This is the club’s sixth year, and with the help of a very busy committee, we continue to go from strength to strength. Issues which are worthy of comment in the past year include:
1. Winter League
This event is going well for us so far this year. Numbers were down at the start of 2011 due to the bad weather but since we resumed in October, we have averaged 65 runners per night to date. The only drawback is that we have an individual permit for each night (12 in total) unlike previous years when one permit would cover all nights. This adds an extra €600 to the costs of the event and means we may need to reconsider the weekly fee of €3 in the future. Many thanks to
2. Fit for Life
Numbers for this were down on previous years and we need to try and raise the profile a bit more to encourage new people to start running as it feeds the club with new members. Thanks to Catherine and Susan in particular for all their help with this. A big thank you also to our sponsor Prestige lighting.
3. Website
Our website gets a lot of praise and is well received by other runners in addition to giving the club great exposure. Many thanks to Daragh and Tom for keeping it updated every week.
4. Summer Series
This continues to go from strength to strength and is well established on the running calendar. The highlight of the year was a massive 200+ athlete turnout at the Tom Kiely 5K in Ballyneale which was won by Irish international athlete Andrew Ledwith. Many thanks to South Tipperary Enterprise Board who got Catherina McKieran to take part, give a talk and present the prizes – it was very much appreciated. The Rathgormack race is slightly difficult to get the numbers up due to its difficult terrain but next year, we have altered the sequence of races so hopefully this will help. The times at this race were also more accurate this year after the problems experienced in 2010. In these tough economic times, getting sponsorship can be difficult so many thanks to our series sponsor Outfield Sports / Asics, and to our race sponsors Morris Oil, Carraig Hotel, Autopower, and Mr. Binman for their continued support. We look forward to working with them again in 2012. A big thank you also to all of the series sub-committee who worked hard to ensure the series ran smoothly – without your help, this would not be possible.
5. ‘My Dress’ One Mile Challenge
This event held its own in terms of numbers this year and many thanks to those who helped out each evening. A special thanks also to our sponsor ‘My Dress’.
6. Flag Day
Over €1,000 was raised this year so well done to all who helped out. We need to try and get a two day permit next year as Friday afternoon is as important as Saturday morning with regard to donations. This will need to be followed up early next year.
7. Goal Mile
Our Christmas goal mile is getting more popular each Christmas, with large numbers turning out to walk, run or jog the one mile. For this, we give a big thank you to Mags and her family for their continuing organisation of this event. Thanks also to those who do the collections over the two days.
8. Sad Note
The sad part of this year for the club was the passing of one of our loyal members Bobby Power in May. Bobby was an active member of the club who ran many races from the 5 km to the dreaded marathon. He also helped out at many events especially the winter league and goal mile. He was a good friend to the club and is very much missed. To his wife Mags and her family on behalf of the club, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.
9. Defibulator
The club received a new defibuator in April and we are grateful to Paddy Kerwick who nominated the club and to Boston Scientific who sponsored it. Also, a big thank you to Brain Nugent and the Red Cross who trained five members of the club in the use of this machine through the first aid course.
10.
In March, we had the great honour of hosting the Munster Masters in Ballyneale. It was a terrific occasion and the day went off successfully. A big thank you to Cornelius McFadden and all our committee members who ensured that this event went so well.
11. Objectives for 2012
We need to continue to promote the Winter League and Fit for Life for new members. We also need to look at the costs of the summer series and see if we can cut back on advertising and promotion costs seeing that the series is now well established. Sponsorship will be a big issue next year so hopefully we can hold onto the sponsors that we currently have. The winter league costs have risen dramatically due to the cost of the permit so this will need to be looked at. We also need to get more people involved in helping out and stewarding events within the club – people have got to realise that a lot of work is involved in organising winter league, summer series and other events. It is not fair to have the workload falling on the same people every time. We also would like to get new faces on the club committee next year to help to generate new ideas.
Finally, I would like on a personal level to thank everybody who helped out during the year especially Catherine, Mark, and Susan. Your help is greatly appreciated. In addition, can I thank all the officers and committee who worked hard throughout the year – thanks to you, the club is doing well and getting stronger each year.
James Fox, Club Chairman