Runner of the Year Awards

BigfootRunning.com has showcased performances from trail and road races in North Carolina for several years. Collecting that data puts us in a unique position to identify top performers in a very objective way. If you win and win often -- especially against the quality fields that turn out for the variety of events held in North Carolina -- you deserve to be noticed. And even recognized.

So we decided to formally honor the year's top performers with the "North Carolina Runner of the Year" awards.

The overall Runner of the Year is awarded to one male and one female runner. Candidates must have several standout performances and top finishes, both of which are verified through results available from the BigfootRunning.com database. In addition, consideration favors those runners who have ventured out to races across the state and maintained the same level of success. And even further weight is given if those performances include both trail and road races.

Yet North Carolina is a big state, and its regions reflect very different kinds of races -- and racers. So it is also fitting that runners from eastern and western regions are also honored. BigfootRunning.com awards "Western North Carolina Runner of the Year" and "Eastern North Carolina Runner of the Year" to males and females who excelled in races within those regions.

BigfootRunning.com plans to make its North Carolina Runners of the Year an annual award to deserving runners. BigfootRunning.com actively promotes the winners through press releases. After all that training and racing, the best in NC deserve some recognition.