The combined monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Century Road Club Association for both March and April was held on Monday, March 31, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. at the midtown offices of W.P. Carey. Board members Ken Harris, Ben Harris, Chris Uglietta, Mike Green, Douglas von Bushberger, Chris Forsyth, Matt Howard, Wendy Nickerson, David Taylor, and Martha Lees were present. Alex Rodriguez and Kyle Peppo also attended.
1. The next Board meeting will be held on Monday, May 5, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. at the offices of W.P. Carey.
2. The minutes of the February Board meeting were approved online in advance of the meeting.
3. David Taylor, Vice President of Racing, gave a report on the various challenges he successfully overcame to ensure that our first race of the season went forward.
4. Mike Green, Director of Open Racing, gave a progress report on preparations for the spring Bear Mountain race and the Harlem Criterium. He noted that over 400 people have registered for spring Bear and all fields are closed except the two women’s fields and the men’s Pro-1-2 field. As for Harlem, Mike reported that John Eustice has taken over the running of the race. The Board agreed that it would make sense for the Club still to supply marshals to help maintain order.
5. Wendy Nickerson, Marshal Director, reported that the Club’s marshaling situation is in good shape this year. The majority of races are fully staffed with marshals; a few races need more marshals but additional people are continually signing up. It was noted that new members should be reminded that they are not required to marshal before their first race, provided that they have signed up for the required 3 marshal dates.
6. Chris Forsyth, Membership Director, circulated figures regarding the number of Club members this year. Membership is very healthy this year, with over 500 members so far and more expected to sign up as the weather becomes warmer.
7. The Board discussed the possibility of permitting all juniors to participate in Club races for free, instead of paying $10 per race. The Board decided to look into the number of members who would be affected and into whether any juniors have paid for Dinosaur status and would thus need a refund if the fee were waived, before reaching any decision.
8. Mike Green proposed that the results of Club-sponsored races be modified by adding an asterisk next to the names of past winners who have since been sanctioned for doping offenses, linked to a brief explanatory note. After the Board discussed the merits of the proposal, it was decided that Mike should draft the exact language he proposed for the note for further consideration by the Board. Ken Harris, the Club President, also agreed to revise the Club’s Code of Conduct to clarify that doping offenders are not welcome at Club races.
Following the Board meeting, both Mike Green and Ken Harris circulated proposals on the Board e-mail group. Ken Harris’s proposal was put to a vote; items A through C passed by majority vote; item D did not pass. The proposal is as follows:
- I propose we asterisk all of [Joe] Papp’s results in CRCA races for the time period to which he admitted doping.
- I propose the asterisk merely state “retroactively sanctioned for two years by USADA beginning July 31, 2006.” – this line being a hyperlink to new page with a more complete explanation.
- I propose that any other notation of drug infractions/sanctions be limited to the same calendar year as the result.
- I propose that until we have confirmation of the real legal situation with Melito “Pulla” Heredia, all of his results should be preceded by an image of the French cartoon character Asterix, pending copyright clearance.
9. Chris Forsyth advised the Board that the reason a number of makeshift race numbers had to be used at the March 29 race was that inadvertently the 2007 numbers were brought to the sign-in table and the 2008 numbers left in the trailer. The problem has been fully resolved.
At approximately 8:30 p.m. the meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Lees, Secretary