Jenny Cawood and Sandy Scott are our most consistent half marathoners, Sandy did one in Sydney and Melbourne as well as races in SE Qld. Last year’s title was won off only 6 races so the challenge is on.  You can choose whatever distance you want if the designated event has it.  The only race that doesn’t provide any choices is the Pinnacles Classic which is an 18km trail run (18 hills in 18km’s as they say!).

In order to qualify for points in the club championship you need to be a financial member of the club at the time of the race. Points are accumulated and after the final race of the season in Toowoomba the winner is announced at our Annual Awards.  The winner receives a perpetual trophy for the year as well as a take home trophy to keep.

The Club Championship races for 2012 are:

1.  Twilight Running Festival: Sunday night 18 March (10km, Half marathon)

2.  Pinnacles Classic: Saturday morning 14 April (18km trail)

3.  Noosa Half Marathon: Sunday morning 6 May (10km, Half marathon)

4.  Gold Coast Marathon: Saturday 30 June-Sunday 1 July (10km, Half marathon, marathon)

5.  Jetty @ Jetty: Sunday morning 15 July (10km, Half marathon)

6.  Brisbane Running Festival: Sunday morning 5 August (10km, Half marathon, Marathon)

7.  Bridge 2 Brisbane: Sunday morning 9 September (10km) – to be confirmed

8.  Toowoomba Marathon: Sunday morning October 21 (10km, Half marathon, Marathon) – to be confirmed

The Distance Awards were:

The Club Championship is calculated on points from our 8 nominated races starting in March and finishing at end of October.  As you can see women dominated the top ten.  Expect tough competition throughout 2012 for this award.  You don’t have to be fast to win this award.  Points are accumulated from the top 5 positions in any of the races in our 8 nominated races.

The Coaches Awards went to:

The walkers proved to be the real party people dancing the night away after the awards were done keeping Simon playing away on the guitar.  Well done the dancers!  Thanks to Wendy Clark, Julie Turner and Jo Filmalter for all their hard work setting up the hall during a long Saturday and to all who helped pack it away.  Plans are already underway for next year and you can even book your tickets already if you want!:

We have tried to get in ahead of all the usual end of years events and we hope that as many can come as possible. The food will be provided by a spit roast caterer and we’ve managed to keep the prices as low as possible to encourage as many as possible to come. We encourage you to bring your partners, friends, etc. You can bring your children if you like but there will be no supervision for them available – your call.

We have a number of awards, with the usual 10km, Half and Marathon titles plus Walkers Award and the Inaugural Club Champion Award. The last chance to score points in the Club Champions Award is Toowoomba Marathon weekend (10km, Half, Marathon) plus there’s still time left to set the record for 2011 in any of those distances. There will also be Coaches Awards and some not to serious awards like Media Tart, Gonna Award, Most Lairy Dresser, etc. Suggestions for more spoof awards and nominations welcome!

The night kicks off at 6:30 with finger foods. It’s a BYO drinks and alcohol. the only liquid on offer will be coffee and tea at the end of the night so remember to come prepared. At 7:30 we’ll kick off with the main meal followed by the presentations and then dessert and then time to kick our heels up. We would like to put together a Year In Perspective slide show so please send Stan any pictures you may of Striders at events, socials, etc.

Ticket Prices are $20 per adult $10 per child.  Book early to help us organise catering please.

Members of each club enjoy reciprocal (but restricted) membership rights. That means a Strider enjoys the same rights and payment schedules as RTC members do for all coached (paying) sessions. similarly RTC members enjoy the rights of a Striders member (who do not pay for coached sessions). Reciprocal members do not have voting rights of the club they are NOT members of and don’t qualify for other benefits like club polo shirts, etc. Most RTC members who hang with Striders have become members in anycase, and most Striders who hang with RTC similarly have become members. There are some who do not connect with Striders enough to warrant joining and vice versa. Many thanks to Mary Jackson for her negotiation on the matter.

At the last Management Team meeting we agreed to recognise South Pine Striders as an associated activity of South Pine Striders.  SPR will have their own kit and those that race on weekends will use it for those purposes as well as bunch rides, etc. SPR is a casual group, there are no coached sessions, and all participants agree to come under their own insurance cover. Riders are encouraged to become Social Members of SPS, but this is not mandatory. SPR will use the SPS icon in their logo. Key members of SPR Team are Gabriel Petrie, Fabian Gonzales (SPS member), Paul Sterling.

Why Have Membership?

We have moved beyond a simple ‘runing group’ and seek to grow as a club and offer more to our members. Like all other clubs, we need to move towards a membership system that allows us to have a budget that funds club expenses and aids the growth and development of the club. The expectation that we can grow or offer any services or support at all for free is unrealistic. Expenses are incurred in the normal running of our club already but our capacity to grow and improve has been stunted by lack of funds.

How Did You Come Up With The New System?

We studied the membership policies of other clubs, including Redcliffe Tri Club. They have an annual membership fee plus charges for all coached sessions. We decided to go for a flat annual fee that is all inclusive for those accessing coached sessions.

What It Our New System?

We have three kinds of membership for weekly users (plus an honorary life membership award):

1. Ordinary Members

Ordinary members must be over 18 years old, pay an annual fee of $50 and attend all coached sessions free of charge and can access personal advice from coaches.

2. Social Membership

Social Membership is especially for our walkers who don’t access coaching and supervision or runners who are happy to run socially as opposed to training for events and accessing coaching. Social Members must be over 18 years old, do not access coached sessions and pay an annual fee of $25.

3. Junior Members

Junior members must be under 18 years of age, pay an annual fee of $15 and attend all coached sessions for free.

What Do Non-Members Pay?

From August when our new system is fully operational newcomers or (existing runners who prefer not to become members) will have a 3 week period of grace to work out if they would like to join the club. If not they are welcome to attend but pay $5 per coached session.

Do We Have Reciprocal Membership?

For those who belong to other clubs, we are keen to establish reciprocal members rights. We are exploring this with Redcliffe Tri Club. This would mean that reciprocal members pay a discounted fee per coached session in recognition of reciprocal membership. This has bnot been formally agreed to yet between Striders and Redcliffe, watch this space.

What Will The Money Be Used For?

The expenditure of money will be used for the following kinds of expenses: Insurance, Web, Coach registration, equipment, publicity and marketing, training courses, uniforms, awards, race organisation, etc. The finances of the club can be viewed by members through a request to our Treasurer, and we would expect to have an annual budget by the start of the next financial year.

Does The Club Have Sponsorship?

We are currently marketing annual sponsorship at $500 per package for the next financial year.  Click on the links in the sidebar to sign up.

Our first leadership team is as follows:

Officers:

President – Stan Fetting

Secretary – Michael Stark

Treasurer – Karen Brown

Management Team:

Mary Jackson

Sandy Scott

Duncan Price

Jerrod Smith

Michelle Goswell

We also filled a number of club responsibilities:

Social butterflies: Julie, Wendy

Uniforms: Emma

Sponsorship/Grants: Jerrod, Ernie

Media/Marketing: Stan, Wendy

Walker representative: Michelle, Carol

Photographer: Tony, Tim

Race Co-ordinator: Duncan

Stats: Time

Nutrition: Pam, Gavin, Mary

Welcome Party for new members/buddy: Sandy, Michelle, Gavin

Website: Stan, Corne

 So, now what?

Karen is currently opening up a bank account for our club. From July 1 our new membership system starts, more information to follow. Stan is designing a club flyer that can be given to all new enquiring members and for you to hand out to family and friends. The sponsorship team will also seek a new round of sponsors to begin in July. At our first management team meeting we will also formalise our coaching team which currently consists of Mary, Stan and Michael. Our Social Butterflies will begin planning our Christmas Party in earnest as well as other social events.

Thanks

Last night was a historic night for the club. I would like to thank Mary and also Gabriel who have been group leaders from the beginning and helped our club grow over the last 5 years. Thanks also to those who have been around since the early days both in the morning and evening groups and to all our ‘new regulars’. Special thanks to those who have put their hands up (or had other hold them up!) to join our management team and also those who have put their hands up for club roles.

This club was birthed out of South Pine Community Church as an initiative to create something of value for the community, and it was envisaged from the start that at some point the club would be set free to exist in its own right as an independent entity. We still have close links to the church by way of the use of property which we greatly value. Hopefully our club will grow form strength to strength and in many years time when we’ve perhaps moved on others will be thankful that we had the motivation and passion to begin what we have.

Ordinary Members – 18 years and over, full access to coached sessions, voting rights and eligible for appointment to management committee. $50 per year.

Junior Members – under 18 years, full access to coached sessions, no voting rights or appointment to management committee. $25 per year.

Social Members (with walkers in mind in particular), 18 years and over, no access to coached sessions, voting rights and eligible for appointment to management committee. $25 per year.

Life Members – members who are recognised for exceptional service to the club over many years.  These recognitions are rare but important.

Non members have a 3 week grace period to try out the club, free of charge.  After 3 weeks they will be invited to join or pay a non-members fee of $5 per session.

Once our club is established and financial, membership charges will be reviewed and will hopefully include a club shirt.

From left: Stan Fetting - Interim President, Karen Brown - Interim Treasurer, Michael Stark - Interim Secretary

Where to from here?

From here an application will be made to the Qld government for incorporation as an association.  After that we will call our first official meeting of the new association and appoint officers and a management team.  A bank account will be opened and online registration and payment for club membership will commence.

Clubbies will be encouraged to join and also to nominate for appointment to the management committee.  We need a range of people with skills to help us grow as a club, everything from good social organisers, to race organisers to admin skills.  Watch this space.

In the meantime, download minutes of meetings and key documents below:

Striders Public Meeting Minutes & Addendums

Matthew Stark - picture from Northern Times

Great story in the Northern Times about Striders youngest member.  Matthew Stark comes along to the 5am interval sessions on Tuesday along with his dad Michael, and keeps on going like a Duracel bunny.  Running isn’t his only strength, he’s a pretty mean swimmer as well. Read the story in the Northern Times here.

Meeeting details:

Wednesday 16 March, 7:30pm, South Pine Community Church, Cnr Eatons Crossing & South Pine Rd’s, Eatons Hill.

To stay in touch with developments and receive documents please register below: