Club continues to grow, invest in you

More affordable races, scholarship, better services on tap for ’13

* Red Bud Distance Run to serve as RRCA WV 10-mile championship

AUGUSTA, W.Va., April 8, 2013 — The Potomac Highlands Distance Club, an affiliate of the Road Runners Club of America, enters the second quarter of 2013 with an eye on continued steady growth and goals of adding even more affordable races to the club’s calendar.

In addition, a key focus for 2013 and beyond will be giving back. From an idea nurtured from the club’s early days in 2008, the PHDC soon will announce a college scholarship fund and will begin accepting applications from scholarship candidates later this spring with an initial award before the start of the 2013-14 school year.

Further, the club’s paid membership roster continues to grow at a club-record pace. Memberships — among the lowest in the region among fellow RRCA clubs — offer lower-priced entry fees into select entrys, bonus early entries to save even more money and a free banquet each February, among other things. Interested in joining? Click here.

Almost every single event the PHDC is involved with attempts to raise funds for one good cause or another. In fact, the club has helped to raise nearly $90,000 since its founding in October 2008. Meanwhile, the club continues to invest in itself. Since January 2012, the PHDC has spent $3,384.29 on new equipment, including folding tables, timing software, computers, a new camera and finish line equipment.

Meanwhile, revenue from the club’s primary fundraising mechanism — event management services — is projected to increase for the fourth consecutive year. In 2013, the club will be a hired gun — er, clock — for approximate a dozen events.

“My hope is that the club is able to purchase a finish line display clock later this year,” said Kevin Spradlin, club president. “It’s been a long time coming. But with our low club fees and low event entry fees, saving a penny here and there means it takes longer to raise the $2,500 necessary for what we have in mind.”

The club also continues to expand its operating area and add new club-sponsored races. The PHDC’s operation area now is Morgantown on the west, Emporium, Pa. — about two and one-half hours north of Altoona — to the north, Capon Bridge, W.Va., to the south and New Market, Md., to the east. The club is active in four Pennsylvania counties, four Maryland counties and five West Virginia counties in 2013.

“We also have a new race later this summer in Newville, Pa., and I think people will really like that one,” Spradlin said. “Plus, in Allegany County this fall the club is staging a pet-friendly event to help raise money for a local animal rescue, with a portion also to be shared with local efforts to build a new animal adoption facility in Cumberland.”

“This year got off to a great start with two races on New Year’s Day, then the Hobo’s Heartbreaker 10K in February and a record turnout for the MountainEAR 5K in Morgantown last month,” Spradlin said. “In April, the club is timing three events and hosting two others, including the RRCA West Virginia 10-mile State Championship, the Red Bud Distance Run.”