need to be a member of the EGRC members-only facebook group #TeamEGRC to view the link and participate in Chairman's Challenges. If you are a member and you haven't yet joined the page, please do, there's a lot of good stuff happening there (and a bit of nonsense too). Here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/teamegrc/

Committee member Tom Kavanagh has done a grand job of redesigning our logo (I created the running man and the wavy line back when the club was founded in 2012), creating a modern design for our kit (the black t-shirts had been grumbled about for a number of years) and engaging with kit suppliers to find one that will fulfil our requirements (we want an online shop with, ultimately, a range of EGRC branded products). But he has hit numerous obstacles; delays in England Athletics approving the new design, suppliers that talk a good game but then don't fulfil promises or even return phone calls or emails and even arguments about copyright. We are keeping our fingers crossed that in the coming days, his extensive efforts will bear fruit. 

As with the current/original black kit, we want members to wear the new kit and hence the increase in membership fee for this year is offset by a £5.00 discount on an item of club kit. Note that many running clubs include the price of a t-shirt/vest in the cost of their membership (and you can bet that their fees are a bit more than £20/year). I am looking forward seeing you all in the new kit very soon....!!

You have parkrun to get up for on a Saturday morning and now you have a reason to get up on a Sunday morning too. Sunday Socials - a run on a Sunday at a social pace. Meet at 9.00am in the car park at Pomphrey Hill (note that we don't have the use of the changing rooms on a Sunday) and run; a Run Leader will be looking after you. For details of upcoming Sunday Socials, including distance, terrain etc, check the Get-Togethers and/or Events in the #TeamEGRC Facebook group. 

That's all for now folks, have a great Debruary! 🙂

Neil - EGRC Chairman (again)