Message from the President

CARLA MIRAGLIOTTA

I'm excited to address you as your newest elected President of The NY Flyers! First, I want to thank you for your support and votes -- even though I know choices were limited (to just me, haha!😉). I am honored to serve as president of this special club!

As we embark on this journey together, I believe it's essential to articulate our shared goals.  I welcome everyone’s thoughts and ideas, so please know that I’m just an email away!  Our club stands on the pillars of community, camaraderie, and a passion for running. It's our collective mission to not only sustain but also enhance these values as we move forward. 

The 2024 Executive Board: 

President Carla Miragliotta

Vice President Kristin Siegle

Treasurer Neil Tipograph

Secretary Chris Long

Member-At-Large Lis Shlanksy 

Together, we have many goals, but here are our top three goals for 2024: 

I. EXPAND MEMBERSHIP 

One of our objectives is to continue expanding our membership to runners of all ages.  We would like to attract younger runners while we continue to include runners of all abilities.  One thing that makes the NY Flyers so wonderful is the club is warm and welcoming to all!  We are indeed the city’s friendliest running club!  But truth be told, we need to bring in some younger generations so we can sustain our club for many decades to come. 

The EB conducted some informal research and learned that many NYC running clubs use Heylo as their preferred platform to advertise and manage their events. Heylo is a community management platform, available as an app and through the Heylo website.

   

In an effort to stay with the times, we currently are exploring use of the NY Flyers Heylo Account to gradually start promoting various group runs and events.  Check out Heylo HERE.   

By showcasing our activities to non-Flyers, we aim to attract new members who share our love for running and community. Meanwhile, Flyers can continue to view upcoming runs and events by looking at the Flyers website, and members also have access to our Flyers Facebook and Flyers Instagram account.

II. INCREASE MEMBER ENGAGEMENT

Our club isn't just about running; it's about developing meaningful connections. That's why we're committed to engaging our members in shaping the future of our club. We encourage all Flyers to participate in conversations about group runs and events, ensuring that everyone's ideas and perspectives are heard and valued. For example, in April’s newsletter, and moving forward there is a form that people can use to provide details of a run they may want to bring to the group. 

We will continue to ask for member support in planning and staffing the Flyers many group runs and special events, and the goal is to delegate and share responsibility with our many very active club members. When we have events, we will post a sign-up sheet for people to join in planning and volunteering at runs and events. We hope that this will increase the amount of members involved in planning events as we move forward. For example, for the upcoming Three Bridges Run, we hope to have a meeting with the pacers -- and we also have two people in mind to run that meeting (you know who you are 😊). Hopefully this delegation will allow for members' ideas to be heard and to continue to keep such a large club organized. 

While we are always excited to hear new voices, we are continuing on with traditions. The DEBs’ Bookclub spearheaded by Deb Saat and Debi Unger  📚 📕 continues to thrive including by Zooming-in authors from all over the country when they can’t come in person. 

OLYMPIAN & AUTHOR BILL RODGERS ON ZOOM AT THE
JANUARY 2024 FLYERS BOOK CLUB

Some members requested to bring back the The Palisades Run -- an extremely popular NY Flyers run for three decades that had been put on hold due to damage along the route caused by Hurricane Ida. And on March 24th, about a dozen Flyers braved the hills on the Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge thanks to the planning efforts of Kristel McKanna and Guy Simoneau.

We are fortunate to have Bradford Goz as an active member of the club who continues to guide historical runs -- in February he led the Freedom Run on Feb 21st that explored the African American experience in New York and beyond. In March, Brad provided the Monumental Women Run in celebrating Women's History Month and showcasing the eight monuments to extraordinary women in NYC.

Back in January, Jeanhie Hahn scheduled a donut run to Peter Pan Donuts in Brooklyn 🍩. The weather didn’t cooperate but the good news about New York City is that there are donut places everywhere, so the group rerouted and the run still went on as scheduled. 😋

RUNNING FOR DONUTS!  🍩

We're also grateful for Franceso Presutti, Lisa Konorty and John Whitfield. They decided to bring back and co-lead the weekly Wednesday Hump Day 🐪 morning run at 6:14am. The run meets at Engineer’s Gate on 90th and Fifth and is another option for the club's early morning runners. 

These and many other events and group runs have been a mainstay of the Flyers and we are lucky to have members who are willing to continue with these traditions. I look forward to the many adventures that await us throughout 2024.

III. MAINTAIN FINANCIAL STABILITY

Financial stability is another cornerstone of our club's success. We will diligently review our expenses and resource allocation to ensure that our funds are used effectively. By identifying cost-effective solutions and exploring alternative products, we aim to maintain a healthy financial balance while maximizing the value we provide to our members.  Stay tuned for updates as they arise!

I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the Flyers Executive Board and Advisory Board members. Their guidance and support have been invaluable. 

I encourage all Flyers to join us at upcoming runs and social events. Please introduce yourself if we haven't met yet! It's our members - our warm, friendly, and inclusive environment that makes our club truly special. Thank you for entrusting me with the privilege of serving as your president.

Go Flyers!

Warm regards,

Carla Miragliotta

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It Takes a Village: Executive Board Report (Summer 2022)

Blogmasters' Note: 

Planning and implementing the broad array of Flyers events and services involves a tremendous amount of volunteer initiative, work, time, effort, selflessness, caring, and love. 💖  

Sometimes Flyers may feel disappointed or even tempted to complain when things may not go just right or how we might want. Yet we can feel much gratitude for what goes on behind the scenes, recognize the efforts of Flyers despite not done for the recognition, and for all of us to do what we can to volunteer and contribute (yes, contributing our positive energy and attitudes count! 💕) to help keep the Flyers running smoothly and happily 😊 -- Dave K and Melissa S

EXECUTIVE BOARD REPORT

BY JOHN McCREESH & DEBORAH SAAT

Return of Flyers Runs and Events After Covid Shutdown

As we returned to group runs after the COVID-19 shutdown, our goal as the Flyers Executive Board (EB) has been to bring back our pre-pandemic events, while we are continuously thinking about new and exciting future running routes and ideas.

In May 2021,  the prior EB organized our first post-pandemic Run To Little Red Lighthouse, complete with fluid station along the route to support the runners.  Our goal was to schedule one long training run each month, along with some “fun runs,” and some social activities.

In December 2021, with the help of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee the Flyers promoted an Extend Your Run Fam event in the Bronx with other running clubs.  Special thanks to Tim Decker, Bradford Goz (who did much of the legwork to make this event happen) and to Melida Barbosa, (for also helping to plan the run and for kindly handling bag collection and transport for all of the runners!).

We also hosted the Holiday Windows Run (led by Rachel Duncan) with post-run brunch, and the Dyker Lights Run -- organized and led by Kristel McKanna complete with mystery gift. 😃  

Holiday Windows Run

Dyker Lights Run

Melissa L's Sadie Dog Joined in the Fun!

For the Mystery Gift, Kristel made enough hats (see below) for her to gift them to all of the runners who joined the Dyker Holiday Lights Run. For this labor of love 💕 Kristel kindly bought the materials and enlisted her art students (she's a public school art teacher) and used a Cricut machine that enabled her to laser cut out the artistic design onto a vinyl iron on paper.

Mystery Gift -- Homemade with Love by Kristel 😍💕

To start off 2022, on a frigid January day of about 16 degrees, 16 hearty Flyers showed up for a 3-Bridges/3-Parks Run (designed and led by Jeanhie Hahn). And cold and windy conditions did not deter Flyers on February 5th from a Donut Run via the Queensborough Bridge over to Peter Pan Donuts in Brooklyn (also led by Jeanhie Hahn). The route included 3x over the Queensboro Bridge and 1x over the Pulaski in route to a finish line filled with donuts! 😋

In March 2022, we had hoped to have another run to Little Red Lighthouse but we were forced to cancel it due to 30 mph winds, sleet and snow. We rescheduled it for April and the weather was perfect for the 14-mile training run, complete with fluid/aid station thanks to the volunteer support provided by Ed Altman and Kin Ng. In May, we held a 3-Bridges Run (Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg) and on June 19^th, Brad Goz led a Juneteenth Run.  

At the Juneteenth Run, Flyers celebrated freedom and explored the African American history of New York from Columbus Circle to the Battery. No one got lost and two groups managed to arrive where needed at the same time. 😃

Brad noted after the run that:

"I believe the run gave everyone a deeper feel for the triumphs and tribulations of Blacks, free and enslaved over the past 400 years and gave us greater insights into the history of our city and the USA."

 

For the fall of 2021, Jo Rees came up with the great idea of leading a Dog Run. So far, we’ve had a fall and spring 2022 edition of this event with great success!  

And we can’t say enough about the popularity of the Holiday Gang Runs (organized by Guy Simoneau) which started on Thanksgiving 2020 and continued through almost every holiday.  Of course, Breakfast Club post-run socializing is always an important highlight!  We had a record number of Flyers (32 unofficial count) just this Memorial Day and July 4th. 

The Breakfast Club!

We didn’t get a chance to schedule a long-training run in June with all the scheduled races, but we have a new route: 3 Bridges X3 Parks X3 Tracks that was spearheaded by Jeanhie Hahn on July 10^th  

This 13 mile route was a supported run that included running over 3 different bridges: Queensboro, Pulaski & Williamsburg and running a loop at 3 different tracks located in 3 different parks: Astoria Track, McCarren Track and ending at the East River Track where cold water and gatorade were provided.  A post-run brunch followed at the Remedy Diner on the Lower East Side.

Flyers Don't Just Run 💥

But of course, the Flyers isn’t just about running. We have plenty of non-running events for our members.  DEBS Book club  -- organized by Deb Saat and Debi Unger -- has been a huge success.  

A recent Zoom discussion was with author, Robyn Schneider, of Silent Running about her sons running with autism, was really interesting.  While we prefer in-person, the zoom events with the authors have been quite a hit. 

On July 12^th, the book club met in person for a discussion of The Long Run written by a New York firefighter, Matt Long. No doubt that Deb and DebI will have more great books lined up for the fall.

In April we had a small social at All-Stars Bar & Grill and we are planning a bigger event with your favorite MC’s, Guy and Rachel, raffle prizes, awards, good food and drink -- the Flyers Midsummer Night's Soiree on August 13.  Click HERE for the details and to register for the Soiree. And for the first time since 2020 we are planning to have the Flyers Awards Gala in late January or early February of 2023. Stay tuned for details!

More to Come!

The NYRR Club Team Champs Race will be back on July 31st, where we'll continue the annual tradition of taking a Flyers Team Photo at the Flyers Team Picnic following the race. We hope to see a lot of you out there racing, cheering, and having refreshments with your teammates. It's not too late to sign up HERE.  And it doesn't matter how "fast" or "slow" you run -- the more Flyers who participate, the better for club team standings, and more important, for club team camaraderie 🤗

At Club Team Champs 2018 -- Sign Up Now for 2022!

Starting in August we will organize the first of two tried and true Flyers runs -- our Three Bridges Training Runs -- the first on August 26 and the second on October 16 -- pace leaders and other volunteers will be needed, so stay tuned for details! Also scheduled is a Sept 10th long-run, location TBD (possibly including Randall's Island) and the Last 10 Miles Run (of the NYC Marathon course) in October.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! 🙏

In closing, we would like to recognize the terrific turnout at all of these events.  We’ve had amazing cheer squads at the races (led by the Flyers Member-At-Large: Wendy Mitchell).  Much appreciation for our awesome race photos provided by in-house photographers Richard Brounstein, Kin Ng and others.

  

It really takes a lot of people to put these events on and we know that we weren’t able to list everyone here, but all your efforts are definitely appreciated.  

There will be many opportunities to volunteer over the next few months so be on the lookout for the “NY Flyers Volunteer Opportunities” email coming to your inbox very soon!

- Flyers President John McCreesh and Vice President Deborah Saat

 

            

             

 

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A Message from the Flyers President

Doug R

It is a great honor to be elected President of the NY Flyers, even if my election competition was limited to “none of the above” and an aggressive write-in campaign from a tall, green, metallic lightpost known as “E7210.” While the Election Committee scrupulously prohibits the release of exact numeric results, it would seem from the committee’s declaration of my victory that I won at least a narrow plurality of the votes cast and will now be serving as your President in 2015. Sorry, E7210.

In taking office, I am blessed with an able, enthusiastic and collegial Executive Board and a thoughtful, supportive Advisory Board. Their skills and insights made my decision to adopt a consensual, committee-based approach to governance of the team a very easy and so far very successful one. We work together as a team and, while we may not always agree on every matter, we have candid and respectful discussion and debate on key issues facing the team.

As I look forward to the coming year, I have a few key priorities and initiatives:

1. Implement an inclusive decision-making approach both within the Board and with the membership. No one has a monopoly on good ideas and it is important that everyone, both board members and members, feels comfortable bringing forward items for thoughtful, respectful discussion and evaluation. Our decisions as a Board are made after appropriate amounts of discussion, concluding with an Executive Board vote where majority rules.

2. An emphasis on running events where our scale, skill and resources allow us to provide a valuable, unique offering to our members. The team’s Three Bridges runs have always been one of the most successful events that we do and are particularly successful in attracting new members. As a Board, we have decided to build on the success of Three Bridges by initiating a Flyers Long Training Run Series each month between March and November. These supported runs, with fluid stations and bag check, will culminate in the Three Bridges and Last Ten runs leading up to the New York Marathon in November. I am pleased to say that our first event in this series was a tremendous success – we had nearly 80 runners participating, aided by a dozen volunteers (please click HERE for the post-run survey results). Total cost to the team? About $300, making it one of the most cost effective events we produce. The Flyers Long Training Run Series will continue on April 25th, with the Little Toot run down the Hudson River from Central Park to the Battery and back and continue every month through the NYC Marathon.

3. Retain and attract members. The Flyers remains one of the largest running clubs in New York and this scale gives us the ability to do things like produce the Three Bridges Runs and our new Long Training Runs, support an extensive array of coaching programs throughout the year and provide for an active social agenda. We will strive to increase and diversify the demographics of our membership. As a Board, we will introduce a new marketing campaign to attract new members, while offering a variety of new running and social events to retain the existing membership.

4. Maintain financial balance while providing “good value” member services. Many years of prudent financial stewardship by successive generations of Boards has provided the Flyers with a comfortable cash balance. It is our duty to maintain that balance for the financial health of the club. In 2015, we will seek to achieve financial balance by focusing on cost-effective running events like the Long Training Run Series while still providing an attractive array of social events, including of course our Gala Awards Dinner.

I hope to end my term by working with the Executive Board to hand the next President and Board some key accomplishments – a robust Long Training Run Series that becomes a team tradition, a balanced budget that keeps our finances strong, and increased membership that diversifies our demographic mix. But, most importantly, I hope to end the year with fellow Board members and the membership believing that their views were heard and thoughtfully considered, with no one feeling marginalized and everyone believing that they always have a place in the club. 

I am honored to serve as President and am privileged to serve with such an able and collegial Executive Board and thoughtful Advisory Board. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and suggestions as members – please email me or another member of the Executive Board (or your Team Captain) with your ideas, suggestions, and complaints.

Respectfully,

Doug Runte

President, New York Flyers

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