Every year, usually announced at the Stowmarket Striders Christmas Party, the club announces the male and female Club Champions, the Striders of the Year and the Coaches Awards.
Club Champions
The club championships are a series of 6 races held over the summer months using a handicapped system over a set 5km route from Mid-Suffolk Leisure Centre. Full details of this series can be found on
the Club Championships page. Male and Female winners each receive a shield engraved with their name.
2009 Ladies winner is Haley Suttle
2009 Men's winner is Frank Moggan & Ron Ames
This award is voted by the members of the club. Voting for your male and female Strider of the Year can be based on a number of factors:-
Who you think has ran their hearts out during the past year.
Who you think has worked hardest on behalf of the club.
Who you think has represented the club best.
Who you think has entertained us best.
Who you think has been more than just a Strider member.
Who you think deserves the grand title of Strider of the Year.
Voting starts a few weeks before the Christmas Party, usually mid-November, and ends on the night of the Christmas Party. The Chairman will then count the votes and announce the winner on the night.
The Male Strider receives for the following year the 'George Leggett Cup', a pewter cup in memory of a club member, George Leggett, who died before his time in 2004.
The Ladies Strider of the year receives a Irish Crystal glass bowl
2009 awards went to Angela Burdett, Wendy Hughes, Chris Seymour & Scott Sherman
This award comes from the coaches.
London Marathon Places
Each UK Athletics-affiliated club is guaranteed a number of places dependant upon the number of club members amongst other criteria. The Stowmarket Striders usually have 3 or 4 guaranteed places to the London Marathon. Having met certain club criteria, each club member can apply for one of these places. Since there are normally more applicants than places, names are drawn from a hat at the Christmas Party. Applicants lucky enough to win places for the 2010 Virgin London Marathon are:
David Daniels, Chris Seymour, Steve Gray and Tony Burdet.
We wish those runners lots of luck not only for race day but for all the training they will endure for the next few months before the big day.
Club Mark
Stowmarket Striders Running Club have become the fifth athletics
& running club in Suffolk to be awarded ClubMark.
The ClubMark process has taken the club a lengthy time to complete helped initially by Chloe McMorran from Mid-Suffolk District Council (now of Suffolk Sport). Vicky Tunaley (previous Athletics
Development Officer) assisted in the specifics for England Athletics. The club is grateful to both these people for their assistance.
Within the club the notable person worthy of mention is Carole Prance who did much of the work towards documenting the policies and procedures as well as liaising with coaches for changed
procedures, courses, and documentation along side Richard Nash in writing up a number of the policies and procedures.
Neil Deans of England Athletics East (right) and Paul Evans (centre), two times London Marathon medalist, 1996 Chicago Marathon winner and double Olympian, made the presentation of the certificate
during the junior training session.
