(Photo  by Janet Norman-Bain)

Rick West

2008 Honourary Lifetime Membership

Tonight we honour Rick West with a Honorary Lifetime Membership.

Richard West from Coles Island, New Brunswick, Labrador, Moncton, Halifax and probably elsewhere somehow ended up in Prince Edward Island (A young lady by the name of Judy had a lot to do with getting him to remain on the Island).  In any case, it was much to our benefit, and tonight, in particular, to the benefit of the Roadrunners Club.

Rick, as he is known by all, is well known by everyone in the Club. His commitment and dedication are hallmarks of his character. He has been very generous with his time and energy providing many worthwhile and much needed services over the years.  And he continues to run

and be a mentor to many a runner, young & old. You may remember Rick, along with Debbie Hughes, volunteered to run with Rob Peters, a blind runner you would have seen in the occasional race.

This award, which recognizes Roadrunners who have demonstrated exemplary skills, sportsmanship, mentoring and dedication to the sport, and to our Club, over the years, certainly befits Rick.

Rick has been running for 30 plus years and has been a member of this young running Club for most of those years. In 1992 he was race director of the SADD run which continues to this day to be a very successful run. About this same time Rick became Race Coordinator for the Roadrunner Club. This was at a time when road running was in its infancy compared to today. In this capacity he was very instrumental in organizing the two day, relay run from St. Jean’s School in Moncton over 100 miles of pavement to Charlottetown. I understand Judy gave Rick a hand in the mapping & measuring of the course, meeting with the Moncton city police and the booking of the overnight cabins, etc.

Subsequently Rick became the editor of the Newsletter. In 1995 Rick became President of the club and then later returned to editing the Newsletter again. It is fortunate that Rick is as tall and broad as he is, because many of his fellow Executives will tell you that it was Rick’s enthusiasm, dedication and hard work that carried the Club for a number of years while he was on the executive.

In 1999 he and Judy left for a short work stint in Halifax where they of course kept up their running. When they returned Rick came back on the Executive as a Member-at-Large which he held until he retired last year.

When the new PEI Marathon was being organized Rick jumped in to help as Course Director for three years. Rick and Ewen Stewart were determined to make the course a qualifier for the Boston Marathon and jumped over the many hurdles to make it happen and we’ve seen the result of that with ever increasing numbers of PEIers qualifying each year.

Rick has run too many road races to count along with numerous Cabot Trail Relay, Red Cross Relays. He ran over 25 marathons, mostly with Judy, they were in Boston, New York City, Ottawa, Rome, Toronto, Montreal, Ipswich, Cape Cod and Death Valley to mention a few.

Always ready to laugh, tell a story, or play a practical joke (with his side-kick Gary), Rick has added much to the social component of our Club, … And Rick, we would like to keep you around, so please accept our newest Honourary Lifetime Membership to PEI Roadrunners Club.

Congratulations Rick, and thanks for all that you have done over many years of dedicated service to our Club.

Congratulations Rick!