Voting Members Present: Jerry McDaniel, Allen Blay, Jeanne O’Kon, Carl Nordhielm, Hawthorne Hay, Judy Alexander, Debbie Peters, David Yon, Tina Bahmer, Emily Webster, Mickey Moore. Members Absent: Herb Wills, Joanne Maltese. Non-Voting Members Present: Mary Jean Yon, Bill Lott, Bill Hillison, Charles Kelly, Ashton Smith.

I.  Opening and Introduction:

Jerry McDaniel opened the meeting at 6:33 p.m. A motion was made to approve the minutes of the January 2026 meeting. Motion was seconded and passed.

II.  Announcements from Officers:

a.  Jerry thanked everyone who helped with the Tallahassee Marathon last weekend. It is a huge undertaking and requires many club members helping. Robert and Kory Skrob are amazing in their handling of this event.

b.  Jerry also thanked Carl Nordhielm for taking over the Treasurer position because it involved a lot of work and has a steep learning curve!

c.  Bill Lott announced that the club no longer has access to the Maclay School track on Tuesday mornings at 6:30 a.m. for intervals any more. They will use the skateboard park from now on at 6:30 a.m. The Holy Comforter School track is not ready for use because the asphalt was not laid correctly. The school re-contracted with another business, but it could create flooding problems. The football field in the center has to be leveled and drainage has to be installed. Also, the track is not measured accurately.

d.  Robert and Kory Skrob will have a Marathon wrap-up meeting at their house on Feb. 21 for those who helped with the Marathon.

III.  Old Business/Race Closeouts:

a.  Grand Prix Committee Members; Jerry reported that the Grand Prix Committee members are now: Betsy Miller, Hillary Powell, Jeanne O’Kon, Hawthorne Hay, Joe Vega, Caitlin Ubilla, and Allen Blay.

b.  Annual Awards Budget Closeout: Lisa Unger reported on the Annual Awards final closeout. The increased costs were primarily for the cost of the awards. The committee did end up over budget. The total amount spent was $12,272.85. Motion was made and seconded to approve the budget closeout. Motion passed.

c.  Appreciation Giveaways: An act of appreciation in the form of a one-year club membership was given to two members rolling off the Grand Prix Committee. Board members were asked if they thought that practice should continue. Mickey Moore suggested that other ways of showing appreciation can be developed for people rolling off the Board or other committees. Motion was made and seconded for Mickey Moore to head up an ad hoc committee to look at ways of appreciation for specific members serving the club. Motion passed.

d.  Swamp Forest Budget Closeout: Carl presented the budget closeout. The revenue was about $5,000 with 133 participants. There was $2001.53 in profits which goes to GWTC. The amount of $42 will go to Friends of our Parks. Bill Lott pointed out that the City of Tallahassee will now charge for the mowing prior to the event and a staff member must be present at the event.

e.  GWTC Podcast Report/Funding: Allen Blay reported that the podcast is growing well and is gathering listeners with 10-15% growth with every episode. The podcast educates listeners about GWTC and its activities. The cost is $750 per episode and it would cost $9000 to maintain it for a year. A motion was made and seconded to extend the podcast for the next 12 months. Motion passed.

IV.  New Business:

a.  Billy Bowlegs 5K/1m Budget proposal. Bill Hillison presented the proposed budget for the race on April 4. The charitable contributions go to scholarships at FSU, and 250 scholarships have been awarded. Bill and Larry Giunipero co-host the race with FSU Friends and Faculty, and they send a lot of volunteers. The race is unique because a lot of items are donated for door prizes. FSU provides the EMTs for free for the race. Motion was made and seconded to approve the budget proposal. Motion passed.

b.  Chip Timing Report: Bill Hillison reported that the club started chip timing in 2011. GWTC now owns about $90,000 in chip timing equipment with five readers. The race bibs with chips are purchased in quantity at 75 cents each. The annual savings for GWTC are $30,000 per year; over 14 years, the savings are $420,000. The net revenue for chip timing non-club races is approximately $11,000 per year. Over 14 years, the net revenue is about $154,000. This has generated substantial financial benefits for the club from timing non-club races.

c.  Palace Saloon 5K Budget Proposal: Bill Lott presented the budget proposal. Last year, there were over 2400 registered, and the race directors are shooting for 2000 runners. Motion was made and seconded to approve the budget proposal. Motion passed.

V. Reports:

a. Treasurer’s Report: Carl reported assets as of January 31 in the amount of $333,963, with liabilities of $400. There is $219,970 in the Operations account, with an additional $14,446 reserved for the ACT Grant program. Net income as of January 31 is $18,101.

b. Triathlete Club: Tina reported that there is a new Grand Prix coming out. They will use the honor system to record volunteer hours. They want to promote more participation and off-road events, and the Palace Saloon 5K and Springtime.

c.  Director of Race Directors: Lisa Unger reported that she is working with Carl. She is confirming dates for other races that are still TBA on the calendar. The race directors will meet in March or April.

d.  Director of Communications: Mickey Moore reported that Hillary Powell will take over Running Shorts. Peg has helped Mickey get access to the Strava page and RunSignUp. They will discuss SMIRFS on the podcast and the difference it has made in our community. The membership is currently 1422 individual members and there are 935 family memberships.

e.  Director of Education and Socials: Judy Alexander reported that a plogging event will be held tomorrow to pick up trash while jogging. This is part of the sustainability event. She also mentioned that outside groups have inquired about buying the membership list for their races. This will be an agenda item for the next meeting.

f.  RACER Committee: No report.

g.  Chenoweth Fund: Nothing to report.

h.  Merchandise: No report.

i. Equipment: Bill Lott reported that the PA system has been returned to PSG, Inc., because it is still not working properly. Part of the reason for the return was that PSG did not have the microphone that matched the frequencies preset in the receiver and therefore could adequately perform testing.

j. Chip Timing: In January, only two races were chip timed and both were Club races (Swamp Forest Trail Runs; and GWTC 30K/15K). During February, two non-Club races (M.A.D. Dash 10K/5K; and Cobb Cubs Prowl 5K/1M) and two Club races (Bank of America Tallahassee Marathon/Half Marathon/Marathon Relay; and Flash 12K/6K) will be chip timed. Scheduled to be chip timed in March are one non-Club race (Shamrock Scurry 5K/1M) and two Club races (St. Marks Duathlon; and Springtime 10K/5K/1M).

k. Grand Prix: No report.

l. School Grants Coordinator: No report.

m. Training Groups Coordinator: Emily reported that the half marathon group completed their training and 28 people participated in their celebration. They have a limited budget but pacers are really important. The Springtime training group meets on Tuesdays and has about 25 participants in the past two sessions. They may ask for more money for t-shirts. Jerry requested that Emily come back to the Board with additional budget requests.

Meeting adjourned at 8:08 p.m.

Jeanne O’Kon, Secretary