Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/918219
18 runninginsight.com ©2017 Formula4media LLC. PRESENTED BY: The Award: Run Happy Award Presented by Brooks The Winner: Caroline Yasuda, Naperville Running Co. Why They Won Introduced by Rick Wilhelm of Brooks "Thank you Formula4 Media for giving Brooks the oppor- tunity to present the inaugural Run Happy Award. I know many of the owners in the audience tonight wouldn't be able to be here if it wasn't for the great staff you have back in your stores or your stores wouldn't be the brand that it has become without the culture of your staff; hence the creation of the Run Happy Award. The Run Happy Award celebrates a specialty retail store employee who brings this glass-half-full approach to their job every day. This individual always has a positive attitude, dedicated work ethic, and is a total team player—going the extra mile to help both customers and fellow staff. A cheer- leader for their store and its culture, this individual inspires an active lifestyle and personifies what Run Happy means. The criteria for the Run Happy Award • Must work 20+ hours a week • Must have been employed over 12 months at the time of nomination • Nominations should be limited to 250 words and will be shared with the employee post nomination. After reading through the many great nominations, which was an unbelievable experience, one nomination did stand out this year. Caroline Yasuda from Naperville Running Company! Let me read part of her nomination: Run Happy is the backbone of run specialty. It is the spirit we strive to convey in our shops, our communities and our daily operations. Run Happy is more than 100 words in an email, it is Caroline Yasuda. Caroline's alarm goes off at 4:00am. She gets up and moving to teach one of several Fluid Running classes by 5:00am. She caters her playlist to the clients in class because they aren't just clients, they're her friends. Always making sure favorite songs are played (never explicit, of course) and energy is high in the early morning pool ses- sion. There might even be balloons and tiaras if there's a birthday in the room! She then rushes off to her organized run club where she writes individual training plans for the 20-30 runners in the group and then blazes through the doors of NRC with a smile on her face, a passion for her work and an unsurpassed joy for life. Whether it is weight loss, marathon training or just advocating a healthier lifestyle, Caroline's coaching is all the positivity, happiness, mental toughness and successful training plans bottled up in one happy smile." n CAROLINE YASUDA Naperville Running Company RUN HAPPY AWARD Rick Wilhelm of Brooks with Caroline Yasuda of NRC.