Present

1.      Apologies for Absence

2.      Minutes of Last Meeting

Were approved as true representation of the last AGM

3.      Matters Arising

All matters arising from the last year’s meeting have all been dealt with during past committee meetings. These included :-

·         Being more transparent with 10K funds

·         Grand prix re runs

·         Blog page

4.      Chairperson’s Report

Looking back over the last year it has again proved to be an eventful one. Although the club has not increased its membership numbers during the year it has managed to maintain them at around 130. The Committee has worked hard evaluating and improving established running events and sessions but also trying out new ideas. The club has therefore continued to develop the quality and variety of training sessions and the range and diversity of events that members have completed seem to be increasing.

It is good to see members continuing to enter a range of races in the UK and further afield.

Starting with our international runners these include  Brendan Parkinson completing the Canberra Marathon, Holly Weaver the Paris Marathon, Peter Hunt the Marakech half marathon, Dave Moore the Sydney half marathon, Isobel and Richard Beadle, Helen Jones, Barbara Garrett, Jaki Lowe, Sally Cowling and Dave Moore  Lanzorote 10K and Paul Butcher the St Tropez 10K.

Under the heading of international events, I must mention the success of Helen Jones, Mike Thornewill and Dick in walking/skiing the last degree to the North Pole last April.  A fantastic experience and many members have subsequently enjoyed sharing the photos and tales.

Back in the UK- it has been great to savour the success of the Notts AAA Summer League this year with overall the Vets men coming 2^nd, vet ladies 3^rd, senior men 10^th and senior ladies 8^th.  Additionally the successes in the winter East Midlands X country series meant the Vet men were 1^st, Vet ladies 2^nd and senior ladies 3^rd. Members have also continued to take part in the North Mid X country series. Congratulations again to all of those who took part.

It is fantastic to see many members keen to improve race times and enter more and more competitions. Success has been experienced by many individuals in a variety of events either winning prizes or achieving PB’s. There are too many to mention here tonight and I would be concerned that I may leave someone out but - 2 names that regularly feature are Paul Butcher and Nigel Watkins.

Fell racing is continuing to grow in popularity with our members and it is good to read about their exploits in the newsletter. There have been a huge variety of events with varying distances including a superb achievement by Marla Howard Cutts who ran the Pennine Way a mere 268 miles. Additionally Marla ran her 10^th Round Rotherham 50 last Saturday with Jane Matthews. A special mention should be made for our team who entered the national Hills and Fells Championship last Saturday and out of 182 teams came a magnificent 43^rd . At this point it would be remiss of me not to mention Ian’s heroic attempt at the Bob Graham Round this year and I hope he gets another opportunity to complete this awesome challenge.

Marathons

The London Marathon was an epic turn out for the club with 11 members taking part. I also enjoyed going to support them and to soak up the atmosphere. At a similar point in the racing calendar was the Brighton Marathon in which John Cummins finished successfully. Later in the year David Smith successfully completed the White Peak Marathon and the Nottingham Marathon had a few surprises this year with Keith Underwood completing with only 5 weeks training and the dark horses Stephen Rice and Anthony Gorman who kept their training a secret until passing the finish for the half marathon. Other marathons that members have participated in, include a few off road ones with The Belvoir Challenge being the most popular but several others creeping into the calendar eg Spires and Steeples Marathon.

Half marathons

The usual calendared half marathons continue to be club favourites but the Nottingham Half is the most popular with 27 members taking part this year. There is now a cohort amongst our members who can achieve under 90mins regularly for a half marathon. Well done to those members and I hope that the club’s sessions have contributed to this success.

Other External events

Inevitably with a club of our size there are many spin offs and these tend to be growing so for example a number did the Notts Bike Ride together, many took part in the Coast to Coast Walk to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis and many supported Paul Grogan’s annual Bathley Blast raising funds for cancer Research.

Internal events

As well as the established annual Grand Prix events, River Relays, Bramley Challenge and the Epperstone X country, this year we also held a 25K run to celebrate the Club’s 25^th birthday. This was well attended and the route was a popular off road course.

To help members perform better with their running Barbara organised a nutrition evening last winter where we had an informative talk given by Jasper Spencer on diets that will enhance running performance. So I hope you are all seeking that perfection by continuing with your Low GI diet even though I think some of you  remain sceptical!!

It was with great regret that the Millennium Race had to be cancelled due to bad weather and related safety issues. As this was the second year this event has been cancelled the Committee decided to put this event on hold for a period of time and in the future possibly reintroduce a rebranded event. Nevertheless £4000 was still donated to Prostate Cancer Research and £ 800 to Southwell Care Project.

Finally the club has a new web site which I am sure you have all visited and agree that it is   an improvement and easier to navigate. Many thanks go to Richard and Lisa for their time and efforts to make this possible.

In summary - Southwell Running Club is a very successful running club with much to praise and I would like to thank the present Committee for their dedication and enthusiasm during the past year. The club would not be the success it is without the work that goes on behind the scenes.

After 3 years as Chairperson and 16 years on the Committee in various roles I feel that it is now the right time to hand over the reins. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the Committee and look forward to supporting the new Committee in any way I can. I would like therefore to wish the new Committee all of the best and at this point will hand over to Ian.

5.      Treasurer’s Update

6.      Election of Office

The following members were elected to serve on the committee for 2011/12

7.      Subscriptions for 2009-2010

The committee proposed the club subscription should remain as last year but it would be reviewed during next year and may be increased in the future.

8.      Motions for discussion

Peter Cowley was willing to continue with the cultural theme and will organise a cinema evening where we can hire a cinema to ourselves for a private viewing. See future newsletters for further information.

          Bramley Report – Peter Cowley asked for a volunteer to take over the writing of the Bramley report but with no offers being forthcoming he agreed to continue with the job.

    Club Kit Co-ordinator – Dave Moore wished to stand down and Penny agreed to take it on. (Post meeting note: Phil Sturgeon has contacted Penny and agreed to take on this role.)

Open Discussion

Thanks were given to Penny and Julie, who are standing down from the committee, for their hard work over the last few years.

Chris Gregg confirmed the dates of the Summer League and SRC will be hosting the first race on Wed 11 April 2012. All other dates along with the County championships will be added to the website.

Chris also notified us that David Lisgo from Nottinghamshire Athletic Network offered his services to promote the organisation & who can offer support to running clubs in training, coaching and possible sponsorship. The committee will pursue the offer and report back to the club.

Lisa put forward that the Club London Marathon places should be presented earlier than the Club Christmas Party to give the winners longer to prepare for the event. This proposal has been accepted by the committee & will be acted upon.

Helen asked if the club could contact Southwell Leisure Centre with a view to opening a corporate membership which would benefit members with a cheaper gym membership.

Caroline suggested we should have an annual Runners Runner Award. This would involve all members voting for a running club member who they feel has either performed well or represented the club well or generally been the most helpful and active within the club.

A request was made that we should start a junior section but after a long discussion it was decided we do not have the necessary facilities or personal for a junior section.

A request was put forward for us to have a blog page on our website but it was decided we should continue with the runner’s forum which is currently being run on Facebook. Contact Paul Orton for details. (Paul has agreed to remain as a SRC member following confirmation from the committee that refreshments will still be provided at club grand prix and social events!)