Annual Awards

Previous Awards Honorees

Awards Committee Guidelines

The President shall identify the Awards Committee no later than the September Board meeting. Notification to the membership outlining nomination criteria and the timeline for submitting nominations shall be no later than October. Solicitation for nominations for end‐of‐year awards shall be via the first STREAK after 1 September and regular email notices (e.g. E‐Streak). The Awards Committee shall submit to the Board of Directors recommended recipients to include justification for the award at least two weeks before the Board meeting at which recommendations would be reviewed and voted upon. The end‐of‐year awards described below may be supplemented with one‐time awards if approved by the Board.

ANNUAL AWARDS CRITERIA

STRIDER OF THE YEAR

PURPOSE
The Strider of the year award honors a male and female member of the Annapolis Striders for significant contributions to the sport of running through achievements both as a runner and as a volunteer.
ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for this award, the nominee must meet the general nomination requirements.
CRITERIA
  1. Placement in Annapolis Striders races;
  2. Noteworthy placement and performance in other races taking into consideration the caliber of the competition; and
  3. Number and type of volunteer activities: volunteer opportunities include, but are not limited to: race director, Board member, program coordinator, Streak writer or editor, website support, training program leader, as well as shorter term
    contributions such as race support, committee work, solicitation of sponsors, special events, and other activities that support the Annapolis Striders.

RUNNER OF THE YEAR MALE/FEMALE

PURPOSE
The Runner of the Year award honors a male and female member of the Annapolis Striders for excellence in long distance running.
ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for this award, the nominee must meet the general nomination requirements, and is expected to have participated as a volunteer in club or other running related activities.
CRITERIA
  1. Placement in Annapolis Striders races; and
  2. Noteworthy placement and performance in open category of other races, taking into consideration the caliber of the competition.

ULTRA RUNNER OF THE YEAR MALE/FEMALE

PURPOSE
The Ultra Runner of the Year honors a male and female member of the Annapolis Striders for excellence in ultra distance running.
ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for this award, the nominee must meet the general nomination requirements.
CRITERIA
  1. Performance in Annapolis Striders races, marathon distance or greater;
  2. Noteworthy placement in other races, marathon distance or greater; and
  3. Noteworthy placement and performance in other Annapolis Striders races.

MOST IMPROVED RUNNER OF THE YEAR

In Memory of Elaine Shereika

PURPOSE
The Most Improved Runner of the Year award honors a male and female member of the Annapolis Striders for sustained personal improvement in their long distance running.
ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for this award, the nominee must meet the general nomination requirements with the following amendment(s):

  1. Performance improvement after injury is not accepted; and
  2. There are no disqualifications because of receiving other awards in the same year.
CRITERIA
  1. Number of races in which performance exceeds past performance over a period of not more than three years;
  2. Amount of improvement in PR times;
  3. Other factors which indicate improvement in running performance.

JUNIOR STRIDER OF THE YEAR

PURPOSE
This award honors a male and female member of the Annapolis Striders for excellence in long distance running activities.
ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for this award, the nominee must meet the general nomination requirements with the following amendment(s):

  1. The runners must be younger than 18 years old on January 1 of the year of the races being considered.
  2. Up to two Cross‐country races may be included in the minimum number of Annapolis Striders races.
CRITERIA
  1. Placement in Annapolis Striders races; and
  2. Noteworthy placement and performance in the respective age group category of other races taking into consideration the caliber of the competition.

BEN MOORE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

PURPOSE
To recognize sustained period of exceptional running performance and volunteer service.
ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for this award, the nominee must meet the general nomination requirements with the following amendment(s):

  1. Must have been a member for at least 20 years.
CRITERIA
Must have participated in Annapolis Strider races over a sustained period of time, but not less than 20 years. Performance need not have resulted in awards, but must demonstrate commitment to the sport and to the goals of the club. Volunteer service must include the performance of leadership positions or development of programs, and all‐around effort in support of the operation of the Annapolis Striders. It is not expected that someone will meet these criteria every year.

THE PHOENIX AWARD

PURPOSE
To recognize a member who demonstrates exceptional resilience and determination in overcoming severe physical injury or medical condition to return to running.
ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for this award, the nominee must meet the general nomination requirements.
CRITERIA
Recovery from an injury (injuries) or medical condition that requires a lengthy  convalescence and loss of conditioning prior to a return to running. It is not expected that someone will meet these criteria every year.

VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR

PURPOSE
The purpose of this award is to recognize that member who has exemplified the volunteer spirit throughout the year.
ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for this award, the nominee must meet the general nomination requirements with the following amendment(s):

  1. Nominees are exempt from general nomination requirement 2.
CRITERIA
The number, type, and frequency of volunteer services provided to or in the name of the Annapolis Strider organization. Volunteer opportunities include, but are not limited to: race director, Board member, program coordinator, Streak writer or editor, website support, training program leader, as well as shorter term contributions such as race support, committee work, solicitation of sponsors, special events, and other activities that support the Annapolis Striders.

General Nomination Requirements

  1. Nominees must be members in good standing for the entire year.
    1. Nominees for awards must participate in five or more of the following Annapolis Strider races (or the races which in the future may replace these core races):
      • Championship series races (each race counts towards one
        of the five required)
      • Annapolis Ten Mile Run
      • B & A Trail Marathon or Half Marathon
      • Cold Turkey 10K
      • Women’s Distance Festival 5K/Run After the Women 5K
      • Endless Summer Six‐Hour Run
      • Rosaryville Veteran’s Day 50K
    2. Participation in the workers’ run counts as participation in the race as long as the runner serves as a race volunteer.
  2. Nominees may not receive more than one running award per year. The running awards are Runner of the Year, Ultra Runner of the Year, and Junior Strider Runner of the Year. Running awards can be awarded on consecutive years; however, in close contests the committee shall favor the nominee who has not received the running award.
  3. All paid members may make nominations, including self‐nominations.

Nominations and Selection Process

  • A 3‐ or 5‐person Awards Committee (comprised of no more than 2 or 3 Board members respectively) manages the process and collects nomination forms.
  • Nomination form is published in the Streak and E‐Streak in a timely fashion.
  • Committee researches and proposes nominees in addition to those received from Annapolis Striders members. Committee may use race results, mathematical indexes (e.g., average percentile and age graded), and other performance information to identify nominees. An updated list of previous awardees will be retained, updated, and passed on to the current year’s Awards Committee.
  • Committee Chair provides proposed ballot and nominees’ accomplishments to the Board in December or January. The ballot is based on nominations received and additional nominations recommended by the Committee.
  • Board members review the nominees prior to the January Board meeting and come to the January meeting prepared to recommend and justify any additional nominees and to vote by secret ballot. Committee tallies and retains the results for confidentiality
    until the annual awards banquet. Committee requests a budget based on number of awards and coordinates purchase of the end‐of year awards with the purchase of other awards (e.g., championship series awards, presidential recognition awards).
  • If a member of the Awards Committee is a Board member and is nominated, that member will recuse himself/herself from voting, tallying, and seeing the results.

AWARDS NOMINATION FORM FOR ANNAPOLIS STRIDER ANNUAL AWARDS

The Awards Committee is collecting nominations for the awards and we want your input. If you know Striders who had a really good year and who ran at least five Annapolis Strider races (including non‐Championship series races), please nominate them.

If you do not have all the requested information, submit as much as you have the time to collect. The more information you submit, the better the chance of your nominee being selected; but turn in something! What is most important is that you bring deserving candidates to the attention of the Awards Committee.

DEADLINE
By December 1st, please email your nomination to the Awards Committee. In the format listed below, please include the following information:
  1. Name and age of nominee, as of January 1.
  2. Nomination Categories:
    1. Strider of the Year, for all around running accomplishments and volunteer contributions;
    2. Runner of the Year (male/female);
    3. Junior Strider of the Year (younger than 18 years, for male/female);
    4. Ultrarunner of the Year (male/female);
    5. Most Improved Runner of the Year (over the past three years);
    6. Ben Moore Lifetime Achievement Award;
    7. the Phoenix Award, for a runner coming back from illness or injury;
    8. Volunteer of the Year
  3. Name of each Champ Series race completed, with time and age group place;
  4. Name of each Annapolis Striders non‐champ series race completed, with time and age group place;
  5. Name and date of non‐Strider races completed, with time and age group place; 6) Volunteer activities;
  6. Submitter’s name, phone number, and email address; and
  7. Any other information you would like to pass on to us.

Please remember that only members in good standing are eligible, and that all paid members can submit nominations, including self‐nominations. We want to hear from you, so please send us your nominations! Award recipients will be announced at the Annual Meeting in February.