Striders awards

The Annapolis Striders Annual Awards Banquet was held March 9 and celebrated the accomplishments of the best runners and volunteers in the area.

The Ben Moore Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Tom DeKornfeld, who has been a leading voice in the community for the benefits of running and volunteering for decades — always leading by example. Larry Puglisi earned Strider of the Year Award, while Eva Coale was named Volunteer of the Year.

Female Runner of the Year went to Kristin Dubinski, while Maksym Petrenko was named Male Runner of the Year. Griffin Tabar was chosen as the Junior Strider of the Year, while the Most Improved Runner award went to Steve Coleman.

The Annapolis Striders Championship Series, which consists of runners in five-year age groups competing over eight races ranging from one mile to 16.3 miles, highlights the skills required to be proficient in different disciplines. Runners who finish every race in the Series are bestowed with the title of Ironman.

Of particular note are four runners for whom consistency and dedication are the name of the game. For decades, come cold weather, hot weather, rain or snow, through injury and illness, these runners have run every race in the Championship Series.

A special congratulations to Ironmen Matt Mace, Will Myers and Derek Ammons. Mace has competed in every Championship Series race for 36 years, while Myers has done so for 35 years and Ammons for 27 years.

Local legend Eric Peltosalo, who placed first in the 70-74 age group, also has a streak going of at least one age-group champ series year title for every five-year group since the first series in 1980 when he won age group 30-34. As Peltosalo notes, “it’s not a measure of speed but consistency and stubbornness and has required using every physical and mental trick I learned in 47 years of competitive running.”

Congratulations to all the well deserving award winners. They are inspirations to all of us of the power of “showing up” and working hard, year in and year out, either as a runner or a volunteer or both.