Well, to my unbelievable dismay, during my Presidency this blog has gone completely unmanaged. I want to apologize for the lack of content that has come along with this, but there is a new chapter ahead.
As many of you know, I have had the great honor of being the President of the Board of Directors for the Capital Striders for the past two years. I went into the "gig" with the thought that it would be a great way for me to build my leadership for my professional resume, meet some people and get some cool things done for our club. What I didn't realize when I took over, however, was the amazing things that I've been able to experience and the incredible people who have been on this ride with me.
During my time as President, sure, I made some mistakes. I've said some things that have hurt some people. I've made some decisions that may not have made me the most popular. I've taken some risks when putting on races that made my fellow board members question my sanity, but during all of that my main focus was on YOU. The members of the club. The people that faithfully put your hard earned money into our races and into the community. My main focus has always been the ways in which we can make the club valuable to you and valuable to our community. I have put a lot of time and energy into taking the club in the direction of inclusion of all of our Central Iowa running community and having the best damned time possible.
I've missed out on a ton of sleep with anxiety. I've missed a lot of events with my kids because I was doing club stuff. During certain times of the year I drank too much beer because of the stress. I've messed up scheduling a ton of meetings (the board members know what I'm talking about). I've typed nearly 10,000 emails to race participants, sponsors, financial institutions, insurance companies, portable toilet businesses and to my board members. There has been an amazing amount of stress that came with the title and I've been asked if I would do it again. I can honestly say that because of what we've been able to accomplish as a part of this board, I would say....ABSOLUTELY YES!!!
While I am not stepping away from the board, I was voted on for an additional 2 years at the annual dinner, I will be taking a step back from the duties that I did have. As my family is expanding to a 6th member, it is time for me to focus my energy on my family, my training and my goals. I refuse though to let go of my passion to take the club to the next level and make our club the best in the country and will work with the incoming directors to do so.
I want to thank all of the members of the board that I've been lucky to share my Presidency with. I am humbled by all of your desire to make the club great. I know that I've said this before to all of you, but you are the most amazing people in this crazy sport and your love for people is unparalleled. I have nothing but the most respect and love for all of you.
Personally, I want to give a huge thank you to Mike McGinn who just finished up his 6th year on the board. Mike has been my cornerstone for the past 24 months when it comes to club stuff. Never one to shy away from telling me that I'm being an idiot. Never one to ignore a frantic phone call or text message. I have a lot of love and respect for this guy and he has been an absolute blessing for me and to this club for the last 6 years.
Lastly, I want to thank all of you for everything that you've given to me for the past 2 years. It has been a blessing from God for me to have done the things I've done and experienced the highs and lows of having been YOUR president. You have been so accepting of me as a person and as a leader. For someone who has failed and gotten back up so many times in my life, this past 2 years has been incredible. I love you all!!!!
While I am sad to leave some of the responsibilities, I must say that I couldn't be more happy than handing the baton to Brian. He has such an spectacular heart for people and his ideas for the direction of this club are incredible. He has said that he has big shoes to fill following me (which I do have incredibly big feet) but honestly I've just had the pleasure of preparing the club for him and the amazing things that he is going to accomplish. You guys are in for a wild ride with him :)
Signing off for my last "Presidential Corner", as I always say:
Stay Strong, Run Long,
Brad
