This Award will 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 Career 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 three years in a row.
In addition to having written two books about the 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 seen 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 1995, Fordyce has used this avenue to fund sports development in the country.
Fordyce, as both an athlete and an official, 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 been 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 ultrarunning. He has been at the helm of both the national 100km and the 24 hour teams gaining tremendous success on both teams, both male and female, and making Japan perennial favourite at all world championships.
He has pushed Japanese ultrarunning, and in turn world standards up a notch, by constantly selecting athletes who have not only vied for individual titles but also solidified team dynamics in the process.
Through his tremendous hard work and his continuous assistance in increasing the profile of ultrarunning we are proud to see him be a part of the international stage.
3) Per Lind:
Per Lind is a cornerstone of Norwegian and international ultrarunning. An athlete, a coach, a team Manager, an Editor Per is a master of many fields.
He organized the 24-hour race in Hønefoss in 1986 and 1987 which were the first ultra races in Norway. Per also created the Norwegian Association of Ultrarunning taking its leadership from 2005-2013. In 2007, he worked hard on securing sponsorship for the national teams which remains as the current sponsor.
Per has travelled throughout Norway helping at ultra races. He has known to work the Rallar Veg race dropping bags at the 21km 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 Association of Ultrarunning for the lifetime of hard work he has put in recruiting Norwegian ultrarunners and building Ultrarunning in Norway into the popular sport it is today.
Congratulations to all the recipients!
Nadeem Khan
Director of Communications
nadeem.khan@iau-ultramarathon.org
