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Running didn't mean a lot to Jennifer Quarles when she moved to Williamsburg in 2000. Now, it's a passion.
Ditto Rhonda Venable. And for Bruce Davis, he's got love for scoring races and volunteer work.
So for their dedication, accomplishments, and contributions to the sport, the trio was honored on Saturday night as the most recent inductees into the Virginia Peninsula Road Racing Hall of Fame.
After taking up residence in Williamsburg and finding a good training group, it didn't take long for Quarles, now 40, to be transformed from a virtual unknown into one of best all-around runners in the state these days.
She can thank her brother, Michael, for getting her interested in running. He ran at Tabb High School; she played field hockey. Now he's an ultra-marathoner and she enjoys distance running the most.
Quarles has won such events as the 2004 Grizzly Marathon (3:26) in Montana, the 2005 Moab Marathon (3:16) in Utah, the Norfolk Half Marathon (1:29) in 2011 and the Achievable Dream Half (1:29) in 2012.
Among her most memorable races was running the Boston Marathon in 3:30 in 2004.
"It was 85 degrees the entire race. I ran easy and had a blast," she said.
The stay-at-home mom can hold her own at just about any distance, ranging from a personal-best 18:12 in the 5K to 2:59:00 in the marathon.
As a member of the Colonial Road Runners, she has won the club's Grand Prix title six times.
Venable, 51, is eager to run just about any kind of race. Among her top memories were completing the Javelina 100-Miler in Arizona in 2011, winning the Mud Run Couples event with her husband Dave in 2008 against 75 other teams, and winning the mixed team title in the Cache Teton Race that started in Logan, Utah, and finished in Jackson Hole, Wy. The five-member team covered a distance of 195 miles in 27 hours and 56 minutes.
Hooked on the sport for more than two decades, she insists she won't stop running "until I die ... there are too many races and places to go before then."
Venable, who coached the Bethel High boys cross country team to a state berth in 2008, is a longtime member of the Peninsula Track Club and a former president of the organization. She also won its Grand Prix championship three consecutive years (1995-97).
Davis, a former runner until sidelined with injuries, is best known for his work as the chief scorekeeper for PTC races. He is also the club's newsletter editor, in charge of the club's Grand Prix, and has won numerous volunteer awards.
By his count, he's scored 442 races and volunteered for 575 events since joining the PTC in 1989.
Among his fondest memories as a runner was competing in two Indy 500 Mini-Marathons in 1990 and 1991 while living in Indianapolis.
As a record keeper, Davis said he's run a total of 196 races — his last in 1998. His only win came at the PTC's Predict Your Time 5-Miler in 1996.
Davis, 59, admits he misses the actually racing, but said "there is a rush in scoring a race that is just as rewarding as running the race."
More running
Karen Terry of Newport News came close to perfection in winning her second consecutive Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix women's championship in 2012.
