2007 Female
Performance Award – Cathy Henry
When I first began running
Huntsville Track Club races in the mid-1990s it wasn’t long before I noticed
that there was a group that was driving here from Guntersville to run with us. They were a noisy bunch and they cheered each
other on during the race and they cheered everyone else on too. And when it came time for awards they sat in
their Guntersville group and cheered even louder.
And it wasn’t long before I
noticed that these enthusiastic runners were picking up a whole lot of awards -
Amy Martin kept winning female overall, Cathy Henry kept winning the masters,
Regina Martin would win her age group, Davy Kennemer
would be second or third overall, and then along came Dana Overton who took
over Amy’s place as female overall, and that’s only to mention a few.
But as the years went by the
Guntersville numbers dwindled as some moved away, some started concentrating on
ultras, and some had family commitments or health issues. But throughout the years there is one Guntersville
runner who kept showing up, even driving here alone, because she loved running,
and nothing could stop her. In fact this
spring she ran our McKay’s Hollow half marathon, rushed home to shower and
change and drove off to attend the funeral of her friend’s father where she
gave her friend the shirt she received at the race that morning—we are guessing
that she drove over a hundred miles that day, but notice: she first came and
ran our HTC race. By now you must know
that I’m talking about Cathy Henry.
Cathy is an excellent,
seasoned runner, who has weathered the test of time, consistently coming out
ahead. Throughout the years she has won
the Masters Grand Prix twice, and now, this year, she won the Grandmasters
Grand Prix, piling up the points so the rest of us didn’t have a chance. While some Huntsville runners often can’t
seem to make it to the races, Cathy does—many times driving here alone in the
early morning hours—and she must have a room full of masters and first age
group Huntsville Track club trophies.
Cathy runs all the races, both short and long, and she also does the
Triathlon. The only race we can’t get
Cathy to run is the Mountain Mist.
I know that Cathy doesn’t
want a lot of accolades for her accomplishments, and she will be very irritated
with me if I keep praising her, so I’ll just tell one story about her. I have a piece of paper here in my pocket
that has been on Regina Martin’s refrigerator for 11 years. Cathy gave this to
“Whatever you do, work at it
with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”
Colossians 3:23
I think I’ve found the
motivation behind Cathy’s running.
On behalf of the Huntsville
Track Club I would like to present the 2007 Female Performance award to a great
runner, a great lady, and my very dear friend, Cathy Henry.