President’s Report – March 2015
5 March 2015
Hello members.
Here we are into Autumn and a new season calendar is available at all runs, or, simply download one from the website.
Of course the big news is the success of the 2015 Orange Colour City Running Festival, brilliant event and everyone I speak to have nothing but praise at the way the whole thing was conducted. I have an early morning coffee at Scrumptious every Thursday after a run and Sue was saying that the feedback she got from her customers was nothing but first-class. She considers she deserves a medal as well because she is sure she ran her own marathon going between tables and the kitchen for hours on end as the shop was so busy from runners coming in from all different places. Congratulations to the Committee, Erin and David Gibson, Fiona Mackin, Bec Lincoln, John Betts, Iain McLean, Renai McArdle and Tim Edmondson – you took on the challenge and won! The committee are currently finalising their income and expenditure and will be in a position to let us know the final results shortly. At the pasta dinner on the Saturday night cheques were presented to the 2nd Scouts and the Rural Fire Service. Thank you must also go to all the volunteers from ORC – your help was much appreciated and it was great to see so many people willing to help out… many hands do make light work. Thank you so much! On a personal note, one of the highlights of my weekend was seeing the faces on Alison Spurway and Sue Betts on completing their first half marathons. They were so excited and happy, it was infectious! Well done girls, you trained hard and deserved the lovely medal.
The AGM will be held at Anson Street School at 6.00 p.m. (prompt) on Friday 10 April 2015. Pizza will be ordered in, however as with previous years if you can bring a plate to share would be appreciated. All positions will be declared vacant and if you would like to take an active role in ORC in some way we are happy to hear from you. There are quite a few positions which need to be filled so please consider if you are in a position to help out. The OCCRF will also be presenting their financial statement and summary of the festival. Remember, the AGM is your chance to voice your opinion on anything… please come along and support your club.
1st April 2015 is the start of our new financial year, so subscriptions are due. The fees are the same as last year and as with previous years it will be necessary for you to complete a registration form. Please place your completed registration form in an envelope with your money and hand to the treasurer as soon as possible. We would like all fees to be paid by the first week in May and we do not wish to travel down the same road as last year seeking payment from people…. It is quite simply… if you are not a financial member of ORC you cannot run with ORC. A lot of people have joined the club the last few weeks, these people have paid a greatly reduced membership fee but come the 1st April they will need to fill out another form and pay the yearly membership fee. If anyone has any questions regarding membership or trouble paying, please see Billy or myself as soon as possible.
Thank you to Dan Benton for two great training sessions at Riaweena Oval in February. The sessions were very well attended by ORC members and we were certainly put through our paces, good fun though and a few sore muscles the next day. If you are interested in doing any more training with Dan please contact him via The Barnyard.
The timing mats have been giving the committee – and more importantly Michael – some headaches of late. We have two mats which are beyond repair and they are damaged from wear and tear, as you can imagine they are subject to a heavy pounding, especially when on a Wednesday we have 120 people turn up crossing the mats 4 times. It is disappointing that this has happened especially when we take into account the amount of money which has been invested into the “mats scheme”. The committee needs to put a lot of thought into how we are going to manage the mats situation, however I assure you we will not rush into anything until we have investigated all our options. We currently pay into a “sinking fund” and because of the amount of money we have invested into the fund over the last couple of years we are able to get 2 mats from Steve Martin. We are hoping, but cannot guarantee, that the mats will last for approximately 12 months during which the committee of ORC will have to decide the best options for ORC.
That should do it for now, remember to mark the AGM in your calendar. If you have any questions regarding anything whatsoever, please feel free to contact me or any member of the committee.
Regards
Jane Fairgrieve
President.