100,000 Miles, 500,000 Feet and One Big Heart: Celebrating ElliptiGO’s 2026 Award Winners
The wind howled. The climb had to be postponed. But the ElliptiGO community did what it does best: kept smiling and kept GOing.
The 2026 ElliptiGO Rally and World Championship Weekend was held October 16–18, and high winds forced the ElliptiGO World Championships ride up Palomar Mountain to be postponed by a day. Riders from near and far took the change in stride, and when the climb was held on Sunday, the cheering was louder than ever.
The weekend also brought the annual Awards Ceremony and Dinner, hosted by the Global ElliptiGO Riders Club (GERC) at the Park Del Mar Clubhouse. There, ElliptiGO celebrated three riders who truly epitomize what this community is all about: Riders of the Year Kitty Vernooij and Jim Pringle, and John Pilkington Spirit Award winner Steven Hay.
2026 John Pilkington Spirit Award Winner: Steven Hay
The John Pilkington Spirit Award carries the name of a rider who made sure no one was ever left behind. John “JP” Pilkington was one of ElliptiGO’s very first customers. He bought an ElliptiGO 8S in 2010, went on to own nearly every model and helped start GERC. JP was known for encouraging new riders and always checking on whoever was at the back of the group. He passed away from ALS in December 2023.
Each year, the John Pilkington Spirit Award goes to an enthusiastic rider who shows camaraderie and encourages fellow riders, just as JP did. Previous recipients are Ron Critchley in 2024 and Britt Brewer in 2025.
Many riders know Steven Hay, our August 2026 Rider of the Month, as the trucker who pulled the passenger seat out of his semi so his ElliptiGO bike could GO on the road with him. But when ElliptiGO CEO Bryce Whiting presented the Spirit Award, he focused on Steven’s heart.
“Steven’s known for encouraging and supporting other riders. I experienced that firsthand,” Bryce said. “I truly think he may be one of the nicest members of the GO family.”
Steven won GERC’s “Effervescence” award in 2025, so this honor took him by surprise. “Winning the Spirit Award caught me off guard, coming so soon on the heels of the Effervescence award last year,” he says. “I felt honored, especially since in the last year or so I have learned more about John Pilkington and his part in ElliptiGO lore.”
When asked why he thinks his enthusiasm has resonated with so many riders, Steven replies, “Even though I enjoy the company of others, I am an introvert by nature, often more quiet and reserved, personality-wise. I think people must observe me genuinely enjoying the ElliptiGO events I attend and the people that I meet in the process and interpret this as enthusiasm!”
He adds, “Because I have had such a great, fulfilling time riding at ElliptiGO events and enjoying the ElliptiGO community, I want others to have the joy of a similar experience.”
That joy was on full display this year. “I had an absolute BLAST at Rally Weekend and riding up Mount Palomar!” he says. He built his training around GERC’s Get Out and GO (GOGO) challenges, “which made training fun and not overly serious,” he says. “I stayed consistent throughout the climb and finished strong.”
Steven shared several of his favorite moments from the weekend, including climbing Palomar with Kim Rose, hearing Service Manager Keri Cleeremans shout “That’s a SOLID pace, Steve!” halfway up and joining his Standing GOvation teammates to accept the Eagle trophy for winning GERC’s September tournament.
Next year, Steven hopes to get to know more riders, earn GOGO gold and keep “getting faster on the GO in spite of getting older in years.” We’re sure you’re going to accomplish all three goals, Steven! Congratulations on winning the 2026 John Pilkington Spirit Award.
2026 Rider of the Year: Kitty Vernooij
When Bryce emailed Kitty Vernooij to tell her she’d been named a 2026 Rider of the Year, her first response was: “Is this real?” Once he assured her it was, she replied, “I feel so grateful.”
It’s very real, Kitty, and the numbers prove it. This year, Kitty became the second rider and the first woman ever to ride more than 100,000 lifetime ElliptiGO miles. That’s the equivalent of 3,817 marathons, or four trips around the Earth!
Kitty, our March 2023 Rider of the Month, ran for 25 years before hip problems ended her running in 2011. She became the third ElliptiGO owner in the Netherlands, and in 2017 she set the women’s 24-hour record with 229.9 miles.
In 2026, Kitty has ridden every single day this year. As of mid-October, her streak stood at 905 days in a row. Before that, she rode more than 600 consecutive days, with just one day off between the two streaks.
She’s also the #1 GERC rider by distance this GOGO season, with more than 8,900 miles since March 1, about 28% ahead of the next rider on the GERC leaderboard. On Strava, she’s logged roughly 11,200 miles this year, nearly 39 miles a day, all while working full time at a hospital. “I only work, ride and sleep,” she says.“Somehow I keep pushing.”
Still, she never expected the award. “I was SOOOO surprised by the message from Bryce and the ElliptiGO community,” Kitty says. “I could never imagine anyone would notice my mileage.” With characteristic humility, she adds, “I feel so special, which I am not.” We respectfully disagree, Kitty!
Kitty has completed five 24-hour rides and a 600-kilometer ride, but her proudest milestones remain the ElliptiGO European Championships in France and her first 24-hour ride in the UK with Idai Makaya, Stuart Blofeld, Tim Woodier and Andrew Nuttall. She notes, “I am grateful I did it.”
As a girl, Kitty dreamed of competing in the Olympics. “When I was young, I wanted to be a famous athlete,” she says. In the ElliptiGO world, she’s a legend. But for Kitty, it’s the friendships that mean the most. “With the ElliptiGO community, I got to know a lot of people all over the world,” she says. “That is so special for me.”
Congratulations, Kitty, on being a 2026 Rider of the Year!
2026 Rider of the Year: Jim Pringle
This GOGO season, Jim Pringle climbed more than 500,000 feet on his ElliptiGO bikes. That’s nearly 95 miles straight up, or the equivalent of climbing Palomar Mountain more than 110 times. The next closest rider climbed less than 300,000 feet. “Jim has had an incredible year!” Bryce says.
Jim grew up in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where soccer became the gateway to his lifelong love of long-distance running. After earning a mechanical engineering degree from Oklahoma State University, he worked for Lockheed Martin in Colorado on spacecraft including the Cassini mission to Saturn. Then he spent 25 years as an FBI Special Agent in San Diego, including time on the SWAT team. “My time with the FBI was the most rewarding time of my life,” he says. Today Jim and his wife, Arlene, live in Carlsbad, California. Their son is studying aerospace engineering.
Near the end of his FBI career, a work injury led to foot reconstruction surgery, followed by stress fractures every time he tried to run. While waiting for his surgery, a pre-op nurse suggested he look into ElliptiGO bikes. After a test ride at ElliptiGO headquarters, he bought an 11R in August 2023. “It was love at first stride! And I haven’t looked back,” Jim says.
He soon added an MSUB and an RSUB to his collection. Choosing a favorite, he says, “is almost like asking which of your children is your favorite.” He rides one of them daily. “I ride every day. And I ride almost all day!” he says. Hills? Bring them on. “I love hill climbing on the ElliptiGO bikes, and they all climb well!” Jim says.
Jim has been a force since joining GERC. As 2024 Rookie of the Year, he rode more than 10,000 miles and led all riders in GOGO elevation, and he repeated both feats in 2025 while riding every day of the GOGO season. This year, after starting the season recovering from knee surgery, he rode more than 1,000 miles each in April, May and August.
“GERC and ElliptiGO go hand in hand,” Jim says. “To get the most enjoyment out of riding an ElliptiGO bike, I cannot imagine a better way than being a member of GERC.” The annual GERC GOGO season keeps him motivated, and his membership has led to friendships with riders across the country and around the world. He tries never to miss local group rides, ElliptiGO Days or Rally Weekend.
In September, a spill on a dirt trail he’d ridden many times put Jim’s season on pause. “The MSUB itself was not the cause of my accident,” he says. “It was just one of those things.” While recovering, he joined the Awards Dinner by video. “Now I am sitting at home recovering and daydreaming about my next ride on the MSUB,” he says. “So I guess the MSUB is my favorite ElliptiGO bike!”
Jim says that being selected as a Rider of the Year is a great honor and a very humbling experience. He notes, “There are so many great riders in the ElliptiGO community. I was surprised that I was chosen for this title.”
For 2027, he hopes for good health and “my ability to ride my ElliptiGO bikes whenever the urge strikes, which is every day! And I’ll be shooting for 12,000 total miles with lots of elevation gained. I am so glad I found both ElliptiGO and GERC!” he says.
We’re glad we found YOU! You’ve got this, Jim! We can’t wait to see you back on the trails. Congratulations on being a 2026 Rider of the Year!
From record-breaking miles and incredible climbs to the friendships and encouragement shared along the way, these three riders remind us what makes the ElliptiGO community so special. It’s not just about how far we GO, but the people who inspire us to keep GOing.
Congratulations again to Steven, Kitty and Jim! We’re lucky to have you as part of the ElliptiGO family.
You can contact ElliptiGO with nominations to Rider of the Month or share your own story. It may just be the next feature!
