Members of Beverley Athletic Club gathered at Lazaat last Saturday for a presentation evening which celebrated their achievements in 2011.
Club Chairman Rob Reid welcomed members to the highlight of the club’s year, describing 2011 as “a fantastic twelve months of unprecedented success and plenty of amazing performances.”
Awards were presented by Martin Hall, Chairman and Managing Director of Hall Construction Group, sponsor of the Beverley 10k for the past three years.
Trophies were awarded to runners in recognition of success, improvement, dedication and commitment. Competition for all awards was very keen with a number of runners having a very successful year in 2011.
The climax of the evening was the presentation of the coveted Club Runner of the Year trophy. This year it was awarded to Sam Allen who has proved to be a valuable asset to the club since joining in 2008. In her first year with Beverley AC she won the Most Promising Newcomer award and she fulfilled that early promise with a brilliant 2011, recording new personal bests at all distances on the road: 10k – 44:21 at Haltemprice; 10 miles – 1:14:02 at Thirsk; and half-marathon – 1:44:35 at Lockington.
She also took part in numerous cross-country races and was a very reliable member of the relay teams. Sam also picked up the trophy for the most improved female runner and the Andy Tate Cup for the first lady in the club duathlon. She was delighted with all her trophies: “I had a great year,” she said. “I love the cross-country league and being part of the Beverley AC team.”
Julie Donald also had an excellent year and retained the trophies for the fastest Beverley lady over 10 miles (1:11:51 at Snake Lane, Pocklington), half-marathon (1:38:12 in the Brass Monkey) and full marathon (3:34:14 at Amsterdam). She also took part in cross-country races for the first time in 2011 and had an excellent first season in the East Yorkshire XC League where she was a valuable asset to the ladies’ team.
Since joining the club almost four years ago James Pearson has enjoyed considerable success. Last year he ran numerous road and cross-country races and was a reliable member of cross-country and road relay teams. He posted a string of new personal bests in 2011 and was awarded trophies for the fastest Beverley runner at 10k (33:29 in the Leeds Abbey Dash), 10 miles (55:34 in the Thirsk 10), half-marathon (1:14:51 in the Brass Monkey at York) and full marathon (2:31:49 at Abingdon). It is the first time that Pearson has won all four distance trophies in the same year.
Frank Harrison was presented with first prize for the 10k handicap competition and third prize for the full handicap series but his most treasured award will surely be the Club Member of the Year trophy. This award recognises commitment to the club and personal qualities. Frank has been a runner for many years and is one of the nicest people anyone could hope to meet. He supports all the local races, has marshalled in every Beverley 10k and always encourages other runners. His award was richly deserved.
In a year when there were many notable achievements, singling out individual performances was a difficult task. The Female Performance of the Year trophy was awarded to new member Carla Stansfield. In only her third race for the club she put in a very strong performance to complete the challenging Langdale End cross-country course in 42:37. She was the first lady to finish and was 16th overall. The male performance of the year was by Matt Chadwick. He was the first Beverley runner to finish in the English National XC Championships, crossing the line in 45.07 and two minutes ahead of James Pearson in very difficult muddy conditions.
Awards were also presented for the male and female marathon performances of the year. Mark Dalton took the male prize for the London Marathon which he completed in a new personal best time of 2:51:46 – a great achievement to celebrate his 50th year. Jackie Hardman won the ladies’ trophy for her performance at Rotterdam where she finished in 3:55:29 beating her previous best by 8 minutes. There was special recognition for sexagenarians John and Sylvia Boardley who completed the London Marathon together. It was Sylvia’s first marathon and an amazing experience for her.
With a burgeoning membership there was a good number of contenders for the Most Promising New Member awards. Justine Anderson was judged to be the most promising new female to join the club last year and Ross Flood won the men’s trophy. Both seem to prefer cross-country running and have added strength and depth to the cross-country teams.
The handicap series was won by Andy Grainger who recorded a number of personal bests during 2011. The Handicap Cup is a knock-out competition and this year it was won my Miranda Hunt.
After an amazing year with a host of events to celebrate 10 years of fundraising for Cystic Fibrosis, Lucas Meagor picked up a number of awards. He completed four marathons in a month and went on to set a number of new personal bests. He was presented with the trophy for the most improved male runner and engraved wine glasses for coming third in the 10k handicap competition and second in the full handicap series.
The Wooden Spoon is awarded to a runner who has had a very successful year but whose series of great performances was eclipsed by the even greater performances of others. This year’s recipient was Steve Peacock who continued to improve during 2011 and returned to his very best form.
In his closing comments Rob Reid looked forward to another successful year for the club and wished everyone good luck in achieving their goals.
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