VHTRC Board Candidate Statement of Alan Gowen

It’s sort of like Lance riding into Paris for the seventh time. Wearing a clown suit. The absolute best making it appear to be a three ring circus.

I want to hang out with guys like that. That’s why I joined VHTRC. I was willing to take the risk that Anstr would indeed use my dues to buy beer.

Zany. Madcap. Antics. It’s a tightrope upon which VHTRC has balanced for many years. I want to continue this proud tradition while at the same time formulating a clear direction for the future and acting upon that vision to guarantee the club continues to evolve in a way that is faithful to its past while at the same time embracing new ideas.

There are very few things I would want to change about the club. I see myself instead working to insure that we continue to walk that very fine line between outstanding and mediocre. Once we succumb to the belief that we always have and therefore always will put on outstanding events in an exceptional manner, it takes increasing diligence to assure complacency doesn’t betray our ideals.

As a board member, I don’t want to work to make VHTRC the best club anywhere or anything like that. What I do want is to work to insure that the club is an accurate reflection not of what the board of directors decrees, but rather of what its diverse membership desires.

What the club is though, is what it actually does, and I will work to ensure that the decisions of the board actually become reality. I enjoy discussing differing points of view as a means of driving the discussion forward in an even handed fashion and feel I can be an asset to the club in this capacity.

For many years I have enjoyed taking part in club events and activities. And although I’ve never been a fast runner I don’t yet need to worry about cutoffs. At this point in my running career I’ve never dnf’d, and I seem to have this dogged ability to always find the finish line. An attribute that has served me well in all facets of my life. I am therefore determined to find out once and for all what in fact Anstr did with my dues. I hope he bought beer.

As I do with most things of importance in my life, at some point I feel the need to step up and take some ownership of that which affects me. This is one of those times.