Club Celebrates Members’ Achievements, Recognizes Top High School Runners, and Makes Record-breaking Charitable Donation at Annual Holiday Dinner
December 17, 2009
The presentations at BLUEgrass Runners’ festive holiday dinner at the Andover Country Club on December 17 marked the ending of an excellent year for the club. Terry Foody kicked off the evening’s awards ceremony by honoring top high school runners Meagan Klein of Paul Dunbar High School and Will Mullett of Lexington Christian Academy.
Thoroughbred Classic Race Director Louise Hensley then presented a record high $16,500 in donations raised through the club’s annual Thanksgiving Day race to six charitable organizations: The Hope Center, Give Kids the World, Lexington Humane Society, God’s Pantry, Central Kentucky Radio Eye, and the Bieschke Haven at UK Children’s Hospital.
Margaret Chase of Central Kentucky Radio Eye accepts BLUEgrass Runners' donation, presented by TC Race Director Louise Hensley.
As the evening’s finale, board member Shannan Gabe recalled highlights of the club’s year in running and described each of the club award winners’ 2009 achievements. Here are the winners in each category along with some information about their outstanding years and contributions to the club.
Co-Club Members of the Year: Terry Foody and Louise Hensley
Female Runner of the Year: Mary Stebbins
Male Runner of the Year: Valdis Zeps
Most Improved Female Runner of the Year: Debbie Jackson
Most Improved Male Runner of the Year: Chris Grecco
Terry Foody (Co-Club Member of the Year) has worked enthusiastically and tirelessly all year advocating for Bluegrass Runners participation in USATF. She continues to bring interesting opportunities to the group through those efforts and keeps us well informed of the track and cross-country issues in the region. In all that she does, she works to promote Bluegrass Runners to area groups and local youth and constantly brings us new avenues for applying our talents. If you’ve ever been at a track workout with Terry, then you personally know that she’s also a great cheerleader – her support for other runners never stops.
Terry Foody presents awards to High School Runners of the Year, Will Mullett and Meagan Klein.
Louise Hensley (Co-Club Member of the Year), as club treasurer for the last 15 years, Louise plays a behind-the-scenes role in many day-to-day functions that keep the club alive and is a trusted source of information about the club and the community running scene in general. In 2007, Louise took on the challenging position of Thoroughbred Classic Race Director and has since led the efforts of three very successful Thanksgiving-Day events that benefited many local non-profit organizations. In her three years as race director, registration has continued to climb, meaning more money to share with the community. Because of Louise’s leadership efforts, our donation total from this event has gone from $9,000 in 2007 to $13,500 last year to $16,500 this year. Her passion for giving to others makes her a natural leader in BGR’s efforts to find ways to serve the community through running.
Mary Stebbins (Female Runner of the Year) After PRing at every distance from 10K to the marathon last year, Mary has followed that up with many impressive performances in 2009 in central Kentucky and around the country. She kicked off the year with a 1:12:34 in the Hangover Classic 10-miler on New Year’s Day, taking 2nd in her age group and a 3:26:54 in the Disney Marathon, finishing 8th out of 1,000+ in her age group. In March, she took third in her age group with a 43:24 in the Rodes City 10K. Then in May, she ran a 3:27 in the Flying Pig Marathon and two weeks later took third place overall in the challenging Biltmore 15K in Asheville with a time of 1:08:57. In September, she took 2nd overall and 1st masters in the Downtown Doubler 30K. In October, she anchored her Bourbon Chase team to a second place division finish and one week later, she set a new half marathon PR of 1:35:18, taking second master overall and beating all 400 other women in her age group for the second consecutive year at the Columbus Half Marathon. Just two weeks after setting a half marathon PR, she ran a 3:28 at the New York City Marathon, finishing in the top 4% of women at that huge event. In addition to being a great runner herself, she mentored Team in Training runners who participated in the Disney Marathon in January.
Valdis Zeps (Male Runner Runner of the Year) started the year by running his first ever marathon, at Myrtle Beach, in 3:07 and bringing home a first place age group award, then came home and continued his winning streak by taking two 1st overall and two 2nd overall awards in four local 5Ks. At the Bluegrass 10K, he ran an impressive 36:32, taking 1st in his age group and beating last year’s time by more than a minute. In the late summer, he took 1st overall in the Run for Recovery, 1st in his age group in the Midsummer Night’s Run with a 5K time of 17:41, then won both the third John’s XC 5K Challenge and the Burgin Fall Festival 15K. At the Air Force Half Marathon in September, he won his age group with a time of 1:20:11, then ran the Chicago Marathon in 3:02:07, beating his first marathon time by more than 5 minutes. At the Thoroughbred Classic last month, he won the Male Grandmasters Division with a time of 18:00 and had the 2nd fastest time of any runner 40 and over. He’s a regular at Sunday club runs, weekly track workouts, and club social events.
Male Runner of the Year Valdis Zeps is presented with top honors by Shannan Gabe.
Debbie Jackson (Most Improved Female Runner) is truly a standout, as she was the only member receiving nominations. In her second year as a BLUEgrass Runner, she’s has set her sights on getting faster and her dedicated training has resulted in her consistently setting new personal records throughout the year. Debbie started off her running year in March with the Anthem 5K (25:31) and her first 10K, the Rodes City 10K (53:20). In April she completed her first half marathon, the Derby Mini Marathon (2:08:31), and in May the McDowell Wellness Center 10K where she ran 51:48, set a PR and took 3rd in her age group. In the Heart of KY 5K in June , she took 2nd in her age group and beat last years’ time by over a minute. At the Whitaker Bank 5K in July, she ran 25:33, beat last year’s time by 30 seconds and took home first place Masters. In September she ran the YMCA 5K in 24:46, taking 1st in her age group setting a new 5K PR and also set a new 10K PR of 50:52 at the CASA 10K. Last month, she finished her racing year with a new 5K PR of 24:33 at the Victory 5K on a hilly course. In addition to being our club secretary, she actively participates in club track workouts, club runs, and socials.
Chris Grecco (Most Improved Male Runner of the Year) has always been fast but has worked hard this year and actually improved his times and won a couple of races to boot. He started racing on the first day of the year with a 5th place overall finish and an age-group win at the Hangover Classic 10-miler (59:31). Chris didn’t race again until May when he won the Biltmore/Kiwanis 15k outright in 56:10. Next up was the Bluegrass 10,000 where he won his age group and was the second Master overall in 35:33. He then competed as an Elite Master in the Spirit of Columbus Half Marathon, running 1:16:01 (5:48/mile). In September he decided that running wasn’t enough and competed in the Tri For Sight duathalon, winning his age group and finishing 4th overall. He then helped Team Healthway by running one of the most difficult legs of the Bourbon Chase Relay. Chris got his second overall win of the year with a 17:22 5k in the Delta Dash. And just last month, he tied his marathon PR of 2:45:53 at the Philadelphia Marathon, finishing in 7th place among Masters and 58th overall out of 7,500 runners.
