Class of 2007
| Alan Jones |  |
He ran cross-country in high school and college (Penn State) in the 1950s. He scored his first cross-country meet via computer in 1970 using a $4000 terminal and a $1,000,000 computer at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton. He continued to write programs for scoring running races and in 1982 wrote his first program for the IBM Personal Computer, Running Score, and in 1985 released RunScore. This program has been continually updated over the years. He is the inventor of the Jones/Oerth counter, which is the only official device for measuring road racecourses around the world. It has been used for Olympic Marathons since 1976. __He has B.S. and M.S. degrees from Penn State in engineering and a Ph.D. from Purdue. After a 26-year career with IBM he joined the faculty at SUNY Binghamton in the Geology Department where he writes educational programs about earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. His programs are part of the Geology, Gems, and Minerals exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Today RunScore is probably the most widely used race scoring software in the world. Thanks to him and other pioneers we are not still using tongue depressors. | ||
| Judy & Dennis Ikenberry | Founders | Race Central |  |
Most event producers give up one and in some cases a few Sundays each year. Imagine having no weekends for more than 20 years. Without rules you have no sport - without times there's no results and no results - no race. To produce results for at least 90 races each year, these two champions said good by to cozy lie ins long long ago. More than 90 times a year they crawl out of bed well before sunrise, set up equipment, brief volunteers, enter last minute registrations, start timers, capture every runners performance and then deal gently with a multitude of questions and demands. Then when all the runners have gone and the fun is over comes clean up and pack up and drive home. It can truly be said the Judy and Denis Ikenberry have created documented memories and evidence of achievement for thousands of runners for a very long time. Ours is an endurance sport and for their endurance they have earned the right of membership of the Running USA Hall of Champions. |
| Tom Raynor | Chairman | Fleet Feet Inc. |  |
Tom was a pretty good professional athlete in the '80s. 10ks somewhere in the 28-minute range. From fleet feet to Fleet Feet - In 1993 he purchased Fleet Feet Inc. He became the ultimate running retail coach. According to the July 2003 issue of Footwear News he transformed what was a team of underperforming running specialty shops into an all-star lineup. In 1993, the average franchise store in the 27-year-old, 37-unit company was pulling in only $260,000 a year. As president and CEO, he spent his first four years reorganizing and revamping 20 of the original stores. By 2003 there were 48 stores located in 22 states, and the average sales per store are $756,000. Today there are about 75 stores in 34 states and Fleet Feet is clearly the leading brand in running specialty retail. It is with admiration that we welcome Tom Raynor to the Hall of Champions |
| Bart Yasso | Runner's World |  |
He has one of the most impressive endurance sports resumes of any athlete. 5 Ironmans, solo unsupported bike ride across the US in 22 days (155 miles per day), Badwater 146, 150 marathons. But by itself this record, is not enough to get into the Hall of Champions. He is America's running ambassador. He has brought the joy of our sport to countless people. As the race and event promotion director at Runner's World, he has traveled to most of the marathons in America helping new and old comers achieve success and fulfillment through leading groups and presenting seminars that emphasize the sometimes hidden joys of our sport. | |