HARC’s second annual Awards Night was a time for celebration and camaraderie, as club members enjoyed a wonderful feast at Institution in Bedale. Eight trophies were awarded to reflect the club’s principles: ‘Caring & Supporting’; ‘Coaching-led’; ‘For Everyone’; and ‘Enjoying Our Sport’.

And the winners are…

Our Greatest Of The Year (male), affectionately known as ‘Billy GOTY’, was presented to one of the club’s juniors, Harvey Wilkinson. Harvey is a superb up and coming shot putter whose excellent performances this season have earned him a current top 20 national ranking.

The ‘Nanny GOTY’ (Greatest Of The Year – female) went to Lesley Whitehouse who achieved a superb age-graded performance at 5km distance at Sherwood Pines parkrun.

Joanne Sinnott received the ‘Captain Cook Cup’ for endeavour. Jo set herself phenomenal challenges this year in a bid to raise over £3,000 for MND, a charity very close to her heart. During the qualifying period, she ran a number of full marathons, and ran 86 solo miles in the Endure 24 event in June.

The ‘Sinton-Hewitt Trophy’ is given to the member who has earned the most credits at parkrun, either by running or volunteering. Graham Finlay was honoured for his steadfast commitment – not only is he a regular runner in these events, but he can also be relied upon to fill gaps in volunteering rosters and support our Couch to 5km graduations at Fountains Abbey parkrun.

Gemma Wardle was awarded ‘Volunteer of the Year’ by the Awards Committee for her relentless work as Chair of the club. Gemma puts in many hours behind the scenes and is utterly reliable in being there for anyone who needs a helping hand.

Sara Sherwood achieved an overall attendance of 76% during the 2022/23 year and was presented with ‘The Rock’, a trophy for the person who can be most relied upon to turn up to club sessions. Sara was thrilled to receive her trophy and said, “I felt extremely happy and excited to have won ‘The Rock’ award. Thank you to everyone in the club – you are the reason I turn up week after week.”

The ‘Mighty Oak Trophy’ for improvement in performance went to Chris Lees, who managed to reduce his best 10km time of the year by a minute compared with his best performance last year.

Our ‘Peer of the Year Award’ was voted for by club members to recognise the person who epitomises HARC’s ethos. It was presented to Ruth Hancock for her unwavering enthusiasm and warmth in everything she does for the club, wholeheartedly dedicating herself to her own goals and to helping others achieve theirs.

Congratulations, everyone! The search for next year’s recipients is on…

Full details of the criteria for all awards are available on the HARC website. If you’re not already a club member and would like to find out more about what HARC offers, please get in touch – info@harc.uk or visit our website https://harc.uk.

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