Board Members Present:
Karla Averill
Diane Bailey
Charlie Benson
David Bluestein
steven finkelstein
Sandra Fontaine
Raj Gangadean
Hal Gensler
Mark Hellenthal
Norm Janoff
Megan Powers
Bill Rowell

Board Members Absent:
Phil Davis
Christopher O’Loughlin
Erin Woodell

Guests:
Kristi Bluestein

The meeting was called to order at 6:02 pm at the Glendale Library.

Minutes from the August 2009 meeting were approved as submitted.
Three of the new members were present, we welcomed all of them (and Erin in absentia),  and
conducted an organizational overview.

As the VP of Pace Team/Media Liaison position was erroneously omitted from the ballot and the VP of
Marketing position was received too late to be posted on the ballot, the board voted to add Karla
Averill and Mark Hellenthal to the board in those respective positions.

Old Business
Volunteer Report:  David reported that he getting back up and on-line following some PC challenges
and is also openly soliciting alternative sources to help maintain a viable volunteer resource pool.
We discussed the possible use of a phone tree to help contact potential volunteers from our
membership lists.  David will also write an article for the next issue of The Road Racer that
describes the volunteer ARR bucks policy.  We’ll also look into using high school CC and Track
teams -- everyone was asked to provide David with just one contact source, and he’ll do the
follow-up.

Registration Report:	  Sandra reported that closing registration at t-minus 5 minutes prior to
the race start has had no apparent negative impact on the runners.  We’ll continue to use that
process until further notice.

Special Activities Report:  Diane reported we were able to re-cycle 2005-2006 medals and plaques
which helped keep prices down for both the Summer Series and I-Did-A-Green-Run awards.

Finance Report:  Hal provided a comprehensive written report for 2009, up through 9/22, that
showed our total year-to-date income as $83,472.66 with expenses of $93,548.68 over the same period.
The 2009 year-to-date financials result in a net deficit of $10,076.02.

Membership Report:  Norm provided a written summary of the current membership.  The total number of
members has decreased by 21 from August to September. The gain for the same time period in 2008 was
34.  September 2009 members versus September 2008 members decreased by 197.  The August to
September gain in 2008 was a direct result of our I-Did-A-Run free membership process.  The 2009
loss over that same period can also be somewhat attributed to our change of that race’s membership
process.  We may see some of those apparent lost member numbers increase next month, should they
update their annual memberships - which will expire at the end of this month. The average retention
rate for memberships coming due is approximately 30%.  Sandra theorized that perhaps that renewal
number is as low as it is due the growth of other, smaller, more localized running groups throughout
the Valley. We addressed an eMail communication from one of our members who felt that the club
appears to place more emphasis on faster runners rather than middle-of-the-pack, or slower runners.
That discussion focused on several things that we could do to also include runners of all abilities
and skill.  Megan, in her new board position, will bring some more concrete ideas to the next
meeting.

Race Day Clothing Report:  Erin was not present, so Megan asked the board to clarify what we
required for the South Mountain Classic and Thanksgiving.  It was decided that we will use the
designs as submitted by the race directors for these races.  Regarding the Mad Dog, we discussed
the designs, material (cotton/tech) and different designs for runners and volunteers, as submitted
by the Cuda’s, and decided to go with tech shirts with one design for everyone. Megan has also
identified a tech shirt supplier that can save us about $1 per shirt if we order by the end of the
month, so we will also order enough tech shirts to cover the Mad Dog, ½ Marathon and Marathon.

Club Clothing Report:  Charlie reported that he and Megan need to conduct a more comprehensive
turn-over and he’ll be better prepared to report next month.

Pace Team Report:  Karla reported that we’re on track with our Tucson Marathon pacers.  Rock-n-Roll
AZ has not yet confirmed our participation and Karla will follow-up with them.  We’re also
scheduled to provide pacers for the AZ Marathon.

Ultra Running Report:  Christopher was not present so there was no report.

Recent Races/Events:
o Jerome Hill Climb (September 6) -- The course measured only 4.5 miles as we could not start within
the park, but rather just outside the gate.  There were approximately 180 finishers this year.  We
discussed the need to also have food and drinks at the parking lot shortly after the race finishes.

o I-Did-A-Green-Run (September 13) -- We’ll need to more clearly mark the 5K and 10K transition
points.  We also discussed moving the start time to 06:45 am so as to get most of the 10K runners
finished before it gets too hot.  We should also continue to look at additional ways to make it
more green.  The shoe recycling was very well supported.  We’ll sort the shoes that we received and
distribute them to the appropriate sources (Sole Sports, Nike, etc).  We decided to continue with
the green theme for next year’s event as well.

New Business
Upcoming Races:
o Moon Valley Grasshopper Bridge 5K (26 Sep) -- Volunteers and set-up crews need to arrive at 04:00
am.  Race registration numbers are up from last year.

o Run For Congo Women (27 Sep) -- This event will start at 08:00 am and be held on the North part of
Kiwanis Park.  We’ll time and layout the 5K course. There is also another 5K, which is starting at
07:00 am on the South part of Kiwanis.

o Cactus ChaCha (10 Oct) -- We’ll time this event.

o Mazatzals Trail Run (11 Oct) -- This is our annual ARR event.

o South Mountain Classic (18 Oct) -- This is our annual event.  The Parks and Recreation Department
now require 5 Park Rangers.  Due to changes in the City of Phoenix P&R rules, we may not be able to
use this venue next year.

o AZ High School Cross Country Championships (07 Nov) -- We have been asked to reduce our price and
resubmit our quote.  We are investigating whether-or-not the use of the new, less expensive,
disposable ChampionChip is compatible with our equipment and resubmit our quote.

o Phoenix 10K (08 Nov) -- We have been asked to provide split timers for this event.

o Just Another Mad Dog (14 Nov) -- This event will be held at Reach 11 with the 50K starting at
05:00 am and the 25K starting at 07:00 am.  Frank Cuda is the Race Director and the course is a
certified 5K loop.

o Thanksgiving Day Classic (26 Nov) -- The main beneficiary this year will be the Peoria Pantry and
the major sponsor remains the Peoria Diamond Club.  Brochures are now available and registration is
open.  The course this year will be slightly different so as avoid any issues with potential
flooding (as was encountered last year) and head-on runner traffic.  Frank Cuda is in the process
of certifying both the 10 mile and 5K distances.

o Alana’s Champs for Research (13 Dec) -- This 2nd annual event will host a 5K and 1 mile race and
will be staged at Kiwanis Park.   The 5K course will be certified.  Registration is now open.

o 24-Hour Run to the Future (31 Dec) -- Phil Davis and Frank Cuda are the Race Directors. The
approximately ½ mile loop course is in the process of being certified.  It will be held at Victory
Lane and will begin at 9:00 am.  Registration is now open on the ARR web-site.

Club Art-work:  The board voted to adopt a policy that will become effective 01 Dec 09, requiring
that all club related art-work (brochures, shirts, etc) must receive board approval (simple majority
of those who respond) before being submitted for printing.  Board members should have access to the
proposed design(s) not less than 45-days prior to the event.

We also voted to implement a policy that the race-day designs will be the primary responsibility of
the Race Day Clothing VP, who has the discretion to coordinate with, and/or defer that authority to,
the Race Director.

News Letter: Norm received input from a member that the board should consider changing the default
delivery process for The Road Racer from hard-copy to electronic distribution.  Members who would
prefer to receive the hard-copy would need to advise the club of their preference. The board agreed
that this was good idea and elected to implement this policy.  We will eMail this new policy to all
members for which we have eMail addresses and will also prepare a related article for the next two
editions.  This eMail default policy will be implemented beginning with our April/May 2010 issue.

Thanksgiving Expo: The Diamond Club suggested that we support an "expo" at the Peoria Sports Complex
on the day before Thanksgiving, to include vendors, packet pick-up, etc.  We agreed that perhaps we
don’t have enough time left before the race to coordinate a successful expo (either the day before
or the day of) for this year.  But will consider it sooner for possible implementation next year.

Race Committee: While several Race Committee topics have already been discussed as part of other
topics, Hal reported that he will revise the Race Director Checklist to incorporate several of the
items that we’ve discussed.

Social Director: We discussed several ideas for Megan’s new position.  steve reminded us that the
club used to host bi-monthly general membership meetings that were primarily social in nature and
included family members.  We asked Megan to consider these ideas and prepare a proposed agenda and
budget to be shared with the board at next month’s meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:43 pm