100 Marathon Club Rules & Constitution (June 2020)

1. The name of the club is The 100 Marathon Club

2. The aims of the Club are:

2.1 To provide a focal point for runners in the United Kingdom and Ireland who have completed 100 or more races of marathon distance or longer.

2.2 To maintain a database of marathon statistics relating to members' achievements.

2.3 To promote and organise various marathon challenges for members.

2.4 To assist members to enter races of marathon distance and longer, individually and collectively.

2.5 To share knowledge and experience and encourage newcomers to the sport of marathon running.

2.6 To assist the organisers of road marathons in the United Kingdom and Ireland by providing constructive feedback.

2.7 To promote marathons in the United Kingdom and Ireland through the provision of an endorsement mark.

3. The Club shall be affiliated to the South of England Athletics Association (SEAA).

4. Membership

4.1 Membership of the Club is confined to amateurs as defined by UK:Athletics.

4.2 Full membership of the Club is open to all runners who have completed 100 or more races of marathon distance or longer as defined in 13 below. At least 25 of these events must be United Kingdom or Ireland qualifying events and at least 10 events must be Road marathon.

4.3 Associate membership of the Club is open to all runners who have completed 50 or more races of marathon distance or longer as defined in 13 below. At least 15 of these events must be United Kingdom or Ireland qualifying events and at least 5 events must be Road marathons. Associate members shall not have the right to wear club kit. An Associate must be a member for a full 3 months before achieving full membership.

4.4 All members will be subject to the regulations of the constitution and by joining the Club will be deemed to have accepted those regulations and codes of conduct the Club has adopted.

4.5 Lifetime membership of the Club shall be granted to members who reach any of the following criteria:-
(i) Qualify for membership otherwise and be 70 years of age.

(ii) Been a continuous member of the Club for 10 or more years and have a vetted total of 500 or more marathons/ultras.

(iii) Been a continuous members of the Club for 20 or more years.

5. The Club will be managed by a Committee comprised of the offices of Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, and up to seven other members.

5.1 Committee members including officers will be elected at the Annual General Meeting.

5.2 All committee posts will be elected for a three year periods, sitting committee members wishing to remain in post beyond three years will need to be re-elected and win that election if oposed.

5.3 The Committee will have the power to co-opt additional members periodically and for specific purposes. Such co-opted members shall have voting rights. Any members co-opted onto the committee can serve for up to two years at which point their continued membership will need to be ratified by the AGM.

5.4 In order to be elected (unless unopposed) a candidate must receive more than 50% of the votes cast. Therefore in cases where more than two candidates are up for election and the result is that the leading candidate has polled less than 50% of votes cast, the two candidates with the most votes will go forward into a second round of voting. This will allow members who previously voted for other candidates to switch their vote to one of the leading two candidates, and the eventual winner will have polled more than 50%. Voting will be conducted via a secret ballot; only members of the committee election sub-group will be able to access voting forms. Only paid-up club members may vote; voting will require members to submit their full name and email address in order to verify their vote, 

5.5 The Committee will nominate, from time to time, individuals who have contributed to the Clubs growth and development, or for other significant reasons, to become “Honorary Life Presidents”  of the Club. The role is ceremonial and does not have rights to attend or vote at committee meetings but those undertaking the role will act as Ambassadors for the club at presentations etc. Any such nominations will only take effect after ratification in a vote by the club membership.

5.6 The Membership will elect a “Welfare & Complaints Officer” to serve for a period of up to three years.

(i)The Welfare & Complaints Officer will be independent of the committee and will attend meetings only where necessary to report progress.

(ii)The Welfare & Complaints Officer will present an annual report to the AGM of any issues raised and action taken to resolve them.    Where they feel it appropriate the Welfare & Complaints Officer will have the authority to communicate directly with all members outside the normal communications channels of the club.

(iii) The Welfare and Complaints Officers role is to investigate any issues concerning bullying by club members or officers, inappropriate behaviour of members to other members and where members believe the committee has not effectively applied the club rules.

(iv) Only items occurring after this rule is adopted by the committee can be investigated by the Welfare & Complaints Officer.

5.7 Following nomination and election an Associate Member will be appointed to the committee. This member will serve for a term of the lesser of three years or the AGM in the year following their achieving full member status. If no Associate Members are nominated the Committee will seek to Co-Opt an Associate Member.

6. The Committee will meet as required, but at least once per year.

6.1 The quorum will be three members.

7. Applications for membership of the Club will be received and normally accepted by the Membership Secretary, who will maintain a register of members.

7.1 Application for membership includes authorisation for the Committee to hold personal data on computer media. The 100 Marathon Club collects and uses certain types of information about members in order to operate. It manages this data in line with its established 'Data Protection Statement'

7.2 Members will have the right to examine a copy of the record held and may limit the use of personal information to administration purposes only if they so choose.

8. Members will pay a joining fee on election and thereafter a subscription fee annually on the 1st April. Joining fee and subscription charges will be determined at Annual General Meetings of the Club.

8.1 Reminders will be broadcast for any subscriptions outstanding at the 1 April to all members signed up on email.

8.2 Membership will be assumed to have lapsed for any member whose subscription is still outstanding at 30 April.

8.3 Honorary Life Members will pay no obligatory subscriptions.

9. A member intending to withdraw from the Club shall give notice in writing to the Membership Secretary, and membership terminates on the date of that notice unless the member is financially indebted to the Club, in which case the Committee may withhold acceptance of the resignation until the liability is discharged.

10. The Committee shall have the power to vet applications for membership and to expel members who are deemed to have acted or behaved in a manner so as to bring the Club into disrepute. Members who are deemed to have acted or behaved in a manner so as to bring the Club into disrepute may be expelled by a decision of the committee.

10.1 Any member expelled or suspended will have the right to appeal to a panel of three senior members of the club appointed by the committee to act as an appeals panel. The decision of the Appeals Panel will be considered the final internal stage.

11. General Meetings

11.1 The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Club will be held once in each year, within six months from the close of the financial year end of the Club, which is currently 31 March

11.2 Notice of the AGM will be sent by the Club Secretary (or their alternate) to members 6 weeks before the scheduled date.

(a) AGM papers will be available electronically from the date of the Notice of the AGM.

(b) Members may request to receive paper copies of all AGM papers.

(c) Agenda items or Proposals from individual members must be received by the Club Secretary 4 weeks before the date of the AGM

(d) Members unable to attend the AGM may vote by post or electronically. A request to receive mailing or electronic voting should be confirmed to the Club Secretary at least 7 days before the stated AGM date.

11.3 The Annual General Meeting will conduct the following business:-

(a) Acceptance of reports from Club Officers

(b) Election of Committee members

(c) Agreement of Subscription Fees

(d) Amendments to the Constitution of the Club.

(e) Motions. Limited to motions notified in writing to all members at least 21 days before the General Meeting, and amendments to such motions.

(f) Any other business.

11.4 Members will be able to call for an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of the Club should the need arise, but due to the costs and time involved any such request must be in writing, clearly stating the nature of the business to be discussed and supported by signatures of at least 75  member of the Club. At an EGM no business shall be transacted other than that for which it was called.

11.5 Motions will be passed by a simple majority of members voting, with the exception of a motion to permanently disband the Club which will require a two thirds majority.

11.6 No proxy votes will be allowed at General Meetings.

11.7 Twenty one days notice of all General Meetings will be given to all paid up members.

11.8 Ten members excluding Club officers (i.e., Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer) shall be required to form a quorum at a General Meeting

12. The Club shall be deemed as non-profit making and as such any surplus income or gains shall be reinvested into the Club. Surpluses or assets cannot be distributed to Club members or third parties.

12.1 In the event that the Club is permanently disbanded by over two thirds majority decision at a General Meeting of the members, then that meeting shall nominate a properly registered charity to receive any surplus of the Club's funds, including proceeds from the disposal of Club assets. Club trophies donated to the Club should be returned to the donor. Club trophies purchased by the Club should be given into the safe custody of a Club member nominated by the meeting. Any Club asset which includes the Club logo, eg medals or kit, may only be sold to Club members.

13. Definition of races to count towards Club membership:-

13.1 A race, organised by an identifiable race director, open to all applicants (which may be subject to entry limits or qualification restrictions), advertised at least 30 days beforehand in the running press, web, by leaflets at other races or similar manner. A race is not required to be competitive in nature.

13.2

(i) A race must have at least 15 participants finish the events for events defined as a marathon.

(ii) A race must have at least 15 participants start the event for events defined as an ultra.

(iii) existing events that have been running for 3 or more years as at 31/12/2014 and traditionally have had a field of less than 25 participants shall not be subjected to this limit.

13.3 Race results or a record of race completion must be published or made available.

13.4 The runner must have completed the whole race entered, abiding by the event rules and have completed the whole course (unless misdirected by the organisers) for the race to count. The declared race distance counts (the runner is not penalised if the race distance appears to be short). However, a runner cannot count a race he knows in advance to be short. Participants in relay events or teams, no matter the distance covered, cannot count that race.

13.5 If a race advertises in advance a rule that allows participants to withdraw at a shorter distance than the full race distance, but still over the minimum threshold of a marathon or ultra then this is permitted to count as long as other criteria are followed. (i.e. results must be published of the time & distance covered.)

13.6 If a runner finishes a race outside a stated time limit the race will not count unless the runner is included in the race results.

13.7 Marathons:

(i) Road Marathon A road marathon must be run on a sealed surface. This means it must be tar, asphalt or concrete i.e. a paved or metalled road, however in accordance with IAAF rules up to 2.6KM of the course may be on other surfaces.  A UK road marathon must hold a valid Certificate of Course Measurement Accuracy issued by the Association of UK Course Measurers, meaning the course has been accurately measured by a qualified measurer. Note, although valid for ten years from measurement certificates must be renewed annually by the race director. races where this is not done will be deemed to be trail races. If a race is run over the same course as another race that has been measured, the race director must apply for a certificate for their event.     For road marathons overseas the event must hold a measurement certificate issued by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), or a body recognised and licenced by IAAF to carry out such measurements.., or,

(ii) Trail Marathons an event which is not predominantly run on a sealed surface or which does not hold a certificate of course measurement accuracy. A trail marathon may be measured by a race organiser and must be at least 26 miles/42km.

(iii) Track Marathons are classed as Trail Marathons.

13.8 Ultras: Races of a declared distance of over 27 miles.

13.9 Timed Events: Events that are advertised as 6 hour, 12 hour, 24 hour or longer shall count as a single event, no matter the distance covered or time allowed. A runner who completes a minimum of 26.2 miles can count a marathon or over 27 miles an ultra.

13.10 Each individual day or stage of a multi-day event can be counted as a marathon or ultra if the following criteria are met.

1)      It is possible to enter each individual day or stage as a separate independent event.

2)      That individual day or stage is at least 26 miles in length to count for a trail marathon, 26.2 miles for a road marathon or over 27 miles for an ultra.

3)      Separate results are produced for each individual day or stage.

If these criteria are not met then the event shall be counted as one marathon or ultra for Club purposes.

13.11 A race must hold valid public liability insurance either directly sourced or from such organisations as UK Athletics, The Trail Runners Association or LDWA.

13.12 If there is a dispute as to whether an event should count towards Club membership and statistics the Committee of the Club will arbitrate. The decision of the Committee is final.

14 The use of the 100 Marathon Club logo, reference to the 100 Marathon Club or otherwise suggesting the Club supports or endorses an event, race or position is prohibited unless prior written authorisation from the committee is granted. Such permission will not unreasonably be withheld providing the use is in keeping with the club aims and is not used for what, in the opinion of the committee, is unreasonable commercial advantage.

 

The 100 Marathon Club hereby adopts and accepts this constitution as a current operating guide regulating the actions of members.