Steve Gladis

Steve Gladis Award

by Mike Twigg

The Steve Gladis Award is determined by a vote of the current club officers and goes to two members who have given outstanding service to the Club over the past year. So who the heck is Steve Gladis?

Steve lived in Bay Village from 1975-1978 and was an FBI agent who solved bank robberies. I tracked him down at his house in Virginia. It's true that he once foiled an assault while out running. "This guy the size of Charles Barkley was beating up a woman in front of the FBI building in Washington, D.C. Good thing I carried my gun. Myself and two other citizens held him down until police arrived." What was that man thinking?

Back in Cleveland, Steve was a running pioneer. "I used to run from my home in Bay to the FBI office downtown. I'd be on the road by 5 am and at the office by 7." He also began running in the Metroparks and had an idea: "Hey, meet me here (Scenic Park) on Saturday morning and we'll run as a group!" And so it was in 1977 that Cleveland West was bor.

Steve trained with Jess Bell and helped convince people that they could run marathons. Jess said: "Steve's reputation for talking while running was unsurpassed. We used to call him "The Bionic Mouth."

The award came about when Steve was leaving Cleveland for another job with the FBI. "Jess Bell was big into bronzing things. He had a going away party for me and wanted to bronze a pair of my running shoes. One shoe was given to me and the other stayed with the club as a trophy. I still have my shoe! I keep it in my office and it's a great conversation starter."

Today Steve enjoys a second career as the Associate Dean at the University of Virginia-Falls Church. He looks back fondly at his time in Cleveland: "The club made Cleveland a community for me."

Steve Gladis Award Winners

1977 Dick Fanning, Susan Chanter	1993 Donna Bernazolli, Larry Gmucs
1978 Bob Kuebler, Annette Johnson	1994 Juanita Robeson, Don Robeson
1979 Stew McKnight, Joan Simpson	1995 Joe Eisenberg, Gerry Nemeth
1980 Jack Swisher, Ginny Sheehan	1996 Martha Riggs, John Wincek
1981 Paul Topley, Kathy Graf	1997 Mark Shelton, Rick Mead
1982 Robert Kaiden, Pat Ashmun	1998 Dave Clinton, Hugh Danaceau
1983 Robert Kaiden, Helen Williams	1999 Tom Prue, Nancy Danisek
1984 John Dunlavey, Pat Ashmun	2000 Tom Todrank, Dan Peters
1985 Jim Chillemi, Luann Wargo	2001 Lou Karl, Maureen Scullin
1986 Wally Bethke, Marilyn Olsen	2002 Allen White, Larry Begue
1987 Al Troletto, Barb Cook	2003 Toni Massa, Bill Dieter
1988 Chip Cooper, Anette Johnson	2004 Dan Peters, Rick Mead
1989 John Kolosvary, Fabiola Damicone	2005 Don Baun, Rick Mead
1990 John Delzani, Kathy Dugan	2006 Toni Massa, Eleanor Royko
1991 Bill Stross, Ross Larson	2007 Charlie Farrel, Debbie Lemmer
1992 Colleen Theusch, Bob Blum	2008 Chris Kaylor, Maureen Scullin