Yorki Munoz, a resident of Jackson Heights, was named Male Runner of the Year by the College Point Road Runners Track Club during an award presentation at the 20th Avenue Restaurant in College Point earlier this month. Miriam Teran, a Flushing resident, w
Teran and Munoz each received a cash prize, Runner of the Year certificates and a sports bag with his and her name on it.
“Getting the award makes me feel very happy,” said the 33-year-old Munoz. “Now I want to keep [my winning races] up.”
Munoz posted 12 victories out of 20 races last year and when he didn’t finish first overall, he would be among the top three in his age group.
He is currently putting in 60 miles a week in Central Park and Queens in preparation for the Brooklyn half-marathon. Last year he placed seventh overall in the field.
Teran’s husband, Luis Teran, also of Flushing, said he was very surprised when named Most Improved Runner of the Year.
“I never thought that I would be honored,” Luis Teran said. “I improved on my marathon time from 4:04 in 2001 to a shocking 3:36 in 2002. Now I’m training for the Boston Marathon.”
“We were so happy in getting the awards,” he added. “ We run for fun. Last year we ran at any distance from the 5K to the marathon.”
Other award winners include Chris Yepez as Volunteer of the Year, Julio Aguirre as Master (40 and over) Runner of the Year, Samir Halilovic for the Leon Nicholas Azimuth Force Award and John Sotomayor as the President’s Award winner. Halilovic is now running for Vassar College.
Ted Truitt, 50, of Glen Oaks, received the Runner of the Year Award for the Quantum Feet Running Club. His teammates, Jim Durston and Nicole Futoran, received the Most Improved Runner of the Year awards for males and females, respectively. Chris Morrison was given the Most Valuable Teammate Award.
