A group of eight Guelph Victors met on Tuesday Feb. 7, to discuss the future direction and leadership of our running club. The Victors have never had a shared leadership, so this was a first! The group included eight runners who have voiced interest in the club since John Marsden stepped down last November. It includes: (front) Brad Morley, David Brooks, (back) Mary Catherine Stewart, Art Kilgour, Kelly Rupoli, Wendy Greenfield, Michelle Brady, Luke Hohenadel. The new Victors Leadership Committee discussed:

• setting up a new club bank account
• a division of tasks for the new committee
• the current indoor track workouts, including coaching and facility rental
• tentative plans the coming outdoor season
• Guelph Victors membership and fees
• a new order of racing singlets, and possibly other club apparel
• creating a new Victors website that provides better information for new members

The committee will meet again in March, to finalize plans for the outdoor season. Feel free to contact any of these people in person if you have any suggestions or feedback, or you can send an email to this address Guelph Victors.

Indoor track workouts start this Thursday, Jan. 12 at 7 pm and continue for 10 weeks. Location is the University of Guelph Field House, just behind the athletic centre. Park on Powerhouse lane by the stadium (where we run in the summer) and walk just down the lane to the field house. Register by clicking the button; it will take you to Race Roster, where you can set up an account and pay online. (Once you’ve set up a Race Roster account, you can use it to pay all future Guelph Victors fees. You may already have a Race Roster account if you registered for local races in the last two years.) Watch this little video to see what an indoor workout looks like!

This Tuesday: Instead of doing our usual route through the Old University neighbourhood this coming Tuesday night, we’re suggesting a social run through the Christmas display at Sparkles in the Park, in the north end of the city. Dress festive! And also wear reflectors, headlamps or safety lights, because some of the run will be in darker areas. We’ll do the 4 km or so up to the park as a warmup, take in the lights, then finish with a tempo run back to the store. The run will be 8 km in total.

We applauded some outstanding 2016 Victors at our annual, informal awards dinner on November 8. Here are the major winners:

• The Usher Award (for outstanding race performance): Elizabeth Waywell and Rita Teeter (shared)
• The Vic Matthews Award (for service to the club): Wendy Greenfield
• The Poluzny Award (for grit and determination): Gabriela Mintis
• The Roger Bannister Award (for community service): Sharon Brenner / Run for Change
• The Multisport Award (for outstanding triathlete): Chris Shaw
• Sock Awards: for various accomplishments and recognition – Louise Boulay, Yadhira Lopez, Robin Todd, Karl Cottenie, Ed Ross, Mary Catherine Stewart, Michelle Brady, Cara Kasdorf, William Smith, Deb Powell, Shawn Gillian, Christoph Kessel