Gayle Kuipers, pictured here at the Milford Labor Day 10K, is Masters Runner of the Year.
Don't tell Gayle Kuipers a day has only 24 hours.

Kuipers, health promotions coordinator for Holland Hospital, also teaches kinesiology classes at Hope College. She does personal training on the side. Plus she and her husband, Don, have four children.

Kuipers also found time to compete in 31 races last year. She won eight overall, racked up several PRs and scored enough points to become Female Masters Runner of the Year.

Kuipers, who turned 40 May 27, didn't give much thought to the masters title until July, when a friend informed her that she was among competition leaders.

"I was shocked to learn that," she said.

By then she had finished third overall and first among masters in the Ludington Lake Stride Half Marathon (1:32:02) and Frankenmuth's Volkslaufe 20K (1:27:41).

Kuipers hadn't run very well in either, especially at Ludington where she "cramped up and limped in." Still, she decided to run as many Runner of the Year series races as possible and see how it all played out.

She finished second overall and first among masters in Laingsburg's The Legend 10-mile trail run (1:10:01). She ran 1:08:30 in the Crim 10- mile, but describes her performance that day as "icky."

Kuipers then traveled north for the Lake Superior Shore Run half marathon, where she took fourth overall and third among masters in 1:37:51. "It was an adventure race where you climb steep hills and scramble over boulders. It was amazing," Kuipers said.

Among her other races, she points to the Park 2 Park Half Marathon in Holland as one her best. Kuipers won by nearly seven minutes in a PR 1:28:45. She also had a good day at Grand Haven's Coast Guard Festival, where she won masters titles in both the 2.4-mile (16:50) and 10K (41:20).

Kuipers credits her coach at Williamston High School for her later success. "I had a phenomenal coach (Paul Nielson)," she said. "He taught me never to quit in races, and a lot about life in general. He always seemed to bring out the best in me."

She ran two years of cross country for Hope College, but missed her remaining years due to injuries.

"I trained every day, put in lots of mileage and got injured," she said of college. "I've learned to take days off to rest my body."

These days she seldom trains more than three days a week. "And I rarely do more than 30 to 35 miles a week," Kuipers said.

She ran road races after college, then took 10 years off to have children. She returned to competitive running in 1998.

"A friend, Ed Borgman, dangled a River Bank Run 25K registration form in front of me that spring," she recalled. "I ran it and won my age group."

She has run many races, including four triathlons, since that time. "I love the feeling of accomplishment when you cross the finish line," she said.

"My kids show off my medals to their friends," Kuipers said."They have even taken them to school."

Now they have another award to show their friends: Female Masters Runner of the Year. MR