Meet Chris Long: Nominee for President
It has been a pleasure to serve as your Secretary for the past year, and it is an honor to be nominated to continue to serve on the board in the role of President.
The club is in good shape with more than 600 dues-paying members and an emergency fund of approximately $30K. But it would be foolish to ignore the fact that running clubs are more popular than ever, and the competition is growing every day.
Many members have come to me with ideas and I hope that will continue. While the points I’m about to list are by no means all original ideas, you have a right to know where I stand on the issues:
I want to increase the number of club runs, starting with the creation of a new weekly Tuesday evening run focusing on speedwork, with an eye towards adding more weekly runs later in the year. I also want to increase the number of special club runs throughout the year.
Institute a committee of Flyers who are certified coaches to advise on various matters related to coaching and training. Survey members on what kinds of coaching sessions would be most valuable in the future. This committee would also make recommendations on our long training runs, with an eye toward maximizing safety and training benefit, including the potential for adding a 20-mile 5-bridges run.
Update the club’s apparel so the words “New York Flyers” would be spelled out on both the back and front of singlets, shirts. I don’t feel the basic look and imagery need to change, and I don’t want members to feel that all their apparel is suddenly outdated.
Continue with the Heylo platform, which has helped us considerably with membership administration and event management, while also leveraging the strengths of Facebook, Instagram, and Strava. Explore additional social media opportunities, and continue to maintain and improve our web page for announcements and other club information. Drop the web advisor to save money and rely on internal talent.
No increase in dues.
Explore the potential to earn interest on the money in our rainy day fund, while still being FDIC insured.
Explore the potential for special events with brands.
Move quickly to review or fill all open positions that fall under the president’s or the board’s discretion at the start of the new year.
Encourage the Advisory board to fill open slots.
In favor of turning the Awards Gala into a shorter, less formal, and less expensive party for the next edition. But will be looking closely at feedback from members as to whether this would be a permanent change.
Require that members list the Flyers as their team in their NYRR portal.
Bib policy - I favor a random drawing among members who have volunteered in the past year, then conduct a random drawing among remaining applicants if any openings remain. In the case of a close race for a NYRR team award, the EB would reserve the right to award a bib to a member whose performance is likely to make a difference.
In conclusion , If elected I want to work as a team with the board and the entire membership. I will do my best to ensure that every member's voice will be heard, and that everyone will be in the loop.
While I hope this note gives you a better understanding of what the board will be working on this year, I want to end with the most important factor, which is fun. Our work would be for nothing without it. It is truly a pleasure to see the team coming together at races, weekly runs and social events. The fitness gained and the friendships made are what keeps me going. I hope that every member of the team will experience the same positive benefits of this remarkable organization.
Meet John McCreesh: Nominee for Vice-President
I am very honored to be nominated for Vice-President. I enjoyed being President of the Flyers for 3 years (2021, 2023, and 2024) and looking forward to being Vice President.
I would like to bring back the monthly (give or take) long runs of anywhere from 7 – 15 miles, such as the Little Red Lighthouse, Randall’s Island, Three Bridges, 3 Parks 3 Bridges, possibly the High Bridge run which we haven’t done for a while and the Palisades run (although there was still an issue with damage to the roads from a hurricane back in 2021 so that might have to wait). I believe that these runs (and Friends and Food) after are great ways to build team camaraderie.
I would also like to continue to reach out to new members and have new member runs. For some new members it can be tough to get acquainted with everybody so the more we can offer by way of runs and social activities the more excited they can be as active members of the club.
The current board has made improvements to the communications and payments with the Heylo app. Hopefully we can get everyone over onto Heylo this year while continuing to make improvements and additions to Heylo.
Thanks for your consideration and I hope to see you at a Flyers event or race. Happy running and go Flyers!
Meet Neil Tipograph: Nominee for Treasurer
To My Flyers Family,
Since joining the New York Flyers in 2019, I've met remarkable people and enjoyed our team training runs, races, and socials. I've also enriched my knowledge about running, exercise, and nutrition through the Marathon Training Program and group runs. It would be an honor to serve on the 2025 board of an organization I deeply admire.
As the 2024 Treasurer, I've implemented a framework to allow our Club to maintain a strong financial position. By moving to the Heylo app and web platform, we've improved billing, collection, event sign-up/RSVP, payment, and check-in procedures. We've also reduced IT costs and made our website more reliable.
Looking forward to 2025, the Board should continue making the New York Flyers relevant to the running community. Heylo has attracted new members, and we should continue supporting our social media platforms. We should also expand our evening runs and create new themed runs.
If re-elected as Treasurer, I can draw on my 44 years of experience as a CPA, partner of a CPA firm, and tax expert with non-profit experience. I also have over 30 years of experience as a board member, advisor, and treasurer of various civic organizations, trade associations, and athletic clubs. I hold an accounting degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in Taxation from New York University.
I bring positive energy, enthusiasm, and governance best practices from my board experience. I look forward to working with my board members and listening to our membership to ensure the Flyers continue to thrive as a successful running and social club.
Thank you for your consideration.
With warm regards,
Neil
Meet Derek Chu: Nominee for Secretary
I have been a Flyer for over a decade. I am running for Secretary to give back to the Club. My goals as Flyers Secretary in 2025 are to support the Executive Board based around "ABC":
“A” – Athletics. Organize and evolve Flyers running programs, including MTP and SpeedPass
“B” – Branding. Develop a new design for the Club running kit using a new brand to offer new options to members.
“C” – Communications. Work with the Exec Board to develop a strategic communications plan on how best to communicate to membership while leveraging email, the Web site, social media, and Heylo.
Who is Derek ? I have been a runner in Flyers Fall MTP for over 11 years. I’ve completed 15 marathons, with a PB of 4:17:50. I have run Halfs in 12 states.
Born and raised in Queens, NYC, I attended NYC public schools through high school. I have an MBA degree in Finance and Management, and am a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt leader. My work career has been focused on executive project management, finance transformation, continuous improvement Kaizen, and process efficiency.
I am a former elected President of the not-for-profit New York Cycle Club (NYCC.org), leading a 12-person Board of Directors, with over 2,100 dues paying cycling members.
Meet Lis Shlansky: Nominee for Member-At-Large
My journey to finding the New York Flyers started with a move back to NYC in late 2018 after 30 years away. Like many, when the pandemic hit, I was looking for a healthy outlet and turned to running. It became more than a form of exercise for me and in December 2021, I made the leap to sign up for New York Flyers’ first Marathon Training Program (MTP) after the COVID hiatus. A few months later, at 60 years old, I ran my first ever marathon and I’ve been a fixture in MTP, SpeedPass and long training runs since then!
For me, Flyers have been more than just a running group — it’s friendly, inspiring, and supportive. I learn so much from my fellow Flyers, and it goes way beyond just improvements to my running. Each gathering, there is always a welcoming smile and great sense of community, which makes me proud to say I’m a New York Flyer. As Member-At-Large, I hope to give back through service and continue supporting the Flyer’s commitment to organized community events and inclusive recruiting, which has done so much for me.
If I had to give a wish list for my vision of the Flyers it would be that every event runs smoothly and flawlessly. I would envision that every participant meets their goals, with that in mind, I hope to
- try to make the Flyers inclusive of all. That includes gender, race, ethnicity as well as runners speed. I’d like to see the club inclusive of intellectual, physical and social disabilities. I hope our runs and training will be open to runners of all paces and races.
- I’d like to have more advanced scheduling of events and unfettered access to plans and logistics of these events posted as soon as possible, realizing that such advanced posting may be subject to change.
- I’d like to see more runs scheduled…and not just the formal ones, but the informal as well.
- I’d like us to use or new fancy-dancy Heylo program to alert us to new members and be more welcoming of them.
- I’d like to promote the positivity of the running community to anyone who will listen.
If there are additional requests, please let me know.
Thank you
Lis Shlansky