Huge thanks to everyone that helped piece together notes from the event! Gary, Rich, Joe,Hiroshi, Frank, Mike, and Jackie!

The 2012 TVFR Annual Awards Banquet took place on Thursday, November 8 at the Italian American Club in Milford, MA. There were roughly 55 members in attendance along with some special guests: Larry Olsen's niece Kim Sullivan, and sister Karen Paciori. After everyone had a chance to mingle, Dave Morin pulled us all together for some group photos, where Dave did some sprints while trying to get himself into the picture! We then sat down for a pasta dinner and enjoyed the program, which included raffle prizes and trivia questions in between speakers.

TVFR President Joe Hamm kicked off the night by recognizing all veterans, police and firefighters among us, and led a moment of silence. He then introduced Frank Nealon, who gave a recap of the 2012 Boston Tune Up 15K race and Woodland Trail Race series.

The 32nd annual Boston Tune Up 15K was a success with 312 registered runners, good weather, and fantastic post-race refreshments. The soup donations were a huge hit, although they caused some electrical problems that will need to be worked out for next year! The Upton Police Dept was very cooperative as usual, and the club was able to donate $1,000 to the Pan Mass Challenge Jimmy Fund for Chief Bradley. The 2013 15K is tentatively scheduled for March 30 at 10:00am.

The 15th annual Woodland Trail Series was also a huge success with a very high attendance. So high, in fact, that we ran out of room to park and beginning next year the starting location will change to the West Hill Park. The course will still be 5 miles over the same trails, we'll still have a super low entry fee, and now we'll also have indoor bathrooms and a larger pavilion. The big hit of the season was the end of season BBQ in August, where runners donated lots of side dishes and Gary Atlas brought his famous and delicious homemade root beer!

Joe then took a moment to recognize Frank Nealon for his outstanding contributions to the club, including organizing the trail races, the 15K, the banquet, and countless other efforts. Frank received a long and much deserved standing ovation. Thank you Frank!

Joe then introduced Ray Lussier to give a recap of the 2012 Greenway Challenge. Ecotarium's master team took 3rd place in their division. Congratulations to Joe Hamm, Don Basso, Hiroshi Morimoto, Bruce Ackman, John Parker, and Jeff Hattem. The TVFR sponsored team took 1st in their division. Congratulations to Julia Caruso, Aaron Milne, Jay Stock, Brendan Cairney, Glenn Miller, and Rich Victor!

Joe returned to the podium to reflect on the past year's successful Soup Runs. The runs grew from just a few guys building mileage for the Boston Marathon, trying to get back in time for the Patriots games, into a mainstream and very popular TVFR group event. The group runs have recently started back up and there will be 4 locations that alternate throughout the season.

Joe then introduced Membership Coordinator Gary Atlas. Since our last banquet in November 2011, 67 new members have joined TVFR putting us over the '200' mark and increasing our membership to 224 members and 145 families. Welcome to all of our new members and please, everyone, if you have some ideas that you'd like to run with in the club come to our monthly meetings and bring them up.

Gary then continued on to acknowledge Larry Olsen's family members in attendance and gave some history around the Larry Olsen Scholarship. There is no lack of words, stories or reverence within this club or the running community when it comes to remembering Larry Olsen. TVFR uses 100% of the Larry Olsen tech shirt profits and 100% of the Larry Olsen Summer Classic 10K profits for our annual donation.

Gary acknowledged 2 guests from Larry's family in attendance. Kim Sullivan, Larry's niece, who ran her 1st marathon this past year. She ran a 4:53 in the Marine Corps Marathon! And Larry's sister, Karen Paciori. Karen's 11 year old granddaughter, Kim's daughter, ran the Larry Olsen Summer Classic 10K and came in 1st in her age group. If you look at a picture of her running, she moves her arms just like her Uncle Larry!

The criteria of the Larry Olsen Scholarship Award which is presented at Hopedale High School graduation is for one boy and one girl to receive the award. It reads "For students intending to further their education who have participated in cross country and/or indoor or outdoor track and have demonstrated respect for authority and dedication to good sportsmanship and team spirit".
The award recipients are chosen by the Scholarship Committee on which Coach Drugan and Kelly Butler sit. In 2010, the Larry scholarship went to Sam Butler and Meg Ogilvie. In 2011 it was given to Brianna Habel and Bobby Finnegan.

There was an exception in 2012. This year there were 8 recipients. There were no senior girls, but the senior boys were the last remaining runners that Larry coached at the start of their high school years. These scholars were truly the last group of athletes that can honestly say were a huge part of Larry's life and legacy.

The names are as follows: Chris Kivior from TVFR, Peter Berdos from TVFR, Brandon Zonghi, Aaron Maurais, Nicholas Bird, Derek Fischer, Ian Stewardson, and Andrew Klei.

A check was presented to Larry's sister Karen for $1,500 on behalf of the Tri-Valley Front Runners to the Larry Olsen Scholarship Fund.

Gary then turned the podium over to Jackie Kelley, new Grand Prix Series Coordinator. Jackie introduced herself and gave a brief overview of the Grand Prix series. She then went on to present the award winners for 2012. First place winners were: Glenn Miller and Charlene Gaboriault, 2nd place winners: John Parker and Jackie Kelley, 3rd place winners: Luke Legendre and Linda Zavalick, 4th place winners: Richard Van Wie and Coleen Phillips, and 5th place winners: Tom McMullin and Mary Tyler. Congratulations all for some great racing!

Jackie then introduced Mike Nixon, Treasurer, to give an update on the Runner's Incentive Program. Mike gave a brief overview of the incentive program. The program reimburses runners up to $25 per race, and does not cover fees. Eligible races are those in the Grand Prix series and USATF Grand Prix series, and runners must wear a TVFR singlet or Larry shirt. The program allows up to $500 per quarter, and so far the program has averaged $313 quarterly. Year to date, 24 runners have taken advantage of this reimbursement program over the course of 14 different races.

Coach Drugan took the podium to give an update on Hopedale's XC team readiness for the upcoming Central Mass Division 2 meet at Gardner Municipal Golf Course over the weekend. His belief in his team and his runners could hardly be contained as he talked about his team's development, commitment and strengths. (Hopedale ended up having a dominating win at the Central Mass Division 2 meet this past weekend ...... Congrats Coach Drugan.....We believe too!!!). He also shared some funny stories on TVFR runner and former Hopedale 'Star' Jay Stock. Time has a way of embellishing stories on its own, but Coach Drugan definitely can spin a good running story with the best of them. Coach Drugan then introduced TVFR Track Coach and PR Running Owner Rich Allen for the next to final leg of the evening's ceremony: Runners of the Year Awards.

Rich Allen took the podium to present the Martin Auty Male and Female Runner of the Year awards. The Female Runner of the Year award was presented to Jackie Kelley. Jackie had an excellent year with several age group awards and has shown tremendous improvement since last year. Her half marathon time improved from 2:01 to 1:47, 5K improved from 23:58 to 21:19, and after running all 3 woodland trail races both last year and this year, her time improved from 41:13 to 39:23. Last year she worked hard with a goal of breaking an 8:00 pace in the 5K distance, and this year she ran an 8:15 pace at the half marathon distance!

The Male Runner of the Year award was presented to John Dumont. John had an outstanding year and won many age group awards, including: 2nd at the Boston Tune Up 15K in March, 1st at the Boston Run to Remember half marathon in May, 2nd at the Harvard Pilgrim 10K in July, 3rd at the Yankee Homecoming 10 Miler in July, 3rd at the Larry Olsen Summer Classic 10K in August, 1st at the Boston Firefighters 10K in October, and 1st in all three of the TVFR Woodland Series 5 milers! Congratulations, Jackie and John!!

Joe then returned to the podium to present the MVP award. This award was presented to club secretary Jill Duhaime for volunteer efforts, leading weekly trail runs, distributing weekly communication, and maintaining the Soup Group blog and Facebook sites. Joe then presented the Rookie of the Year award. This award was given to Julia Caruso. Julia is a new member of the club who has demonstrated strong enthusiasm for running. She jumped right into the club by volunteering at all available events, constant participation in Monday night runs and track workouts, and competing in team events such as the Greenway Challenge and the 26x1 Marathon Relay. We're lucky to have her! Congratulations, Julia!

Joe wrapped up the program with a few closing remarks, and reminded the club that the prestigious position of Membership Coordinator is still up for grabs. Don't be shy! Thanks to all who came, and we'll see you out there on the roads!

Here's a link to the group photo. You are welcome to download and print it. If you'd like to order one through Dave Morin for $10, please email him directly at dave_morin@hotmail.com.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36304728@N06/8177362629/lightbox/