Saturday, July 20, 2013

Unsung Heros

The most important people in San Angelo’s fitness community are the unsung heroes who work quietly year after year to “keep the lights on” as they organize fitness activities, mentor new participants, and direct or volunteer at events.
 
You’ll rarely see these folks clamoring for attention, but their contributions to our local cycling, running and triathlon activities are a big part of why our growing fitness community is successful.

Let’s put the spotlight on a few of these individuals and give them a shoutout for their ongoing contributions.

Kent and Anne Fish have been mainstays in the local running community since 1981 and are the “proud parents” of the Southland Shuffle, a 6-mile running event that’s been on the Road Lizards club calendar for the past 32 years. They put on the Southland race every August and even create unique awards for each year’s event.

In a 2007 interview for a newspaper article, Fish noted that they’ll keep that race going for years to come and that their motivation for organizing the event hasn’t changed much over the years. “It’s fun just to give back to the club,” he said.

Local cyclist Kyle Olson has been one of the leading advocates for off-road cycling and related trail infrastructure in the San Angelo area for the past two decades. He leads group mountain bike rides on local trails in San Angelo State Park and the Twin Buttes area, coordinates monthly trail work days to help keep the state park trails maintained, and is also a frequent “bike patrol” volunteer for running events such as the trail running series and other races.

Terry Shaner, a longtime San Angelo runner, served for multiple years as the president and vice president of the Road Lizards running club after retiring from the Army in 1995. He served as the club’s president for so many years that he’s informally known as the President Emeritus of that organization.

Over the years, Shaner directed or started local running events such as Run in the Sun, Hustle with Your Honey, the Retro Run, Run in the Moon, the SARL Halloween 15K and, most recently, the Shamrock River Run. He was also the race director for Run in the Sun in 2007 when it first became a Texas 8K State Championship event.

Dionnie Hoelsken (aka “the Cycling Nurse”) is a local go-to person for triathlon and mountain bike newbies who want to learn proper bike and swim skills before taking on a mountain bike event, an off-road Xterra triathlon or an adventure race. Giving back to the sport she loves means early morning and late evening sessions at the pool, swim beach or mountain bike trails as she coaches cyclists and swimmers.

Hoelsken knows what she teaches, having qualified for and raced the 2012 International Triathlon Union off-road triathlon world championship as a member of Team USA. In addition to swim coaching, Hoelsken is an experienced mountain bike racer and spends her spare time helping coach the San Angelo high school mountain bike team.

Pat Barton is another San Angelo athlete who has made significant contributions to both the running and triathlon communities. Barton served as the race director for events such as the former YMCA half-marathon, assisted with numerous other events over the years and most recently headed up the group that planned and implemented the Lake Nasworthy triathlon in 2008. Barton has served as the coordinator and race director for the highly successful Nasworthy triathlon every year since its inception.

Fitness instructor and cyclist Christina McBride hasn’t spent as many years in San Angelo as some of the people mentioned above, but over the past few years she’s spent countless hours organizing rides and events and forming teams to compete in mountain bike, triathlon and related events.

McBride’s community resume includes triathlon coaching, organizing and codirecting the Loco Lizard adventure race, creating the MAC Racing-Concho Bike cycling team that qualified 12 riders for the 2011 USA Cycling National Mountain Bike Championships and serving as head coach for the San Angelo high school mountain bike team she helped to create.

Last but not least, let’s pay tribute to all of the unpaid volunteers who turn out week after week to help with cycling, running and multisport events. These volunteers are rarely recognized for what they do, but without their efforts, our local fitness events would not be possible.

Remember — the unsung heroes are the backbone of our fitness community.

Upcoming Events
  • July 25: Mountain bike time trial, sanangelobicycleassociation.com
  • July 27: Goodfellow Traithlon, roadlizards.org
  • Aug. 1: Road bike time trial, sanangelobicycleassociation.com
  • Aug. 15: Mountain bike time trial, sanangelobicycleassociation.com
  • Aug. 24: Armydillo 10K and 2-mile, roadlizards.org
  • Sept. 5: Road Bike time trial, sanangelobicycleassociation.com
  • Sept. 7: Comanche Warrior triathlon, visitbigspring.com/pages/comanchewarriortriathlon
  • Sept. 7: Let It Go 5K, roadlizards.org
  • Sept. 14: Run to Remember, angelo.edu/asufit

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