2021 Golden Shoe awards

Ahead of the holiday break, I wanted to share some thank yous and also the winners of this year’s Golden Shoes, which were awarded at our holiday party earlier this month.

First, I owe massive thanks to Brett, Kat, Gabe and Burke. Dubbed our COVID Task Force, this group worked overtime, especially last year, to work through how to keep the club running in a pandemic and how to do it safely for the Res Dogs and the greater NYC community. The peer review and thoughtfulness of this group is so appreciated. Thank you.

We also recognized our officers – the old guard and new members who were voted in last month.

– Brian Burke – MNR co-host; VP
– Peter Lee – Speed coordinator; treasurer
– Shin Ikeda – TNR host, speed host
– Brett Avery – Speed host
– Joelle Hobeika – Social co-chair
– Kat Malishewsky – Social co-choir
– Jess Spar – Membership and social media coordinator
– Mike Ross – SMGR co-host
– Gabe Lopez-Walle – marathon training coordinator; SMGR co-host

New officers
– Glenne Fucci – MNR co-host
– Lauren Stroger – Speed host
– Julia Tanner – Speed host
– Anthony Simasek – Webmaster
– Rob Mandracchia – Treasurer

Now, to the Golden Shoe awards.

Border Collie: This award goes to someone who has hosted more workouts in the last year than anyone else–not only jumping in to host runs when we were first opening back up ofter lockdown but also hosting fall marathon workouts twice a week–even though his next marathon isn’t coming up until this spring. The person who herded us the most these past two years is Gabe Lopez-Walle.

Jack Russell Terrier: The Jack Russell Terrier award goes to new and active members, and we were so delighted with how difficult this choice was. As the club began to reopen for runs in the fall of 2020 and as social events came back in 2021, we were so happy to see some new faces become regulars. The two people we are recognizing became regulars at SMGR, MNR, Dorrian’s and marathon workouts. One is even a newly minted officer. These two also rocked the NYC marathon, one with a shiny new PR and one BQing in her first ever marathon. This year’s Jack Russell Terrier awards go to Rob Mandracchia and Reva Krieger.

Golden Retriever: This award goes to two members who are active and loyal, and these two also had some memorable running moments over the last two years. One awardee ran his personal best marathon – just before lockdown in February 2020 – breaking the 3:30 barrier with a PR in the Napa Valley marathon. In 2021 his project was a perimeter run of Manhattan and that’ll serve as a good base for his next PR, hopefully at one of the two spring marathons he has on his 2022 schedule. The other winner in this category found all the races in 2020-21. As soon as it was safe to do so, she was out there racing, which is probably why she survived – and thrived – in her fall marathon line-up, where she ran three marathons in less than two months, culminating in a 3:05 PR at CIM. This year’s Golden Retriever awards go to Stephen O’Reilly and Glenne Fucci.

Foxhound: This award goes to our most improved runner. This person came out to a lot of runs and workouts, and it showed. She ran a bunch of races in 2021 and this fall used her marathon training fitness to bring down her NYRR best-pace time and run personal-best paces in the BX 10-miler, a 4-miler in the park and the Ted Corbitt 15K a couple weeks ago. And, based on recent Wednesday speed workouts, I only see her getting faster. This year’s Foxhound award goes to Debbie Paul.

Alaskan Husky: The two winners of the Alaskan Husky award this year, awarded for the fastest marathon, are fresh off their PRs at CIM, with stunning marathon times of 2:37 and 2:59, respectively. This year’s fastest marathon shoes go to Dima Karlin and Lauren Stroger.

Golden Cowbell/Best in Show: This year’s Best in Show gets a golden cowbell because this individual gave so much to the club and to her own running in 2020-21. Similar to Glenne, as soon as it was safe to race again, she was out there pounding the pavement, setting herself up for a super-strong 2021 fall marathon season. She also hosted picnics, threw us a boat party and in general brought her energy and kindness to all things TRD, whether a marathon workout in the steamy days of summer, a mid-winter MNR or a Zoom trivia night. The club is lucky to have her and especially so these last two years. And, she’s a badass runner, still chasing PRs including a hard-fought 3:09 in Chicago’s brutal conditions. I can’t wait to see what she does in 2022. This year’s Best in Show goes to Joelle Hobeika.

Thank you to everyone for being a part of this community and congrats to all on the big and little things accomplished over these last two years. Here’s to brighter and faster times in 2022.

Happy holidays!