A year ago I was honored to be able to give away the Male Runner of the Year award to one of my greatest friends, John Kelly. At the time, I thought this was just the beginning of so many great moments I would share with him. I had no idea it would be one of the last. A month and a half later, John was gone.
Life as I knew it had changed forever on a cold week in January. Now almost a year after loosing John, I'm honored to be the 2012 Mystic Male Runner of the Year. I like to believe it means a little bit more to me now because of who held it before. John was a fierce competitor and a great runner. He would always thank others before ever thinking of himself. In some ways, he gave me more credit for his great running then himself (despite the fact that the man put in more work than anyone else).
I made it my mission at the beginning of 2012 to honor John by giving everything I had to running. I believe I did that and some more. I knew John would watch over me and help me along the way.
What I didn't realize then but do now is how special a group of people the Mystic Runners are. The features that John possesed are also possesed by so many other people in this great group. After receiving my award last night I took a look around the room at all my friends. Moments like that are rare and sweet and I knew then how lucky I am. Without all my friends (you all know who you are) this moment would have been impossible. You all inspire me!
Thank you!!
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