So then this happened....
A few weeks ago I received word that I was nominated for
Nanaimo’s Individual Female Athlete of the Year for 2012. Within a few days of
hearing this news, I received word that I was selected as one of three
finalists for the category and was requested to attend the Nanaimo Sport
Achievement Awards Banquet on Saturday February 9th. I was very
honored to be selected as a finalist and my initial thought was that I had zero
chance of winning so I actually told the organizers that I would be unable to
attend due to running the Pacific Road Runners First Half Half Marathon the
following morning.
The more I thought about it, I realized that I was
incredibly lucky to be chosen as a finalist and that I really wanted to attend.
I researched my options and was told that my award was one of the last to be
awarded and that I would not make the last 9pm ferry to Vancouver. I checked
out the float planes and saw that they didn’t fly out of Nanaimo until after
7:30 as they don’t fly until the sun comes up. The last resort was Air Canada
and flying from Nanaimo’s airport to YVR and then catching the Canada Line
downtown.
The schedule was tight, leaving little to no room for error.
In the end, I booked the flight and crossed my fingers that there would be no
fog or delays. So this past Saturday, I got all dressed up and attended my
first Nanaimo Sport Achievement Awards.
The event was being held at the Coast Bastion Hotel and we
had to be there by 6pm. We checked in and found our table and then went up to a
“holding room” per say where we had food and drinks with other nominees. I kept
two junior athletes company as I knew one of them (Madison) through the track
club. This little speedster broke my school records I think almost 3 years ago
now. I believe I had held the record for approx 16 years but I can’t remember
exactly.
Closer to 7pm we were taken towards the main ballroom and
were piped around the outside of the room by a guy playing the bagpipes. We
found our seats and then had a delicious prime rib dinner, starting with salad
and ending with Cheesecake. The awards were mixed in throughout the night.
As it came closer to my award category, I won’t lie, I got
nervous. I was up against racewalker Katelynn Ramage and a talented 13 year old
Sage Thomas. I have known Katelynn for
more than a few years both through NDSS (who I helped coach) and the local
track club. She is really skilled at her event and a top ranked athlete in the
country. Sage on the other hand had many medals at various
national/international events. Unfortunately neither Katelynn nor Sage could
attend the event and were represented by their parents. Needless to say, I
didn’t once think that I had this award in the bag.
Not to mention we had 2 other nominees at my table and they
had both won already. I was either going to continue the trend or break it!
When they called my name I was shocked. I went up and accepted and then had my
photo taken by the talented Lance Sulllivan. Thankfully I didn’t have to make a
speech as I am not a fan of public speaking. If I was required, I would have
thanked my coach Matt, my boyfriend, family and friends, not to mention my
sponsor since 2011 (Saucony) and of course my health professionals Abe, Joe and
Yvonne.
I even ended up getting a quick interview with the local
Newspaper plus a quick interview with CTV VI News (awkward!!! I am not a natural). The constant question I was
asked was “what is next for you” to which I replied, well I have a half
marathon tomorrow morning at 8:30am in Vancouver (at this time it was probably
at least 10:30pm).
Interview with Mira (CTV News)
I still have no idea who actually nominated me; however, if
you are out there, a huge thank you! When I returned to work on Wednesday (I
work at a seniors facility) I found that my co-worker had made a “wall of
congrats” which included all my news articles, plus each resident signed their
name and wrote special messages. It was quite the surprise! Thanks Colleen!
Work Surprise
Here are some news articles from the last few weeks.
Nominees- Nanaimo Daily News
Finalists - Nanaimo Bulletin
Finalist Info- Nanaimo Daily News
Winners- Nanaimo Daily News
Winners- Nanaimo Bulletin
CTV VI News (starts at 4:37)
The award. Photo taken at Pipers Lagoon
1 comment:
Congratulations! Thats fantastic! Hard work pays off.
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