Fall 2016 Draft 3

ARTICLE
Year End Thoughts
from Your President
>>> Keith Axelrod
President, Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club
(914) 456-0708
Well, the Dutchess County Classic is now behind us, and we
have also finished the fall racing season. I always like to
mention how convenient our shopping cart is to register for
your favorite races and also to join the Mid-Hudson Road
Runners Club as a member. Thanks again to Deborah
Schwartz for creating and maintaining our website.
First of all, I want to thank all the many people who put so
much time and effort into the Dutchess County Classic. It
literally takes hundreds of people to pull off the Classic and
work our way through the many logistics. In the end, we
wound up with a very successful event.
I would like to thank everyone for working side by side with
me for endless hours dealing with so many details to make
sure this race became a reality. In addition, I would like to
thank (in no particular order): Linda Stowe, Pete SanFilippo,
Fred Policastri, Roy Abraham, Erika Abraham, Lori Decker,
Bill Rosenberg, Rebecca Withers, Claude Bodlee, Marsha
Kramer, Pat DeHaven, Irv Miller, Joan Grishman, Jeff Lease,
Tom Storey, Paul Fitzpatrick, Chris Walsh, Deborah
Schwartz, Larry Knapp, Bob Dinsmore, Dave Davis, Chris
Wimmers, Stephen Heath, Pete Colaizzo, the Lagrange Fire
Department, New York State Police, Dutchess County Sheriff
Department, and all other first responders. Please forgive
me if I left anyone out.
One of the hardest things about being president of our club
and also race director for the Dutchess County Classic is
dealing with problems from time to time while making sure
that everything runs smoothly (pardon the pun) so all our
runners enjoy their experiences. We have thousands of
people who participate in our races, and having so many
events, there are bound to be things that don't always go as
planned. Our club is made up of all volunteer workers who
do a phenomenal job at putting on our races. These people
handle everything from the scoring, traffic control, water
stations, course set-up, awards and trophies, ordering
t-shirts, and making sure our insurance is in place, to our
website maintenance and so much more. I take it to heart and
feel bad if someone is missing from the scoring results
(which many times is simply a mechanical error) or if some
small issue arises in the course of club business. But now that
the Classic is well behind me and I can actually catch my
breath and think about everything we do as a club, I can
honestly say that I am happy we have so many people who
have come to depend on our club as an outlet for their health,
vitality, and a place to compete with other great runners.
My thoughts are now moving to the future. We have an executive
board that meets about six times a year or so and
discusses all of the important issues that face our club on a
regular basis. Without these people, we would not have the
great club we have today. But we are all getting older, and I
have to think where will we be five years from now, 10 years
from now, 20 years from now, and even further than that! My
mission, and the Board of Directors’ mission as well, is to set
the stage for the next generation to carry on what we have
started. We will be looking to the younger generation of
runners that may be running in the kids one-mile races we
hold or running track or cross country for a local high school
or college. One of those runners could be a future president
or board member of our club! It takes more than putting on a
yearly calendar of races to make a running club thrive. We
need more people involved in the future of our club to bring
us into the future. Just planting a seed in some of your minds.
As we enter into our winter racing season and get ready to
finish out yet another year in Mid-Hudson Road Runners
Club history, I want to thank all of you who participate and
am eternally grateful for the experience of being club president
and a race director. It has added great value to my life
and gives me a purpose outside my family and work life, but
at the same time has enhanced those very same things in a
dramatic way.
I would also like to thank Fred Policastri who has been our
Vice President for about 10 years. He has stepped down for
the upcoming year and we will miss him as VP, but he will
still be on our board of directors and helping the club. At the
same time, I would like to welcome our new Vice President,
A.J. Guckian. He will bring his great running experience, as
well as his military experience, to help grow our club!
We have the Turkey Trot coming up only days away on
Thanksgiving directed by Irv Miller, and then Pete Sanfilippo's
Knights of Columbus Run on December 3. Be sure to
sign up through our shopping cart. Also, if you haven't
visited our Facebook page, you should! We have almost 1,300
members on it!
I hope to see you out at the races. After the first of the year,
we will still have our monthly club meetings (check our
website for dates, times, and locations), so try to come out
and join us. We want you to be part of our club activities that
go beyond our regular races.
Thanks again, and I'll see you soon.
THE MID-HUDSON ROAD RUNNER PAGE 3