2007 Male Runner of the Year - Jay Wallace

Presented by Tony Guillen

In naming its Runners of the Year, Gulf Winds Track Club seeks to honor those who, besides achieving outstanding times in the past year at various distances in local, regional, and national events, have served as models for all of us in their competitive spirit, their continuing devotion to the sport, and their support and encouragement of their fellow runners, both individually and as members of Gulf Winds.

This year’s recipient of the GWTC Male Runner of the Year clearly stood out from the pack in more than one way. He not only put together an impressive list of running performances that spanned the entire year, but he also volunteered to take on one of the club’s most important and thankless tasks.

So you say we have a lot of folks who perform well and volunteer. Well here are the highlights for this individual:

Tallahassee Marathon – 2:58:59 – 1st Tallahassee Finisher
Springtime 10k – 35:43 – 1st Masters
Tails and Trails 5k(+) – 18:15 – 2nd OA, 1st Masters
Breakfast on the Track – 4:57
Turkey Trot 15k – 54:37 – 1st OA

Grand Prix Winner – An amazing 304 Total Points. The point difference between 1st and 2nd was 168 points. The point difference between 2nd and 5th was 29 points. This years GP was over before it began.

His volunteer effort this year was to take on the task of learning the Club’s scoring system. However, he was not satisfied with just helping to score a simple race but volunteered to do the Miccosukee Madness, which consisted of three races (3k/5k/8k). Obviously not being one to shy away from hard work he went ahead and proceeded to do the same things for the GWTC 5miler/10miler.

This year’s winner further exemplifies the qualities of runner of the year. His competitive spirit is obvious by his results, but also by his excitement before and after races. His devotion to the sport comes out with his knowledge and understanding that is so obvious from talking to him. His support and encouragement of fellow runners can be seen during warm-ups, cool downs (if you do not ask him directly you can cool down with him after a race and not know he has won until they call his name out at the awards) and how he interacts with everyone.

Finally, if you want to get a real treat, watch this year’s winner as he watches his daughters compete in the kid’s races - that is true excitement. Thankfully he does not have sons, because his daughters just placed 1st and 5th in their age group for the GP.

The GWTC 2007 Male Runner of the Year is Jay Wallace.