Voting Members Present: Jerry McDaniel, Allen Blay, Jeanne O’Kon, Hawthorne Hay, Tom Perkins, Mark Priddy, Jennifer Hay, David Yon, Mary Jean Yon, Emily Webster, Tina Bahmer. Absent: Peg Griffin, Matt Vermeer, Debbie Peters, Herb Wills. Non-Voting Members Present: Bill Lott, Lisa Unger.

I.  Opening and Introduction:
Jerry McDaniel opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. A motion was made to approve the minutes of the September 10, 2025 meeting. Motion was seconded and passed.

II.  Announcements from Officers:

Jerry announced that Allen Blay will update the Board on the podcast. The first episode is recorded and has been reviewed. The topic is the World Championships. The second one will be recorded on Friday. They will launch both of those during the fourth week of October. The third podcast will be on the topic of marathons with Felton Wright.

Jerry updated the group on the World Championships. He and Allen will be on a conference call to get more information tomorrow. GWTC will receive some parking passes and other benefits as a result of the club sponsorship.
Jerry also proposed the Board meetings start at 6:30 p.m. Board members agreed that the earlier starting at the time will be better for most people. This will start in November.

III.  Old Business:

a.  Board Election Update: Mark Priddy gave an election update. There are new members running for the Board as well as current Board members. Mark provided a list of those who are running for the officer positions and the ten members who are running for the Director at Large positions. One additional name was added to the ballot. A nominee is still needed for the Director of Race Directors. The ballot goes live on November 1st for voting. Motion was made to approve the current ballot. Motion was seconded and passed.

b.  Women’s Distance Festival 5K Budget Closeout: Lisa Unger reviewed the budget closeout. She indicated that the race was small and netted just over $1,000.00. The race had two beneficiaries: Brehon Institute and Girls on the Run. Each will receive $400.00. Motion was made to approve the budget closeout. Motion was seconded and passed.

c.  Prefontaine 5K Budget Closeout: Allen Blay reported that the race expenses were $1018.94. The race netted $748.96. Donations of $469.48 will be given to the Suwannee Area Council And $374.48 to GWTC. Motion was made to approve the budget closeout. Motion was seconded and passed.

d.  RunTLH Trademark Update: Jerry has been working with Rob McNeeley, who is working on renewing three trademarks. Rob has spent $5,000 in billable hours which he is donating to the club, but there will be future expenses.

e.  Update on Insurance Waivers: New members to the club sign a waiver to cover all club events. Non-members participating in group runs sign a waiver online. David recommended that participants sign up in person when they participate with a group. It was suggested that group run leaders should ask non-member participants to sign waivers online and paper copies and QR codes should be available at the runs.

f.  TLH Runway Run: Hawthorne Hay stated that the run will probably take place in March, 2026. It will be put on by the airport with GWTC assistance. He will provide updates on this. GWTC has not absolutely committed to this yet.

IV.  New Business:

a.  Association of Fundraising Professionals event: Jerry reported that GWTC will be receiving an “Outstanding Community Organization” award at the luncheon put on by the Association of Fundraising Professionals on Nov. 13 (National Philanthropy Day) at Goodwood. The club has four free seats and it is $50 for each additional seat. Board members should let Jerry know if they would like to attend.

b.  Grand Prix 2026 Race Schedule: Lisa Unger presented the race schedule for 2026. There was some debate about offering Grand Prix points for all three distances in one event. She also reminded race directors they can report their volunteers to the committee who are eligible for Grand Prix points. A motion was made and seconded to accept the proposed 2026 schedule. Motion passed with one negative vote.

V. Reports:

a.  Treasurer: Jerry gave the Treasurer’s report for Peg. As of September 30, 2025, net assets are $266,804, with liabilities of $543. The Operations account has a balance of $165,936 (with $14,416 reserved for the ACT Grant program). Net operating loss for the fiscal year thus far is $49,602, which is considerably greater than typical for this time of the year, and can be attributed to Turkey Trot shirts being ordered and paid for earlier than usual. The Club’s Form 990 for last fiscal year has been filed with and accepted by the IRS, and the Club’s registration renewal to solicit charitable contributions has been filed with and accepted by the Florida DACS. If anyone has any questions, please let Peg know.

b.  Triathlete Club: Jeanne gave the report for Matt Vermeer. There are enough volunteers to fill the board for next year. They will announce the new board next month. The Christmas party date is still undecided. They may move it to January to coincide with the Tri Club awards.

c.  Director of Race Directors: Mary Jean reported that the race directors will meet on Sunday, Oct. 12. Turkey Trot is off and running, and the work is ongoing.

d.  Director of Communications: Jennifer Hay reported that she has new magnets with the RunTLH logo. The text service is now working and there will be instructions given for it. The membership registration now has an “Auto Renew” link. HOF members do not need to renew. Jennifer reported that there is a social media intern who will do Instagram posts. She asked Board members to send her any information that they want sent out to members. Membership benefits should be advertised more. The current membership numbers are 1299 individual members (1314 last years at this time), and 792 family memberships (838 last year at this time).

e.  Director of Education and Socials: Tina Bahmer said there is a new band for the Christmas party on Dec. 6th: the Main Street Band.

f.  RACER Committee: Dan Manausa sent a report stating that unfortunately they are not able to work with the group of children that they have been working with each year. He is meeting with Astoria Park Elementary to work out a running project with them.

g.  Chenoweth Fund: Nothing to report.

h.  Merchandise: No report.

i.  Equipment: Nothing to report.

j.  Chip Timing: During September, one non-Club race (Bluebird Run for Brookie B 5K) and three GWTC races (5K for Sickle Cell Anemia/Tm Simpkins 1M; Women’s Distance Festival 5K; and Salute to Steve Prefntaine 5K/1M Forest Run) were chip timed. In October, one non-Club race (Boston Half Marathon/5K Run/5K Walk) and one Club race (Pine Run 20K/Pine Ruck 14K at Tall Timbers) will be chip timed. Scheduled to be chip timed in November are one non-Club race (Memorial to Memorial Veterans Day 5K) and one Club race (Tallahassee Turkey Trot 15K/10K/5K/1M). The chip timing revenue from non-Club races held during the current fiscal year to-date (July 1 – September 30) totals $2,015.00 and remains unchanged since last month’s report.

k.  Grand Prix: See previous report.

l.  School Grants Coordinator: No report.

m.  Training Groups Coordinator: Emily Webster reported that the Beginning Running group started on Sept 24 with about 50 people. The Turkey Trot training group started this week with 15 people. They started a Boo-tay running challenge right now with increasing numbers and prizes.

8:34 p.m. Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeanne O’Kon, Secretary