The following club members were recognized for their achievements on 3/12/19:
Robert Mason – 2018 Runner of the Year
Our PCVRC 2018 Runner of the year never considered himself to be an athlete. His first ever 5K was at the high school county championships at Winterthur eight years ago at the age of 55, encouraged by his son who was a Concord High XC runner. He ran his first half marathon in 2012 in Delaware and was so surprised to win his age group that he decided to go on and train for the Philly marathon. He says this was the hardest thing he had ever done…and he qualified for the Boston Marathon without a second to spare!
So Bob went to run his first Boston marathon at age 59 in 2014. He says it was amazing – as a “non-athlete” he had never even dreamed of doing this!
Joining the PCVRC encouraged him to further challenge himself by running in the USATF Grand Prix series. Bob scored in his age group with places at Broad Street, Moorestown, Main Line Run, DDC (1st ), Bridge Run (1st) and the Rothman 8K (1st). This performance resulted in winning 1st overall in his age group for the Mid-Atlantic USATF Grand Prix series. Bob really appreciates that the running series has allowed him to meet some fantastic runners, both here in Delaware and the tri-state region.
Bob is still getting faster at all distances from 5k to marathon and has that this goal in mind – to score points for Pike Creek this year!
It is never too late to start running and to challenge yourself and this is why Bob exemplifies what it is to be PCVRC’s Runner of the Year.
Great job Bob!
Michelle Brangan – 2018 Rookie of the Year
The Pike Creek 2018 Rookie of the Year is new to Pike Creek but not new to running. Michelle Brangan burst onto the PCVRC running scene this year and immediately began racking up points for the club. Her contributions included impressive times at the Broad Street 10-miler, the Moorestown 8K and the Rothman 8K earning a 3rd place in her age group and contributing greatly to the USATF racing scores. However, it is her great attitude and desire to run with the PCVRC that has gotten her nominated as our “Rookie of the Year.”
Welcome, Michelle!
Christina Xia – 2018 Volunteer of the Year
Christina Xia started running 5Ks in 2010. In 2015, she signed up for her first marathon and decided to join PCVRC on their Sunday Panera runs. There she met many experienced running who provided running advice and help. That’s when she realized how supportive the running community was. Her whole family has caught the running bug. In 2018, Christina ran with her three kids and husband at the DDC 5K. Christina supports our club by maintaining the membership records. It’s her way of giving back to the organization that has supported so many runners over the years. She will say that others deserve this award more than her.
Managing the membership for a 200+ member club can be a thankless (and somewhat invisible) job. Members join any time, all year long and then at the beginning of the year, everyone needs to renew. Keeping track of who joined when and sending out welcome letters is a never-ending job…but Christina is always right on top of it. Our membership list (which we use to contact everyone) is always up-to-date. No, this is not a thankless job, thank you Christina for being PCVRC’s Volunteer of the Year for 2018.
Tom Steenkamer – Hall of Fame Induction
See Tom’s page

Tom Steenkamer, Theresa Cannon-Kauffman, Jerry Herman, Rudy Antonini, Ray Christensen, Dave Farren