In the words of Richard Weaver, “a good time was had by all,” at the annual awards shindig. On Thursday, January 20th, fifty PPTC members gathered at Abigail on Classon for a little wine, beer, and yummy hors d’ouevres. The cozy restaurant allowed for much mingling, but about an hour into the event, the real purpose for the evening took hold. Is that “the real purpose”? Even if it is, perhaps we should not say it that way “allowed for much mingling, and provided a friendly setting for the awards presentation.”
Club President, Tom Meany, began the awards ceremony by presenting the President’s Award to Geoffrey Vincent for his expert creation of the race calendar. This tool has become so useful to our members that many were surprised to learn that it was actually new in 2010. Way to go, Geoff!
The evening continued with Ami Hassler recognizing all of the members who volunteered throughout 2010. Certificates were given to about 75 people or 15 percent of PPTC’s active members. We are very lucky to have such dedicated members!
Sarah Scott then took over as MC and handed out the Fastest Female and Male Runner Awards. Helen Dole won the female award with such amazing performances as a 19:08 in the Lincoln Tunnel 5K, a 1:27:16 in the Staten Island Half, and a 3:08 flat in the NY Marathon. Much like Helen, our male winner, Matthew Frey dominated in all distances with a 17:14 5K during the Summer Speed Series, a 1:21:11 in the NYC Half, and 1:18:43 a few weeks later in the much harder Brooklyn Half. Matthew recently moved to Chicago, but was happy to hear of his award via email. He will back running in the five boroughs for the Marathon. Congrats to both these blazing fast runners!
The Bob Mueller Award was presented next. This unisex honor goes to a member over age 50, who is a top masters runner and has volunteered for at least one PPTC event in the last year. The award is voted on by the membership, and the nomimees for 2010 were Arthur Gonzalez, Mark Pendarvis, Tom Tobin, Charlene Kholer-Britton, Anthony Watson, Al Prawda, Gil Torres, Geoffrey Vincent, Patricia Perlo, and Yves Roger. And the winner is Tom Tobin. Tom logged an impressive 33 races this year, not including triathalons. Tom particularly specializes in 5Ks where he generally runs under a 7 minute pace. Well done, Tom!
Next Sarah recognized runners who had battled injuries during 2010. While no runner specifically met the requirements for the Comeback Runner of the Year Award, Patricia Perlo, Coco Dartigues, Corre Kombol, Mark Crowther, Anthony Watson, Charlene Kholer-Britton, Rob Ploccica, Frank DeLeo, Maggie Deschamps, and Lynda Mules all suffered with ailments and still managed to race well. The perseverance of these runners inspires us all.
The New Member of the Year Award was given to Yoshie Niitsuma. Yoshie quickly proved her dedication to PPTC by volunteering for most of the Summer Speed Series races. This is particularly admirable given the 100-degree temperatures we endured this past summer. In addition, Yoshie tested herself as a runner with a 31:02 time in the Jingle Jog 4-Miler. Thank goodness Yoshie joined PPTC and not some other Brooklyn club!
Next on the menu was the Outstanding Single Contribution Award. This award is given to a club member who has improved club image, operations, or has provided a unique opportunity for member participation. The nominees were:
Geoffrey Vincent for his maintenance of the race calendar.
Sarah Scott for working with EastBay to make PPTC clothing more accessible.
Ralph Yozzo for finding a lower cost alternative for registration for PPTC races and events.
Michael Ring for his work with the PPTC newsletter.
Richard Weaver for organizing the annual PPTC picnic.
Al Goldstein for transporting all of the baggage to the school after the marathon.
While all nominees were worthy, Michael Ring won for his tireless work with the newsletter. Michael emailed award committee chairs, Ami Hassler and Sarah Scott, less than two hours after receiving his award to write an article for the newsletter about the gathering. Now that’s dedication!
The next award on the agenda was the Most Races Award. Our winner, Arthur Gonzalez, ran 58 races during 2010 - more than one a week! Arthur, we’re not worthy!
Frank DeLeo was the recipient of the Ultra Runner of the Year Award. Frank ran 326.95 miles in races this year with 216.39 of those miles being in races of marathon or ultra marathon distance. What an amazing accomplishment!
Gil Torres then took over the mic to announce the Run Brooklyn winners. In order to be eligible for this lottery-drawn and lucrative $100 award, a member must have run 6 Brooklyn races in 2010. Our winners were Frank DeLeo, Maggie Deschamps, Amy Duquette, Charlene Kholer-Britton, and Yves Roger. Congrats to you all.
The Most Inspirational Award was the final award of the evening. Club President, Tom Meany, gave this honor to Sarah Scott. Sarah puts in 70+ miles a week rain or shine, hot or cold (she really hates the cold), and continually represents PPTC well with amazing times like a 3:06 marathon in Phoenix or a 3:08:04 in NY, just a mere 4 seconds after amazing member Helen Dole. Add to this Sarah’s work with the PPTC Board, PPTC Clothing Committee, and co-chairing this very event, and we would all be hard-pressed to find a member more inspirational than Sarah in 2010. Way to dig deep, Sarah.
The evening ended with a little more wine and beer, a lot more socializing, and Abigail’s awesome mac and cheese, barbeque chicken skewers, healthy chard, and not so healthy brownies. Indeed, a good time was had by all!
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