Award Presentations for Previous Years
Scroll down for years back to 2010.
Awards for 2016 (presented February 2017)
Award
(link to previous winners) |
2016 Recipient |
Reason |
| Chairman’s Award |
Steve Hillier |
Steve's formal role as club secretary involves him administrating
the club committee meetings and evenings like the awards evening.
However Steve also handles most communications between the club and many
other bodies including BA Clubs, Imperial Collage, local councils, the
police, bus companies and even the local pizza supply company. |
| Alamo Trophy |
Tom Rowley |
Tom ran his first ever WARR race for the team in Chicago this year.
At 89 years of age he was the oldest man in the field as he ran round
the 5k course to finish in a time of 54:26 - and notably ahead of 56
other finishers. |
| Brian Forrester 10K Trophy |
Paul Knechtl |
He remains one of the most successful 10K runners this club has ever
fielded, and highlighted his abilities with an impressive 36 minute run
at WARR in the autumn. He finished third overall in that race. |
| Round The Block Trophy |
Steve Hillier |
Winner by a narrow margin. |
| Men’s Track and Field |
Gary Rushmer |
He competed strongly in the Rosenheim League and in the Vets League.
He was a regular throughout the summer, representing BA in all events on
the track, as well as the Long Jump and Triple Jump. At the club
championships he won the 400m, 800m, 1000m, 1500m and Triple Jump and
tackled all the heavy weights, and he eventually topped the points table
by a considerable margin. |
| Ladies' Track and Field |
Julie Barclay |
She produced excellent times in the Vets League matches in both
sprint and middle distance events, to narrowly take the title. |
| The Club parkrun Trophy |
Steve Newell |
By running at Tooting Common early in the year, he reclaimed his "LonDone"
status of having run at all London parkruns - and visiting each by
public transport or bike. His recent focus has been on earning his 250
parkrun shirt but he'll shortly be on his bike again to catch up on two
new London parkruns started recently. His biggest parkrun
contribution to this club is that he maintains the weekly stats of which
member have run at which park and their relative achievements (and
achievements of relatives). With highlights published each week in
the digest, this enables every member of the club to participate in a
team run every Saturday. |
| Men’s Cross-Country Trophy |
Richard Ruffell |
Across 2015/16 22 members took part in some or all of six races.
Our winner performed well in all four Surrey League races and the club
championships, beating John and Mark Taylor into 2nd and 3rd places in
the race for this trophy. |
| Ladies Cross-Country Trophy |
Monica Alonso |
She didn’t miss a league race and improved throughout the season. |
| Most Improved Athlete |
Neil Frediani |
He had a great 2016, with seven PB’s at seven distances. He
shaved 40 seconds off his 5K time, he achieved a 90 second improvement
over 5 miles and he took a massive 40 minutes off his marathon personal
best! |
| Female Athlete of the Year |
Julie Barclay |
She has been running well in the 100m, all the way up to 10K and
beyond. She had a great summer in the Track & Field Veterans League, and
capped it off with a great run at WARR. She finished third overall
in the Womens 10K, and was the winner of the Womens Masters Event.
|
| Male Athlete of the Year |
Chris Kelly |
He produced regular newsworthy performances for BA. He
continued to compete at parkrun practically every week, with some
excellent sub-20 times. He greets and encourages new runners on a
Wednesday night, here at the club. Meanwhile, he produces
good-for-age Marathon performances year after year. He also works hard
for the club.
|
| Veteran’s Trophy |
Helen Smith |
She has been inspiring others for over a decade. She has
tackled the long runs, put an arm round the injured competitor, and
cheered our fast runners to victory. She has injected fun into
every event she has competed in, and helped to make us a truly social
club. What’s more, her performances in the past year make her a
strong candidate for Most Improved Athlete. |
Awards for 2015 (presented February 2016)
Award
(link to previous winners) |
2015 Recipient |
Reason |
| Chairman’s Award |
Chris Kelly |
This year’s winner is an exceptional athlete, who has achieved great
success in parkrun, cross country and marathons. He has quietly
encouraged others to improve their times, and he has put in the hard
miles in all weathers to improve his own performances. And for his
massive contribution to the well-being of the club as Treasurer. |
| Alamo Trophy |
Paul Knechtl |
For tripping over the curb in-between finishing 5th in the WARR 10k
race race and finishing 12th the WARR 5k race - and then discovering
that his ankle was actually fractured. |
| Brian Forrester 10K Trophy |
Julie Barclay |
Returning from a series of niggling injuries to win her age group at
WARR, taking the third women’s masters trophy, and finishing second
amongst all the BA competitors at the event (male and female!). |
| Round The Block Trophy |
Neil Frediani |
Winner by the clearest margin in years - he captained the Cross
Country team during the autumn, and organised or took part almost all of
our Club In House and Run of the Month events during 2015. He sharpened
his pace on the track, achieving several PBs. He was our sole
representative at the Epsom Rosenheim in June, with two great
performances. |
| Men’s Track and Field |
Gary Rushmer |
Our winner once again competed strongly in the Rosenheim League and
in the Vets League. He was a regular throughout the summer,
representing BA in all events from 100m to 3000m, as well as the Long
Jump and Triple Jump. |
| Ladies' Track and Field |
Janet Smith |
Our former track and field captain returned to compete with us in
the Veterans league, and set about out-distancing the opposition with
some great performances. She is the best hammer and weight thrower in
her age group in the UK, and she also contributed some excellent
performances in the other field events. |
| The Club parkrun Trophy |
Alan Anderson |
The receiver of the trophy in its first year has to be Alan Anderson
who has continued to spread the parkrun word to everyone he meets and
now in his 80th year continues to set parkrun records at parks he
visits, that is on the odd occasion when he can be convinced that the
Gunnersbury parkrun team can be relied upon to set their course
themselves. For the record, at the time of writing, Alan has completed
399 parkruns (only 15 people in the whole world have run more) and his
best time in his 80s has been 28:03. |
| Men’s Cross-Country Trophy |
Mark Taylor |
This trophy is presented to the man who had most success last year
with our cross country team. The calculation of this award winner takes
account of age, appearances and placings, with this year’s result being
close yet again. Despite strong challenges from Barry Walters and
twin brother Graham, our top male cross country runner is Mark Taylor. |
| Ladies Cross-Country Trophy |
Monica Alonso |
Our most consistent performer on the Cross Country courses , and the
winner of the Ladies Cross country trophy is Monica Alonso |
| Most Improved Athlete |
Ian Cunningham |
Our winner has been running consistently for around ten years, but
last year he stepped up to knock nearly half a minute off his 10K PB.
He came close to breaking a long held marathon PB, but the really big
improvement came with his endurance running. In May, he completed the
Weald Challenge Ultra 50k, based around Lewes, finishing in 6 hours 12
minutes. In October, he ran the Downs Link Ultra, some 38miles, in 6
hours 57 minutes. The improvement between the two events is that he
ran 10K further and 30 seconds per kilometre faster! |
| Female Athlete of the Year |
Monica Alonso |
Our winner has proved herself to be a real all-rounder this year.
She performed well at WARR, she has run some great performances on the
road during the year, and as we have seen she has been our top performer
in the Cross Country League. |
| Male Athlete of the Year |
Colin Haylock |
This year’s award winner has achieved an exceptional mix of
performances. He run has run PBs over 5K and half marathon, and managed
a nine minute improvement in his marathon time. He has stepped up to
ultra distance runs, completing 4 x 20 miles in training as part of his
preparation. Always a team player, he led the Cross country team home
at Epsom. |
| Veteran’s Trophy |
Joe Nolan |
Our winner has made a running career out of helping others. He has
embraced parkrun, improving his own times consistently, and creating a
large network of pacers who lead their charges to improved times every
month. He has taking on the difficult qualification of “Coach in
Running Fitness”, giving up his own time to complete this training
course, and passing on the fruits of his learning to club members. |
Awards for 2013 (presented February 2014)
| Award |
2014 Recipient |
Reason |
| Chairman’s Award |
Alastair Heslop |
For the work he has put into our two flagship events, the Speedbird
Ladies 5K and the Concorde 5 miles, for many years, and (hopefully) for years to
come. |
| Alamo Trophy |
Lissa Pritchard and Deby Helsdon |
For services on the dance floor. At the World Airline Road
Race in Dublin back in October they showed up all of the non-Irish
present by performed an Irish jig then later grabbed everyone's
attention with their Ghost Busters Dance finishing with encouraging everyone else onto the dance floor
from the start of the evening's "disco". |
| Brian Forrester 10K Trophy |
Paul Knechtl, Adrian Haines and Dave Dixon |
Our three leading runners rolled back the years, proving themselves
to be not only the best MV40 airline team in the world, but also the
best men’s team of any age in Dublin! |
| Round The Block Trophy |
Neil Frediani |
Took this competition to
a new level, with great performances at Club In House events and Runs of
the Month. He represented BA in competitions against other clubs,
picking up valuable points in the Cross Country meets, and he shone at
the Track & Field Grand Prix events. |
| Men’s Track and Field |
Gary Rushmer |
A regular throughout the summer, representing BA in all events from
100m to 3000m, as well as the Long Jump and Triple Jump. |
| Men’s Cross-Country Trophy |
Gary Rushmer |
Our captain led from the front in both 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons
with consistent performances. |
| Ladies Cross-Country Trophy |
Helen Smith |
For attendance and performances over the cross country season,
narrowly pipping Monica Alonso at the post. |
| Most Improved Athlete |
Joe Nolan |
This year, our winner has achieved great improvements in his own
performances, but he has also worked hard to improve other runners as
well. While many of us our now looking for age related PBs, he has
managed significant lifetime bests over 5K, 10K, half marathon and
twenty miles. |
| Female Athlete of the Year |
Janet Smith |
This year, a long list of age related club records have started to
tumble, as a former member has returned to our ranks. She has given us
a successful presence in the ladies events at Rosenheim and Vets Track &
Field competitions. In addition, she has had time to put in strong
performances in parkruns and road runs. |
| Male Athlete of the Year |
Paul Knechtl |
The leader in the Magic Mile, with a best time under five minutes,
with the added incentive that he is the official timekeeper for all the
other finishers!
He is frequently our first finisher over the grueling cross country
events. He commits himself to organising the club “Round the Park” and
“Round the Block” each year. He achieved at WARR, and pushes others to
their best performances. |
| Veteran’s Trophy |
Eddie Giles |
Suffered a horrendous 2013, with a spectacular and serious injury
leaving him sidelined for many months. Instead of taking a back seat,
he has continued to coach, encourage and lead the Track & Field team,
while working his way back to fitness through parkruns and grueling
training. He returned to competition this summer, and has been
collecting age related club records, while leading us once again to
within a whisker of the Rosenheim final. |
| Award |
2013 Recipient |
Reason |
| Special Marathon Award |
Jagjit Singh Batth |
For running over 100 marathons on seven continents including
Antarctica and raising money for various charities, supporting young and
upcoming sportspeople to fulfill themselves through sport and supporting
many events including our own Concorde 5Mile. |
| Chairman’s Award |
Roderick Hoffman |
For improving club communications with the introduction of the
baRunner website and the weekly news digest, provided in digital and
paper forms. |
| Tom Mitchell Trophy |
Chris Kelly |
Awarded by BA Clubs to the top sportsman amongst its thousands
of members. Chris has dominated the Reading parkrun and broke
three hours in the London Marathon in 2013 – very good for age.
|
| Alamo Trophy |
Richard Ruffell |
After much debate Richard has been awarded the Alamo Trophy
for his participation in the Stellenbosch World Airline Road Race and
attracting significant support for the team. Or for something
else. |
| Brian Forrester 10K Trophy |
Paul Knechtl |
Being the overall winner of the highly prestigious World
Airline Road Race 10K. |
| Round The Block Trophy |
Steve Newell |
Competing in, planning and marshaling more key club events
than any other members – and for the second year running. We would
be a poorer club without him. |
| Men’s Track and Field |
Gary Rushmer |
Competing strongly in the Rosenheim League and our new
campaign, the Vets League, including running outstanding times over
800m, 1500m and 3000m. He won the most of our own
Grand Prix events, not only on the track, but also triumphing in his new
specialty, the Triple Jump. |
| Men’s Cross-Country Trophy |
John Taylor |
A narrow winner in what this year was a highly competitive
event – calculated taking into account of age, appearances and placings
in the cross-country league. |
| Ladies Cross-Country Trophy |
Marion Woodhouse |
Achieving more for the club through appearances and placings
than our other ladies - despite strong challenges from Helen and Mel.
|
| Most Improved Athlete |
Roderick Hoffman |
Now running faster in his fifties than he ever did in his
forties - cutting his typical 5k times from 30 minutes to 25 minutes and
five mile handicap time from 49 to under 40 - thanks in part to a two
stone weight loss. |
| Female Athlete of the Year |
Helen Smith |
A constant presence in the ladies cross country team, and a
regular competitor at our in-house events and Runs of the Month.
|
| Male Athlete of the Year |
Steve Hillier |
Regular attendance at our Track and Field events and
establishing the club in the London Vets League by being undefeated in
the hammer competitions over two matches. |
| Veteran’s Trophy |
John Coffey |
Back from a difficult period to show his determination to run
well, despite everything that has been thrown at him. |
Awards for 2012 (presented March 2013)
|
Award |
Presented For |
2012 |
|
Male Athlete of the Year
|
This guy has become a legend in our running team. After twenty years of
trying to break the bonds, he remains the young man of the team, and the
person to be relied upon to pull out an excellent performance when most
needed.
As an organiser, he has managed the Concorde 10K for many years, helping
it grow to a hugely popular event. He is part of the team working to make
its replacement, the Concorde Five, another great success. He is one of the
club’s fastest performers over just about every distance, and produced a
three hour marathon in 2012. |
Paul Knechtl |
|
Female Athlete of the Year |
This year’s winner had is a constant presence in the ladies cross country
team, and a regular competitor at our in house events and runs of the month.
She continues to produce great times, she encourages everyone around her to
take part, and she always has a smile on her face. |
Marion Woodhouse |
|
Brian Forrester 10K Trophy |
Special mention should go to Joe Nolan, Steve Newell and Brian Bennett for
their competitive times, but they will not be going home with the trophy
this time.
Our winner competed on hot days, and on wet days, on flat courses, and on
tough courses. As usual, he gave the races his maximum effort. |
Tony Barnwell |
|
Most Improved Athlete |
For some exceptional five mile running last year, and with our good wishes
for 2013 |
Simon Turton |
|
Veteran’s Trophy |
This year’s winner has continued to provide evergreen performances. He
monitors our performances in the popular Saturday morning 5k runs, as well
as showing good improvement in his own times. He is the driving force behind
our major quarterly in house races. He also ensures that we have angels and
wise men running a mile at Christmas. He organises a swim in the Thames
which attracts competitors from far and wide. What’s more, he continues to
adjudicate in major Triathlon events. |
Steve Newell |
|
Chairman’s: |
Presented by the Chairman to the club member whose efforts
have done most to progress the club. Tom Rowley has been supporting
the club for many years including the reliable marking for hosted cross
countries and the Speedbird Ladies race. |
Tom Rowley |
|
Men’s
T&F Grand Prix: |
Presented to the male club member who has contributed most
to the club's track&field events over the year.
Our winner posted strong performances in 13 disciplines through the
summer. He won several Grand Prix events, and was ever present at inter club
competitions.
Once again, he led the small team to qualify for the final of the
Rosenheim League at Tooting Bec. He looks forward to leading the team to
more success in the Veterans League in 2013. |
Eddie Giles |
|
Ladies T&F Grand Prix |
Not awarded this year. |
|
|
Round The Block Trophy: |
Presented to the club member who has devised, marshalled
and taken part in most BAAC events throughout the year. This is worked
out using a complex league table based on participation at club featured
events. |
Steve Newell |
|
Men’s XC Trophy: |
This trophy is presented to the man who had most success
last year with our cross country team. We had a tough winter, but twenty-two
athletes turned out to run for BA in really testing conditions.
The calculation of the award winner takes account of age, appearances and
placings, with this year’s result being the closest ever.
Despite the best efforts of Gary, Denis, John and Mark, the 2011 champion
showed his consistency to retain his trophy. |
Barry Walters |
|
Ladies XC Trophy: |
There are rumours that being a member of our ladies cross
country team is all about wine tasting, eating sweet treats and enjoying
yourself. Nothing could be further from the truth. This dedicated bunch of
athletes have spent the winter months representing BA in the cold and wind
on the Surrey hills, cheered on by Tom Rowley.
As with the men, there was a very close battle in the ladies competition,
although this was for second place. There was one, clear winner. |
Helen Smith |
Awards for 2011
|
Award |
Reason |
2011 Holder |
|
Male Athlete of the Year
|
Chris has become one of the most consistent runners of recent times with
successes across parkruns, cross country, the ASCA track and field 5000m,
Rosenheim team and the Green Belt and Norfolk relays. |
Chris Kelly |
|
Female Athlete of the Year |
Early in the year Lissa started with a great debut London Marathon time of
3:48 and has followed it up with performances in both the WARR 10k and 5k
and in the winter cross countries. |
Lissa Pritchard
|
|
Brian Forrester 10K Trophy |
Completed 24 10k races over the year with impressive times including a
personal best in Brighton in November. |
Joe Nolan |
|
Most Improved Athlete |
Simon has had a spectacular 2011 with improved 5k times, great performances
in the Green Belt Relay and as an important member of the cross country
team. |
Simon Ashford |
|
Veteran’s Trophy |
Coming back from illness and injury John had produced spectacular times,
exceptional for his new age group, in parkruns, road races and even on the
track. |
John Coffey |
|
Alamo
Trophy |
Despite all of the hurdles put in his way Adrian still managed to be the
airline's top 5k runner finishing 6th overall, 4th Airline finisher and 1st
Airline Masters finisher. |
Adrian Haines |
|
Chairman’s: |
As well as joining us for runs whenever he can Simon has
continue to deliver the BAAC contribution to the marshalling of the London
Marathon and related events. |
Simon Turton |
|
Ladies T&F Grand Prix: |
Melanie deserves this award for her gritty 3000 metre run
in torrential rain in the ASCA championships for which she was ladies
captain. |
Melanie Holman |
|
Men’s
T&F Grand Prix: |
Eddie totally dominated the year's Grand Prix track events
and the triple jump, javelin and discus. |
Eddie Giles |
|
Round The Block Trophy: |
Won by devising, marshalling and taking part in BA events
throughout the year. Steve Hillier pipped Barry Walters at the post
with Steve Newell and Graham Taylor close behind. |
Steve Hillier |
|
Ladies XC Trophy: |
This year Marion was a model of consistency and comfortably
the top points scorer in the Ladies Surrey League team. |
Marion Woodhouse |
|
Men’s XC Trophy: |
Barry put in the most hard miles to collect the Surrey
League points necessary to retain our League 3 status. Paul Knechtl
and Coffey pushed hard but Barry was undoubtedly King of the Mud 2011. |
Barry Walters |
Awards for 2010
|
Award |
Reason |
2010 Holder |
|
Male Athlete of the Year
|
|
Paul Knechtl
|
|
Female Athlete of the Year |
|
Lissa Pritchard
|
|
Brian Forrester 10K Trophy |
|
Dave Dixon
|
|
Most Improved Athlete |
|
Marion Woodhouse
|
|
Veteran’s Trophy |
|
Alan Anderson |
|
Alamo
Trophy |
Delivery of the 2010 World Airline Road Race
|
The WARR Core team
Alan
Friar, Graham Taylor; Helen Smith; John Taylor; Marion Woodhouse; Mark
Taylor; Natalie Lang; Nick Edge; Paul Brandon; Simon Turton
|
|
Chairman’s: |
Managing the delivery of the 2010 World Airline Road Race |
Katherine Henville (Stather) and Roderick Hoffman |
|
Ladies T&F Grand Prix: |
|
Katherine Henville (Stather) |
|
Men’s
T&F Grand Prix: |
|
Eddie Giles |
|
Round The Block Trophy: |
|
Brian Forrester |
|
Ladies XC Trophy: |
|
Katherine Henville (Stather) |
|
Men’s XC Trophy: |
|
Barry Walters |
|
