Voting Members Present: Jerry McDaniel, Allen Blay, Jeanne O’Kon, Peg Griffin, Hawthorne Hay, Debbie Peters, Mary Jean Yon, David Yon, Tom Perkins, Mark Priddy, Matt Vermeer, Jennifer Hay, Tina Bahmer, Emily Webster. Herb Wills. Non-Voting Members Present: Bill Lott, Lisa Unger, Jack McDermott.

I.  Opening and Introduction:

Jerry McDaniel opened the meeting at 7:01 p.m. A motion was made to approve the minutes of the January 8, 2025 meeting. Motion was seconded and passed.

II.  Announcements from Officers:

The next Alford Greenway meeting will be on March 6th. Hawthorne has been accepted as a committee member but hasn’t received the e-mails yet.  Jerry asked if there are any suggestions for the club’s IT position. He plans to ask Matt Hohmeister if he is interested.

III. Old Business/Race Closeouts:

a.  Tallahassee Ultradistance Classic 2024: Jack McDermott reported that the race made a profit this time, which is to be split between Friends of Wakulla Springs and GWTC. The race is on the 2025 Grand Prix schedule. Motion was made and seconded to approve the budget closeout. Motion passed.

b.  Five and Ten Mile Challenge: The additional invoice was received and the budget closeout is now final. The race revenue was $2,631.75. The total expenses were $2627.16. The net profit was $4.59. Motion was made and seconded to approve the budget closeout. Motion passed.

c.  Swamp Forest Trail Races Budget Closeout: Peg reported for Bobby York. The races received revenue of $5,124.79 and incurred expenses of $2,879.15, for net revenue of $2,245.64. Donations totaling $57.00 were collected for the Friends of our Parks Foundation. Bobby proposed that the net proceeds remain with GWTC. Motion was made and seconded to approve the budget closeout. Motion passed.

d.  GWTC 30K/15 2025 Budget Closeout: Peg reported for Zach DeVeau. The races received revenue of $3,952.82 and incurred expenses of $2,683.24 for net revenue of $1,269.58. Donations totaling $101.20 were collected for the Chenoweth Endowment Fund. Zach proposed that the net proceeds remain with GWTC. Motion was made and seconded to approve the budget closeout. Motion passed.

e.  Revised Palace Saloon 5K 2025 Budget Proposal: Bill Lott reported that the budget has been amended to add in the finisher medals for the 50th anniversary. The entry fee has been increased to offset the cost. Motion was made and seconded to approve the amended budget. Motion passed.

f.  Annual Awards Final Budget Report: Lisa Unger reported that the Annual Awards closeout shows that almost $5900.00 was spent. That was a little over the anticipated budget. Lisa asked for an increase in the awards budget to $6,000 for next year. The Board approved this increase in the Annual Awards budget for the Grand Prix Committee.

IV. New Business:

a. Women’s Distance Festival 5K: Lisa Unger reported that the 2025 proposed budget is just for the 5K (no one mile run in 2025). The 5K is a Youth race on the 2025 Grand Prix schedule. The budget is based on 125 participants. She will explore other options during the year other than t-shirts for participants. Motion was made and seconded to approve the budget proposal. Motion passed.

V. Reports:

a. Treasurer’s Report: Peg reported that GWTC assets as of January 31, 2025 total $311,359.28, broken down as follows: Operations account – $206,912.09; Triathlon account – $13,518.52; Investment/Reserve Account – $80,780; and Chenoweth Endowment Fund – $10,148.67. Included in the operations account are remaining ACT Grant funds in the amount of $14,415.86, which are earmarked for community outreach programs. Net revenue for the fiscal year as of January 31 is $54,271.38.

b. Triathlete Club: Matt Vermeer reported that the Duathlon will be on Feb. 23 and volunteers are needed. The Tri Club will hold some open water swims in March.

c. Director of Race Directors: No report.

d. Director of Communications: Jennifer Hay reported that the Club Strava now exists and there is a Club Instagram page. The group run coordinators will continue to use Strava. Jennifer is creating a new flyer to use at packet pickup. Jeanne reported the membership numbers for Robert McNeal. There are currently 1301 individual members (1278 last year at this time). There are 757 family memberships (733 last year at this time).

e. Director of Education and Socials: Tina reported that Judy will organize one Springtime packet pickup and expo at Amicus. The second packet pickup will be held at REI. These will encourage people to “learn about Tallahassee’s premier running club” and there will be a QR code for registration. The Christmas party will be on Dec. 6th (same day as the Jingle Bell Run and the 10-mile Challenge). Jerry suggested that the club host a spring and summer social with one of them being a Town Hall.

f. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Gabrielle Gabrielli submitted a brief report stating that the IRC program with children will continue in the fall. The members of the committee will discuss whether or not they should change the name of the committee at their next meeting.
g Chenoweth Fund: No Report.

h. Merchandise: Judy sent a report asking if she can get some merchandise from Sherri Wise for the Springtime packet pickup. Quite a bit of club merchandise was sold at the Tallahassee Marathon. The online clothing store is open for another week.

i. Equipment: Bill Lott reported that three small traffic cones and a 5-gallon water cooler (has top only) are missing from the Marathon. A volunteer might have picked up the small traffic cones when they left their position and Bill is in the process of following up with that volunteer. On the positive side, a medium (28-inch) traffic cone with no markings was picked up with the other equipment on the course and is now part of the inventory in the storage unit.

The Marathon race directors purchased nine 10-gallon water coolers to supplement the water coolers already owned by the Club and all GWTC tables were used for the Marathon. Discussions will be held with the Marathon directors and other GWTC race directors to determine if additional water coolers and/or tables are needed in the future.

The third AED approved by the Board has been received and was available at the Marathon. A spare pad ($85.00), a pediatric pad ($123.00), and a CPR First Responder Kit ($30.00) should be purchased to make the AED compatible with the other two AEDs acquired from Leon County EMS. Also, the installation of the new gate system at the storage facility has been completed and the new gate codes have been distributed to those members with access ability.

j. Chip Timing: In January, two Club races (Swamp Forest Trail Run; and GWTC 30K/15) were chip timed. For February, one non-Club race (M.A.D. Dash 10K/5K/1M) and three Club races (Bank of America Tallahassee Marathon/Half Marathon/Marathon Relay; Flash 12K/6K; and St. Marks Duathlon) will be chip timed. Scheduled to be chip timed in March are one non-Club race (Shamrock Scurry 5K/1M) and two Club races (Bowlegs 5K Run for Scholarship; and Springtime 10K/5K/1M). The revenue from chip timing non-Club races held since July 2024 totals $3,713.00 and remains unchanged from last month.

k. Grand Prix: Lisa reported that the Annual Awards meeting was well-organized and Tina did a good job with the buffet-style food from Moe’s. Positive feedback was received from club members. The returning Awards/GP committee members are Lisa Unger, Jeanne O’Kon, Chris O’Kelley, Debbie Peters, and Joe Vega. Allen Blay is joining the committee, and Cait Ubilla is a committee nominee. Club members have inquired about variations in the way that points are calculated, but the points are handled through RunSignUp. Lisa also discussed the required volunteer hours for Grand Prix award winners. This is the first year and recording volunteer hours should improve this year. She suggested that race directors be more proactive in announcing this to Grand Prix participants. She asked for Board approval to purchase a few yard signs with a QR code to the Google Doc for volunteers to record their volunteer hours, and this was approved. Lisa reminded others that there is a Volunteer Database on RunSignUp where club members can sign up for volunteering. The committee will convene soon to select a chair and to work on updating the criteria for each of the Annual Awards.

l. School Grants Coordinator: No report.

m. Training Groups Coordinator: Emily reported that the Half-Marathon training group had up to 35 participants and was very successful. The Springtime training group started this week with about 28 people. There are group runs almost every day of the week. The Strava group has grown and has 155 members. The Facebook and Strava group members were challenged to join the “Share the Miles” challenge with Fleet Feet and Black Girls Run. There will most likely be a social event with those groups in March.

Meeting adjourned at 8:15 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeanne O’Kon
GWTC Secretary