Tri-Valley Front Runners - Annual Banquet, November 7, 2013
The annual TVFR banquet took place on Thursday, November 7th 2013 at the Italian American Veteran's Club in Milford with 50+ members and guests in attendance. Members got a chance to mingle during a cocktail hour, and then Dave Morin pulled everyone together for the annual group photo!
We were treated to our traditional pasta dinner, after which Joe Hamm (TVFR President) kicked off the meeting. He started by acknowledging all veterans in attendance with a moment of silence, as well as police and fire fighters. He also recognized special guests in attendance, the family members of Larry Olsen: Kim, Erin, and Karen.
Joe took a moment to speak of this year's Boston Marathon tragedy and of the donation that TVFR gave to the One Fund. He then switched gears and gave an overview of this winter's new Soup Group locations. They are as follows (in order of the weeks they're hosting):
Week 1: Sam Blackmore's house in Holliston
Week 2: Dale Fingar's house in Medway
Week 3: Luke and Kristen Legendre's house in Uxbridge
Week 4: Tim Greenan's house in Whitinsville
Joe turned the floor over to Frank Nealon, race director of the Boston Tune-Up 15K and Woodland Trail Series, to recap the year's races. All of these races had good weather and great turnout. Frank also spoke about the early days of TVFR, back when meetings were held out of Larry's store in Millis and how it eventually evolved from Upton Road Runners and the Franklin Bolts.
Gary Atlas, Race Timing Captain, then gave an update on the year's timing crew. Each year, TVFR times a limited number of local races for a very nominal fee. This allows our partners in the community to put on some terrific races at a low cost. In addition, Gary acknowledged Kristen Legendre and Mike McMullin's roles in testing out the new Webscorer timing system during the trail races. Gary then provided some statistics on the success of this year's timing, a few of which include:
At the Hopedale 5K, a Hopedale runner crossed the finish line every 3 seconds for the first 17 minutes after the lead runner!
7 community races were timed this year, and each year we have to turn down twice as many requests.
$2,300 was saved by the community by having TVFR time their races.
Gary turned the floor over to Marie Paturzo, membership director, to give a brief membership update. There are currently 236 members in 141 households, with 51 new members year-to-date. Marie mentioned that many of the new members this year were based on word-of-mouth referrals. So keep bragging about us!
Marie then turned the floor over to Chris Kivior, interim VP, to provide an update on the Larry Olsen scholarship. Chris ran with Larry for more than three years in Hopedale, and was a recipient of the Larry Olsen scholarship. Chris would like to see this scholarship sustain for many years, through the efforts of TVFR and private donors. He expressed that TVFR should be very involved in the selection process of recipients and that standards should remain high. He also strongly encourages former recipients to "give back" to the fund in the form of volunteerism at future Larry Olsen 10K races.
Gary Atlas and former VP David Bryan with image of Larry Olsen
Chris turned the floor over to Jackie Kelley, Grand Prix series director. Jackie took a few minutes to explain the Grand Prix program and how points are awarded. She emphasized that although they do their best to scrub through all race results to identify TVFR runners, it's possible to miss someone. Please let us know if your name is missing from the results! Awards were then handed out to the top 5 male and female runners of the 2012/2013 Grand Prix season.
Female winners:
5 - Kristen Legendre
4 - Charlene Gaboriault
3 - Marie Paturzo
2 - Mary Tyler
1 - Linda Zavalick
Male winners:
5 - Richard Van Wie
4 - Tim Greenan
3 - Ted Tyler
2 - Henry Lane
1 - Glenn Miller
Jackie then turned the floor over to Mike Nixon, Treasurer, to recap the success of the Runners Incentive Program.
Mike introduced Coach Drugan, coach of the Hopedale XC and Track team, to say a few words. He described the team's winning year, and highlighted some Hopedale alum who have gone onto successful running careers in college. He also reminisced about running some very speedy miles with his friend Larry Olsen!
Joe Hamm returned to award this year's Rookie of the Year. With help of last year's recipient, Julia Caruso, the Rookie of the Year was awarded to Devon Grilly. Devon joined the club in March of 2013 and immediately made an impact, volunteering whenever possible and attending nearly every club activity.
Joe then awarded this year's MVP. With the help of last year's recipient, Jill Duhaime, the MVP was awarded to Rawson Chaplin. This year, Rawson took over website duties and made significant improvements to the website as well as our membership database. He has spend countless hours on this effort.
Joe then introduced Jay Stock to award this year's Male and Female Runners of the Year, on behalf of Rich Allen. This year's Female Runner of the Year was awarded to Kristen Legendre. Kristen won numerous age group awards this year, and through her hard work and consistent track workouts, shaved 10 minutes off her half marathon time, and achieved a new PR of 21:24 in the 5K. This year's Male Runner of the Year was awarded to Anthony Tieuli. Anthony has excelled at long distance running this year, aiming to complete an average of at least one marathon or ultra marathon each month in 2013. Some of these accomplishments include the Fat Ass 50K, the Traprock 50K, Vermont 50 Miler, and the Stone Cat 50 Miler (just to name a few!)
Joe Hamm then returned to announce the final award winner of the night, this year's TVFR Commitment Award. With the help of last year's recipient, Frank Nealon, the Commitment Award was presented to John Parker. John has made countless contributions to the club, has attended every club meeting, and volunteers at nearly every TVFR event and timing function. He has been a huge influence in the success of the club, and we appreciate his ongoing efforts!
Frank Nealon and John Parker
Here's to another year of happy and healthy running!
