Bylaws and Info
“Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts.”
- Steve Prefontaine
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): Get as many Coast Guard employees as possible running and competing under the Coast Guard banner.
BASIC INFO: US Coast Guard Running Club (USCGRC) was established to organize the network of runners within the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard is keenly situated with dense populations in some of the countries best running cities, like San Francisco (Bay Area), Seattle, Washington DC and more. The club endeavors to raise the awareness of Coast Guard athletes (with a focus on runners) within our service, amongst the other services and in the public. All members of the Coast Guard family (Active duty, Retired, Reserve, Civilian, and Auxiliary) as well as their dependants and friends of the Coast Guard (with qualifying sponsor) are welcome to join.
ORGANIZATION:
The National Club is currently headquartered in Alameda, California and coexists as the Greater Golden Gate Chapter. The national club functions are carried out by the President and other elected officers. National Officers are elected by the club membership. The office of President must run on the ballot with selected Vice President, Chief Operations Officer, and Treasurer as a group. This ensures there is a team of dedicated individuals ready to take on the future of the club operations. The headquarters will move to the area of the newly elected team.
The Chief Operations Officer organizes the network of District Representatives who act as liasons to the runners that are not part of dedicated chapters. District Reps are considered part of the Executive Board.
Chapters are established only where there is a dense enough population to have a local “club” of their own. To this end, Chapters have their own elected officers, may maintain bank accounts, and are eligible for distributions from the national level if the club finds itself in a financial position to do so. Chapter heads are considered part of the Executive Board.
The Executive Board consists of all National Club Officers, Chapter Chairs, and District Representatives.
EVENTS: The club participates in a variety of team events including PAUSATF Cross Country Grand Prix, Christmas Relays, The Relay, Tahoe Relay and more. Often the club competes in the military or law enforcement or corporate division if available, whereas the teams are limited to USCG employees only.
STATUS AND GOALS: De facto running club’s exist throughout the Coast Guard and have for many years – formally organizing them is a new idea, and getting our processes and procedures down is one of our main goals. Ensuring we are a legitimate entity in the eyes of the USCG and public is also a priority. In that vain we are in our second year as an RRCA affiliate club and a registered non-profit.
We have compiled a good list of races hosted by the Coast Guard, but we need everyones help folding these in to the CGRC network. Many races don’t have a website, lack information. By networking race directors for these events, helping them build out online registration and websites, and working with RRCA state representatives we can boost attendance, make a better event, and raise more money for the great causes these races stand for. As we establish a few key races for the club, we’ll be able to use the funds generated to sponsor our athletes in events – working towards our goal of more CG runners in teh community doing what we do best – running.
In time, with the club well established, personnel rotating into an area or travelling TAD can easily find other runners and training groups as well as organize teams for events. With a streamlined organization the club will continue even as the officers consistently turnover as well as members transfer into and out of the area. Events we participate in as a team will become easier to organize, utilizing lessons learned from all the groups in the past. (Updated 4 Feb 2011)
MEMBERSHIP: In line with the club’s mission, membership dues will be used to keep high quality Coast Guard running apparel available, maintain the clubs non-profit status and RRCA membership, and to promote running within the service.
Funding will go to the following:
- Uniforms and Merchandise – Keeping high quality CG running apparel in stock available to members.
- RRCA Club registration and non-profit status – giving us liability coverage for our directors and events as well as access to RRCA resources
- Funding club member participation in events. This is a long term objective.
- Maintaining club admin – Website fees, mailings etc.
