Seasons Greetings from RT

posted by rtsam on December 29, 2009, 8:11pm

Dear RT Readers,

It has been an exciting year for RT and we would like to thank readers for your support, and share a few thoughts as we close the year with family and friends.

As we reflect on 2009 we can’t help but think that this time last year we never would have thought it possible for RT to be in the position that it currently finds itself. At last count we have 14 people who contribute quite regularly to RT, and this number is steadily increasing. At the start of 2009 we think there were about 3 or 4 of us. How times change.

Before we reflect on 2009 and look toward 2010 we would like to personally thank a few people. Without their passion, sacrifices and hard work, RT would not have been able to grow so quickly.

First of all we would like to thank Edward Ovadia for joining RT in its early days, working tirelessly for the site and pretty much not sleeping during the Berlin World Championships. A special thank you also needs to go out to Bryan Green, our U.S connection, who runs a very popular column focused on U.S Track and Field. Bryan joined during the early days when very few people had even heard of Runner’s Tribe, and for this we will always be grateful.

We would like to thank all of our other writers, video experts and IT assistants. Many thanks to Len Johnson, who is arguably the world’s leading Track and Field writer, for his regular column. A special thank you to Chris Wainwright, a more passionate track and field fan just does not exist and the contributions he has made to our sport, especially to Aussie junior Track and Field, are significant. If only there were more people like Chris around, our sport would be in a much better state.

To the rest of RT’s writers and helpers, thank you for jumping on board, you have all helped make RT one of the most popular track and field sites in the world.

To the athletes who all support RT, from Australia, New Zealand and beyond, thank you for the loyalty. We will continue to strive to deliver quality media, reporting and race videos and we hope to be able to grow our athlete sponsorship program greatly over future years.

Reflecting on 2009

Looking back on 2009, there are a few clear highlights, including:

- Great coverage of the Sydney and Melbourne Track classics early in the year. We would like to thank Ed Ovadia for the sacrifices he made to make those two meets so successful.

- Signing a partnership deal with New Balance on April 1. In return for exclusivity New Balance have helped us grow and achieve things that would not have been possible without their help. We believe that RT is the perfect avenue for companies such as New Balance to advertise and we are pleased that we are able to help such a large company achieve their marketing goals.

- RT Sponsorship program. This is one of our proudest achievements to date. Thanks to New Balance we selected 5 up-and-coming Aussies to support with gear. We hope to expand this program to

New Zealand

during 2010.

- Berlin World Champs Coverage in August. We would like to thank Ed Ovadia, Len Johnson and Bryan Green for their excellent coverage of the Berlin World champs. Their articles were read the world over and the quality of the coverage that they delivered was up there with the best on the web.

- A new look website that was launched early October. This new technology has opened countless doors for us and helped to make the site more user friendly. We would like to thank Mark Floreani for his assistance.

- The launch of The Tennis Tribe on Dec 13^th(Yes there are more tribes on the way).

2010

In terms of the next 12 months, we have a lot on the cards. Some of the plans include:

- Live streaming of major Aussie races.

- Publishing our first book.

- More comprehensive

New Zealand

content.

- Continued growth of our journalism and column sections.

- Extensive coverage of the Commonwealth Games in

India

- More extensive video coverage of major high-school meets.

- More extensive junior coverage headed by Chris Wainwright.

- Plus much much more.

I would also like to thank all of our regular readers and viewers. Every month up to 85,000 of you tune in to check the news, read our articles or watch some videos. RT always had two main aims: to help grow the sport, and to entertain. We hope that by achieving the latter, it helps to accomplish the former.

Finally, we hope you all continue to tune in daily during 2010. We give you our word that this time next year, Runner’s Tribe will be many times taller than it stands today.

We hope you all stick around for the ride.

Regards,

Sam Burke and Ross Johnson