After all the festivities of finishing Bullrun 2009 died down outside the Four Seasons, Austin - Bullrunners needed to get ready for the Awards Dinner and party.  Thankfully Bullrun organizers pushed back the start time a bit to accommodate some of the stragglers who couldn't get enough champagne at the finishline.

Our final route card said to make our way to the Austin Hotspot - The Belmont.  At around 8PM, Austin was still rather hot, but around 9PM is started to cool off dramatically.  Thankfully since the proceedings were to be outside.

As you can read, there isn't much about Bullrun that I don't like, but the Awards Dinner is always a highlight for me.  It's a perfect conclusion because its a time to recognize the people who defined the rally.  People who made a difference and people who truly put their all into the experience.  It's also one of the few times you have an opportunity to hear first-hand what people thought of the last 7 days especially when the award winners get up and say a few words.  After dinner and a few rounds of drinks, it was time to get the awards portion of the night going.  Andy and David stepped up and started with Honorable Mention awards.

All the drivers and co-drivers headed towards the front.

I believe all awards are important because they ultimately mean so much to the people who receive them, but most people present were interested in the Bullrun 2009 Navigator Award.  No one, aside from Andy and David, knew who would get the top spot up until the moment it was given.  And most everyone was curious to see how either Claus or Rawlings would react.  I've talked a lot about how competitive Claus is, but Richard won the Navigator Award  before and he is a competitive as it gets. We would have to wait a few more minutes until Andy and David got to Bullrun Navigator.

Bullrun 2009 Honorable Mentions

Ricky Chancey and Billy Blatty - Ricky and Billy were responsible for organizing and putting together "the" party of Bullrun 2009.  The Bourbon Street balcony party starring Playboy Playmate, DJ Diamond and 80's icon, Vanilla Ice was due to the hard work of Ricky and Billy and their respective companies Z Entertainment Group and Ampersand.  It's also important to note the after party at Billy's Ohm Lounge was excellent and went well into the night.