Saturday, January 17, 2009

Ultra Runner of the Year

UltraRunning Magazine recently named their 2008 North American ultra marathoners of the year: Jorge Pacheco & Kami Semick. The online article is pretty interesting since they also list the top 10 vote winners (male & female) plus the top performances of the year (Kyle Skaggs' Hardrock 100 time of 23:23 & Kami Semick's IAU world championship 100K time of 7:33). The runners, and their performances, are quite impressive.

On a more local note, our running club (Second Wind) held its annual banquet last night and announced its 2008 runners of the year. One of the categories was "Ultra Runner of the Year." I won the darn thing! A little embarrassing since our club has a ton of great ultra runners. I run regularly with people (male & female) that are better ultra runners than me. Even though I don't deserve it, I certainly appreciate the club's recognition. The award did get me thinking about my 2008 year of running. I was so quick to set goals for 2009, I forgot to reflect back on my 2008 races and training. It was a solid year. Here are a few highlights:

-Completed 9 ultras (shortest 28 miles, longest 303 miles)
-Coordinated & won the 7-Day Buffalo Trace Stage Race
-Coordinated & finished the Illinois Trail Ultra Grand Slam
-Directed & ran the Clinton Lake 30-Mile Trail Run
-Only finisher of the informal McNaughton Park Fat Ass!
-One DNF (Lake Mingo Fat Ass)

I anticipate 2009 will be even better for me. Can I win that award again? Maybe I'll get the most improved runner? Or the master runner of the year? Hmmmm...

Anyway, I thank Second Wind Running Club and its board for selecting me as an award-winner. A big congratulations to all the other club winners too. We have a great running community here in central Illinois. It's nice being part of the formal running club and the informal Buffalo trail running group. I am consistently amazed by how many ultra runners we have in such a small town. Hope everyone has a fantastic 2009!

4 comments:

Ragfield said...

Shucks, Chris, you deserve it. Congratulations on a great year in 2008. Hopefully 2009 will be just as successful for you.

Chris Ⓥ said...

Thanks Rob. You had a great year of running in 2008. Keep it up. All the best to you & Melissa in 2009.

Anonymous said...

Who says the Ultra Runner or anything, for that matter, of the Year award has to go to the fastest runner? Guts, persistence, attitude, and what one does for the ultra community are equally as important in my opinion.

Much deserved honor, Chris. I toyed with going to the banquet but it's still too cold for me to go out yet.

Congratulations!

Connie :)

Chris Ⓥ said...

Thanks Connie. With all the great ultra runners in our club, it was an honor to be recognized. I suppose directing the Clinton ultra (and the 7-day thing) helped attract attention my way.