PA/USATF LDR Committee Meeting Minutes for September 18, 2005
Submitted by Linda M. Hall

Members in attendance were: Tyler Abbott (Excelsior), Pontus Ahlstrom (West Valley Track Club), David Ahn (Aggies), Susan Beck (Iguanas), Tom Bernhard (Excelsior), Martha Chase (Impalas), Tony Coffey (Aggies), Tim Geraghty (Excelsior), Jim Gorman (Excelsior), Linda M. Hall (Buffalo Chips), Hollis Lenderking (BAUR), Dan Preston (Empire), Kim Rupert (WVTC), Cheryl Shue (Impalas), Lloyd Stephenson (Excelsior), Thom Trimble (Pacific Striders), Mark Winitz (WVJS).
The meeting was called to order in Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park at 10:12 am by Committee Chair Tyler Abbott.

The minutes from the previous meeting following Zippy race in May were unanimously approved.

The attendance list from the meeting following the Across the Bay race in March was also unanimously approved.

SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS: Ultra: Hollis Lenderking reported that the 50K Marin Headlands race was very successful. The top two finishers were from Boulder CO. The first PA finishers was 4th. A woman from Alaska won the women's division. Buffalo Chips won in the women's team division.

Cross Country: No report

Sponsorship/Fundraising: No report.

The LDR committee chairs were announced with Julie Fingar for Women's LDR, Tyler Abbott for Men's LDR, and Lloyd Stephenson for Masters' LDR.

LDR Secretary: Linda Hall will continue as secretary with Lloyd Stephenson and Kristian Petersen as back ups. Draft minutes will be submitted to Tyler Abbott and Lloyd Stephenson for corrections prior to distribution to the full committee for review.

BANQUET UPDATE: Impalas are starting the planning. Bay Area Ultra Runners reported a $250 surplus [due to one very generous donation], which they offered to roll over to the Impalas for next year's banquet.

BUDGET UPDATE: Tyler Abbott informed the committee that the LDR portions of the budget were passed as requested, essentially the same amounts as the 2005 budget. He also reminded the group that much of the budget is generated from road race sanctions.

RULES CHANGES
Proposal (Stephenson) to limit the cross country grand prix to no more than 9 races plus the championships (10 total) passed unanimously.

Proposal (Stephenson) to limit each sponsor/promoter to no more than one race in the cross country grand prix, unless there are fewer than eight acceptable bids, excepting the championship, passed 8 to 1.

Proposal (Stephenson) to amend XC Rule 7 to increase the minimum prize funds postponed again to the next meeting (pending a review of possible amendments to the motion).

Proposals LS-1 to LS-VI (Appendix A) were referred by unanimous vote to the LDR Executive Committee.

NEW BUSINESS:
2006 Road Grand Prix Schedule: A tentative list for the 2006 LDR Road Championship Grand Prix bids was distributed and discussed. The races under consideration (with dates, prize money and points) are listed below. Three races not on the 2005 circuit bid: March 12 which will bid in all age divisions; April 23; and Nov 23. The details of the prize money for the Nov 23 race (including money for teams, etc) are still being discussed to make certain prize money will go to PA/USATF. The race is being managed by Andy Robles. Cal 10 and the Big Sur 5k did not bid.

Tentative List of LDR Grand Prix Bids
Date Race & Distance Prize Points
March 4 NorCal 10 mile 2600 1.0
March 12 FiftyPlus 8k 2600 1.0
March 19 Emerald Nuts 12k 4650 1.5
April 9 HP 10 K 5700 2.0
April/May LSI Logic 5 or 10 k 5200 2.0
May 13 Zippy 5k 2600 1.0
May 29 Pacific Sun 10k 2600 1.0
June 24 Shriners 8k 2600 1.0
July 9 Fleet Feet Mile 2600 1.0
Sept 18 Jamba Juice 5k 5500 2.0
Sept 24 Heritage Oaks 10k ?? ??
Oct 15 Humboldt Half 2600 1.5
Nov 12 Clarksburg 2700 2.0
Nov 23 Appd Matls 5k 9000? ??
?? CIM ?? ??
Dec 17 Relays 2600 ??

Approved Races for 2006: The new rules for the 2006 Grand Prix Road Race Series require that there be no more than 14 races plus a relay in the series. In keeping with these guidelines, a motion was made and unanimously approved to accept all the races listed above except LSI Logic and Applied Materials 5K, assuming that CIM makes a bid [CIM date is 12/3/2005].

A motion was made and approved unanimously to accept the LSI Logic race, provided it is the 5K and the date is April 23.

Another motion was made and unanimously approved to allow Heritage Oaks to be a single point race for open and masters or a double point for masters only or a double point for all categories as the race director chooses.

A motion was made, seconded, and unanimously approved to make Heritage Oaks 10 part of the „Long‰ series so that there will be 6 races in the long (NorCal10, Emerald Nuts, Heritage Oaks 10k, Humboldt Half, Clarksburg, and CIM) with the remaining 8 being in the short series.

Road Runner Center Record Keeping: The failure of race directors to submit results in a timely fashion was discussed as a chronic problem. This submission is needed for validation if records are set. As of this meeting, only Cal10 and Shriners 8k have submitted the 2005 results. It is the responsibility of the Race Director to see that the paperwork is submitted. Often the Race Director will delegate this responsibility to the timing company. Referees should remind the Directors of this requirement. The usual time frame for submission is 30 days following the race. Mark Winitz made a motion to require races to turn in all paperwork and results RRIC by the end of the year for 2005 only. Beginning in 2006, the 30 day rule will be enforced. This motion was amended as follows. For all races that occur prior to August 15, 2006, if the paperwork is not received by September 15, their Grand Prix bids for the following year will not be accepted. For races that occur after August 15th, 2006 if their paperwork is not received by December 31 of that year, their Grand Prix bid will be revoked. The motion and the amendment were passed unanimously.

Scoring Appeals: Three scoring appeals were discussed and it was recognized that there had been repeated web site problems with the submissions. The site is set up so that the scorer should get an email confirmation. It was emphasized that this confirmation is important. It is the responsibility of the scorer to follow through on this. The email confirmation should be saved until after the posting and the teams confirm the accuracy of the scoring. A motion was made that teams be required to keep these emails if they want an appeal to be considered. This motion was postponed automatically to the next meeting. It was suggested that in addition to the web site submission, as a back up, the scorers should submit the score sheets manually to Tom or Dan directly with a read receipt added to the message to make certain it was received.

Aggies‚s scoring appeal at the Mile was unanimously approved. Wolfpack‚s scoring appeal at Santa Cruz was unanimously approved. WVTC's scoring appeal at Garin Park was unanimously approved.

APPEALS: In order to deal with protests in a timely fashion, the commitee was reminded that the LDR Executive Committee can settle these protests by email.

RATING SHEET: Mark Winitz proposed making a rating sheet for feedback from the races suggesting this will be a valuable tool for all clubs. It was suggested that the Grand Prix coordinator would take charge of collecting and summarizing these data. Mark will work with Doug to develop a full questionnaire.

RACE DIRECTOR RECOGNITION AWARD: MarkWinitz made a motion which was seconded and unanimously approved to give an award for Race Director at the banquet. It was stipulated that to be eligible for this award, the director must have submitted all paperwork and for RRIC in a timely fashion by the set deadlines.

FOLSOM/SHORELINE POINTS: A question was raised about the listed points for cross country races Folsom (1.5) and Shoreline (1.0) for 2005. Last year the points were reversed. In the absence of the Cross Country Chair, Dave Ahn will check with the . It was motioned, seconded and unanimously approved to allow a change to be made if these were originally listed incorrectly.

The next meeting will follow the Clarksburg 30k on November 13, 2005.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:42 am.
_____ APPENDIX A: RULES CHANGES/LDR GUIDE HOUSEKEEPING

The following suggested rules changes/LDR Guide housekeeping were all proposed by Lloyd Stephenson. Those that are not truly rules changes but just involve the proper implementation of previously-approved changes and policies may be voted on at this meeting, whereas proper rules changes would normally be proposed here and voted on at the next meeting. References to „parts‰ are to the appendix to this agenda.

Motion LS-I: Approve from part A the suggested corrections to these sections: Introduction, 1.1b, 1.1c, 4.1, 7.3 (with eligible replacing invited), 9.3, 10.2, 11.1, 12.2b, 13.2a, 13.2g, 13.2h, 14.5, 15.1, 15.2, 16.1, 17.1, 18.3, 18.4, 18.5.

Motion LS-II. Approve part C, which is all changes to the LDR Guide approved since January 2003, excluding changes reported from the May 2005 LDR meeting. (This includes changes to sections 14.3, 9.4, 15.2, 16.1, 16.4, 3.6, 3.7 ; and new sections 3.8, 11.4, 13.2a, 22.2, 14.3a, 16.5.)

Motion LS-III. Approve the balance of part C, limited to a listing of LDR Guide changes apparently approved in May 2005.

Motion LS-IV. Any proposed change or addition to this Guide shall specify by number which section it affects, or suggest a new section number. New Section 22.3.

Motion LS-V. This leaves part A sections 3.1 through 3.4, 4.4, 9.4, 10.3, 11.3, and 22.1, where I pose questions about intent, meaning, implementation, or effect. These can be approached as the Chair sees fit, probably one at a time. None are urgent, yet I feel some should see action this fall: 9.4, 10.3, and especially 11.3.

Motion LS-VI. Approve part B, which deals with the grand prix race contract.