Written by Nancy Hobbs, MUT Council Chairperson.
USATF Mountain Ultra Trail Council Announces 2015 Mountain, Ultra, Trail Runners of the Year
The Mountain/Ultra/Trail running (MUT) council of long distance running has named the 2015 USATF Mountain Runners of the year, Trail Runners of the Year, Ultra Runners of the Year, and Contributor of the Year. The following will be recognized at the USATF Annual Meeting in Houston, TX, next month.
Mountain Runners of the Year:
Lyndon Ellefson Memorial Mountain Runner of the Year: Joseph Gray, 31, Colorado Springs, CO
Master’s Man: Chris Grauch, 43, Boulder, CO
Women’s Open: Stevie Kremer, 31, Crested Butte, CO.
Master’s Woman: Laura Haefeli, 48, Del Norte, CO
Sub-ultra Trail Runners of the Year:
Men’s Open: Patrick Smyth, 29, Santa Fe, NM
Men’s Master: Chris Grauch, 43, Boulder, CO
Women’s Open: Megan Kimmel, 35, Silverton, CO
Master’s Woman: Mary Churchill, 40, Novato, CA
Ultra Trail Runners of the Year: awards presented by Joe and Joyce Prusaitis
Men’s Open: Alex Nichols, 27, Colorado Springs, CO
Men’s Master: Paul Terranova, 41, Austin, TX
Women’s Open: Nicole Studer, 33, Dallas, TX
Master’s Woman: Traci Falbo, 43, Charlestown, IN
Ultra Road Runners of the Year:
Ted Corbitt Memorial Ultra Runner of the Year: Harvey Lewis, 39, Cincinnati, OH
Men’s Master: Joe Fejes, 49, Gainesville, GA
Ruth Anderson Ultra Runner of the Year: Camille Herron, 33, Warr Acres, OK
Master’s Woman: Traci Falbo, 43, Charlestown, IN
Contributor of the Year:
Dr. Lovy and the Kirksville School of Osteopathic Medicine. The contributions of Dr. Lovy and his team span many years supporting the US 24 Hours Team at the World Championships, as well as USA National Championships and non-championship events. Says Mountain Ultra Trail Council vice chairperson Howard Nippert, “When we won 24 Hour men’s and women’s team gold in Steenbergen, The Netherlands, I got one as team manager of each team. I presented one to assistant manager Mike Spinnler, and one to Doc Lovy, the team physician. Doc took the medal back to Kirsville and it is on display at the college in a case where everyone can see the results of the work of the students.”
Past Contributors of the Year:
2003: American Ultra Running Association
2004: North Texas Trail Runners
2005: Teva
2006: La Sportiva/GoLite
2007: Co Contributors of the Year: The White Mountain Milers Running Club is the Mountain Running Contributor of the Year. And The Mad City 100km Road Race is the Ultrarunning Contributor of the Year.
2008: Scott McCoubrey
2009: Paul Kirsch
2010: Mount Washington Road Race Directors Bob and Anita Teschek
2011: Lin Gentling
2012: Tom Raffio
2013: Brian Metzler
2014: Richard Bolt
To be considered for the USATF Mountain, Ultra, and Trail running awards an athlete must show top results in U.S. competitions from October 23, 2014 through November 10, 2015, to include mountain races (these may be on paved/gravel surfaces as long as there is significant elevation loss or gain) and trail races of varying lengths, as well as road races for the ultra category (distances beyond the marathon). International results are also considered. The nominee must be an ambassador for the sport. Nominee must be a USATF member for 2015, and to be considered for the masters’ category athlete must be a minimum of 40 years of age.
Anyone can nominate athletes for these awards. Voting is done by members of USATF’s Mountain, Ultra & Trail (MUT) Running Council & Executive Committee. There are over 40 council members from all MUT running disciplines, from every region of the United States. The MUT Executive Committee includes Nancy Hobbs, Richard Bolt, Jon Olsen, Brandy Erholtz, Howard Nippert, Traci Falbo, Maria Dalzot, Kami Semick, Eric Blake, Roy Pirrung, Michael Wardian and Max King.
