At its February 15th meeting, the Taconic Road Runners selected a new board of directors to work on its behalf for a two-year term that will take our special organization well into its fifth decade. Several on the new Board are continuing in their previous positions: Joe Porcaro (Treasurer), Nancy Young (Secretary), Chris Irwin (Membership). Greg Diamond will take over the important Race Coordinator’s position, and Doug Rose moves into the President’s role. We are pleased to announce two new members to the Board: Steve Welcome (Vice President) and Chad Collesian (Equipment Manager).
We want to thank three members of the previous Board for their contributions to the club: John Hallinan, who has contributed to the club in so many ways over the years (including as club president), served most recently as our Race Coordinator; and Erin McNally, the club’s Equipment Manager and an important recent voice on the Board.
Of course, Tom Maile retires as one of the club’s longest serving presidents. First a club member in the early 1990’s, Tom was elected President for the first of his six terms in 2004. A six-time (and counting) New York Road Runner Runner of the Year, Tom has led the club, both locally and as our NYRR council representative, with wisdom, grace and warmth. Happily, Tom will continue as our representative to the NYRR club council, as well as offer us the benefit of his experience as past-president.
As a board, we remain committed to the club’s traditional core values and areas of emphasis: we provide opportunities for members to join together in runs both informal and more structured, and we participate in races both locally, as a New York Road Runner member club, and beyond. From the club’s first years, the membership has worked tirelessly to provide the region with classic, well-organized races of the highest quality. We are committed to supporting the growth of the sport, especially among young people, and have a long history of service in the community.
At the same time, we recognize that today’s running landscape does not look the same as it did in 1976, when the club was founded. We welcome runners and aspiring runners of all experience levels and many different goals. We welcome new members and new ideas as we move ever closer to our golden anniversary. We encourage you to continue to join us in looking for ways to support, as well as benefit from, this important work. What hasn’t changed, and what we are always grateful for, is how this club continues to bring us together.
Thanks,
Doug Rose
It has been one of my great pleasures to be a member of the Taconic family. I’ve enjoyed so many friendships and have so many great memories. And I look to have many, many more. It’s been especially rewarding to have been the president of the club off and on since 2004. I’ve seen a lot of change over those years as the club has adjusted to new demographics and upgrades in running products. venues and technologies. We are coming out of the pandemic to a new normal which will be challenging but I’m sure this new Board has the right mix of experience, energy and innovative ideas to guide the club forward.
Doug Rose is a great choice for our new president. He is a long time runner, member and volunteer. As a recently retired educator and coach of the Scarsdale High School running teams, he has been immersed in the lower Hudson Valley running community for a long time. And the rest of the board has the experience, enthusiasm and dedication to move the club forward in this ever more fluid running environment. I look forward to watching their success and, like you, benefiting from it. I’ll continue to be active with the club continuing on as our representative to the NYRR, focusing on member issues and especially club team racing, my particular niche interest, where Taconic runners and teams have been so successful in the past.
So, congratulations to the new Board. We are in good hands!
Tom Maile