(NOTE: Point systems are summarized on 2007 - 2008 Results page.)
Many AREC members have asked me, “What are all those numbers at the end of the newsletter?” It’s the AREC Grand Prix. AREC started doing the Grand Prix in the 1998 – 1999 season. Since I started recording times and points, I geared the Grand Prix through my arrival in Long Beach (late August 1998). Consequently, the Grand Prix runs September through August. The advantage of this is that instead of having our end-of-the-year awards when everyone is beset with Holiday (Xmas, Hannukah, etc.) parties and vacations, ours are geared around our local marathon (when almost everyone is in town).
I can’t afford to race. How come I can’t be in the Grand Prix? People that don’t race are still a strong part of AREC, but we encourage people to run races and we make every effort to let you know about FREE or inexpensive races.
Why should I race? I don’t want to be competitive. Racing isn’t all about speed or winning. Often it’s about accomplishing a goal. Also, as your speed improves, your body becomes more efficient at burning calories both during and AFTER workouts. Certainly, there is no requirement to run races to be an AREC member, but it is still a fun group activity. Eight years ago, we had 25 members complete at least one race. This year, almost 200!
What are the AREC Awards? The AREC Awards have been given out the past 9 years (since the revival of the club) and are presented in the Fall. A few of the awards are based strictly by the numbers (Most Prolific Runner, Grand Prix Top 10, Best Age Group Finisher, and Century Club). The other major awards are decided upon by a majority of the board, except for Runners of the Year, which is voted upon by AREC members.
The first awards of note are the Top 10 Grand Prix finishers (see the results section for the final tallies) and the Century Club members. Century Club is for members who have completed over 100 miles RACING! That’s the equivalent of 4 marathons or 16-10Ks!
The next set of awards are, as I have mentioned above, the awards determined by the board:
Most Prolific Runner Award: This award goes to the runner that runs that most races. Last year, AREC members averaged 5.5 races per year (or about 1 race every 2 months).
Here are the counts of the top 5 most prolific AREC Racers:
Fifth Place: Tim Hickok (26 races)
Fourth Place: Alexander Chin (35)
Third Place: Emmett Rahl (36)
Second Place: Todd Byers (39)
First Place: Edward Villalobos (41)
Best Age Group Finisher: This award goes to the runner who excels in many of the races he/she competes in. Last year’s winner, Liz Burger, finished in the top 3 10 times, including the Seal Beach 10K, the Paramount 10K, and the Long Beach Marathon.
Honorable Mention:
Despite being injured part of the year, Brian Conboy was consistently in the top 3 in his age group, and almost always in the Top 10.
Winner: Edward Villalobos Ed recently moved into a new age group, and a lesson we can all learn from Ed is that once you pass a certain age, there are fewer and fewer runners that you have to compete with. However, Ed is no slouch, and had 7 top 3 finishes (in 5Ks and 10Ks) and several other top ten finishes in 5Ks and other multi-sport events.
Most Improved Runner: Last year, Kristin Deatherage took Most Improved Honors with her excellent times in many races (marathon, half marathon), as well as being an integral part of AREC (pub crawls, for example).
Honorable Mentions:
Alexander Chin – Alexander has been improving by leaps and bounds, including a sub-four hour marathon this year, and almost weekly improvements (e-mails letting me know about a new distance tried or a new PR). Alex would have broken 4 hours again at San Francisco, but he set personal accolades aside to assist a runner in trouble on the course.
Anne Lattime – Anne originally was part of the marathon training group, but in the past year, has both branched out to trying new things (like triathlons) and also seeing if she can improve her marathon time (which she did at Long Beach last year). To me particularly, Anne has been part of an impetus to bring more women to the training runs (if not her entire office and staff!).
Winner: Tammy Strong
If you don’t know Tammy by name, you certainly see her almost every week on Wednesday night. I first met Tammy through the Hash House Harriers, where she “participated,” but rarely ran. A typical run might see her walking a little bit and then driving to the end and smoking. At the end of 2006, she told me she would like to run 4 miles without stopping. I gave her a card and told her to come to an AREC run – she was there the following week and IS there nearly every week. Last year, she achieved the 4 miles without stopping and moved on to the Half Marathon, and she has completed two of them this season. I can hardly remember the old Tammy because she has improved so much, and it is very inspirational to others because of her consistency and drive to improve constantly.
AREC Rookie of the Year: An AREC Rookie is someone who has been a member for less than 18 months. Last year’s winner, Jose Raffucci, did a number of different things for AREC, including taking over the Trail runs when we needed a leader, and making all sorts of T-shirts and gear which promote the club. The nominating committee made a decision that because there are so many members now that we would have a Male and a Female Rookie of the Year from now on.
Honorable Mentions:
Ara Agopian – Ara came to AREC by way of the hash. We soon discovered that he had a knack for design, and he worked with Todd to create a new logo (that said “AREC” instead of “ARE!”). Ara also runs well (did a few marathons to raise money for causes – go Armenia!) and has represented the club well by being a pace leader for the recent Nike runs.
Nicole Ahern – Nicole has been a strong part of AREC – not only training for and completing the Long Beach Half Marathon last year, but also being the vocal part of the “T-Shirt Factory.” Nicole was also one of our Treasurers this year and is taking a more active role in the club. Not that she does this for accolades, since Nicole requested we not include her, but we think it is important to recognize a job well done!
Female Rookie of the Year: Mistii Comeau Mistii has had an excellent year of running, and triathloning, and motivating those around her. Her times have improved, and she has avoided injuries. In June, she ran a Boston Qualifying time at the Rock’n’Roll Marathon in San Diego. She is fun to be around and loves the trails (especially Palos Verdes area).
Male Rookie of the Year: Kevin Murphy. Kevin underwent a bit of change in the past year, going from a regular runner to a stroller pusher (We remember him studying Lars intently for when his daughter was born…). After a not too satisfying fall season, Kevin coordinated a training schedule for people in the Spring (instead of trail training), and then gravitated into the Neighborhood Foundation with Todd and Gavin that created the Wrigley River Run. Kevin sometimes has suprising success with runs, notably the PV Marathon, where he was going to walk the last 6 miles, but felt pretty good and did about 4:15 and a sub-4 hour marathon at San Francisco in August.
Heather Stevens Inspiration Award: In 2006, we renamed our Most Inspirational Runner award after Heather Stevens, who died that June from Pancreatic Cancer. This award is given to someone who motivates us to do better, pushes us, or just inspires us with their words and actions. Last year’s winner, Mark Fell, changed AREC completely with his trail runs. The runs were so popular that our Sunday runs ended up dying out and we established a regular trail training group. A number of AREC runners have gotten quite good at and LOVE trail running, due to Mark’s inspirational runs.
Honorable Mention:
Stroller Pushers. In our discussion to what is inspirational to us, certain names kept coming up, like Lars Hertzog, Kevin Murphy, Bonnie Gleeson, Rick Garrido, Gavin McKiernan, and others who do their runs and their LONG Training runs pushing a stroller (or a LARGE stroller). We felt we should recognize this feat, since many of us struggle just carrying our own body weight along a course, much less pushing another human being (or two) along the way!
Winner: Bernard Dean Mills If you have ever had occasion to talk or run with Bernard, he is very knowledgeable about running – not just about his own running or the marathon or 5Ks, but ALL running. Besides his own personal knowledge, and his library of books on the subject, Bernard himself has been running (as well as led for a time) AREC for over 20 years. We hope that when we reach 60-something, that our running will be as consistent as Bernard’s, and seeing him out there every week (and not just Wednesdays, but Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) inspires us all to keep running for a long time to come.
Runner of the Year Nominations
Female Runner of the Year:
Male Runner of the Year:
Winners will be announced on Friday, October 10th at the AREC Pasta Party.