Roger Writes:  The Hawks had a good team performance at Kinnoull Hill Race. Steve C and Iain A were first at the registration, closely followed by me (Roger) and Phil. The team were nearly, though not quite as quick in the race itself, with 6 Hawks in the top 25. Mike Galloway was 23^rd, Des Crowe (with a single day of training, he alleged) 20^th, Iain McNulty (who looks in great form for the Edinburgh Marathon) 16^th, Iain Anderson (who had the fastest final 100 metres) 9^th, and in a closely fought battle Ryan Stewart and I came 6^th and 5^th. Almost 10% of all runners was a Hawk, with Craig Love, Dave Mitchell, Phil Forte, Steve Cromar, Catherine Matthews, Charlie Love and Alan Kennedy also contributing to the team effort. Great to see so many runners from the club.

Kinnoull Race is a bit “different” in that it is not really a proper hill race (not enough bog), not really a normal trail race (a bit too hilly for that), and obviously not a road race. That makes it quite interesting, in that it suits a different kind of runner. It seems that I am a bit “different”, because it didn’t go too badly. At the beginning I even led the race shortly, because I thought that would give me a bit of a cushion before the descent. But the plan didn’t quite work out, as a couple of runners already passed me on the uphill, including Ryan, who was climbing very well. Strangely they then didn’t increase the gap as much as I had expected on the descent, and I managed to catch and pass Ryan. Because I had started too fast, the last bit, which has quite a few smaller ups and downs, was a struggle, but I just managed to hold off Ryan.

Important Announcement from Phil F - a summarised but important announcement from the Club's Management Committee. At some point in the near future, an Extraordinary General Meeting will probably be called concerning the issue(s) set out below:

Lease

The Club has occupied the current premises for many years. The lease requires the club to keep the entire external and internal fabric of the building in good order - not an unusual arrangement for such premises. In return, the rent payable is and has always been very modest.  However, the club is required now to spend a considerable sum in restoring the roof in particular, to make the premises wind & watertight to the Landlord's reasonable satisfaction. To that end, certain minimum works have been prioritised and we are proceeding to have these done. We are obliged to have this completed.  A firm of contractors have been instructed to carry out the works. Obviously the cost will impact our finances - hence the need to continue fundraising and, at least, paying your subscriptions on time!

Community Hub Initiative

This was alluded to at the AGM in October. We are in talks with the Leisure & Culture Department about becoming part of a Hub with 3 or 4 other clubs all of whom will be based at the premises across the road at the Track. There are a number of other very successful Hubs in Dundee. This does not mean that any of the individual clubs will lose any identity – facilities will just be shared. The facilities at the track premises are far superior to our current dilapidated club house. Further updates will be provided.