Lewis Ashton writes…
It was the AGM last night. I’m sure the minutes will be published in due course. Here’s my (very biased) view of proceedings, for those of you that are interested but were unable to attend. The accounts were approved – Thanks are due in no small measure to David Arundale for these.
We established that the Juniors need more trained leaders. Agreement was reached for 3 leaders to be trained for this specific purpose next year. I would anticipate further courses in future years. I have two requests already to take up those Leader training places. If you wish to become a run leader or running coach, please get in touch & I can put your name forward.
It is hoped that we will be able to offer a first aid course next year, for a substantial number of people. That has yet to be discussed & agreed by the committee.
In both of these aspects of training, we touched upon a need to do these things in a routine fashion, year on year, as people come & go, develop and change their priorities. I would hope that we can achieve some regularity in these.
Quite a lot of discussion was had about continuity between the Juniors, and the senior ranks. Limited conclusions were arrived at but the toe of discussions (IMO) pointed towards an acknowledgement that this is something the club wants and needs to do. So please step forwards if you have any insights & ideas about development & support for less experienced runners. I have to acknowledge the sterling efforts of Megan on this front The Leverts group, totaling some 40 people represents a sizable proportion of the club.
The Covid Provisions were agreed. So we are on the cusp of returning to running. Because covid rules require a bit of organisation & record keeping, there is a critical need to recruit a Wednesday Run Coordinator. This role need not be onerous, but its needed to ensure that someone (can easily be delegated) knows what’s happening on a given Wednesday and knows who is taking names. The specifics of Wednesday run locations is yet to be finalised – obviously turning up on mass to Tha Sportsman (or any other pub) is not as straight forward as it used to be.
It was discussed whether it would be possible to have a Club Championships this year. The format is most likely to be time trail, although groups of six was discussed. The venue of choice was Tha Sportsman – subject to agreement. Massed travel to far flung parts of the Dark Peak in the middle of a possible Covid peak was not felt to be pro-social.
Some concerns were raised about the Time Trials as they currently stand – given they entreat people to head off into the far flung corners of the bog, potentially alone. It was highlighted that Mountain Rescue always recommend you leave a route plan and information of intended start & return times. This is something that will be added to TT instructions. I would also add that TT provisions have always allowed for running of the routes with one other person. It is planned that the 2020 TT series will end at the end of November – or potentially by the weekend of the Club Champs. I currently anticipate a 2021 TT series potentially starting in February.
Megan was formally elected/ co-opted to her role of Women’s captain, taking over from Sally.
Other opinions on all of this exist. Feel free to seek them out!