Race Director of the Year 2000 Paul Hiers

What makes a great race director? Well, it’s being able to remember all the details that need to come together, some all at once, and doing it with patience and a little compassion. Whether its making sure that mailings go out on time or making sure all the cones are out and the course is marked so that Mike LaBossiere can find his may home by dinner time.

It’s also having more political savvy than a Florida election official so that the proper numbers of volunteers are available. But more than that, it’s the ability to ensure that literally hundreds of runners from all over our community can enjoy themselves in an organized and safe event atmosphere. It’s this kind of dedication and love for our sport that enables our races to occur.
And it’s for these same reasons that we appreciate the efforts of ALL the race directors that volunteered their time so that we can have great events in which to participate. Our club had many terrific race directors this year and the choice for race director of the year was a difficult decision to make.

We would like to both thank and congratulate Paul Hiers for his support, determination and many hours of hard work in putting on Springtime Tallahassee, Music Mania and The Tom Brown Bash. In thinking about what to say to congratulate Paul, we thought of what his races all have in common – they all make you want to throw-up.

In other words, Paul is a masochist, we hate him, and we love him all at once. We love him once the beer & prizes start flowing after Springtime, but we absolutely curse him at mile 4 of Tom Brown. I wonder if Paul realizes how these courses affect calves and quad muscles. Or is it that he enjoys watching us suffer? I think it’s a little of both. With that I would like to thank Paul personally for making these events a pleasure to come to and compete. Whether it’s securing a complicated course like Springtime or making sure that the last runner is safely off the course at Tom Brown Bash, Paul is always there to make certain that things are done right.

We thank you and congratulate Paul Hiers on being the GWTC Race Director of the YEAR.