A Message from the President (May 2024)
Hello Everyone,
Becka and I thought it might be a good idea to add some messaging directly from us, in both a better way for club members to get to know us a little bit more, and to highlight some of our thoughts on the club. Hence the message from the President. For this we’ll be alternating back and forth, month to month, so as not to burden either of us too much, much the same reason we were willing to be co-presidents.
I’ve known Becka since she was in seventh grade. I coached her all through high school and may have had a hand a bit in her middle school running as well, but it’s been since then our working and friendly relationship has gone from coach/athlete, to friends, to mentor, to colleagues. For the past two years we’ve been co coaches, equal partners in guiding Mascenic to the 2023 Division 3 championship title. While I have a lot of faith in the program, Becka’s guiding hand was surely a benefit down the stretch.
Which is why when the club met in November to decide the fate and direction for the future of the club, I gave Beck a quick glimpse, raised my hand and volunteered us to take the reins as co presidents. Those of you who know us, know we didn’t need to add to our plates, but recognizing our capacities while understanding our bandwidth, together we felt comfortable taking the club forward. And we’d be remiss to not acknowledge Ross and Ginger along with the old guard for keeping things going and weathering the last couple lean years under covid. I’m back with the club because of all their dedication to the greater Monadnock running community.
Becka and I are open to lots of ideas and directions the club can go. We’ve had conversations with members over the last couple months on things people are interested in. We welcome these ideas and certainly are willing to entertain just about anything (see what I have to say about Valhalla later) but please realize we both come with jobs that are important to us, family’s we want to spend time with, and other interests beyond this club’s organization. If you have a great idea, bring it, your enthusiasm and your effort and support along with it and we’ll see what we can do to make it happen.
To your next best run,
Mike Smith
P.S. - After attending the first Wednesday Night Track workout at ConVal I recognized I didn’t recognize a lot of people, which is good, it shows growth. I also realized that many might have been confused why some old weird dude with a Valhalla Running Club jacket was out there yelling what I’m going to call encouragement (others might consider harassment) and offering splits and insight. Well that was me and I thought it might be good for me, even though I wasn’t able to be on the track that night to be there and begin to make some connections I didn’t already have. From doing that, I realized that maybe a better way to have people get a better understanding of who I am and where I’m coming from might be to do these two things.
First, I want to give a brief explanation of my Valhalla Running club. Think of Tom Petty’s Wildflower album where he stepped away from the Heartbreakers for an album, not so much to get away from his bandmates, but rather to do something personal that he didn’t want to require them to follow. Valhalla is such a side project that encompasses both our youth running program and a whole bunch of “off brand” styled events that don’t exactly fit with Monadnock Regional Milers. I’m not interested in necessarily promoting anything Valhalla here, but if people are interested in our slate of activities they can reach out to me (runvalhalla@gmail.com.)
The other is with my many years of connection with the high school running scene, I’m involved with the New Hampshire Cross Country and Track and Field website (https://nh.staterunning.net/) where I write articles sometimes about high school running but mostly now about what running means and has become to me. I’ve titled my column “Short Strides and Odd Thoughts” which sums it up pretty good. Here’s the latest installment, which hints at why I wasn’t on the track ripping 200’s (my self professed favorite workout) but doesn’t explain why my cohort was…. In this article: https://nh.staterunning.net/2024/04/30/short-strides-and-odd-thoughts-run-the-line-post-run-recap/
MRM’s Housekeeping
Chiller and Membership Shirts
Winter Chiller and Supporting/Sponsoring Member shirts have arrived and are being dispersed! The shirts came out great and everyone is obsessed with how soft and comfortable they are, as well as their use for everyday wear, not “just another running shirt” to add to the pile. Shirts can be collected on Wednesday nights at the ConVal Track or you can connect with Becka via cell: 603-801-5762 to set up a different time that works for you.
For those of you who have seen the shirts and are wishing you had one or are wishing you had another…keep your eyes peeled as we will be launching a Web Store soon for direct purchase!