Dear GRRC Members and Running Community:
For those who don’t know me, I’m Vickey Beaver. After at least a decade of service as our president, Doug Jones has passed the baton. I am grateful to the membership for supporting my continuation on the board of directors and to the board for supporting my request to follow in Doug’s footsteps. My future President’s Letters will be shorter. However, for my first one, I want those who are interested to know a little more about me, have a brief snippet about club history and its current state, and get a preview of what’s new and what’s coming. This is about a 5- to 7-minute read.
I joined the club around May of 2015 and the next year I responded to a call for help where I offered to assist with the newsletter. After being a guest at the May 5, 2016, board meeting, I was appointed to an open position on the board, with records showing me as a board member the following month, June 4, 2016. Slowly, I got more involved and now I’m in the second year of my third full 3-year term.
Already, 2024 has been quite the year of change. After ratifying the Doing Business As name last year so we can go by the more apt Greater Rochester Running Club, we rolled out the new logos at last month’s banquet and have begun transitioning from GRTC to GRRC in all places where our name appears. Doug is now our immediate past president and continues with the board. Martha Doody is our new vice president while Jennifer Gaudino and Jim Moragne retain their positions as secretary and treasurer, respectively. Meanwhile, we welcomed Kelly Nash as our newest board member at the same time we said goodbye to two who chose not to run for re-election: Shea Coleman and Ted Thull.
Our club, by the many names it has been known, has never been one to simply sit still. When looked at through the long lens of its history, we’ve gone through periods of various levels of prominence and changing focus. We’ve moved from a monthly paper newsletter to emailed text to PDF to a full-color printed annual banquet program. News is now made available through a monthly president’s letter, targeted email blasts, our website, and sometimes real-time social media posts. Prior to 2015, we migrated to a paperless sign-up process for club membership and, in 2015, Freezeroo registration followed suit. We’ve had a board with several committees and a couple dozen members handling the running of the club’s business activities and events to a handful keeping things going and no committees to a return to nearly a dozen regularly participating board members and the use of committees.
Today, we’re committed to continuing changes that better reflect who we are, expand service to the running community, and take advantage of current technologies. We just finished one such endeavor having sponsored the run portion of RIT’s Try-a-Tri on February 25 and staffing a table to encourage membership in GRRC. Later this month, we’re rolling out the MILEStone Patch Challenge by way of RunSignUp to more efficiently manage the program and allow participants to easily monitor their own progress, compare it to others’, and set goals without any special software or having to keep track of a paper all year. We’ve also refreshed our Rochester Runner of the Year Series with some changes from last year’s line-up and alterations of distances to earn standings. In a few days, the BOD will meet to discuss where we are and where we might want to be. We’ve previously talked about some of that, such as engaging others from the wider membership to strengthen the club’s visibility, activities, communications, and reach. Our March board meeting aims to further explore those ideas and specifics will be shared as they emerge.
2024 Greater Rochester Running Club Roster of Events
With many running groups and training programs in Monroe and surrounding counties, GRRC’s events generally complement and support the area’s offerings rather than being complete duplication or direct competition. Following is what we’ve done so far and what is still to come.
Freezeroo Winter Races January – February (kicked off December 2023)
Freezeroo Awards at Final Race, February 17
Annual Awards Banquet, February 24
GRRC Try-a-Tri Membership Table at RIT, February 25
RROY Kickoff, See Below Calendar, March 16
Spring Clinic, April 24 to June 5, Registration Open: https://runsignup.com/Race/NY/
Mind the Ducks, May 11, Registration Open: https://runsignup.com/Race/NY/
9 Hours for 9 Lives, June 8, https://runsignup.com/Race/NY/
Candlelight 12/24, July 13, Registration Open: https://runsignup.com/Race/
Boilermaker Bus, July 14
Summer Clinic, July 22 to September 9, Registration Open: https://runsignup.com/Race/NY/
Summer Picnic, Date TBD (Expected July or August)
CanLakeUltras 25K/50K/50-Mile, October 12, Registration Open: https://runsignup.com/Race/NY/
Bound for the Hounds, November 16, Registration Open: https://runsignup.com/Race/NY/
RROY Final Race, See Calendar Below, November 28
Holiday Lights Run & Cookie Exchange, Date TBD (Expected Early to Mid-December)
Freezeroo Kickoff, Date TBD (Expected Mid-December)
2024 Rochester Runner of the Year Series
RROY is administered by GRRC to promote local racing in a way that also rewards the fastest overall and age group racers for the series and the most consistent GRRC member participants. There is no separate registration; all completing the minimum required races are automatically assigned series standings. GRRC members get discounts to RROY races at checkout.
With twelve races available on average, members must complete at least six for the participation award. The RROY Committee is considering raising the RROY standings bar (historically four) to the same minimum and will have a decision by the first 2024 race, Runnin’ of the Green, which is March 16. Overall First, Second, and Third Place winners in Male and Female categories get cash prizes. Subsequent overall winners and age group winners get other prizes.
Following is the current schedule. There are updates from tentative information and corrections from date errors I made in the Awards Banquet Program. At any time, you can go to https://
We expect to release series results on or near the following dates: 6/30, 7/31, 9/30, 10/30, and 12/5.
I hope to see you at our events and the RROY races, whether as a participant or volunteer. If we’ve not met before, please introduce yourself, if you see me. If we have, I appreciate chances to reconnect. If you’re a member, I’m glad you’re part of the club. If you’re not, I invite you to join us by registering at https://runsignup.com/Club/NY/
Thank you for your time and for being a part of our community!
Sincerely,
Vickey Beaver,
GRRC President