On Saturday, the Ivanhoe Runners awards night saw a record attendance of over 100 people celebrate the Clubs tremendous 2015 season. Excellently organised by Emma Kirtland and Victoria Smith, over 90 trophies were presented by club chairman Heather Swan, men’s captain Nick Rowles, ladies captain Laura Graves and outgoing chairman Kevin Sanders to the trophy winners for the year.

Starting the ball rolling was presentation of trophies to the winners of the Ivanhoe 20 held in March to Ramzi Sidani and Clare Fowell, followed by awarding the Adrian Smith Handicap trophy to Chris Jones. Success in the Derby Runner Cross-Country League, where the Ivanhoe ladies team finished a magnificent second in the top division and the men finished fourth in the second division, was recognised by awarding shields to all those runners doing all six of the races. These were Nick Rowles, Andy Lindley, Kev Wright, John Lewis, Martin Yeomans, Allie Sturla, Roise Dear and newcomer Katie Poole.

Similar awards were made to those doing all the races in the Burton and District Summer League, being Victoria Smith, Ian Bolton, Nick Rowles, Kev Wright and Damon Bland. This was a very successful battleground for Ivanhoe with team and individual successes. The men’s team won the league and shields were presented to Ian Bolton, Ramzi Sidani, Nick Rowles, Martin Yeomans, Alistair Chambers, Simon Terry, Andy Lindley and Kev Wright, while the ladies team finishing in an excellent second place saw shields awarded to Laura Graves, Carolyn Osborne and Victoria Smith. Individual awards went to Katie Poole 2nd Under 25 lady, Lucy Allsop 3rd Senior lady, Laura Graves 3rd Vet lady 45, Ramzi Sidani 2nd Senior male, Alistair Chambers 2nd Male vet 50, Martin Yeomans 3rd Male vet 50, and Andy Jeyes 1st Male vet 60.

The Leicestershire Road Running League includes all the top clubs in the county and proves to be a very competitive league. Ivanhoe’s team trophy winners in 2015 were the ladies vet team, picking up a brilliant third place in the top division and earnings awards for Clare Fowell, Karen Bell, Victoria Smith, Carolyn Osborne, Laura Graves, Anne Newbury and Julia Blewitt-Jenkins. Anne Newbury also picked up a 100% attendance award while the awesome Clare Fowell collected the 2nd Vet lady 45 trophy.

The Club has reinvigorated its standards scheme which in both 2014 and 2015 saw numerous awards made to runners achieving “standard” times over a number of race distances in a season. 2015 Bronze standards were presented to Richard Bebbington, Angela Bebbington, James Cubitt, Simon Terry, Lucy Allsop, Jenny Hope, Lindsay Tilbury and Grania Towle. Bronze Distinction awards went to Damon Bland and Jason Green. Silver awards were presented to Alan Edwards, Karen Edwards, Dave Hobbs, Matt Joyce, Judy Edlin, Bev Jones, Sarah Malone, Francesca Sinclair and Jackie Williams. Silver Distinction trophies went to Ian Bolton, Mark Eydman, Andy Lindley, Nick Rowles, Karen Hartland and Anne Newbury. Even harder to achieve, Gold standards were awarded to Mike Trott, Julia Blewitt-Jenkins and Mel Ferrie, while the ultimate award, never achieved before in Ivanhoe Runners, is the Diamond Distinction, and this was awarded to Clare Fowell after an exceptional year of Club record-breaking running.

The Club’s grand prix awards recognised consistent performances over a ten race series, and were won by Victoria Smith and Ramzi Sidani with runners-up being Laura Graves and Ian Bolton. Barry Alldread’s efforts in 2015, where in addition to his first ever Ironman triathlon in Bolton he took part in several “ultra” challenges and set a new marathon personal best, saw him pick up a Club “Ironman” award.

The most improved runners in 2015 were Jason Green foe the men, Jason setting personal bests over all the distances he ran, and was a tie for the ladies with Clare Fowell's stunning season and Julie Henfrey’s tremendous improvement in the 2015 season. The team players awards were awarded to Daman Bland and Teresa Talbott, recognising not only the number of races they did but more importantly both their efforts in encouraging and supporting other Club members. The best newcomers in 2015 were very deservedly Lucy Allsop and James Cubitt.

The Margaret Hibell trophy recognises acts of particular endeavour, and this year was awarded to Ian Kirk, Martin Yeomans and Tim Sturla for running the three marathons at Beachy Head, Leicester and Dublin in three days! The Chairman's Award is made at the discretion of the Chairman and was a very supported award to Roger Beaven, who did a tremendous amount of work in securing the future of the Ashby 20 by planning, organising and executing the road closures for the 2015 race.

The final award of the night is the Club Member of The Year, voted for by all the membership. As such, this means a tremendous amount to the individual receiving it, and a clearly emotional Andy Lindley was delighted to receive the recognition of his fellow club members for all he has done for the club in 2015 and indeed the last few years. This nicely rounded off a great night for the Club, who look forward to more success in 2016.

Written by Kevin Sanders - last updated by Lucy Allsop on 26/01/2016