State of the Club 1/5/15

MRC has had what can only be described as a banner year in terms of membership, financial strength, social activities, and member racing.

Under the membership leadership of Jim Busse, MRC grew from 198 at 12/31/13  to 230 at 12/31/14, a full 16%.  Thank you Jim Busse!

Financially, we ended the year fiscally sound.  Our combined checking & savings balance at 12/31/13 was $4,066.83.  By 12/31/14 it was up 35% to $5494.08.  Thank you Derek Northrup for keeping track of our financial data.

Socially, Jodi Young and Paula Ko, our Social VPs at the time, organized a breakfast at Delaney’s; a club picnic at Erwin Park; a post Rock N Roll 1/2 marathon celebration in March at Kelly’s Fairview.  Later in the year, Jodi Young and Gina Alvarez, Social VPs at that time, organized a Chicago marathon kickoff breakfast at Delany’s; a post Michelob 13.1 celebration at Kelly’s Fairview; Saddie Briggs hosted our first annual holiday party at her house; a pre Dallas PCS marathon carbo load evening at Jodi’s house; and Jim Busse organized our first ever “pub crawl.”  We certainly enjoy our celebrations!  Thank you Jodi Young, Paula Ko, Gina Alvarez , and now Lisa Dean for seeing to it that our social life lives up to our racing life!

Speaking of racing, we had more members than could be accurately counted running marathons and 1/2s, many for the first time.  By my count 14 ran Chicago; 23 ran the Michelob half marathon; 26 ran the Dallas PCS marathon, 13 of them were first timers, and another 14 ran the 1/2; and about 10 closed out 2014 and welcomed 2015 with marathons, 1/2s, and 5Ks on back to back days.  This is a very active club when it comes to racing.

Others to thank for their efforts over the year would be Bob Davis, Vice President, who backs me up and reminds me of what needs to be done; Mike Arnold and Mark Peterson, our IT guys who see to it that our web site, FB page, and other webby things that keep us growing and going work as they are supposed to; Coach Bobby Howe who has trained so many of you “howe” to prepare for 1/2 and full marathons.  All I hear are rave reviews of his methods.

There are so many superlatives thrown around about how great the McKinney Running Club is, and a review of the year confirms that those superlatives are warranted.  It is my honor and pleasure to know and serve y’all.

Chip Marz