In my running career, I did not have the opportunity to make the choice of when to retire from racing. I was forced into hanging up my fast shoes (due to health concerns) long before I was ready to give it up. I suspect that due to my competitive nature, I would have pushed myself physically well beyond the point when I should have given it up. In professional sports, seeing a top athlete walk away from the game when they are at their peak is difficult to understand -- but when you see athletes hanging on when they are well past their prime with diminished skills, it all makes sense.
While the definition of when the time is right to make a decision is unique to everyone, most agree that in hindsight that they waited too long to walk away. For the last year, I have struggled with the decision if I should continue to serve as the webmaster for the Upper Peninsula Road Runners Club. This has weighed heavily on my mind.
First of all, I strongly believe in the UPRRC mission of promoting the benefits of running, jogging, biking, and swimming as means of improving physical fitness and maintaining overall health. I also recognize that as a small club, our success is fueled by volunteerism. I think a lot of people would like to help, but not everyone has the time or capacity in their lives to take on a position within the club. In late 2013, I realized that not only did I have the skills required to help with the club's website, but I also had the passion and the time to devote to it.
Prior to 2014, the club's website was managed by Gary Barrett, who did a fine job of it. So when I first thought of getting involved, it was to help Gary out. Gary said that he didn't really need any help, but if I wanted to take on the role of webmaster, he would be willing to pass on the duties to me. At that point, I had already developed a prototype of the new site, created a list of requirements, and prepared my proposal for what I would like to do as the club's webmaster. When I got the official nomination to proceed I was overjoyed and immediately began the work.
I was very encouraged by Gary's review of my first prototype as I remember his feedback was that the UI (user interface) was very "slick." That is exactly what I was looking for! A new and improved experience for our members to interact with the club and get the information they needed. There have been quite a few iterations of the site since those early days as we have continued to make improvements. Specifically, here were some of the things we were able to make:
- Enabled the site to be responsive, making it viewable from computers, phones and tablets
- Created a form for race directors to complete electronic when they want to submit a race for our club calendar and have that event automatically appear on our online calendar
- Created a way for members to renew their application online using RunSignUp
- Created this blog for sharing of thoughts to supplement the newsletter
- Created pages for all new hall of fame members that includes the write-up to accompany their induction
- Published the current membership roster
Ultimately the larger purpose of modernizing the website was to retain existing members and promote the club for potential new members. As the popularity of running and races experienced a slight decline (after a boom in the early 2010s), we were able to maintain steady with our membership. From that perspective, I would like to think that my time spent as Webmaster was a success.
For me, I knew that I had made the right decision to hand the webmaster duties off to another volunteer after I talked to Bill Sved and I felt a great sense of relief. I was so worried because it felt like I was letting him (and the club) down, but that was not his reaction at all! He understood and was very appreciative, thanking me for my time. His reaction was a reflection of his true leadership with this club and that is something I admire in him as a person.
To help Bill out. I created a list of the tasks that I perform as the Webmaster to help with his recruitment of volunteers to manage this going forward. I also said that for whoever is the new Webmaster, that I would be willing to work with them for as long as they needed and be available for questions and support. Though I will be moving on, I still want to see the club carry on successfully and will do whatever I can to ensure a smooth transition.
Last week I met with Maija Niemi, who has agreed to take on the role of UPRRC Webmaster. Maija lives in Ishpeming and works in the technology field so her skill set was perfect to take on this new role. She was very excited about the opportunity, as she believes that we can grow the awareness of the UPPRC and all the good things that we do through our digital presence. Maija is leaps and bounds ahead of me when it comes to website development knowledge and experience, so I suspect that you will see great things to come from her running our website in the future.
I would just like to thank the UPPRC board for their support and collaboration for the better part of the last decade. WE were successful together because of what each and every one of you do on a daily basis to keep the club going. My tenure may be over, but I am excited to see all of the many great things that I know the next Webmaster will do with the club's internet presence!
Happy trails UPRRC... Eric Charette
