Goodwin Named USATF Contributor of the Year

Team USA Minnesota founder and president Pat Goodwin was named USA Track and Field's Women's Long Distance Running "Contributor of the Year" at the organization's annual convention in Honolulu, Hawaii last week.

Goodwin (pictured) became the 31st recipient of the Marja Bakker Award whose honorees have included such well-known names in women's distance running as Nina Kuscik, Doris Brown Heritage, Dr. Joan Ullyot, and Francie Larrieu Smith.

Goodwin is the second Minnesotan to win the award; LeeAnn Meyer was the 1993 recipient.

Mickey Piscitelli, USATF's Women's LDR awards coordinator and the person who nominated Goodwin for the award, said the following at the awards' ceremony:

“The ongoing successes realized by the members of Team USA Minnesota can be attributed in part to a person who volunteers her time as a marketing and promotion specialist. Pat Goodwin’s labor of love is to bring local resources together to dramatically improve post-collegiate American distance running and develop future Olympians. I attended the Long Distance Running “Meet Team USA ” session yesterday in which Team USA Minnesota athlete and Olympic Trails qualifier Matt Gabrielson spoke about his experiences with the group. He emphasized Pat Goodwin’s role in the establishment and success of their training center."

The award is presented for outstanding contributions and service to Women's Long Distance Running. It is named in memory of Marja Bakker, former President of the Boston Athletic Association, former President of the USATF-New England, and a member of the BAA Board of Governors. She was the first woman to serve the BAA in either of those capacities, and was a member of USATF's Women's LDR executive committee.

Goodwin and a group of similarly minded people formed Team USA Minnesota in January 2001.