Members of Hinckley Running Club celebrated their 2015 achievements at the club’s annual presentation evening at Green Towers which is held every January.
The evening began with club Chairman John Padbury awarding the Chairman’s Award to Paul Clayton for an outstanding year of running coupled with his voluntary commitments to the club.
Kirsty Pollard collected the Beginner of the Year shield from beginners coach Andy Lauder after progressing through the beginners group in 2014 to achieve a times standard Distinction award for 2015.
Vice captains Ed Nixon and Celine Guery presented the Bronze Times Standard Awards to club members who had applied for an award under the scheme. Runners can gain a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Diamond award by completing 5 different race distances within the times set by the standards. A distinction can be achieved by completing all 9 distances within the scheme which must include a marathon and a 20 mile race. Bronze Awards were presented to Ben Masser, Joe Langham, Rolf Hoelmer, Jonathan Strong, Paul Ashby, Diane Wildbur, Liz Mansfield, Leanne Byard, Andrea Earley, Amanda Knight, Odette Foxhall, Jacqui Campbell, Julie Hudson, Julia Waite. Andy Lauder, Kirsty Pollard and Ed Nixon achieved Bronze Distinction Awards.
Club president Geoff Oliver then went on to present the President’s Shield Awards which include a free 2016 membership for the recipients. The awards are based on a points system for individual performance in the Leicestershire Road Racing League (LRRL). The ladies shield was awarded to Jenny Green for first place. Celine Guery came in second and third place was awarded to Sarah Garford. Chris Langham scooped the men’s shield for first place. Chris Limmer was awarded second place with third place going to Ed Batch.
LRRL rep Sarah Garford presented the following LRRL trophies to club members:
100% attendance in the league was awarded to Celine Guery, Jenny Green, Lisa Freestone, Liz Lees, Sally Henderson, Ed Batch, Chris Langham, Julia Waite and Ben Masser for not missing a winter or summer league race. Ben Masser was the only club member to achieve a 200% award for running all road and cross country races. As a result of the men’s teams winning division 2, Chris Langham, Chris Limmer, Ben Masser, Tom Wormleighton, Paul Clayton, Ed Batch, Paul Ashby and Jon Strong from the men’s team were presented with trophies for gaining the most points within the team.
Club captains Katy Grainger and Jon Strong presented Silver Awards to Chris Limmer, Stephen Penney, Rob Pratt, Matt Knight, Kevin Higham, Matt Johnson, Jenny Green, Sarah McSharry, Elizabeth Lees, Jane Wheeler, Kate Perkins, Rachel Hallet and Sally Henderson. Silver Distinctions were presented to Helen Wilebore, Lisa Freestone and Céline Guery.
Assistant Coach Odette Foxall presented the Coaches Award to Paul Ashby for not only his own progress in 2015 but for his constant support and encouragement to runners within the club of all abilities.
Gold Awards were presented by the club captains to Simon Earley, Karl Scally, Chris Langham, Penny Masser, Helen Wilebore, Michelle Fowler, Bethan Padbury, Sarah Garford and Katy Grainger. Paul Clayton was awarded a Gold Distinction. David Limmer and Anne Ashton were presented with Diamond Awards.
The final awards of the evening to be presented were the 2015 Runner of the Year trophies. Celine Guery scooped the Ladies Runner of the Year presented by Andrea Earley. The award is voted for by fellow club members who were inspired by Celine after her outstanding progress since being awarded the 2014 Beginner of the Year which included running 2 sub-4 hour marathons, one of which was a coveted ‘Good for Age’ entry time for London Marathon. Ed Nixon presented Paul Clayton with this year’s Male Runner of the Year trophy who has been an inspiration to club members who voted for Paul after over a year of dedicated training resulted in a sub 3 hour London marathon time and a string of significantly improved PB’s.
