Pace Setter : January 2025

HMRRC Announces the 2024 Hall of Fame Honoree – Maureen Cox, By: Cathy Sliwinski

HMRRC announced this week that Maureen Cox has been named the 2024 inductee to the HMRRC Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame honors club members who have earned extraordinary distinction through service to the club and/or running performance.  

Maureen's unique qualifications for this honor stem from her diverse and extensive contributions to HMRRC. Her roles as an elected officer, a director of a major race, a vital coordinator for almost all of the races on the HMRRC race calendar, and a volunteer for other running events and committees make her a standout candidate for this prestigious recognition. 

Since 2012,  Maureen has served in the club's management as Executive Vice President (2012-2013), President (2013-2014), and Board Member (2016-2019). In 2014, she took over as race director of the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon and Half Marathon, one of the club's most operationally complex races. With a team of 30 coordinators and over 400 volunteers annually, Maureen has directed the marathon for the past 10 years. She has faced many financial and strategic challenges with a race with two start lines, a course traveling through six different towns and two different counties, an operational train crossing, and a State DOT requiring mounds of paperwork before granting permission for the race to proceed. Maureen's practical leadership skills, attention to detail, and people-centeredness ensured a dedicated volunteer team followed her. This resulted in one of the most financially and reputationally successful races on HMRRC's calendar.   

Maureen has also been significant for her volunteer service as Refreshment Coordinator since 2011 for the club's major and minor races. This is a role that many club members take for granted when they finish a race and find hot soup or bagels or cookies awaiting them. Maureen first assumed refreshment responsibility at The Doug Bowden Winter Series Race # 1. She later added responsibility for the remaining Winter Series events, the Runnin' of the Green and the Delmar Dash. In 2013, she became Refreshment Coordinator for the CDPHP Workforce Team Challenge – a monster of a logistical endeavor where she ordered, purchased, arranged for delivery, and set up a refreshment tent with volunteers to serve up to 10,000 participants in under an hour efficiently! In 2017, she added the Stockade-athon to her responsibilities, another huge undertaking she handled seamlessly. She continues to handle many of these races today and our club members continue to be thankful after the cold winter races! 

In her role as refreshment coordinator, Maureen took it upon herself to establish strong relationships with Bountiful Bread (in 2014) and Hannaford (in 2015), through which these businesses provided considerable donated support to multiple HMRRC events. She has also connected with food pantries and shelters in the area so that any remaining refreshments would go to supporting our local community establishments. 

Despite not being a runner herself (but a proud mother of one!), Maureen's unwavering dedication, perseverance, and positive attitude have significantly strengthened HMRRC as an organization. Her leadership has inspired others and set a high standard for teamwork and goal achievement, whether it's organizing a race, feeding hungry runners, or serving the club administratively. She has consistently shown that it is not just the runners who make the club strong, but it is also the support structure underneath that allows our club members who do run to achieve their goals. We are grateful for the level of volunteerism that Maureen has shown throughout the years and her induction into the Hall of Fame will solidify this so that all club members now and into the future can reflect upon. 

The induction ceremony, a celebration of Maureen's remarkable achievements, will be held at the club's banquet on March 15, 2025, at 6 p.m. at The Terrace at Waters Edge, 2 Freeman Road, Glenville. Plan to attend. The HMRRC and local running community are immensely proud of Maureen and her well-deserved honor. Congratulations, Maureen!