President Jim Coll's Updates

11/06/06   The purpose of my writing today is two-fold. First, I would like to ask for your input concerning upcoming officer elections. Second, I want to reassure you that as a club we are headed in the right direction, clipping off goal after goal that we set for ourselves early this year (if not 6 minute miles).

In regard to the first item, in the coming weeks club members will be asked to vote on officers for the 2007 calendar year. I hope that you will all join with me in offering our unconditional support of Vice President Dawn Smith as the club’s new president. In addition, the club’s current officers will also offer a recommended slate for election. Of course, any club member nominated by another member will be placed on the ballot. Your involvement in the process is appreciated. Please not only place your vote carefully, but also if you have nominations or recommendations, be sure to e-mail me at jcoll@southernmissalumni.com or come by the club’s meeting following Track on Tap on Nov. 15.

While the election process will help shape the club’s future, let me also convey to you a little about where the club stands today. If you will recall late in 2005 we collectively set forth an ambitious list of achievements we determined we would accomplish over the next two years as a club. Primarily, that list includes membership benchmarks, contributions to the community and event attendance. The goals can be found on our Web site at the following link -- http://www.pinebeltpacers.org/PBPClub/PBPGoals.html  . I am happy to report to you today that we have exceeded our expectations in almost every area.

Membership / Member Benefits -- We had set membership goals of 150 members by the end of 2006 and 175 by the end of 2007. I suppose we’ll have to propose to President Smith a new goal for 2007 and 2008 in that area since we’ve already exceeded those numbers! Our goal was to encourage five businesses to take part in our membership card program; today we have six. (If you haven’t picked up your membership card, there are still plenty at Soccer Locker & City Runners. If you are unable to make it to the store, please e-mail me at jcoll@southernmissalumni.com  and I’ll make sure one gets in the mail to you.) Please note that the success of this program not only depends on the generosity of these businesses, but the patronage of our partners. The final goal we set in this area is to retain 80 percent of current members from year to year. I have no doubt that we will reach this goal as well.

Organization – We had set out to have bylaws and goals approved; have a club logo developed and brand established (thanks to club member Joni Dunbar for loaning us her services / club members voted "Run for Your Life!"); have club bumper stickers printed (these have been distributed along with our membership cards); and have new club t-shirts designed and produced (the club has recently received bids on the production of these shirts from Always in Stitches and Soccer Locker & City Runners for this purpose).

Participation / Fund-raising -- An initial participation goal of 100 runners at the Labor Day 5K was 100 entries, which we exceeded. We exceeded our goal of raising $1,500, and we expect our contribution to the Muscular Dystrophy Association will be nearly twice that. We failed to reach a participation goal of 60 runners for the Pine Belt Pacer Relays, but be reminded that we added an auction and dinner the night before the relays, which helped us to nearly triple the $550 contribution we proposed for the Southern Miss Track & Field Program. For those of you who plan to attend one of the remaining Southern Miss home football games this season I encourage you to take a look in the game program as the new Pine Belt Pacer scholarship is listed. We have also well exceeded the goal we set of 60 runners / walkers earn points in our Gran Prix series. Perhaps the one disappointment of the year thus far was our summer 2-mile series on the Longleaf Trace. We set a goal to average 40 runners / walkers for the four events. Unfortunately, we fell well short.

Volunteers – Encourage at least 25 percent of the club membership to help with the organization of at least one Gran Prix event. While I be lying if I told you I knew for sure that we had reached this goal, I am certain that the volunteer spirit of our club members has never been greater. Still, some members have suggested to me that we institute a policy similar to the Mississippi Track Club, which requires its members to volunteer at least one Gran Prix race in order to be eligible for a Gran Prix award. If you have any comments for or against such a policy, please let me know.

I hope you share my pride in a job well done by our club. See you at Hobble then Gobble and the Steam Whistle Run on Dec. 30.

Run! For your Life.

Jim

04/24/06 Who would have thought a few years back our little club would be at 129 members and counting? No doubt, the club is thriving and we have so many people contributing to its success.

This is no time for rest, however. Please pay special attention to a number of Gran Prix events approaching in May and June. On May 6, William Carey will host its 5K. A week later, the Arthritis Run / Walk 5K will be held at Kamper Park in Hattiesburg and on May 20 the Pine Belt Pacer Relays will take place at the USM Track and Soccer Complex.

The club has been in close contact with organizers of the William Carey run and Arthritis Run / Walk and I have full confidence that both will be successful events.

I am also proud to announce that this year the Pine Belt Pacer Relays will feature not only the track and field events on Saturday, but a silent auction and dinner on Friday evening. Time and place is yet to be determined, but many of the auction items will be available for bid online in the coming weeks. Some of the items include autographed items by world and national class runners as well as Southern Miss athletic standouts. Be looking online for those items. We’ll take bids in the weeks leading up to the dinner and throughout the dinner and announce the winners at the end of the evening.

While the relays will feature many of the same events as a year ago – 1,500 meter run, 800 meter racewalk, 4 x 400 meter relay, etc. – we plan to add a special event for children. The Bops Kids Quarter Mile will be free to children under the age of 10. Children must be pre-registered and will receive ice cream and a trophy upon completion of the quarter mile.

Later in May, Becky will begin hosting a 15-week 5K training program for beginners and advanced runners alike. Participation at Tuesday night sessions at Thames track has been great and the program is a wonderful way to build on that success.

In June, we will again hold a 2-mile predicted time series on the Longleaf Trace beginning and ending at the Gateway Pavilion near Highway 49 on 4th Street. Walkers are encouraged to attend – any walker making three or more of the four weekday events will receive a free gift.

About Boston: several of you have asked and yes, the Boston Marathon is everything you’ve heard and more. As you can tell from the splits of the Pacers who ran, it is a tough course. As far as my race went, as you can guess I did have some difficulty in the second half – between cramping and the hills it was all I could do to get to the finish line. The highlight of the trip for me – aside from crossing the finish line – was a 10-minute conversation with Bill Rodgers, four-time winner of the event. During the conversation he provided me with virtually a mile-by-mile description of what I would face during the race. His advice was absolutely on target, but despite my best (although very feeble) efforts I was unable to let it rip at 15 miles as he suggested. Regardless, congratulations to those Pacers who participated and thanks to all of you who followed us on the web that afternoon and called to offer kind words.

Congratulations are also in order for Pacer Khalid Khannouchi, who finished fourth in the London Marathon on Sunday. As many of you know it has been a long road back for Khalid from injury, and he was at or near the lead for most of the race, which boasted one of the best marathon fields in history. I’m hope that Khalid is as encouraged by his effort as so many of the Pacers are. Perhaps it will not be long before Khalid is once again on top the victory podium at a major marathon.

Finally, special thanks to all of you who continue to turn in race reports on a regular basis. They certainly make our club’s Web site unique and fun to read. As always if you have comments, questions or ideas, please let me know. You can reach me at jcoll@southernmissalumni.com  or 601.307.4026.

07/01/05 See also the minutes from the 6/30 meeting.

Yousri and Mostafa are organizing Sunday morning group runs, set to begin in a couple of weeks. The runs will begin at 6 a.m., and the goal is to get two groups together -- one which will run approximately 10 miles, and the second longer distances for people training for marathons or masochists (or both).

 
If you are interested in joining the groups, they are compiling a list with contact information at Soccer Locker & City Runners, or you can call (601) 268-2635. The first run will take place on the Longleaf Trace, with future runs to vary in location.
 
Remember, the Beckett, Phillips, Harsh, Running Bear, etc., group is still faithfully departing from the Payne Center parking lot on Sunday mornings as well if you are interested in about an 8-mile run (or more?). The group usually departs at 6:30 a.m.

06/30/05  We will have a HubFest 5K planning meeting immediately following the Trek the Trace event on Thursday evening 6/30. Much to the collective chagrin of club members I am sure, I would like to add a few items to the agenda that I feel like we should address to keep the club moving in a positive direction. In the interest of those of you only interested in meeting about HubFest, I’ll wait until after the HubFest portion of the meeting to address other items. If you have any comments about any of these items, but can not attend the meeting, please send them my way -- james.coll@usm.edu  – and I will pass your comments along to the rest of the club.

Below are the items I want to address time permitting:

1. HubFest 5K – Of primary importance is the selection of a time and date, as well as job allocations. I believe last year we had everyone fill the roles they did in 2003. I’m assuming that unless Keith tells us differently, we all agree he should continue as race director. I’m also hoping that we have additional volunteers whom we can use to lighten the load for others who carry a heavy burden each year. I suggest we set a goal of 170 runners and walkers in the 5K this year, and let’s be creative on how we can get there.

2. 5K series – We need to set dates, times and location(s) for our yearly 5K series leading up to HubFest, assuming that is that we want to continue holding those events.

3. E-mail responses – I would like to address how we handle e-mails that are sent to info@pinebeltpacers.org . My concern is that some are not responded to.

4. Strategic Plan – As I have mentioned to several of you in recent months, I would like for the club to establish some long term goals, i.e. – Do we want to grow the club to a certain number of members? Is the current slate of events/races sufficient, just right, too much? I also want to review our slate of offices – not the people, but the positions. For instance, we have positions that are not being utilized simply b/c little or none of the work falls in the job description. I believe that we need to either 1. re-distribute the workload under the current slate of offices or 2. change our offices to reflect our current slate of activities and needs. I’ll elaborate further at the meeting.

5. End of the year meeting – Traditionally we have held club elections and Christmas party as one event at the end of each year, but with the Steam Whistle 12K becoming one of the most important events on the Pacer calendar, I recommend that we hold club elections and an end of the year "banquet" the same day as the Steam Whistle run anticipating will get more participation and input by doing so. We can honor the winners of our Gran Prix series divisions on that day as well. Additionally, each year in the months preceding the Steam Whistle 12K I would like for the club to consider each year nominations for Lifetime Member Awards. To refresh everyone’s memory, a few months back we named Khalid Khannouchi the first "Lifetime Pacer." Basically it is a way to honor people who have given a great deal to the club. In addition, we said that "Lifetime Pacers" would no longer be required to pay the $15 yearly fee to maintain their memberships. (Although this certainly does not mean we forbid them from paying dues should they desire to continue paying.) Lifetime Pacer awards (if any are given) would be distributed at the end of the year "banquet" as well.

6. Logo – We have talked for some time about developing a new logo for the club – it is time to make some progress on this topic.

7. Membership cards – Yousri and I have talked about the possibility of approaching running/walking-related businesses in the area about a discount card for our members. In other words, we would develop a card that on one side would contain a person’s membership information and on the other the list of businesses offering discounts. In exchange for participating, we’ll offer the business an opportunity to place a button on our highly-successful Web site with a link to their Web page if they desire. This membership card would work well with our Gran Prix series as well. For races offering discounts to our members, a membership card would be an easy way to identify a person as a Pine Belt Pacer.

8. Clock – The old MTC clock is sitting in my office, and unfortunately I have not had time to take a look at it. I am of the opinion, although a few others have voiced to me they differ, that if this clock functions properly, and we decide that it will for the foreseeable future, we forgo purchasing a new clock. If that is the decision we come to, we need to talk about the donations (in some cases, large) people have made toward the clock.

I look forward to seeing each of you on Thursday, although I’m certain I’ve scared a few with the length of the agenda.

Jim   See the minutes from the 6/30 meeting.

06/24/05 Just a few news and notes:

 

I’ve been very encouraged by the volunteer spirit of club members over the past few days; I know it’s par for the course, but keep it up!

 

For example, Thursday I had a meeting to attend just prior to Trek for the Trace, and was not able to arrive until 15 or so minutes prior to the start. Dawn graciously hauled a couple of the tables to the site. For the past three weeks, without my prompting, Keith has offered to help me return the tables to my office. Becky and Hollie volunteered to draw up finishing cards for the event. For the past two weeks, Mostafa has picked up the sandwiches from Firehouse Subs on his way to Trek the Trace events. Steve had already put some thought into the fliers for the HubFest 5K, highlighting areas on last year’s fliers that we will need to change for this year. On Friday, I received a call at work from Ginny offering to pick up the used clock for the club, which was donated to us by the Mississippi Track Club, while she was in Jackson that day. I also received an e-mail from Deborah to inform me that while she was in Wal-Mart that morning, she picked up forks, knives, napkins, etc., for next week’s Trek the Trace.  And none of us should ever take for granted the outstanding job Elmer does with the Web site on almost a daily basis.

 

I mention all of this (and there are many more examples not listed) not only to say thank you, but also to encourage others to do the same. It goes without saying that the more you put into something, the more you get out of it. Thank you for putting a portion of your time and effort into the Pine Belt Pacers. And a big thank you to all of those who have participated (as well as those parents and others who have transported younger runners to the Trace so that they could participate) in the Trek the Trace events the past three weeks.

 

Also on Thursday, following Trek the Trace, we will hold our first HubFest 5K organizational meeting. At the meeting I would like to at least set the date of the race, as well as the dates of our 5K series leading up to the event, determine some target sponsors and our charity. The ADP has changed the date of HubFest to Oct. 8. I would make the suggestion that we hold the race that morning. At one point we had talked about possibly holding the race the week before or week following HubFest in order to have the race on the same day as a Southern Miss home football game. (In the past the ADP has held HubFest on a Saturday when the Golden Eagles were on the road.) This year, however, Southern Miss plays a home game that evening as well (at 7 p.m.) We welcome your ideas and input at the meeting.  If you have ideas or input and cannot attend the meeting, please e-mail me at james.coll@usm.edu prior to Thursday.

 

Hope to see each of you at the Trek the Trace finale.

 

5/27/05 Thank you all so very much for participating and organizing teams for the Relays on Saturday. I thought it was a successful first run for sure.

 
Concerning the clock: I have spoken with Jack Ward concerning the Mississippi Track Club's used equipment, and have tried to arrange for a time to go pick it up but have thus far been unsuccessful.  For those of you who may be out of the loop on this, the MTC has offered to give the Pine Belt Pacers some of their old timing equipment they no longer use. If any of you will be in the Jackson area or will be attending a MTC race in the near future, please let me know so that we can make arrangements to pick it up. Also on that note, if we pick this equipment up and find it suits our needs, we need to decide what we want to do about the money people have donated toward the purchase of a new clock.
 
Concerning Trek the Trace: Many of you may have noticed the Trek the Trace events, scheduled for June 9, 16, 23 and 30 at the Trace. These events will be similar to the last predicted time run and pot luck dinner held at the Trace, but weather permitting, we will eat outside following the runs. With that in mind, we will need a couple of volunteers to bring chairs, tables, maybe a tent as well. I think the 6:30 p.m. start time will be late enough to allow everyone to go home for a minute after work and still be able to make it there, as well as any of the time trial cyclists who want to participate in both. It should also be early enough to complete the 2-mile run and have plenty of daylight to sit and eat as well.  These evenings would also be a good time to begin HubFest preparations. Hope to see each of you there. See entry form. See the June 13th Hattiesburg American article about Trek the Trace. See results to date.
 
Jim