VHTRC Board Candidate Statement of Anstr Davidson
I have been involved with the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club since its formation 18 years ago. It is my goal to help move the club forward while adhering to the principles that have made the VHTRC unique.
The VHTRC presents challenges similar to other aspects of life -- finding the happy middle between competing values. The biggest conflict is between our low-key, casual approach and our commitment to have quality events. We don’t do poorly managed things. But we don’t forget to have fun. We can do both those things.
The biggest challenge for the new board will be to continue the collaborative management of club activities. That was easier in the old days since we could all discuss things as we ran together. That is no longer true.
But the board needs to find a way to continue collaboration while still giving those who actually do the work, like the RDs, the autonomy that they need. As an RD myself, I don’t love oversight. But I don’t believe that I should make important decisions without review. It’s not “my” club. It is ours.
A good example of the value of collaboration is the new entry system for MMT. We were faced with a horrible problem two years ago. How do we address the popularity of MMT? How can we reduce the stress of entry? We came up with a good system. That system was not the creation of one person. Several had very important input and tweaks. A system designed by one person would not have been as good as what we came up with. Perhaps more importantly, a system decreed by only one person would not have been accepted by the runners as this one was.
What is now the "VHTRC entry process" demonstrates another important aspect of the club. It is unique. We looked at other solutions to this problem and borrowed a bit, but we copied no one. As we address new challenges, we should look for unique solutions that no one else has tried.
All versions of the elected version of the board have sought to decide issues by consensus. The current board had many spirited discussions, and we often did not agree at the beginning of a discussion. But we usually ended up with results we could all support. There were few, if any, votes.
The board is both a legislative and executive body. It must implement what it decrees. A lack of consensus will not help with implementation.
That said, the reason we have an elected board is that we had no way to move forward without consensus. Now we do. There are, intentionally, an odd number of board members. If the board can’t get consensus, then three members can move us forward.
I should end with two points. I have very strong views that this club should be independent and non-commercial. I am not a fan of sponsors or their logos. We have had sponsors, but in the entire history of the club, no sponsor has been as important to us as any of our volunteers. We would be about the same today without all of the sponsors we have had. We would be nowhere without our volunteers.
The goal of the club is not to maximize profit. The goal is to promote trail running as a fun pastime and put on runner-friendly events. There are many trail events now where the entry fees are going into someone’s pocket. There is nothing wrong with that if that someone puts on a good event. But that is not our way. We are like public broadcasting. You can have both PBS and NBC. But the two are not alike and have different guiding principles. We are PBS, not NBC.
Second, I am sure that all the apparent new board members are aware that they are not “diverse.” That is not their fault. They ran for the board and can’t be blamed for who didn’t. But the board will have a special responsibility to guide the club in a way that is good for all the active members. We need to remember that there are over 400 members of the club. We don’t owe much to those who never come out but we do need to be sure that anyone who wants to run on a trail has a place in this club.
Finally, a big thank you to Kerry, Mike, and Carolyn for their service on the board. They all worked hard. They have all said, in one way or the other that they are not going away. Hopefully, the club will continue to profit from their contributions in the future.
Happy Trails!
