Welcome to the President’s Page

Imagine that. I now have my own page. The President’s Page. Nice ring to that title. So. I presume the question raised is; what to do with my own page? I think I’ll use this newly opened avenue to communicate things I see as being of interest, to whoever takes the time to read what I have to say.

I note that as of October 6, we list 455 members on our roster. Of these 455 I’m guessing that maybe 100 members are “active” in our club. I think we usually get about 70 or so at our “official” social events. I’m not sure what this means, but it does seem to indicate that we have a lot of members who haven’t really connected us and what it is we do.

The only requirement for membership is that you pay your dues. If you participate in the club’s activities, I think all will agree you get more than your money’s worth. But if you don’t come out and hang with the other members, hopefully while running with us, we still have your dues. Of course that means more beer for the rest of us. As much as we like drinking beer, we really would prefer to have everyone participate in the club in some fashion. And rest assured. We have never run out of beer due to lack of funding.

The purpose of our club is pretty simply to get together and run and have fun. This doesn’t mean it has to be at “organized” events. How about informal training runs? Do you have a group that you run with? Do you meet up with your buddies on Wednesday nights and do a few loops through a park somewhere or get together on Saturday morning and get in a quick 10 miles? Ever thought of opening up your runs to some other VHTRC members or friends? If you regularly or even irregularly go out on training runs, how about offering the opportunity for some additional like minded souls to come out and join you? This is a perfect way for folks to connect with us and what it is we are about, without the pressure or structure of some big “organized” event. You can share information, learn some stuff from others and possibly make some new friends. I think this goes to the core of what we are all about. Getting together and running and sharing time with our friends. Maybe some of your fellow club members would love an invitation to join in on some of your runs.

OK I’ll go first. There is a small group of us that run on the great trails at the Hashawha Environmental Center, just outside of Westminster MD once a week or so, usually on weekday evenings. As we lose daylight I guess it is more late afternoon than it is evening when we run, but if anyone is interested in joining us sometime, simply get in touch and we’ll make a plan.

Our Web guru is working on a brand new and easy to use Training Run Web page to make it easy for you to advertise your informal runs and for others to find something they might want to try. It’s not ready yet but will be any day now. Keep an eye out for this new page and take advantage of this great way to find friends to run with. What a great way to get more members involved in our club. Check it out.
And of course I’m always open to your suggestions, comments, or whatever. Just let me know what’s on your mind.

Happy Trails