The New England Walkers began making plans for hosting the 2018 national 5K championship during the club’s annual meeting Dec.16 at MIT.

Members also discussed improving their outreach to racewalkers, outlined the Grand Prix schedule for the coming year, and reelected a slate of officers.

Club president Ed O’Rourke listed three prospective sites for the June 10 national 5K event: East Boston Memorial Park, which was the location for the 2011 USA-Canada Junior Racewalking Match; the Staples headquarters in Framingham; and the New Balance headquarters at Boston Landing. Ed characterized the New Balance location as potentially the most attractive option, with the availability of the new Bruins facility for showering and post-race festivities and the possibility of New Balance sponsorship. Conducting the event will cost  $2,300.

A prospective NB sponsorship is complicated by the fact that another shoe company, Nike, is the sponsor for USA Track & Field. Ed is querying Nike to see if it would allow NB sponsorship of our event; once that issue is resolved, Ed wants to pursue holding our race at Boston Landing. The race could be something of a test run for NB, which he said is excited about having frequent sports activity at its burgeoning campus.

The event could involve separating faster and slower walkers and conducting two races. This would prevent congestion on the course and make lap-counting easier for volunteers. Ed said he was confident that we could furnish enough volunteers to handle lap-counting, water stations, registration and other tasks. We would call on club members, family, friends, and perhaps members of the Waltham Track Club and other organizations we are involved with.

Members talked of finding a sponsor, perhaps a local restaurant, for a post-race buffet, and of approaching the WCVB-TV program “Chronicle” about doing a story beforehand.

On the matter of communicating, members saw a need for making our Facebook page more interactive, for sending notifications of events, and for improving the racewalking component of the USATFNE website.

Ed raised the matter of supporting athletes by paying for their travel and perhaps even offering per diem expenses when they compete nationally. He said he will try to draft a list of criteria for such support, including the walkers’ times and rankings. When asked whether the offer should be extended to anyone, regardless of past performance, he and others said that setting goals and strive for such sponsorship would be good for the athletes’ development.

Rich McElvery listed these events for the 2018 Grand Prix:
That day’s Tom Knatt Indoor Mile at MIT
Dartmouth Relays, Jan. 5-7
Greater Boston Track Club 3K, Harvard U., Jan. 21
East Region/NE Masters 3K, Providence, Jan. 28
NE Indoor 3K, Harvard, Feb. 18
Seacoast 5K, Portsmouth NH, May
National 5K, hosted by NEW, June 10
Bay State Games 3K, July
NE Outdoor 3K, July
An 8K and perhaps a 20K, Groton rail trail, September
Connecticut Racewalkers 10K, November

Club members reelected their five officers:
Ed O’Rourke, president; Rich McElvery, vice president; Ed Vaitones, member art large; Justin Kuo, treasurer; Charlie Mansbach, recording secretary.

Attending the meeting, conducted in a first-floor lounge area of the MIT athletic building where the Tom Knatt mile was held shortly afterward, were Ed O’Rourke, Rich McElvery, Ed, Val, and Vera Vaitones, Tom Knatt himself, Bob and Hilary Keating, Maegan Allen, Melissa Monaghan, Sophie and Michael Riegel, and Charlie Mansbach.

— CHARLIE MANSBACH

The New England Walkers discussed the possibility of hosting a national championship in 2017, with an emphasis on attracting young walkers, during their annual meeting Oct. 16 in Groton, MA.

Members talked of conducting a two-day racewalking festival, perhaps with a clinic the first day and a race the following day. Devens in Massachusetts was mentioned as a possible location. The major questions were whether we can assure our local USATF representatives that we can provide sufficient help and support for such an event and whether we can attract enough participants.

October was mentioned as an ideal time of year for a race, but Ed Vaitones pointed out that the difficulties of attracting young athletes during the cross-country season and said that the first two weeks of June would be preferable. Members discussed how to reach members of youth track clubs; Ed proposed putting something in writing that Steve Vaitones can give to the youth coaches he deals with.

Ed O’Rourke said he hopes to resume conference calls among members to pursue these matters further.

Ed also said the club should order more shirts to give to new walkers.

Bill Harriman said he was uncertain if he and Joanne would continue to host the 8K race in Pepperell. If they do, they will shift the race to early October.

The club re-elected its slate of officers: Ed O’Rourke, president; Rich McElvery, vice president; Justin Kuo, treasurer; Ed Vaitones, member at large; Charlie Mansbach, recording secretary.

Present at the meeting were Ed O’Rourke, Ann Neuburg, Brian Savilonis, Annie Montgomery, Tom Knatt,  Rich McElvery, Val Vaitones, Ed Vaitones, Maegan Allen, Joanne and Bill Harriman, and Charlie Mansbach.

Minutes of the New England Walkers Annual Meeting
Sunday, October 13, 2012
Groton MA

New England Walkers members pledged support for the 2013 US-Canada Junior Racewalking meet, reelected officers, and heard a request for a new president to come forward next year during the club’s annual meeting Oct. 14.

Members reelected Tom Knatt as president, Ed O’Rourke as vice president, Justin Kuo as treasurer, Brian Savilonis as member at large and Charlie Mansbach as recording secretary. Upon reelection, Tom said his tenure as president has now reached 31 years and he would like someone else to step into the role a year from now.

Steve Vaitones furnished details of the US-Canada races, which will be held in late July or early August at the same East Boston site that was used for the 2011 event. The meet will mark the 25th anniversary of the series and may be broadened to include participants from other nations. He asked that NEW members help organize, promote, and conduct the races and take part in an all-comers race. Club members voted to set aside $500 to support the match.

Members also voted to allocate $200 to streamline and personalize the Jeff Salvage racewalking flier, adding information about our club and distributing it at races.

Steve, Ed, and Brian talked about updating our newalkers.com  website and our NEwalkers page on Facebook and asked that members offer thoughts on what is most needed to make the sites more effective. Bill said he would post information on upcoming races.

Charlie raised the question of whether to change our Grand Prix, which has grown to include more than a dozen events, most of them short, without creating a discernible increase in participation. Steve suggested an alternative of setting up a shorter series of races for walkers to complete during the year — perhaps a 3K, 5K, 8K and 10K.  Members’ thoughts are invited.

Steve told the gathering that the One-Hour National Championships will be moved to the spring next year — somewhere between late April and the end of May — because the national calendar is being revamped. The location is uncertain; if the Bentley track is unavailable, we will look elsewhere.

Those attending the meeting were Tom Knatt, Annie Montgomery, Bob and Hilary Keating, Bill and Joanne Harriman, Brian Savilonis and Ann Neuburg, Steve Vaitones, Ed O’Rourke, Bob Ullman and Charlie Mansbach. The meeting was held at Ed’s house in Groton, MA, preceded by the traditional untimed and unmeasured walks of the Groton rail trail and the traditional potluck lunch.

Charlie Mansbach

Ed O’Rourke is now the New England Walkers Vice President.