Distinguished Service Award: Dick Boyd

The Lincoln Track Club is organized and run by all kinds of people. All of them volunteer and most of them you probably would never recognize by name. But each of these people—from race directors down to the folks who work the water stations—contributes something to make this organization what it is in our community.One of these key players is Dick Boyd, who has quietly overseen coordinating all the bike volunteers for each and every LTC race since 2004—including the Lincoln Marathon/Half Marathon, which requires the assembly of up to seventy-five bikers to cover various segments of the course in addition to providing escorts for the elite runners.However, not many people know Dick was once a runner, as I discovered when I came across his bio from his days of service as the North Dakota RRCA state representative. Dick started running in junior high. Prior to a hip replacement, he was involved in more than five hundred road races in the Upper Midwest region. Dick has been a USATF official working the University of Nebraska indoor and outdoor track meets. Additionally, he has worked track and field events for the NCAA, NAIA, and other national meets in numerous states, including annual treks to officiate at the Drake Relays. After retirement, from forty years in the insurance industry managing offices in Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota, Dick was a grassroots organizer for the Alaska Coalition against drilling in ANWR. He has also served as president of the Nebraska United Nations, chair of the Nebraska Sierra Club, and has been on the board of directors of five other environmental organizations. So Dick has had a distinguished and diverse career serving his community, including the Lincoln Track Club.But Dick is eighty years old now, and he says his “knees are shot.” Beginning in 2017, Dick is cutting back on his LTC bike coordinator responsibilities and will not be overseeing the Lincoln Marathon/Half Marathon duties; although, he will continue coordinating all of the other events on the 2017 schedule. Please join the Lincoln Track Club in recognizing Dick Boyd’s efforts and contributions with the presentation of the 2016 Distinguished Service Award.