Well, we did it....!  After months of planning and two years since we last got together we pulled off a brilliant Christmas party and awards night. The joint evening was new this year, did you like it? Let us know!

With the government announcement of the country moving to Plan B, the Committee were so relieved we were able to go ahead as planned and over 100 LFR’s dusted down their party dresses and high heels and partied like it was 1999! (The boys didn’t look too shabby either). Is it just me, or is it really hard to recognise people when not dressed in Hi-Vis or a particular brand of trainers?!

The evening started with a fabulous meal, organised by Michelle, the first element of a very successful evening, well done Michelle.  I’m sure none of the food went to waste and the complimentary drink also went down a treat! We were then treated to a video to commemorate the past year that Captain Emily had spent many a late night putting together for our entertainment! A great reminder to highlight all that you have achieved during 2021. I’m sure we can find a way of sharing the film so more of us can watch it over.

Before the dancing commenced, the awards ceremony was conducted and it was great to see so many receive their award in person and take the adulation of their successful year, which was so well deserved. Sadly, two of our award winners were not able to be at the evening to receive their award or congratulations. So on behalf of everyone congratulations to:

• Sagar Kharab for Runners Runner: As voted by the members.
• Emma Davis for the Special Award: Given by the committee for completing her 100th marathon this year.

There were two acknowledgements of awards already won during the year with Tom Webster and Matthew Ladds picking up their trophies for The Watchless 5 and Beer Mile. Who will take on these two in 2022?

With any awards evening I feel that to be nominated and voted for by your peers holds just a little more kudos. It says that your team mate’s acknowledge your effort, your performances, and results. The ultimate being awarded to Sagar Kharab with the Runners Runner trophy. A great reflection on the running improvement that Sagar has made since he joined LFR and importantly the amount of times Sagar puts his hand up to help with any requests for volunteers that go out.

LFR members also voted for the winners of the Golden Boot and Photo Competition. From a short list, you voted for Gavin Prechner’s “Mud Suction” moment for the Golden Boot award and to Andy Griggs’s “Bring Me Sunshine” in the Best Photo Competition. Well done to everyone who was on the shortlist.

From a running perspective, there were a number of awards given out. All the deserving winners join a long list of former winners and become a part of the history of LFR forever more. For her outstanding year and on the back of being named as December’s Runner of the Month, Jen Garner won the female coaches award for her consistent improvements in her times and PB’ing at all distances this year. In the male category and for very similar reasons the winner was William Burchell. 

Captain Emily and her VC’s had a tough choice when it came to the Captain’s Award but in the end Adam Carter was their choice, which was very well received by those at Brooklands. Adam has seen huge improvements this year, ran a great London Marathon and has knocked minutes off his half marathon times throughout the year. Adam is also a very popular run leader and has recently completed his LiRF training.

There were three recognition awards given out by the Captain’s team. Emily loves a spreadsheet and since we started back running since March 29th to the present day, every run is logged and recorded. Kevin Hare was recognised as the member who has volunteered the most (not including run leads), this included C25K, events such as the Beer Mile, cake nights, etc.  Len Holland was awarded as the LFR who ran the most runs during the year with a staggering 69 runs. Dougie was awarded for the member who has led the most run leads, 43 in total!

The Chairman’s Award is awarded to “ Someone who is a great ambassador to the club” and there was no more worthy candidate than Tracy Cardno to receive that award this year. Tracy massively helps with other events such as VLM marshals, Santa Dash and regularly represents LFR at local parkruns. She does all this despite having an injury that prevents her from running.

The next award was debated long and hard by the Committee and I think the final choice was perfect. The Clubman’s Award is awarded to “Someone who upholds the values of LFR',' and this year it went to Andy Griggs. Andy is always on weekly club runs, supports everyone helping them to feel welcome and is always out and about spreading the LFR brand at parkruns up and down the country. If you don’t know Andy, he wears his trademark bucket hat on every run and as an extra recognition we had a special LFR branded hat made for Andy, which he proudly wore at Rushmere parkrun on Saturday.

The final award of the evening was a great surprise which the committee somehow managed to keep quiet. Since joining the committee as Vice Captain in 2020 Emily has been one of the driving forces that helped us all get through the various stages of lockdown with weekly challenges and motivational tasks to keep us all running. Since she became Captain this year back in February, Emily has taken the club to new levels. She will tell anyone it’s a team effort, and of course we all know that but every team needs a leader. The Committee felt that the work Emily does behind the scenes was very worthy of the Extraordinary Recognition award. On behalf of the Committee and all the members, thank you Emily.

We of course, also said a big thank you to Michelle for all her hard party planning work.

After the awards were over there was plenty of time to party. Our live band “Big in Brazil” were again on form, knocking out classic party songs and dance floor anthems. But if the dance floor wasn’t your thing, just spending the evening catching up with your running friends was a great way to spend a few hours.

On behalf of all our members I’d like to extend a huge thanks to everyone on the Committee and anyone else who helped on the night. The evening was a huge success and capped a brilliant return to running at LFR.