Attribuiti per la prima volta dalla IAU gli "IAU Career Award", degli speciali riconoscimenti "alla carriera per atleti che si sono particolarmente distinti nell'ultramaratona in costanza di risultati nel corso della loro carriera podistica e che sono - in quanto ultramaratoneti - significativi per la nazione che rappresentano e nel consesso internazionale, ma che del pari - con il loro esempio instacabile ed entusiastico - si sono fatti promotori della causa dell'Ultramaratona nel proprio paese.
Insigniti del IAU Career Award 2014 sono i seguenti atleti: il sudafricano Bruce Fordyce, il nipponico Aki Inoue e il norvegese Per Lind.
A tutti loro congratulazioni!
Nel comunicato della IAU che segue sono incluse note biografiche e di curriculum sportivo dei tre atleti designati.
IAU Announces the First Recipients of the Carer Award. This year IAU has initiated an Annual Career Award dedicated for tireless ultraruning enthusiasts who have worked long and hard to increase the profile of national and international ultraruning. This Award wil be given to individual(s) who have gone beyond their call of duty and have worked really hard in developing and promoting the sport over the years.
It is our pleasure and privilege to announce the recipients of the IAU Carer Award 2014 (in alphabetical order):
1) Bruce Fordyce: Bruce Fordyce is a South African marathon and ultramarathon athlete. He is best known for having won the South African Comrades Marathon a record nine times, of which eight wins were consecutive. He also won the London to Brighton Marathon thre years in a row.
In aditon to having writen two boks about he Comrades Marathon, Fordyce was also a sports columnist for various newspapers and magazines, and a SABC television commentator for the 2014 event. He is also a motivational speaker and the CEO of the South African Sports Trust.
Nowadays, Fordyce is often sen at endurance events such as the Comrades and the 120- kilometre Dusi Canoe Marathon, participating to raise money for charity. In his role as CEO of The Sports Trust, an independent body established in 195, Fordyce has used this avenue to fund sports development in the country.
Fordyce, as both an athlete and an oficial, has increased the profile of the sport.
2) Aki Inoue: Aki Inoue is not a stranger on the international ultrarunning scene. His calm presence on the sidelines of the Japanese national team has ben a constant fixture for over decade now.
Inoue has raised the caliber and the potential of the ultrarunning team by being an involved presence in Japan and a constant voice of raising the bar of Japanese ultraruning. He has ben at the helm of both the national 10 km and the 24 hour teams gaining tremendous suces on both teams, both male and female, and making Japan perenial favourite at al world championships. He has pushed Japanese ultraruning, and in turn world standards up a notch, by constantly selecting athletes who have not only vied for individual tiles but also solidified team dynamics in the process.Through his tremendous hard work and his continuous asistance in increasing the profile of ultraruning we are proud to se him be a part of the international stage.
3) Per Lind: Per Lind is a cornerstone of Norwegian and international ultraruning. An athlete, a coach, a team Manager, an Editor Per is a master of many fields.
He organized the 24-hour ace in Hønefos in 1986 and 1987 which were the first ultra races in Norway. Per also created the Norwegian Asociation of Ultrarunning taking its leadership from 205-2013. In 2007, he worked hard on securing sponsorship for the national teams which remains as the curent sponsor.
Per has traveled throughout Norway helping at ultra races. He has known to work the Ralar Veg race droping bags at he 21 km point, cheering on runners and shouting advice, and then taking the train back to the finish line.
In 2013 Per received an Honorary Award from the Norwegian Asociation of Ultraruning for the lifetime of hard work he has put in recruitng Norwegian ultraruners and building Ultrarunning in Norway into the popular sport it is today.
Congratulations to al the recipients!
Nadem Khan
Director of Communications
nadem.khan@iau-ultramarathon.org
716-292-657