Stopsley Striders Presentation Awards for 2011
If you would like any of these photos please email here
A special thanks goes to our guest Gail Duckworth who presented the Awards for 2011
Senior Man
This man has been one of our most consistent runners this year. He has performed very well on a variety of terrains such as the roads, the track and cross country. He has been our fastest man in all distances from 5k to half marathon and all our cross country races. This year he tried something new. For the first time he tried out indoor racing and proved to be extremely good at it. He won the Eastern Vets over 35, 1500mtrs and became the first ever Stopsley Strider to take part in a National individual event when he ran the National Indoor Vets Race. He won a silver medal in the 1500 mtrs just to prove how well he had adopted to the indoor circuit. Some people may be wondering how our senior man has won two veteran awards. Well nearly all our races start the veteran male age groups at 40 years but the indoor events start their vet category at 35 and our senior man only being a youngster had still not reached the big 40! (four zero).
He also ran 5 P.B.’s throughout the year and finished third in the A.R.C. 10 mile championships. He was also our first male Strider home in each of the cross country races that he has represented the club.
So after a very busy year our Senior Man for 2011 has to be
Adrian Copp
Senior Lady
At the start of each year most of us set out our targets for the year ahead but how many of us actually achieve those targets? Very few of us are lucky enough to reach half of them. This lady set herself a target of a P.B. in every race distance from 5k up to the 20 miles. Now that is an extremely high target to achieve especially when you have been racing for a few years as she has, so a tough target ahead! She started with a half marathon in Silverstone and achieved her PB. She then continued with her races and got her P.B. in each race until she had just the 5 mile race to complete the set. She set her sights on the Vauxhall 5 mile event. Now as most of us know this is not the easiest of courses but without any problem, and with a lot of determination she managed her PB and thus achieved her target by June.
So a hard earned Senior Lady Award for 2011 goes to
Christina Green
Veteran Man
If anybody is not sure what a distance runner performs like just talk to this man. But we would not suggest you do what he does, probably quite the opposite! He just loves to run and run and run! In fact there are probably not enough marathons in the country to keep him happy. He has recorded 12 marathons on the race sheet throughout the year but we know he has run more. He has also run a few shorter distances and just to prove he is an extremely good runner he was first vet 45 in the County championships at the Oakley 20 miles, he was second vet 45 in the County 5k, second vet 45 in the County half marathon and first vet 45 in the County marathon championships at Luton. Just a couple of weeks after running the London Marathon he took on the daunting task of running five marathons in five days and not only accomplished the task but won the whole even and then on the following Thursday night turned up and completed a full speed work session! Now perhaps you can understand why we would not recommend this man’s schedule to everybody! Perhaps the only person to follow his schedule is him!
But with performances like this our Veteran Man for 2011 is
Dave Hall
Veteran Lady
If all of our awards were as easy as this one to decide our meeting would be finished in about 2 minutes! Probably every Strider here tonight knows who is about to receive this award. No matter what we say about her here we will not do her justice for the performances and effort she has put in this year. She has had the sort of year we would not even dream about never mind think about! We are not going to name all her tremendous achievements here as we know some of you would like time to dance before you go home! She ran 3hours 6 minutes in the London Marathon. In the Leighton Buzzard 10 miles she finished second overall beating all the men except for one! She ran the fastest ladies leg in the Fairland Valley relays and ran an incredible 1 hr 20minutes 51 seconds in the Bedford half marathon. She has also run a massive number of P.B.’s thought-out the year. In fact she has achieved 9 PB’s in road races and 3 on the track. She has set 6 club records and is still improving. Quite an achievement we are sure you will agree. She has a lot of natural talent but she does work extremely hard and is dedicated to her running and deserves everything she has achieved. We here at Stoplsey Striders are delighted to have you as our club mate.
We just hope the good times continue for our very deserving Veteran Lady Award winner of 2011
Louise Peters
Super Veteran Man
This man has just had one of his most consistent years of running for a long time. This is probably due to the fact he has had his first year without any long term injury. He has had a particularly impressive second half of the year. He started his year with the Flitwick 10k. He was first vet 50 in the County 5 miles in Vauxhall, second vet 50 in the Marston Vale 5k, second vet 50 in the Vauxhall 5k, second vet 50 in the County Championships 5k, third vet 50 in the A.R.C 10 mile championships and first vet 50 in the County half marathon in Bedford. He has also been a very consistent scorer in all our cross country races. We can see that he has had a few second place positions in his races this year and we know that he has been in second place in the super vet man category for the last four years. But this year has proved to be his year.
Our Super Veteran Man of 2011 is
John Chapman
Super Veteran Lady
For the past number of years this lady has been noted more for her willingness to help out with everything going on in the club than for her running but this year that has all changed. Her running has improved throughout the year. She started her year with a P.B. run in the Ashby 20 miles followed by a P.B. in the Silverstone half marathon and another P.B. in the Sandy 10 miles. That left her ready for London and yet again another P.B. where she knocked off a massive 38 minutes. She also ran a P.B. in the Whipsnade 10k. Even though her running has progressed extremely well this did not stop her helping out as usual in different club activities.
Our Super Veteran Lady of 2011 is
Pam Abbitt
Cross Country Man 2011
This man has had an extremely successful year all round but especially over the cross country courses. He had very good performances in the Southern Counties cross country and in the National cross country at a very wet and muddy Alton Towers. He has run extremely well in all our league cross country events. He is not just a very good runner, he is also a dedicated clubman always helping out with anything he can. He has just taken on the role of club secretary and we all know what a challenging role that is!
Hopefully it will not hamper in any way the performance of our Cross Country Man of 2011
Mark Sains
Cross Country Lady
This lady started her cross country season with a surprisingly poor run in the County cross country championship only finishing fourth lady and first vet. That may sound harsh but we think she will agree it was not one of her better runs, but she took this all on board and certainly made up for it in style for the rest of the year! She finished third lady in our cross country league and took revenge on all the ladies who beat her in the county championships when she ran both the southern counties and the national cross country championships. She finished third lady for Beds County in the Inter Counties and it was not until our cross country league started in October this lady really took off. She was our second Strider home in that race and our first Strider finisher in our next 2 races – yes she beat all the men! In our five league races she has been first lady in all of them and has finished inside the top ten twice. She had already won the league with one race to go.
With performances like that our cross country lady of 2011 can only be
Louise Peters
Male Newcomer
This man joined us here at Striders during the summer and has shown a lot of promise in the races he has run so far. He has run five 10k races a 5k race and some cross country races and performed very well in all of them. More importantly he seems to be enjoying his running, racing and time at Striders. We know that he works shifts and cannot make it up to the club every night but when possible he is an active member. He has finished very close to a scoring position in the cross country team so by the spring we will have a very talented new runner in the club in the shape of our Male Newcomer of 2011
Female Newcomer
This lady joined us here at Striders in the summer and is proving a very big asset to the club. She comes across as a very quiet shy young lady but most importantly a very talented runner. She ran her first marathon in Wolverhampton where she finished 6th lady in a time of 3 hours 27 minutes. She finished 3rd lady in the Dunstable 20 miles where she recorded a PB and was 1st lady in the Boxfit 10k in Luton with a new PB time of 42.20. She then went on to run the Luton Marathon and finished 7th lady in a PB time of 3hours 20 minutes. She has also twice finished second Strider lady in our cross country league events.
So hopefully a lot of potential for the future from our Female Newcomer of 2011
Miriam Tedder
Performance Award
This man must be one of our unluckiest club members as he spends at least half his time injured. He has been a Strider for many years but has really battled with injuries for the past few years. This year however he was fortunate enough to get a few months injury free and managed to complete the Vauxhall Three Race Series. He not only completed it but managed to win the Vet 60 Category.
So it is for that event that a well-deserved Performance Award for 2011 goes to
Alan Taylor
Performance Award 2011
This lady put in a tremendous effort for a PB in the Great North Run but she surprised even herself with the result. We know she was hoping for a PB but we don’t think she was expecting to knock quite so much time off her previous best for a half marathon. She was hoping to run about 3 minutes quicker but on the day everything went exactly according to plan and she knocked 6 minutes of her previous PB time.
So for that effort in the Great North run a Performance Award for 2011 goes to
Alison Sugars
Performance Award
We had difficulty in choosing from a couple of this mans’ performances which one we would honour. He has been one of our most consistent performers for many years and very rarely returns from any race without his age group trophy in his bag. Indeed it is one of those occasions that he is being rewarded for tonight. Most of us know how tough cross country running can be but just the mention of Parliament Hill Fields scares the majority of runners. But when you have to run 3 laps which amounts to a distance of 15k on what is regarded by most people as one of the toughest courses in the country you start to understand the effort it takes. To top all that you will see that we are not talking about somebody in his mid-twenties. At the Southern Counties Cross Country in Parliament Hill in January this man finished in second place in his age category Vet 55. That was an amazing performance when we consider both the number of runners and quality of the field.
So a well-deserved Performance Award goes to
Chris Lamont
Performance Award
This man has been an excellent athlete in the past and has run with, and against some of the top athletes in the south of England. So when he talks about running, we all pay attention to what he has to say. He retired from competitive athletics and took it relatively easy for a few years before he decided to join us here at Striders. He appeared to be just a normal decent runner until this year when he seemed to get some of his old ability back. He has won his age group in races and has also collected County Championship awards but by far his most impressive performances have been in his cross country races. He has been a team scorer in every one of our cross country league races and for a man of his age that is an impressive achievement. We could have chosen any one of about seven events to honour him but we have chosen the Shuttleworth cross country race where he finished in the first quarter of the field in what is supposed to be a young mans’ game.
So for his effort on that day a Performance Award goes to
Derek Christopher
Performance Award
This man has just had his most successful years’ running since he joined the club. Therefore it has been difficult to choose from his numerous events which one to focus this award on. We have chosen the Colworth challenge which is not just one race but consists of a 5 mile race on a Friday evening, 8.1 miles off road race on the Saturday and a half marathon on the Sunday. He not only completed the event but also managed to record a PB in the five miles and the eight miles. Not surprisingly he did not in the half marathon!
So for his effort over three days in the Colworth Challenge a Performance Award for 2011 goes to
Thom Darby
Improvement Award
This lady has been a member of Striders for a couple of years but has performed exceptionally well this past year. She is not just a good runner but a dedicated club person as well. She is always offering to help out whenever she can. Looking through her running year she has performed extremely well with almost every race being a PB. She has recorded PB’s at 5k, 5miles and 10k distances and we now wait for her first 10 miles and half marathon events.
After a year of running 6 PB’s a well-deserved Improvement Award goes to
Amanda Rankin
Improvement Award
This lady had a very fine running year since she started her year in March in the Sandy 10 miles. It was not just her first race of the year it was her first ever race! She ran very well after that, running PB’s in every race until she was hit by an injury which set her back for a while. But fortunately she has a tough character and has bounced back and is now running very well again. She has run 5 PB’s throughout the year and is a person who really seems to enjoy her running.
Long may the good times continue for one of our Improvement Award Winners of 2011
Carla Greer
Improvement Award
This lady has been a Stopsley Strider for a few years but has had a terrible time with injuries which we now hope are behind her. She is not just a good runner but is extremely dedicated to the club in a variety of ways. She is a coach and devotes a lot of her time to the newcomers, making them feel welcome and helping them to settle with the right group. She has run PB’s at every distance from 3,000 mtrs through to the half marathon. With exception of the 10 mile event she has five PB’s in all distances and has run some of our cross country races. We know that she is about to tackle her first ever marathon which we are sure she will prepare for and run in true style!
That is why an Improvement Award for 2011 goes to
Christa Jeffrey
Improvement Award
This lady joined Striders in the spring and has gone on to run very well throughout the year. She has even taken part in our league cross country races and seemed to really enjoy them! She has run about eight road races and recorded three P.B. runs. When watching her race her preference seems to be the cross country as she appears to enjoy the camaraderie and team spirit as well as the mud!
So we hope the good times continue for one of our Improvement Award Winners
Kim Willis
Improvement Award
This lady is in her second year with us at Striders and has shown a very consistent improvement in almost every race she has run. She has run six PB’s and has also run in the cross country league where she had a rather eventful first race getting a little too close to the river in Wellingborough. But she did not let it put her off and she gallantly turned out again for our next race. Even though she is relatively new to running she has picked up the runners worst nightmare – the dreaded injury. But thankfully she is now back to fitness and running well.
So and Improvement Award goes to
Linda Kelly
Improvement Award
Although this lady has been with us here at Striders for a few years she now seems to be taking her running very seriously. This year she has gone from strength to strength. She ran her first race of the year with a PB in the Sandy 10 miles and has run PB’s throughout the year and finished her road racing year with a PB in in the Amsterdam half marathon. She has since gone on to run extremely well in our cross country league races.
After a year like that an Improvement Award goes to
Liz Davies
Improvement Award
This man is another member fairly new to the club. He seems a very quiet chap but shows all the signs of becoming an extremely good runner in the future. He has run PB’s in the Marston Vale 5k, the Vauxhall 5 miles and the Vauxhall 5k. He has not tried out the cross country events yet but with his potential hopefully next year we will see him deep in mud!
After those outstanding performances an Improvement Award for 2011 goes to
Stuart Bonner
Improvement Award
This is another man in his first year with the club who has been heard to say that he enjoyed his running but never knew how good cross country racing was until he tried it this year. He has also run very well on the roads with PB runs in the Milton Keynes 10k, Fltiwick 10k and the Silverstone 10k. He also ran and recorded a PB time in the Vauxhall 5 miles. So now with his first year of running behind him we hope the PB’s and the enjoyment he gets from his running continue for one of our Improvement Award Winners for 2011
Terry Willis
Special Award
This Special Award is in recognition of the huge contribution made by our former club secretary, to both the committee and the club as a whole. Having been a member of Stopsley Striders since January 2002, the majority of those 10 years, Chris has held the position of Secretary Taking on the position of Secretary is probably the most onerous anyone can take on. Being the Secretary is the most pivotal role within the club. Without a strong and efficient Secretary the club would not have moved on and developed the way it has during Chris’s stewardship. In his role on the committee he prepared the minutes and agendas for all committee meetings and the AGM, and occasionally did so without any mistakes. He also received and responded to the large amounts of correspondence that comes our way. He also dealt with all the paperwork relating to memberships, and single-handedly dealt with all new applications and renewals. This job alone is so involved that a new role has been created specifically to deal with it. (The only person we could find to fill this role was Chris!) During his tenure, he also had to contend with the affiliations to both UKA and ARC, allowing members to have the option of benefitting from both. He ensured that we acted within the rules of the official bodies which we are affiliated to. Chris has played a very prominent part in the organization and administration of the Ladies 5K, Betty Willets 10K, and Hosting Cross Country League Races. In addition Chris has played a prominent part in each and every activity the club has been involved in. Despite all of these many challenges, he never appeared flustered, was always prepared and organised for meetings, and never once complained.
It is for all of these reasons that a Special Award goes to
Chris McLaren.
Merit Award
This award goes to man who has been an active part of our cross country team, running in all but one of our league fixtures. Furthermore, whilst this gentleman is one of our more senior members, this has not dulled his enthusiasm or team spirit. Neither has it affected his competitiveness, as he has won his age category championship two years running. He has also competed well on the road and won his vet category in the County Championship in the Bedford half marathon in December.
For his contributions to cross-country, this merit award goes to
Bill Billington
Merit Award
For many of us, running a marathon is the pinnacle of our running achievements. We either aspire to run our first one, or aim to run one faster, or run a course that is new to us. And for most of us, running a marathon will take several months of dedicated training, and several days recovery. Not so for the recipient of this Merit Award, who seems to run marathons for fun, and when they don’t present enough of a challenge he runs even further. However, this never seems to stop him turning up on a Monday night with a smile on his face and running some more.We knew that he is aiming to complete one hundred marathons, and certainly seemed to be well on the way, running marathons all around the country, on road and off. What we didn’t expect is that he would fit quite so many in such a short space of time. But that is exactly what happened in May, when he took on the Forces March. This event is the equivalent of running five marathons in five consecutive days, a total of 134 miles of running.Most of us who run marathons tend to wait months, or even years, before tackling the next one. Very few of us could face running another one the next morning, and then continue to do so for the equivalent of a working week. However, not only did this man complete this incredible challenge, but he actually won it too.
For his dedication to running this marathon Merit Award goes to
Dave Hall
Merit Award
We as a club pride ourselves that we welcome all runners, and it is a testament to the club and its members that many original members are still supporting it thirty years on.The efforts made by some of our more senior members show that age should be no barrier to success. However, no amount of experience can make injuries unavoidable, and unfortunately the recipient of this award had to take an enforced break from running.
Despite this set back, this person has come back stronger and more enthusiastic, and has run some of her best races for several years, performing particularly well in the Luton Series.In addition to her running achievements, this person also ably assists with the administration of club nights, and co-ordinates our monthly social nights.
This well-earned Merit Award goes to
Helen Morris
Merit Award
To run a personal best takes dedication, perseverance and hard work. And it is an unfortunate irony that the better you get at running, the harder it is to achieve PB’s, as the gains that you can achieve get harder to obtain.Which makes what the recipient of this award has done all the more impressive. Already running at a very high level, this year she has set personal bests in every distance from 800 metres to the Marathon, and in many cases has beaten her previous bests by a sizeable margin.She has also set the club records at every distance in her age category and holds several overall club records. She is also currently ranked number one in the country in her age group, which is unprecedented for our club. However, you could not hope to meet a more modest person, or have a better ambassador for Stopsley Striders.
This Merit award of course goes to
Louise Peters
Special Award
This award is given in recognition to the service given to the club over many years. Ron joined Stopsley Striders in May 1989. During his 23 years with the club, Ron has been a Club Coach and Committee member for many years. He has been the Race Secretary for the Ladies 5K dealing with the race entries, and has been involved in all aspects of the life of the club. On club nights, Ron has probably been the first person, any new member has encountered on coming to the club for the first time. Ron has always been welcoming, in assisting a new member to be introduced to the club. Many a new member have taken their first Stopsley “STRIDES” with Ron. However he is probably best known for being the Club’s Treasurer. From 1990 until standing down in 2011, Ron has been the custodian of everything financial on behalf of all the members. His production of balance – forecast sheets at committee meetings, was a work of pure mathematical genius. Unfortunately until recently there was nobody on the committee with the required degree of mathematical acumen to understand them! Due to Ron’s hard work, commitment and integrity, the club has a very sound financial footing, leaving the club to be able to subsidise activities of the club and its members.
With this award goes the grateful thanks of all of the club members, present and past.
Ron Knight
Chairman’s Award
The privilege of being club Chairman also brings the privilege of being able to give the Chairman’s Award.
On this occasion, I would like to take the opportunity to recognise the person who first introduced me to Stopsley Striders. As a novice runner, running clubs were an unknown quantity, and I wasn’t certain that a runner of my standard would be welcome.When I was first interested in joining Stopsley Striders I approached someone in a Striders vest after the Vauxhall 10k, and fortunately the person I asked could not have been friendlier or more helpful. On his recommendation I attended my first club evening, and have not looked back since. On that first occasion, he made sure that I was made to feel very welcome, and I knew that any fears that I had that a running club might be elitist or snobbish did not apply to this club.Since then, the recipient of this award has been a stalwart club member, always ready to help out, and support the club. Furthermore, he is still as welcoming and encouraging to new members as he was those many years ago, and still regularly turns out in club colours, frequently winning awards in his age category.
I am very pleased to give the Chairman’s Award to
Alan Taylor
Ken Abbott
This award normally goes to somebody who has suffered a serious or long term injury or set back and has managed to recover and get back to running in the face of adversity.
This lady has also been very a dedicated Strider. She races regularly in all the events that Striders enter – road racing, cross countries and the annual club biathlon. She always performs well and this is down to the amount of dedication she shows towards her training. So when she was struck down with tendonitis it was a huge blow. But she played by the rules, saw a physiotherapist, completed walk/runs but still she was in pain and couldn’t run. She saw her GP and was on anti-inflammatories for a month. It was a long road back to full fitness. Most runners have an event that we hold dear and for this lady it is the Great North Run. She competes every year but was unable to do so in 2010 due to her injury, but she did however go and watch and support the event. Knowing this lady she would have been thinking “this time next year I will be back here and on that start line”, and she was. Her recovery was slow but she didn’t give up and she was on the start line in 2011. She completed the race in 1 hour 32 minutes and 22 seconds which was 9 minutes faster than the last time she did it and she was the 52nd lady across the line, which I am sure you will agree is amazing.
This prestigious award goes to
Alison Sugars
Rosa Trophy 2011
The wording on the voting slip says “The award….usually goes to somebody who contributes to the “Spirit of the Club”. Well the recipient of the Rosa Jones Trophy for 2011 embodies that sentiment time and time again.
This lady is at the forefront of everything the club is involved in. She runs and competes and is proud to wear the Striders colours. When not running she turns up at every event either to support club members or to take on an administrative role or task.As a committee members she is fully committed expressing her views and imparting her vast knowledge and experience. Her welfare work within the club is something which in the main goes un-noticed. She ensures no significant birthday, anniversary or event such as a wedding, passes without some form of card or gift being sent from the club. Likewise when members are ill or struck with long term injury she ensures that, as a club we keep in touch with the member concerned. Finally no social occasion would be complete without this lady being to the fore in the organisation and attention to details.
I am sure that as Rosa, looks down on us she would be delighted to know that the recipient of her trophy for 2011 is
Helen Morris.
