This Space Coast Runners Hall Of Fame nomination letter is submitted to recognize and honor one of the most dedicated, and hardest working Space Coast Runners members, Carol Ball. She has made tremendous contributions to the club for many years, and we have all benefited from her efforts. She is the one that you see helping with any task at local races, and shouting encouraging words to everyone during the race. The one that thanks course workers and water stops for their help while passing by. The one who finishes a race, and then goes back to the finish line and cheers everyone on to kick it in at the end. The one who steps up to help when volunteers cannot be found, no matter how much she had on her plate to begin with. She is always looking for ways to improve the club, to give more back to the members and community, and increase public awareness of the clubs contributions to Brevard County. Countless hours are spent each week working on SCR issues, be it writing eBlasts, working with sponsors, coordinating SCR high school scholarships, responsibilities with our banner events , the Space Coast Marathon and Half Marathon, working with Brevard County race directors, keeping her fingers on the pulse of the club, proof reading monthly Newsletters, coordinating advertisements, writing articles, posting announcements and updates on the SCR Facebook page, maintaining the clubs standing with RRCA, and the list goes on.

Carol’s first race was run sometime in 1986 at the encouragement of her sister Donna. Her first “official” result was recorded in December of 1987. Carol ran sporadically until the bug really hit her early in 1993. Beginning in March of 1993 she began frequently running 5Ks and her average time dropped by 8 minutes before the end of that first year. She had discovered her competitive spirit and there was no stopping her. In fact, during the 1993-1994 season, she placed 4th in the Runner of the Year series and this was her first true year of running competitively! Carol began training in earnest with the consistent goal of winning. During every year between 1993 and 2006, Carol has placed in the ROY series either in her age division or overall Masters, frequently in first place. Unfortunately, in July of 2006, Carol was not able to outrun nagging knee pain that was getting progressively worse. She needed surgery for a torn meniscus and what should have been a fairly routine surgery, turned into years of constant pain and a hiatus from running, the sport she dearly loves. Not content to sit on the sidelines, she started the SCR walking group in the spring of 2007. This group has helped injured runners get back on their feet, motivated non-runners to get moving and brought new members to the club. Seeing yet another opportunity to help the community of walkers, she has successfully campaigned for local races to add walker categories. Carol has proven to be a very fast walker as well. In fact, she placed in her age division in this year’s Running Zone series in spite of having walked half the races. During all these years of running and walking, Carol has inspired and encouraged countless others to take up running or walking.

At the young age of 43, Carol received the terrible news that she had breast cancer. Those close to her know that when she makes up her mind to do something, nothing will get in her way. Carol spent hours and days doing research to be totally prepared to attack this monster. She was determined to beat the cancer one way or the other, and she did. It was a rough battle, but she is a very strong willed survivor. Unfortunately, 3 years later, her sister Patty developed the same type of breast cancer. True to character, Carol supported her in any way possible, and helped her fight the disease. Happily, they are both now cancer free. This chapter of Carol’s life inspired her to help others facing this terrible foe. In support of breast cancer research, Carol has participated in numerous fund raising races, countless Race for the Cure races and two Susan G Komen 3-Day events, where participants walk a total of 60 miles over 3 days to raise breast cancer awareness. It is hard to determine the exact total, but she has raised well over ten thousand dollars for this cause since her recovery. Giving back to the community has always been a thread in her life. SCR and the community of Brevard County have benefited from her generosity and desire to help those in need in many ways. Carol will always champion the donation of race proceeds to local charities, and encourages the board to be as generous as possible, to help out a worthy cause.

Carol joined the SCR Board sometime in the early 2000s. Her first role, in addition to being a board member, was that of Secretary. She then went on to serve as President for three years from 2006 to 2009. In 2009, she became the Vice President and then became Treasurer the following year. In 2011, she again assumed the role of President and will continue to serve in this role for the 2012-2013 term. To the best of our knowledge, Carol has the distinction of being the only SCR board member to have held every board position.

Carol has always been close to her family and has always had a soft spot in her heart for helping children. While her own daughters were growing up, she was a dedicated Girl Scout Troop leader and also took on regional duties when a need arose. As her daughters grew up and their interests changed, she took active support roles with their swimming and cross country teams. She would frequently run with her daughters and their classmates during practices. Years later, with her own children graduating high school and moving on to college, Carol still had much to give. In 2002, seeing a need to promote running for fun among young children, she created the SCR Youth Series. This series of shorter children’s races increased family participation in our sport, helping to introduce children to the excitement and health benefits of running. This series, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary this coming season, has always been provided free of charge to all participants under the age of twelve.

Carol was also one of the driving forces in the transition from printed newsletters to online newsletters. The escalating costs of printing the newsletter, and the postage required, became a financial burden to the club. She realized that discontinuing the printed newsletter was a difficult decision, and would be met with resistance from some of the membership. However, Carol knew this was the correct move, and worked with the SCR board to move forward with the transition in August of 2008. The online newsletter has proven to be an asset. The content has improved, we have attracted more advertisers, local races are receiving increased exposure, and previous issues are now available online for anyone who visits the SCR website. Based on her tremendous devotion to SCR, and support of running and walking in Brevard County, I couldn’t be any prouder to nominate Carol Ball for induction to the Space Coast Runners Hall Of Fame. Respectfully submitted: Ty Bowen

A special thanks must be given to Donna Neal, Patty Gay, Sara Hosburgh, Tracy Stone, Mary Ramba, and Marty Winkel for their contributions to this Nomination letter.