A Brief History of the Spirit Award – A Tradition That Continues

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The greatest thing about Human Powered Racing are the athletes who have been a part of it over the years.

Early on, we wanted to put a tradition in place that would recognize athletes who embodied what it meant to be a member of Human Powered Racing. There was no official criteria for winning the award and for the first six years it was a vote by team members to pick the winners.

As the team expanded and we changed to a two tiered level of membership the method for picking the winner also changed. Since I, as coach, was at every workout and saw every athlete I also knew what every athlete was going through.

Not just in training and racing, but what athletes were having to overcome on a personal and professional level as well.

So, I started choosing who I believed carried forward the spirit and determination that the early winners had possessed.

The individual plaque that the winner receives each year has not changed. Along the top it says; Swim – Bike – Run – Inspire and that is exactly what the past winners of this award have done. While some of them have gone on to retire from racing, moved away, taken on other endeavours or simply gone out on their own, they have each left a positive mark on the athletes that they trained and raced with while a member of the team.

As a coach, I couldn’t be prouder to have worked with each and every athlete on this list of past winners.