Chairman’s End of Year Message by Russell Mackintosh
We are almost at the end of a busy year for our club, and the new committee has almost completed its first quarter at the helm. The new members to the committee have brought a great energy, and there are some exciting new developments to report on.
In November we were extremely excited to be able to announce that Timbercity have come on board as the title sponsor for FHAC’s flagship event – the Red Hill Marathon and 36km Classic. Thanks must go to Tommy Ball for his persistence and hard work in the background that led to this sponsorship becoming a reality.
As a club we will need to have all hands on deck to ensure that next year’s Red Hill Marathon (to be held on Saturday, 27th January 2024) is the best one yet! Zeta Booysen, our Race Director, requires over 300 volunteers on the day, so I encourage all of our members to assist on race day and make it a memorable event.
Those of you who have recently visited the clubhouse will have noticed the renovation to our braai room. The changes have opened up a fantastic space for socializing, and the new braai design is a vast improvement on the previous iteration which used to fill the clubhouse with smoke. Thanks must go to our Clubhouse Manager, Andre Blom, for coordinating the project, and to Freddie Webb, who was responsible for the building work. Also, a big thank you to Grant Oliver for assisting with the ceiling repairs.
Another exciting new initiative for those of you who like to go long is the new Long Distance Incentive challenge for 2024, and this will go hand-in-hand with the existing Short Course Incentive to ensure every member has the opportunity to challenge themselves at their preferred distances.
The New Year is also the time for renewing club memberships, and I encourage you to do this as early as possible. Please look out for the regular communications from Shirley Smith, our Membership Secretary, with regards to the membership renewal process.
You may also have noticed an increase in content and engagements on our FHAC social media platforms, and this is due to the efforts of our Marketing and Social Media team of Vi Rossouw and Heather Mae Lawson. Please assist them wherever you can by sending them your pics, race reports and content around club events.
I’d like to sign off by wishing all our members a peaceful and blessed Festive Season and may your 2024 be filled with fitness and the joy of running.
