Flyer of the Year: Bill Schleining

Bill S.

Thank You

It is quite an honor to have been awarded the Flyer of the Year, especially when there are so many other Flyers who contribute so much to the club and their teammates. I know the things I did to help out were really just a lot of fun. And, I owe a lot to all of the Flyers who have helped me since I joined the team in 2013.

It’s Fun to Run

I’ve been running steadily since 2008, but it was in the spring of 2013 when I decided to look into running with a group. I had watched teams running in Westchester County where I live and around Central Park and looked at all their web sites. Most teams I thought

Typical Thursday Evening Run Group

would be too fast or too serious or did nothing but run around Central Park, or only at times when I couldn’t make it. I eventually showed up for one of the Saturday Flyer Group Runs. I was very impressed with how friendly everyone was, and the mix of serious runners at different levels and those who were out for just an easy conversational run. I then went to a Thursday evening run, which is a good time for me to run after work before heading home. I found that to be a great group of people with a ride range of running abilities and interests. And then I found that is true of the entire team and all of the runs. On just about every day there’s a group running and you can find people to run with at the pace you want on that day, and at whatever level of socializing you’re interested in.

It’s Fun to Race

Before I joined the Flyers I ran in only NYRR races to do the 9+1. Finishing at 4,599^th place in a race was not that

2015 NYRR Team Championships

rewarding. But after I joined the Flyers I found I was running more and improving my speed. Then I did the Flyers Marathon Training Program (MTP) and SpeedPass speedwork in alternate seasons and found that my race times were improving dramatically. More significantly, the support of teammates and encouragement of people I did not know yelling “go Flyers" keeps me doing my best in every race.

It’s Fun to Volunteer

I think almost all of the Flyers help each other out at one time or another. Formally volunteering at an

Pacing at NYRR Long Training Run

event enables helping everyone and can be even more fun than just participating. My favorite has been being a pace leader in the long training runs. Before I was a member of the Flyers I would run in the NYRR Long Training Runs every year. I was always very impressed with the pace leaders and how well they maintained pace while the rest of us followed behind as best we could. I was sure they were all former Olympians. Now I know that it’s all my Flyer teammates who are the pace leaders and I’m delighted each year to be one of them.

It’s Fun to be a Flyer

I am thankful to all my teammates for the contributions each person makes to participate in the club, starting with

Finish Line at Ironman Lake Placid

just showing up for events. Being a member of such a well regarded group has it’s perks. One of my favorites was at the Ironman in Lake Placid. After 12 hours of swimming and biking I was struggling through the marathon, which would eventually take me 5 hours. Throughout the night as I ran/walked there would be the spectators along the course who knew the best thing to say to keep me going- “GO FLYERS”

-Bill S.