Minnesota Runners of the Year
Jack Moran signed on as Minnesota state record keeper in 1986, at the request of the National Running Data Center, to which he reported the results of Minnesota races on certified courses. Following their lead, he established a system of state records and rankings in five-year age groups. Like the NRDC, minimum standards were set for each group to eliminate "junk" records.
To make it interesting, he followed the NRDC's example by publishing an annual list of the top performances of the year as well as state records in "A Minnesota Runner's Yearbook." Moran kept it up for 20 years, and, after another year or two, found a kindred spirit in Mike Setter, who kept it going until he, too, gave it up in 2020. The mantle has now passed to Tom Ruen.
Although the "Yearbook" became too costly to continue, from the beginning the rankings have been used to identify Minnesota Runners of the Year in open and age groups. Mike Setter's statistics are available on the Run Minnesota web site and Tom Ruen has a huge and highly informative web site here.