The Monster Runner Award

The Monster Runner Award is designed to celebrate the runners in our community who excel in race finishes, overcome personal challenges, run personal bests, contribute to a better life for those around them, and go far beyond their comfort zone to find something special within.

This month’s Monster Runner, Neal Benson, recently organized a new running/walking event in Eugene, the Re-Run Run on May 11, that supported the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training, with great success. Presenting a unique concept to the race scene, Neal’s idea of the Re-Run Run included participants receiving event shirts and medals from other races around the country. The event’s benefit, Team In Training, promotes research to combat blood diseases that affect millions of people, a cause that Neal has become very passionate about.

Neal has been a runner in various forms throughout his life, starting as a sprinter in high school (sub 11 seconds for 100 yards) and evolving into a long distance road warrior in the past two decades since turning 40. In the early days, Neal could be seen competing for Dean Junior College in Franklin, Massachusetts. Today, Neal can be found running at Hayward Field or taking to the roads and paths around Eugene, training for the next big adventure.

With his wife, Alyse Stone, Neal has taken on the challenge of fundraising and raising the awareness of causes that afflict people everywhere. In addition to his work with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Neal has also produced events supporting the Epilepsy Foundation, such as the Hare Racing Experience, an event traditionally held the day before Easter. While he’s been working in sales and banking lately, Neal has ran a family business, and served as a foreign student advisor at the University of Pittsburgh over the course of his professional career. Working with races for the past 18 years, Neal’s also been on the board of directors for one of the largest and longest running road races in America – the Gasparilla Classic in Tampa, Florida.

Neal & Alyse moved to Eugene in 2006, after their youngest child graduated from high school, for the running community and the weather (yes, the weather). Having endured the heat of Florida long enough, and having been entrenched in the running culture for years, a move to Eugene with it’s moderate climate and rich running heritage, seemed like a logical fit. Always the comic (he’s also performed at improv clubs), Neal quips that his favorite running quote is: “Start slow, then taper,” while his favorite running-inspirational movie is a bit more serious: Saint Ralph.

This month we not only congratulate Neal on his success and contributions to helping others, we would also like to give him a formal welcome to our community – thanks Neal, we look forward to your future monster efforts.