I can see on the calendar that the Spring Equinox is only a few weeks away. With this celestial alarm ringing in my ear, I realize that the triathlon season is imminently upon us. You may even be training now (oh--not me, I can assure you). So, having been charged with the high honor of perpetuating our group, I find that it is time to inaugurate the coming season with this outline of what the club is looking to do this year. Call it a playbook, if you will, but one that is flexible and ready to be changed to meet the needs of the members.
In order to frame up what is in store this year, let me say that we learned a lot from last year's members' feedback and which events and programs were or weren't successful. With attention to this information, we have reset the approach that Iron Gate takes in setting about its activities. We are going to move away from events that are mostly presentation to events that are mostly participation. The feedback was that people wanted to "Do Stuff. Together." Kind of like "Nike. Just Do It." This will now be our focus in lining up the functions that are listed below.
Before I get to the good stuff that we get to do this year, let me speak about the "board." Last year (our initial year), it was important to have a tight, defined board to develop the logistics, viability, function, bylaws, incorporation, insurance, endorsement, etc issues. Those things are behind us, so we now need a broader group of organizers beyond just the "board" to take this club to the next level. To this effect, we will have 3-4 "steering committee" meetings this year that will count as "board" meetings. I would hope that any member interested in guiding, volunteering, contributing, participating, or otherwise in general just wanting to mouth off would attend this now more "general" meeting.
Now you may wonder about the "club" meetings. Well, in keeping with the new motto of "Doing Stuff", we are planning enough activities/coaching events that these club meetings will be incorporated into the group events. Otherwise, there will be plenty of other opportunities for impromptu, casual, and celebratory Rivermont Pizza nights without the pressure and decorum of having a "meeting." Just beer, pizza, and cheering to someone's latest bike split, finishing their first triathlon, or making Kona qualification.
So, onto the plan.
THE EVENTS
We are going to put on THREE multisport events over the summer.
Steve and Debbie Bozeman will host two biathlons, The BozeMan X and The BozeMan XI. And down at the river again, we get to do the Devil's Step Triathlon. At this point, the dates are not yet set. On the website, I posted tentative (or proposed) dates for the events in the calendar, but these are fluid.
THE SWIMS
We will host at least THREE in-water swim experiences with coaching. The "Poseidon in the Pool" experience we had last year was a big hit. Donna Hodgert and Sarah Davidson will lead us by setting up several opportunities for us to meet at Miller Park or other open water venues (Ivy Lake, SML, Cave Mtn Lake, etc) staged throughout the summer.
TEAM TRAINING
Cat Phillips has offered to lead an effort to set up training schedules for members to reach performance goals this season. The idea is that she could help map a plan for those trying to do their first olympic or half-iron distance race this year in order to have the long runs/rides together. Beth Frackleton (a certified USAT coach) has offered to help, too.
A FEATURE RACE: Patriots Half
We thought we should identify a race that many members of the club could aim to do together. First of all, this would put many people on the same training schedule making group rides/runs more common. Secondly, doing an event as a group is so much more satisfying than alone (evidence: the Lynchburg Ironman experiences over the last few years). We have picked Patriot's Half in Williamsburg on September 10th. Here is the race info:
http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_detail&eventID=1707 The longer distance gives incentive to those who have wanted to do a half iron distance race by providing active support from the club. Many have done this race and it is well executed and administered by Set-Up Events. It is relatively close; only a 4 hour drive. But because it is an out-of-town race, you can realize the benefit of being part of a club where traveling together is easier and getting together in Williamsburg is more fun. Depending on funds, the club can sponsor a "rendezvous point" for pre and post race food, drink, and cheering. To make it tempting for more experienced athletes, the Patriot's Half is a qualifying event for the HalfMax Championship in Myrtle Beach, SC on October 8th. The info is at
http://races.ultramaxtri.com/2011/halfmax/ and happens to be sponsored by TriSports.com
THE MEMBERS
This section could be called "Support at Every Level" or "No TriAthlete Left Behind." Michelle Rakowski will lead up our efforts to help support and promote members that are doing races locally and also to encourage our newer members to get plugged in with us. I think an important function for our club is to encourage those in our community who want to begin an active lifestyle by introducing them to triathlon and encouraging them as they work to become healthy, lose weight, etc.
THE BIG BIKES
Paula Dahl has offered to set up long group rides for us. She can provide routes, GPS data, cue sheets, etc for the rides. She will (if there is interest) coordinate with Cat's plans to lay out a progressive series of rides to increase distance for those going for half-iron or iron distances. And let me give a plug here for the Storming of Thunder Ridge ride on May 22; you can register here:
http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=12301
THE WEBSITE
The website was redesigned by Brian Gallagher to promote easier communication and help create opportunities for groups to get together for rides, runs, swims, and events. The strongest feedback from last year was that we needed to have more group rides/runs. We hope the "forum" design will provide for this. Furthermore, a mechanism has been included that will link us together by location using our addresses that we enter into our online profile (and added security for that information). We hope that this function works to "suggest" group rides for folks near each other. Ben Summers is helping to maintain the website with Brian, too.
THE PLACES
We will have some exclusive access to the Miller Park Pool and facilities at SNAP Fitness. Brian is currently working to develop a relationship with the Y for our club.
The Cerberus Series will be parred down to the 3 club events, Angels Race, and Patriots Half. This gives every distance (except the full Iron) a representative race in the Series. The races and dates are listed again on the home page of the website. Congratulations again to last year's winners Erin Elwell and Joel Riley.
THE SHIRT
We will put together another order of Iron Gate (with USAT logo) this year. There wasn't enough interest in other types of garments last year to make such options feasible. So, you can choose between wicking/cotton, mens/womens, gray/white, and size. Likely priced at $20/$25 for cotton/wicking, but this will depend on the number of orders.
THE DISCOUNTS
Pete Sengenberger is working out discounts for members of the club. Currently, the most direct savings that we receive is through TriSports.com. I expect this to continue given that many folks used it last year. The two bike shops in town gave us a great discount last year.
THE COST
Membership will be $25. That's it. $25. Includes everything.
Devil's Step Triathlon, The BozeMan X Biathlon, and The BozeMan XI Biathlon entry fees are ALL covered.
Lots of coaching/training/group events. Website use. Discounts.
It's a deal. Seriously.
It is time to bring this soliloquy to a close, so here are the brass tacks: You need to decide if you will be a part of the Iron Gate experience this year. And then you want to doing some of the following 3 things:
Firstly:
If you chose to join, send me club fees of $25 (made out to IGTC) to:
Iron Gate Triathlon Club
c/o Skyler McCurley
115 Country Club Dr
Lynchburg, VA 24503
Secondly:
If you want a shirt, then mail or email me your order with this info:
[ name ]
[ quantity ]
[ men vs woman ]
[ performance fabric vs cotton ]
[ white vs gray ]
[ XS vs S vs M vs L vs XL ]
And thirdly:
If you are interested in attending the steering/board meetings, the first one will be:
Monday, March 7, 7:00 PM
The location will be posted with the event in the website calendar.
Before closing, let me say that in contrast to other triathlon clubs, Iron Gate is nonprofit, unassociated with any business (local or national), and is not run to promote the interest of an individual coach or business. With this autonomy and independence, we are left without many resources except for ourselves and what we volunteer. So, we are something of a "pot luck" club...we can only have and be what someone is willing to bring or do.
--skyler
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