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About the VHTRC

The Club

The Virginia Happy Trails Running Club is composed of people who like to run on dirt trails. Though based in Northern Virginia, most club members live within the Metropolitan DC area, with several others scattered in many other states. The club members are of varying running abilities and ages. Many run ultramarathons, but some don't run at all.

The club puts on three major events each year -- the Bull Run Run 50 Miler in April, the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 Miler in May, and the Women's Trail Half Marathon in September. While each of these events has an entry fee, VHTRC members also organize several low profile, no fee runs that are open to anyone. Organized training runs occur irregularly. The club does not sponsor a formal training program.

The club is run informally. Membership meetings, such as they are, occur on the trails. We have no newsletter. Information about the club's activities is coordinated and organized through this Web site.

The VHTRC is affiliated with the Road Runners Club of America.

What Does Membership Mean?

Membership isn't required to participate in our events. To help decide if the VHTRC is for you and if we are the kind of people you want to run with on a regular basis, first join us in a training run or an informal event. If you think we're the cat's meow, send us your dues. But don't join the club just because you have done many of our events, or because you want to support our activities. Join the club because we are a group of people with whom you want to hang around, at least when you're running.

Membership is $15 per year. We have become an electronic club. We no longer have a newsletter. We will not send you anything in the U.S. Mail. We communicate by the Web and e-mail. If you don't have access to the Web or e-mail, don't waste your $15. (If you join, be sure to note the special rate for two runners living at the same address. It's $15 for the first to join and $5 for each additional one and each person gets a separate membership listing.)

2005 Change to Dues Structure: For the first time, we raised the dues in 2005. The dues had always been $10, and we all paid them. It became silly to take $10 from people who had worked hard on the events that provide the real financial support for the club. So we decided to raise the dues to $15, but renewal became free for those who, during the year, (1) volunteered at any of our three main events -- BRR, MMT, or the Women's Half Marathon, (2) participated at the trail work party, or (3) managed an official VHTRC run.

2007 Change to Dues Structure: In November 2007, we included an option to join for two years at twice the one year rate. Also, we added the provision that dues are paid over the Internet. See the FAQs on Membership

Membership won't get you much if you don't participate in any of our activities. Membership does give you membership in the Road Runners Club Of America. It also gives you all of the information on this Web site and many great training runs. Except that you can have that for free! Most important, membership lets you "belong" to the best trail running club in northern Virginia!

How To Join

Please use the on-line process to join the club. You will fill in some simple information on a form. We will use this information to update our membership database. You will pay either with a credit card or PayPal account. If you have troubles with the process, please e-mail Anstr at anstr@vhtrc.org.

GO TO ON-LINE MEMBERSHIP REGISTRATION
(New members only. Current members go here.)

Warning! If you just give money to one of the head honchos of the club and tell him to "take it for dues," he is very likely to buy beer with it and you will never receive any of the many benefits of membership. You are not a member of the club until you fill out the on-line application and pay on-line. There is no way to pay any other way.

Membership Lists

A public list of members names is available. Members have access to a roster with member telephone numbers and home addresses. (Members need the username and password to enter this part of the site. If you have forgotten this information, go here. Remember, the password is case sensitive. Thus, if the user name were cow and the password were dirt, Cow and Dirt would not work!

Renewing Your Membership/Editing your Membership Record

Members can renew their memberships and edit their membership records on line. To do either, go to the Membership Admin Page or directly to either the renewal or edit page. You will need the Members Only Password for any of these pages. If you forget it, you may ask that it be e-mailed to you.

Bylaws

In December 2005, the club adopted new bylaws. Here they are in PDF format.

Club Leadership

VHTRC Board Members (L to R) Quatro Hubbard, Alan Gowen (president), Anstr Davidson, Paul Blackman, and Ed Demoney

The third elections under the new VHTRC bylaws were held in December 2009. Five members of the board of directors were chosen. Their terms run through December 31, 2011. At its first meeting, the board elected Alan Gowen as the VHTRC president. The board members are listed below. If you are a club member, you can send a message to all board members.

The Board Members

• Alan Gowen: Alan is the club president. He is an avid trail runner and noted stickler for detail. He has finished MMT four times and Bull Run Run six times. He created and manages the Hashawha Hills 50km, a low key run in Maryland. Alan is currently the only non-Virginian on the Board. He is most noted for his lovely wife, Pam, who is also an accomplished runner though not as anal as her husband.
• Paul Blackman: Paul is a long-time runner and volunteer. He has run 100+ miles several times (although the women in his life have conspired to insist he's too old for 100s), and three times as many shorter ultras. He is a regular at the club's annual trail work party. Like at least two other Board members before him, he has a Hash background. We don't hold that against him. He sees his accession to the Board as similar to Richard Armour's description of Stalin's rise: "He wasn't voted into power; he didn't seize power. He simply noticed that Lenin's chair was empty and sat down." Paul is retired and lives in Arlington.
• Anstr Davidson: Anstr is one of two Board members returning for another term. He is a founding member of the VHTRC. He maintains the club's Web site and embezzles money as the treasurer. His running career is all behind him. He still does JFK every year because he forgets not to. Anstr lives in Arlington, Virginia where he slaves away at a very stressful retirement.
• Ed Demoney: Ed is a founding member of the VHTRC. He was the first race director of the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 and designed its course. Before the VHTRC was created, Ed was the race director of the Old Dominion 100 for four years taking it to the point where, in 1988, it needed a lottery to pick a field of 125 runners. Ed's running career includes finishing the first two Old Dominion 100s in 1979 and 1980 as well as many other 100 milers in the United States. Ed is retired, though he continues a mission of public service from his home in Arlington.
• Quatro Hubbard: Q is one of two Board members returning for another term in 2010. He joined the club in 2002 and has been a very active member. He has been a major part of the volunteer efforts at several runs, particular those low-key, difficult challenges in the mountains. It is appropriate that the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club has a board member who lives in the Commonwealth's capital -- Richmond.

Board Emeriti

• Mike Bur--Emeritus: Mike is a runner of the old school -- he likes long tough runs in the mountains, which is what the VHTRC is supposed to be all about. Among Mike's accomplishments is completing the Last Great Race -- six 100 milers in one year. Mike lives in Maryland and rides a motorcycle. He served on the board for two terms (beginning in 2006), the second as president.
• Joe Clapper--Emeritus: Joe has been running trails since burning out on marathons in 1984. Since running his first ultra a year later, he fell in love with dirt, mud, and mountain views. Although wallowing in mediocrity as a racer he is known as the only founding VHTRC member never to receive a Scottie award for bad attitude. He distinguished himself as long standing class clown and VHTRC president and is now in retirement from club management.
• Maria Bertacchi--Emeritus: Maria was appointed to the Board in April 2007 upon the resignation of Chris Scott. Maria has a long history in the northern Virginia running community. One of her claims to fame is her work on the Cookie Runs -- low key, fun runs in the woods that often end with alcoholic beverages. While we don't hold it against her, Maria has the shame of hashing in her background. We believe that most of the arrest warrants have been quashed.
• Carolyn Gernand--Emeritus: Carolyn is a long time member of the club. She is famous for doing all the long, hard runs and carrying a 7 Eleven store on her back. Carolyn doesn't get lost! Carolyn served one term on the board beginning in 2008.
• Kerry Owens--Emeritus: Kerry is a low key but tough trail runner. Displaying a disconcerting lack of stress, she has finished many tough runs including several 100 milers. Kerry is noted for refusing to sit during a run on the unassailable logic that "No one ever finished a 100 miler sitting down." Kerry lives in the District of Columbia and is an attorney, though she probably wouldn't want us to say that. Actually, she is far too calm and reasonable to be a real attorney. Kerry served two terms on the Board starting in 2006.
• Chris Scott--Emeritus: Chris was there at the conception of the VHTRC. Just about every crazy thing about the club is Chris's fault. Chris was the major creator of the Bull Run Run and was its first RD. He was the first president of the club. He wrote the club's first bylaws and was on the original "Bored." Chris was a member of the first elected Board. He has moved to California where he continues to put on innovative running events on dirt.

Old Guys -- Chris, Joe, and Anstr

Our Theme Song

Our theme song is "Happy Trails," which was written by Dale Evans. We usually only sing the first part because no one knows all of the lyrics. We are sad that Roy and Dale are no longer with us. Dale Evans and Roy Rogers Web site | Listen to Happy Trails! | Lyrics [off site link]

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