2024 Super Athletes Party

By Jerry Dietrich
with photos by Bruce Fisher

2/22/25 – Olde Spaghetti Factory – Tacoma
A festive group gathered for the annual Super Athlete awards. Nineteen Super Athletes comprised the record number being honored. Of the 19 rings to be presented, three were gold depicting a ranking of #1 at all four of the required distances.

The party began with introductions. I was the emcee, Bruce Fisher was in charge of photographs, Diane Martin made the reservation, Nancy Larsen did decorations, Larry Larsen was the setup assistant, Barbara Prine the recording secretary and Brent White furnished transportation.

Bruce began taking photos of everyone present.

I explained that one of the plaques didn’t arrive in time for the Grand Prix Series Award Party held in January. I decided to present it now before lunch so as not to detract from the ring presentations.

The award was for 2024 Silver Strider Of The Year. The Silver Strider of the Year is the highest honor the magazine presents annually.

The Silver Strider of the Year for 2024 was Patty Husko. Patty has been in charge of post-race reservations for several years. She also in a enthusiast participant in the Grand Prix Series recording the second highest number of races during the past 15 years among females. She also makes delicious cookies and candy pastries for some of our events.

The party was adjourned for lunch and socialization for one hour.

When reconvening the party, I mentioned that I hadn’t planned any of my usual jokes, but I had requests to reprise a couple I did several years ago.

The first joke was, “Before you register a complaint to a Race Director, you should walk a mile in his shoes. That way when you complain you’ll be a mile away and you’ll have his shoes”.

Second joke was about Jack Benny, famous tightwad and the richest comedian in Hollywood.

Jack was driving home from the studio on the Pasadena freeway when he spotted a nickel lying on the pavement. He stopped the Maxwell and got out to retrieve the nickel. The first car brushed him tearing the sleeve and all the buttons from his coat including his necktie. Undaunted Jack bent to get the nickel when a rearview mirror on a passing car clipped him knocking him off his feet. His pants were ripped wide open, he lost a shoe and he suffered a minor cut on his forehead. He grabbed the nickel and scrambled back into his car and drove home.

Arriving home he was greeted by his personal assistant, Rochester, who exclaimed, “Jack, what happened to you?”.

Jack replied, “I don’t want to talk about it”.

“But Jack,” Rochester insisted, “Your forehead is bleeding, your suit is in shreds, your shirt is torn, your tie is missing and you’re only wearing one shoe.”

“Oh alright,” Jack relented. ” I was driving home and I saw a nickel on the freeway and stopped to pick it up.”

Rochester rolled his eyes in disbelief and said, “You mean you risked your life for a nickel?”

“Of course not,” Jack replied. “Don’t be silly, I thought it was a quarter.”

The rest of the joke revolved around Jack buying a new suit and how he had to contort his body to accommodate a poorly constructed suit at a bargain price. He had to raise his right shoulder so that the lapels aligned. He had to bend one leg at the knee, to accommodate shortness in one pantleg. He had to bend an arm to make his sleeves match, and he had to point his right toe outward to match a trouser crease running down the side of one leg.

As he left the store a husband and wife were entering. Seeing Jack in his contorted and twisted condition, the husband held the door open for Jack. Jack hobbled out the door, as the wife shook her head.

“Oh that poor, poor, man,” she said to her husband.
“Yes, it was a sad sight,” the husband replied. “But did you see how perfectly they fitted him with a suit.”

Now it was time to unveil the promised surprise. Custom embordered hats and visors were made to reflect that the wearer possessed a Super Athlete ring.

The ring presentations began with the gold rings first.

I explained that the first 3 rings were gold recognizing that the recipient had attained a ranking of number one at all four distances in the TOP IO.

Here are the Super athletes and their ranking at 3k, 5k, 10k and half marathon. The exception was Michael Magnusson who since he was under 65 had to rank at the marathon rather than the 3k.

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Each Super Athlete was encouraged to say a few as he or she received their ring. After the final ring was presented, the party was adjourned to the breezeway where the group photo was taken.

Nobody was in a hurry to leave as those present visited, taking the opportunity to enjoy the camaraderie.