I’d be surprised if there is a running club in the whole of the UK that hosts an awards night quite like that of Hastings Runners. Just to be part of the special evening is a real privilege and to watch Team Orange pick up some awards was a proud moment for myself as a coach.

My journey from a demotivated struggling runner to a Level 3 qualified coach, actually began at the HR awards back in 2018. I sat by watching Ms Thomas and Mrs Lippiatt struggle to leave the building for the shear number of trophies they had on their person.

I left that night empty handed but promised myself I would do everything in my power to make sure 2019 would be different. I returned 12 months later and scooped 4 awards and to have my name engraved alongside some of this years winners means a lot to me.

Mr Norris kindly allocated a whole table to Team Orange, the only mistake, possibly locating them furthest from the trophy table. After devouring our meals, the awards began with a booming introduction from the brilliant MC Andy Knight.

First came the age category awards with Sue Wilkinson (FV50), Susan Mann (FV60), Sarah Marzaioli (FV70), Matt Draper (Senior Male) and last but not least, myself (MV40). Matt Draper was soon back out of his seat to claim 2nd place in the overall Club Championship.

The merit awards followed. These are voted for by Hastings Runners coaches. There were merit awards for Team Orange members Alison Anderson, Adrian Barrett and Ellie Miller.

The runners receiving the most votes from the coaches are credited with the Achiever Awards. The female prize went to our own Fleur Record Smith who’s first year as a member of the club has been a memorable one.

The male award was shared with Matt Draper, again being called to the table, to collect yet another accolade for his brilliant performances in 2023.

Each year a group of runners heads to Belgium for a club exchange and there is an award to mark this partnership. This year that trophy went home with one of Team Orange’s longest standing members Susan Mann.

The Wilf Gaye Trophy is a really important award and given out to members who have shown great commitment to recover from adversity, that too was shared with our own Andy Alabaster, a much deserved recipient.

The Endeavour Trophy is another acclaimed award within the club and provided by Peter Cocker. It’s presented to a member for their contribution to the club over the past 12 months and I was delighted when Mark Dunn had his name called out. It couldn’t have gone to a nicer chap. Well done Mark.

Thanks to Louise Weatherly for her part in contributing some extra awards on the evening and Joe Cruttenden was the recipient of the Charity Fundraising Award. Not only did he have a great year raising money, but he bounced back from his own adversity, to showcase just how powerful running can be for overall health.

There were also those awards for runners who had completed 8 races in the Club Championship. Alison, Sarah, Kelly, Kate, Berenice, Louise, Joe C, Jax, Myself, Michael, Paul, Marie, Su, Ellie, Andy and Adrian all achieving this goal.

We then spent the next 2 hours dancing the night away and I was keeping an eye on the sketchy dance moves to make sure none of the Team risked pulling a hamstring. I must admit I was slightly concerned at the level of enthusiasm shown by Kelly given her recent ankle injury feedback.

The event was summed up perfectly by a somewhat inebriated Stuart Johnstone when he said “it’s lovely, the awards are lovely, trophies lovely, food was lovely, you’re lovely, everything was lovely”.

What a great night and obviously this post is biased towards the Team, but I want to thank those involved in the club for organising such a wonderful event, and to everyone who won an award on the evening.

Until next year, let’s keep training hard!