The most prestigious award each year goes to the most successful male and female runners from the club.

The Striders give awards to honor the top masters runners (40 or older) in the club.

In 1997, the Striders added the Grand Master award category to honor those runners 50 and older. No one has won the award more than Hall of Fame member Mick Slonaker, who has won a total of eight times since 2000.

The Striders added the Senior Grand Master category in 2016. Mick Slonaker was the inaugural recipient.

The Striders could only exist with its spectacular volunteer force. They honor the most dedicated volunteers with an award at the end of the year.

The Striders have always supported youth running in Howard County through the Junior Striders program. The Junior Runner of the Year award is given to the top Striders member in the Junior Striders program or in a high school running program.

Many runners work extremely hard to lower their race times. The Striders give the Most Improved Runner of the Year award to those who have lowered their PR’s by a significant amount throughout the year.

Although some members of the club have been around for decades, the Striders always welcome new member! The New Runner of the Year award goes to an exceptional runner who has joined the club in the past year.

The Ultra Runner of the Year award goes to the exceptional ultra marathoners in the club, those who have completed races longer than a marathon.

The Striders provide a variety of training groups to their members, and those training groups could not exist without the help of the volunteer coaches! The most hard working and dedicated coaches are honored with the Coach of the Year Award.

In 2011, a new category of coaching awards was added. The Junior Striders Coach of the Year goes to the best volunteer coaches in the Junior Striders program.

The Striders Hall of Fame honors the runners and volunteers who have given the most to the club. If there are any worthy inductees., they are announced at the awards banquet.

The Howard County Striders have already recognized Thomas “Tom” Green’s extraordinary place in club history by inducting him into the Striders’ Hall of Fame Class of 2004. That honor properly acknowledges his individual accomplishments and his lasting contribution to the club.

The next and more fitting step is to connect his name permanently to the award that most closely reflects who he is and what he represents: the Ultra Runner of the Year Award.

It is recommended that the Howard County Striders rename the award the Tom Green Ultra Runner of the Year Award in recognition of Tom’s historic achievements, his role in shaping American ultrarunning, and his embodiment of the spirit, humility, toughness, and community that define the sport.

Tom Green is not simply a successful ultrarunner from Columbia, Maryland. He is one of the foundational figures in American ultrarunning. Runner’s World has called him the “godfather of ultrarunning,” a title earned not through self-promotion, but through decades of quiet excellence, perseverance, and service to the running community.

In 1986, Tom became the first person ever to complete the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning: Old Dominion, Western States, Leadville, and Wasatch Front, the four original 100-mile trail races in the United States. Twelve runners began that first Grand Slam attempt. After Old Dominion, six remained. After Western States, Tom was the only runner still in contention. He continued on to finish Leadville and Wasatch, completing 400 miles of historic trail racing in one summer and establishing one of the defining achievements in the sport.

His official 1986 Grand Slam total was 96 hours, 26 minutes, and 28 seconds, averaging just over 24 hours per 100 miles. His individual race times were Old Dominion in 21:03:28, Western States in 23:39:05, Leadville in 25:00:39, and Wasatch in 26:43:16. At Leadville, he missed the sub-25-hour buckle by only 39 seconds. At Wasatch, he finished something no one had ever completed before.

That first Grand Slam would be enough to secure Tom’s place in ultrarunning history. But his legacy goes far beyond being first.

Tom has completed more than 300 ultramarathons, including approximately 60 races of 100 miles or longer. He has run more than 130 miles in 24 hours. He has earned national age-group championship recognition. He has finished many of the sport’s iconic events repeatedly, including Western States (10X), JFK 50 (17X), Mountain Masochist (15X), Vermont 100 (5X), Wasatch (6X [5 of which were Top 10’s]), Old Dominion (13X), and Bull Run Run (23X). In 1997, he completed Old Dominion as his 100th ultra, a milestone most runners could scarcely imagine; for Tom, it was another mile marker.

His career also carries a rare and poetic symmetry. Nearly three decades after becoming the first Grand Slammer, Tom returned to Western States in 2014 and became the final official finisher. The first Grand Slammer became the last finisher at Western States. Few stories better capture the full arc of a life in ultrarunning: history, endurance, humility, and persistence.

But the reason to rename this award for Tom Green is not simply that he ran far, often, or first. It is because he represents what ultrarunning is supposed to mean.

Ultrarunning is resilience. After a devastating 2015 accident caused catastrophic injuries and lasting balance impairment, Tom could easily have been remembered only for what he had already accomplished. Instead, he began again. He relearned movement, rebuilt his strength, adapted to new limitations, and returned to complete another 100-mile race. In his own words, “I was not going to let my injury defeat me.” His perseverance continued and at age 70, he completed a 100-miler in a fifth decade of life—a rare milestone even among elite endurance athletes.

Ultrarunning is humility. Tom has never carried himself like someone entitled to admiration, even though he has earned plenty of it. He is known as the runner who encourages others, asks about their race, and makes space for every runner’s story. His own words reflect that generosity: “Every runner has a story.”

Ultrarunning is joy. After all the miles, all the suffering, all the setbacks, and all the achievements, Tom’s advice remained simple: “Try to find that bit of joy.” That is not just good advice for running. It is a philosophy of endurance.

Ultrarunning is community. Tom Green has been part of the Howard County Striders since moving to Columbia in 1984. His achievements brought national recognition, but his presence, example, and character have strengthened the local running community for decades. He is a Strider not only by membership, but by identity.

The Ultra Runner of the Year Award should honor the athlete who best reflects excellence in ultrarunning. Renaming it for Tom Green would give that excellence a permanent standard. Future recipients would not merely receive an annual award; they would be connected to a legacy.

They would receive an award named for the first Grand Slammer.

An award named for a runner with hundreds of ultra finishes.

An award named for a man who returned from devastating injury to finish 100 miles again and again (5X to be exact).

An award named for someone who has shown that ultrarunning is not only about distance, pace, or finishing times, but about courage, humility, persistence, and joy.

For those reasons, the Howard County Striders should rename the Ultra Runner of the Year Award the Tom Green Ultra Runner of the Year Award.

Tom Green has already been inducted into the Striders’ Hall of Fame. Renaming this award would do something different. It would make his example part of the club’s future.

Each year, when the award is presented, Tom’s name would remind the community what ultrarunning asks of a person and what it can reveal in a person. It would remind runners that greatness is measured not only by who finishes first, but by who keeps going, who lifts others, who faces seemingly impossible odds with optimism and resolve, and who finds joy in the long miles.

That is Tom Green.

And that is ultrarunning.