Bill Lott Volunteer of the Year Award

A year ago on this stage the winner of the 2017 Bill Lott Volunteer of the Year Award came up here and picked up his award for winning his AG in the 2016 GP, having run 14 GP races and besting his challengers by nearly 40 pts.  He ran another 14 local races that year as well, so when 2017 rolled around it wasn’t any great surprise that he was again at the starting line.

The thing is, when the gun went off at the 2017 Bowlegs 5k, he was still standing there at the starting line when everyone else took off.  Why was that?
Well, as Peg said in her nomination for this year’s winner when she asked him early in the year, “Are you injured?” He responded with, “No.  I am just grateful for all that GWTC has done for me and I am going to dedicate my year to giving something back.”

Did he ever. Our VOTY winner loves to run, but he basically gave up a year of running races to give back to GWTC.  In his mind, it was pay-back time.
You would be hard pressed to have run a GWTC race (or any other local race for that matter!) this past year in which this individual was not present as a volunteer.

Most Saturdays he would be out there at first light (or in the dark) with the timing team, unloading equipment and setting up the mats and reader boxes and extension cords and cones and everything else that we so often assume have just magically appeared when we arrive to run. Afterwards, he would often be the last to leave as all of that was disassembled and packed up for use the next day or the next week.

As Peg wrote again in her nomination: 
“He has appeared, without being asked, at most of the races that the timing team worked in 2017.  Because of his willingness to help whenever needed, the timing team has been able to split into two teams, enabling us to time more than one event on the same day (on several occasions).  His help at the finish line has been invaluable to the timing team, and I (and I think I can speak for our other team members) am grateful to him for all that he has done, and continues to do, for us and GWTC.”

I know personally that on at least 2 occasions – Sickle Cell and Turkey Trot – he not only helped set up the timing equipment but then ran the race and went out with me after that to pick up aid stations and cones and signs on the course. And, if you read David Yon’s Democrat column 2 weeks ago after Swamp Forest you read of his being out at the Phipps property at 6 am, 2 hrs before race time with the temperature hovering around a rather cool 24 degrees, parking cars. And, there he was at the Bowlegs 5k again yesterday, being one of the last to leave after running the race and helping pack up the timing equipment and anything else that he could do to wrap things up. I don’t know what he’s up to in 2018, but sorry buddy … you only get to win this award one time!
So before I introduce this year’s winner I just want to extend a public thank you to him for what he did this past year – and not just for the volunteer work.  No.  You see, it was MY age group that he dominated in 2016, beating me, as Dana Stetson used to say, “like a rented mule.”  On behalf of all the 65-69 AG geezers, thanks for giving the rest of us a chance this past year!

Please join me in congratulating our 2017 Bill Lott Volunteer of the Year award winner, David Anderson.