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BA Athletics Club News Digest 24th March 2023 - The 2022 Awards

For future weeks: inclusions, with photos, please to Roderick Hoffman at news@barunner.org.uk.

Chairman’s Award

The recipient of this year's Chairman's Award continued his invaluable role in setting up club events not least of which being the Winter Handicap runs. He contributes to each week’s weekly digest with a researched parkrun report. He is also someone always willing to assist in the set-up of new events – including, for example, course measurement. As he gets older he is more often ‘at sea’ (in the nautical sense) but that rarely prevents him from being in touch with the club and its needs. This year the Chairman's Award is to Steve Newell.

Men’s Track and Field Grand Prix

The men’s team competed in both the Veteran’s and Rosenheim Leagues, reaching the Rosenheim Final for the first time in a number of years. 
Our squad was boosted by the addition of a couple of new faces, including Steve Taylor over the longer runs, and the return of another record-breaking athlete in the guise of Adrian Haines.  Paul Watt and Ian Haylock led the way over the middle distances, while Mike Ball looked after the sprints.

Our award winner determinedly stayed clear of the track, reserving his energy for the field events.

The winner of the Men’s Track and Field Grand Prix is Steve Hillier.

Ladies Track and Field Grand Prix

Track and Field Grand Prix points are collected by producing the best performances in relation to national records.

Our ladies team produced some excellent performances in the Veteran’s League last summer, covering all running and walking distances and all throwing events.  Despite the amazing heat, all competitions were able to take place.

Our lady winner took time out from collecting national age group records, to compete for BA in several matches.   She set new club records in the Hammer and the Shot, and won practically every event she entered for the club.

The winner of the Ladies Track and Field Grand Prix is Janet Smith. [No photo - Janet was not available on the night]

Brian Forrester 10K Trophy

Our winner spent the early part of the year battling back from injury, but still managed to produce useful 10K performances in March at Eastleigh, and again in July at the Yateley 10K series.

Her best run of the year was back in Hampshire in December, with an excellent 46 minute run in the Southampton 10K.

This year’s winner is Julie Barclay.

parkrun Trophy

Our winner joined parkrun in 2012 and has been the communications person for Bedfont Lakes for 7 years since 2016 and Laleham juniors since January 2019 - this role is one of the most time consuming of parkrun volunteer roles. In total, she has over 400 volunteer credits of which 93 were in 2022.

During 2022 she completed 29 parkruns - it would definitely have been more had she not been injured for some of the year. During many of her injured weeks she attended Bedfont Lakes and volunteered timekeeping, barcode scanning and marshalling. Despite the injury, she has been improving her parkrun times, in November of last year set her best age grade result and, already this year, has exceeded that twice - and set her all-time best parkrun time - and that after completing over 300 parkruns. 

Our winner of the parkrun trophy is Emma Moreton.

Veteran’s Trophy

This year’s trophy is shared between two runners who, once again, have contributed a great deal to the club.

They regularly take part in club events at Bedfont, and they have led lunchtime NOW events in 2022.  They have hosted several Club parkruns, taking us to new venues around the Home Counties.  Their exploits on the trails and tracks of Berkshire have given us some good Monday night reading in the digest.  They have also been busy flying the flag for the club in Australia, Switzerland and the USA, possibly attracting attention from the paparazzi in New York.

The committee has been grateful for their support in pulling together a new club constitution, a task called for by England Athletics. 
The winners of the Veteran’s trophy are Benita and John Scaife.

Tom Rowley Participation Trophy

This trophy rewards club involvement.  The more events you devise, organise, help with or compete in, the more chances you have of winning the award.   It is dedicated to that great participator in club events, Tom Rowley.

Once again, competition for this award was tight between two members who both say that they want others to win it.  They pass on their thanks to everyone who has helped to stage a club event in the past year, and they would welcome seeing more new people come forward, prepared to take on the organisation of club in- house events.

We enjoyed taking part in the 5mile handicap, mile races, Track on fields, NOW events, Club Featured parkruns, and many more.

It was a close-run race, deciding who would win the 2022 award.  In the end, Steve Newell missed out by a single point. Instead, congratulations to our trophy winner.

The Tom Rowley Participation trophy has been won by Roderick Hoffman.

Men’s Cross Country Trophy 2021/22

Again, we’re not talking about the season just completed, but winter 21/22.

Our men competed in five events last winter.  Turnout was good, almost always achieving a full scoring team of ten men.  When available, Adam Moquet produced some spectacular performances, finishing first BA runner in the three events he covered.  Paul Prescott also picked up a win in the rain at Denbies Vineyard, while Paul Knechtl led everyone home in the club championships at Cranford Park.

There is no substitute for consistency, and our top two men produced it in bucket loads throughout the season.  Both ran in all five races, both had top three finishes, and both have been supporting this cause for decades.  What’s more, both are called Taylor.

The narrow runner-up is Mark, but the winner of men’s cross country trophy is John Taylor. [No photo - John was not available on the night]

Ladies’ Cross Country Trophy 2021/2

This trophy is presented to the lady who had most success last year with our cross-country team.  The calculation of this award winner takes account of age, appearances and placings during the winter season 2021/22.

We had thirteen lady runners competing during the 2021/22 season, and the three events saw three different lady winners.

Julie Barclay led the team home in Richmond Park, while Emma Moreton took the honours at Wimbledon.  Seven ladies took part in the Tom Rowley memorial race in Cranford Park in March, led home by Maria Jovani. 

Only one lady took part in all of our events, taking on her new captain’s role with diligence, to secure the Cross Country trophy.

Our ladies’ trophy winner is Amanda Coombs.

BA Cross Country Championship 2023

Almost all of our awards tonight refer to performances during last year.  This award is for a race run last week.

This year’s club cross country race moved, as an experiment, to Minet Park in Hayes.  It’s just over a mile north of Cranford Park, which is currently being dug up for archaeological work to be done.

The course included boggy grass, ruts, a couple of hills and a slippery wooden bridge. The ladies tackled three of the 2 km laps, while the men finished a fourth lap. 

Despite picking up an injury in the last few yards of the race, our lady winner regained this trophy once again.  Our men’s winner escaped unscathed, also to retain the award.

BA’s cross country champions for 2023 are Julie Barclay and Paul Knechtl.

Five Mile Handicap

This event is carefully looked after by Steve Newell.  During Winter 2021/22, club members looped around Bedfont, enjoying the Christmas light displays and then passing the dark, brooding allotments.

Runners are invited to nominate their time for five miles, then get as close as possible to that time throughout the winter.  There are six opportunities to prove that your inner time clock is accurate.  Our winner took part in all six, making sure that he had at least four accurate times to boost his points score.

Despite the consistency of Benita and John Scaife, our winner got it just right, beating a big field of fifteen competitors to the trophy.

The Five Mile Handicap trophy has been won by Roderick Hoffman.

Most Improved Athlete

Our winner has been an active member of the club, regularly competing for the Ladies in the Cross Country League - in fact it was whilst representing the Club that she sustained an injury, which reduced her participation during early 2022.

However, she has come back to compete for BA in the cross country league.  She had fine runs in the Staines 10K and the Perivale 5 miles.  She battled her way through thunder and lightning to complete the Beachy Head Half Marathon.

Oh, I nearly forgot, she ran the London Marathon in under 3:50.

BA’s most improved athlete is Emma Moreton.

Alamo Trophy

The Alamo Trophy is given out each year to celebrate an achievement at the annual World Airline Road Races. It isn't always given out for a positive achievement!

This year we returned to WARR with a trip all of the way around the world to Waikiki, Hawaii. There are five ‘I’s in "Waikiki, Hawaii" but four of "us", club members, made it to the event with six other colleagues, friends and relatives. No one stitched any of the club members up on anything remotely negative or embarrassing.  All four of us finished at least one of the races, no one getting so sunburnt surfing the day before that they had to stay in bed (as happened in 1984). We therefore have no option other than to give the award jointly to all four - giving them the headache as to how to share the award between them until the 2023 event in Calgary, Canada - where the five 'i's are being replaced by 5 'a's!

So the Alamo trophy is being presented to Julie Barclay, Tim Bellars, Roderick Hoffman and Paul Watt. [Tim was not available on the night]

Female Athlete of the Year

Our winner had a great 2022 over several distances and a range of disciplines.

She is a consistent parkrunner, regularly finishing first in her age category, as well as being a very useful one-mile runner, regularly finishing in just over six minutes.

Then you start talking about the longer stuff.  The Green Belt Relay is a popular event for our club, a great social gathering.  But it also involves a weekend of hard running.  To come second on a leg is exceptional.  To do that while breaking your age group record, by over seven minutes, is amazing.

As a result of COVID, the London big race schedule was compressed last year.  We marshalled the Big Half in Greenwich in September, and the London Marathon in October.  So it was a treat to cheer home one of our runners to excellent times in both races, with a rapid 1:40 achieved in the Half Marathon.

Based on these impressive performances, our female athlete of the year is Maria Jovani.

Male Athlete of the Year

Our winner has shown that good training, determination, and a little bit of luck, give you the chance of achieving new PB’s.  Despite moving up to a new age category, he is still ticking off new lifetime PB’s.

The narrowest improvement came in the mile, where he chipped away one second to improve on a two-year-old mark in the mile.  He trimmed ten seconds off his five-mile PB, and set an impressive fourteen-and-a-quarter kilometre distance, in our own one hour time trial.  His parkrun and 10K times were within seconds of lifetime bests.

Our winner has represented the club at cross country, and tackled the tough Green Belt relay with two strong runs.  Is he our most improved athlete?  Not this year - he is our male athlete of the year.

Congratulations go to Mike Dennison.

Next Digest Results, news, pictures, feedback, jokes, stories - send them to the editor, Roderick Hoffman, at news@barunner.org.uk.

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