By Tom Held

Thursday, Nov 29 2007, 12:36 PM

Roy Pirrung, a true patriarch among Wisconsin endurance runners, has been named the masters ultra runner of the year for his stellar campaign in the 2007 season.

The 59-year-old from Sheboygan won the honor from the Mountain Ultra Trail Council of the USATF, after claiming age group victories in the 24-hour national championships, the 100KM national championships and more than a half-dozen races around the country. In September, Pirrung didn't just win another masters category in the USA 50-mile championship, but took a 5th place finish overall in Boalsburg, Pa.

Pirrung's achievements throughout his 27-year running career have been amazing, but his accomplishments this year are even more compelling considering the personal tragedy he suffered in April.

His wife, Gail, who had battled cancer for six years, died in a house fire near the end of her fight.

Pirrung's devotion to his wife over their 39-year marriage was more impressive than any of his running victories, and he expressed much of his emotion in this piece published in October.

I talked with Pirrung briefly after he collected a masters victory medal in the sweltering Lakefront Marathon in October, and the pain in his voice and on his face will stay with me for many years.

The medal, he told me, was going in a box, along with the hundreds of other trophies and prizes he had collected over the years.

They were reminders of all the races and places where Gail had cheered him, and Pirrung couldn't bear to look at them.

Obviously, his grief didn't stop or slow him during the season, as Pirrung continued to run for his wife.

"She wanted me to continue to run and race and write, and that's what's keeping me going," he told me.

I walked away from Pirrung that afternoon saddened and humbled, realizing that I had been speaking to someone whose great strength and character extended far beyond any race.