Service Award – Coca Cola

Before Suzanne and I opened Fleet Feet Huntsville, I was an employee of Coca Cola for thirteen years. One can only imagine just how many times I want to management for help with a race.

It began with the Mountain Mist Trail Run. Every year, Coca Cola has provided us with Coke, PowerAde, cups, coffee, hot chocolate and everything else you can imagine we could need to serve the runners. It has always been donated. Coca Cola has never asked to be recognized for their sponsorship, they always tell me, “Don’t worry about it”.

One year when Malcolm Gillis was race director for the Rocket City Marathon, his sponsorship for an electrolyte replacement drink fell through at the last minute. Coke stepped up and gave us a great deal on PowerAde and cups, bailing us out of a big hole just days before the race.

Coca Cola is involved with many events in the community, especially HTC events. They sponsor Monte Sano Road Races as well as Autumn Chase just to name a couple of big races from my memory.

I always felt Coca Cola did the HTC a great service due in part to my employment with the company. After leaving Coke four years ago to open Fleet Feet, I was a little concerned that things might change a little. In fact, they did change a lot. Coke is helping support the running community even more than ever. They support our races, training runs and anything else we need help with. It gives me great pleasure to present this year’s Service Award to one of our biggest silent supporters. I would like to ask Mike Sokol to come up and receive this award for Coca Cola.