2022 Golden Shoe Awards and Leadership Transition

Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had wonderful holidays.

I’m sharing here my belated write-up from the TRD holiday party, which included the annual Golden Shoe (and cowbell) awards, plus the formal handover of the TRD President position to Vince!

At the party Vince also announced his pick for Vice President – Lauren! I’m looking forward to running and socializing under their Administration. The club is in good hands! (If you have any questions about the transition, feel free to reach out to either Vince or me.)

As always, we kicked off with a huge thank you to our officers. This group is all-volunteer and without them, there would be no club. Thank you to these people!!!

Brett Avery (Speed leader)
Brian Burke (MNR co-host and outgoing Vice President)
Glenne Fucci (MNR co-host)
Joelle Hobeika (social co-chair)
Shin Ikeda (Speed leader and Thursday Night Run leader)
Peter Lee (Speed program coordinator)
Gabe Lopez-Walle (Saturday morning run co-host)
Rob Mandracchia (Treasurer)
Vince Nairn (social co-chair and incoming President)
Mike Ross (Saturday morning run co-host)
Anthony Simasek (Webmaster)
Jess Spar (Membership manager)
Lauren Stroger (Speed leader and incoming Vice President)
Julia Tanner (Speed leader)

2022 Golden Shoe Awards

Golden Retrievers (active and loyal)
This person had two big training cycles, comes to lots of runs and social events, PRed in tough conditions in LA then ran NYC – Marlena

This person ran their first marathon this year and is helping TRD bring its IG feed and social media presence into a new era – Rohan

Jack Russell Terrier (new and active)
One of the officers noted, “I see the two of them at pretty much every event we put on, and it’s been that way since they joined.” These two are fun and active and a great addition to the club – Loic and Val

Border Collie (herding dog)
This person is up for anything and loves bringing people together and nurturing our running community. This has suited him well in his social co-chair position and will be handy in his new leadership gig – Vince

Greyhound (fastest mile/club points)
This runner is the fastest TRD has ever seen at the mile distance – breaking the 2009 TRD mile record with a 4:26 mile at September’s Fifth Avenue Mile – Owen

Alaskan Husky (best male marathon)
After a “so-so” [his words] training cycle, this runner put down a super-fast 2:45 marathon on the streets of London (and a bit cooler than the last time he ran it) – Mags

Alaskan Husky (best female marathon)
Among my favorite running moments of the year, this runner joined the sub-3 marathon club with a 2:58 in Hartford – Dara

Cujo award (crazy performance)
This person was slowed – but barely – by major knee surgery early in the year. After lots of bike rehab and a gradual return to running, she completed the Berlin marathon in September and two weeks later hit a half marathon PR in Hartford. She capped her 2022 return to racing with a 15-second 5K PR in December – Glenne

Foxhounds (most-improved)
This person continues to improve and impress across a range of distances including a PR and 1st-place AG in her final race of the year – Debbie

This person got a big marathon PR in New York in 2021 and followed it up with an incredibly strong performance in 2022. She took another 10mins off her PR on a cold and windy course in Philly and snagged a big BQ – Colette

Weimer-runner (logging lots of miles)
This person continued her marathoning streak early in the year and got Baby Boy Burke’s running career started early with hundreds of miles logged while pregnant including joining fall marathon workouts for fun – Joelle

Golden cowbell (cheer squad; sportsmanship)
This person was at (and sometimes planning) pretty much every cheer squad we did in 2022, and I never tire of celebrating her quiet energy and enthusiasm – Julia

Best in Show
This person introduced me to the club over a decade ago, lent her ear and support to me throughout my time at the helm, helps in all kinds of ways with cheer squad, summer picnic and marathon-table coordinating, speed leading, MNR sub and Dorrian’s hype woman. And, she’s really fast — a 4-mile PR last month earned her a top-10 finish in a field of nearly 3,000 women – Lauren

Presidential Award
The last award of the night went to the person who worked alongside me for nearly six years and helped build this small corner of the NYC running community over the last decade. This person paces anyone who asks, whether for a workout or 20 miles of a marathon, and managed to run six marathons himself over the course of six months, including the elusive Chicago-Boston double in late 2021. He’s also managed TRD gear, served a stint as TRD Treasurer, co-hosts MNR, leads speed workouts and is a regular at club social events, including the late-shift at Dorrian’s every Monday. We are grateful for all his contributions to the club – Burke

Thank you all for a wonderful year, and I look forward to what’s in store for 2023 – happy running!

Very best,
D