Club Update: New Chair Appointed

On Monday 5th August we held an EGM in order to appoint a new Chair for the club. 

Following the member vote on the evening, we are delighted to welcome Vicky Bodman and Tim Burrell to the position who will be taking on leadership of the club in a joint capacity. This therefore means that we no longer have a Vice Chair position on the committee. 

Congratulations to both Vicky and Tim for the appointment, and a big thank you for stepping forward for the position. There is no doubt that AVR will continue to go from strength to strength with you both at the helm.

It is with the deepest sadness and regret that we have to inform you that our beautiful, brilliant and fun loving Chair Sara Robert, who gave her absolute heart and soul to AVR and in everything she did, passed away suddenly yesterday Sunday 24th March.

In the coming days, we know this will be hard for members to process as we are all heart broken. We encourage people reach out to their AVR friends and family for support.

Our thoughts are with her family at this time.

Please direct any correspondence to Dave Hyde and Vicky Bodman using the address, secretary@avonvalleyrunners.org.uk.

Sara pictured arriving at and then presenting the AVR awards earlier this month.

Entries are now open for the Avon Valley Runners Wiltshire Half Marathon.

This is the 10th year it will take place so it promises to be special!  Not only will you get a medal when you cross the line, but you'll also get a t-shirt!

Sign up here

On Saturday 9th March, we held our annual Presentation Evening at the Civic Centre in Trowbridge, celebrating the brilliant achievements of our members throughout 2023.

This year’s event followed a “Casino Night” theme, with plenty of red and black decorations and a fun photo booth with themed props to match! We even had our very own Martin Russam providing tunes from across the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 00’s until the early hours - with plenty of people dancing the night away!

Alongside the celebrations, our charity raffle on the evening was a resounding success and raised £545 for the deserving local community group ‘Helping the Homeless in Bath and West Wiltshire’.

A huge thank you to everyone that attended and donated raffle prizes, and a big well done to all those that won an award, including those that achieved either a Single or Double Goal Getters Award in 2023. It was a fantastic night of celebration, and we already look forward to next year!

Please see the full list of award winners below:

Outstanding Performance
U20s - Oscar Jarman
Senior Male - Ben Mees
Senior Female - Isabella McNally
V40 Male - Gary Day
V40 Female - Emily Dye
V50 Male - Tim Burrell
V50 Female - Fiona Price
V60 Male - Robin Mark-Schols
V60 Female - Diane Hier
V70 Male - Peter Campbell
V70 Female - Rosemary Barber

Most Improved
Male - Mark Spiers
Female - Adrienne Barthram

Ultramarathoner - Ben Blackwall

Best Beginner
Male - Julian Roughley
Female - Sharon Walter

Most Promising New Member
Male - John Naish
Female - Molly Braham

Perseverance Award - Jack Prout

The Bomb - Gary MacAlister

David Griffiths Award - Dave Bagshaw

AVR Road League
Male - Peter Veleski (1st), Gary Day (2nd), Paul Dredge (3rd)
Female - Fiona Price (1st), Sharon Firkins (2nd), Annalie Ibison (3rd)

AVR Off-Road League
Male - Frank Lamerton (1st), Richard Newman (2nd), Gary MacAlister (3rd)
Female - Veryan Cranston (1st), Fiona Newman (2nd), Fiona Gibbs (3rd)

Club Championship
Senior Male - Ben Mees
V40 Male - Gary MacAlister
V50 Male - Chris Suter
V60 Male - Robin Mark-Schols
Senior Female - Katie Oliver
V40 Female - Emily Dye
V50 Female - Fiona Price
V60 Female - Diane Hier
V70 Female - Rosemary Barber

WAVA Awards
Male - Chris Suter
Female - Diane Hier

Avon Valley Triathletes League
Male - Alan Best (1st), Will Whitmore (2nd), Steve Clark (3rd)
Female - Emily Dye (1st), Annalie Ibison (2nd), Kathryn Butt (3rd)

How Hard Did You Tri
Male - Alan Best
Female - Caroline Scott

Most Improved Multi-Sport Athlete
Male - Alan Best
Female - Emily Dye

AVT Segment of the Year
Male - Will Whitmore (1st), Alan Best (2nd), Darren Wrintmore (3rd)
Female - Caroline Scott (1st), Jen Nattrass (2nd), Annalie Ibison (3rd)

AVT Inspire and Motivate Award - Steve Clark

AVR celebrate achievements with Jo Pavey!

Congratulations to all of our winners at our annual Presentation Evening presented by European Champion, Jo Pavey. Huge thanks to the working group for organising the green and gold themed event at the Trowbridge Civic Centre with live music from 'Be Like Will' and a raffle filled with great prizes donated form local companies which raised a great £455.60 for youth Action Wiltshire.

***NEW DATE***
Tuesday 10th January 2023

Members are invited to the AVR AGM on Tuesday 3rd January 2023 at 8:30pm held at Trowbridge Rugby Club.

At an EGM held on Tuesday 27th September 2022, Sara Robert was voted in as the new chair for the club.  The meeting also saw David Hyde voted in as Secretary.  We would like to extend our thanks to Dave Hyde for acting as Chair for the past few months and Laura Waterhouse for undertaking the Secretary role.

September saw 14 members of AVT complete Ironman 70.3 Weymouth 2022. Most were first-timers at the middle distance and put in performances to be proud of. Special mention goes to Daniel Colman who placed 15th overall out of 2003 competitors in a time of 4:34:25. Congratulations Daniel, and all AVT athletes for your achievements:

Daniel Colman 4:34:25

Simon Down 5:28:32

Esther Frawley 6:06:44

Sue Porto 6:18:12

Emily Dye 6:22:47

Gary MacAlister 6:22:57

Jenny Nattrass 6:25:46

Kat Taylor-Laird 6:28:03

Caroline Scott 6:40:20

Annalie Ibison 6:51:39

Cliff Dye 6:54:22

Laura Waterhouse 6:58:16

Chris Walford 7:30:22

Gareth Rickerby 8:03:04

A huge thanks to all club members who came down and cheered everyone over the line as well.

The AVR Awards took place on 5th February to celebrate our achievements from 2021.

Congratulations to all of our award winners:

AVR Race Series

Ladies

3rd lady Paula Farrell

2nd lady Jo Farion

1st Dian Hier

Men

3rd Male Peter Campbell

2nd Male Stuart Arguile

1st  Male Tim Burrell

 Subjective award winners

Adewale Kadiri - Most Improved Male

Laura Beardsley - Most Improved Female

Ed Knudsen - Outstanding senior Male

Bethan Francis - Outstanding Senior Female

Rich Harding - Outstanding MV40

Jo Farion - Outstanding FV40

Tim Burrell - Outstanding MV50

Jackie Rockliffe - Outstanding FV50

Phil Harding - Outstanding MV60

Pauline Bradley - Outstanding FV60

Stuart Arguile - Outstanding MV70

Rosemary Barber - Outstanding FV70

Anthony Hickson - Outstanding MV80

Terri Duddy - Tony Bartlett Perseverance award

Vicky Bodman - The Bomb

Carrie Almeida - Volunteer of the year

Samantha Parry - Club Beginner of the year

Chris Redshaw - Most Promising Athlete of the year

Club Champs

MV40 - Rich Harding

MV50 Tim Burrell

MV60 Andrew Jefferies

Senior lady Emily Dye

FV40 Annalie Ibison

FV50 Jackie Rockliffe

FV60 Pauline Bradley

FV70 Rosemary Barber

AVT Inspire and Motivate award - Chris Walford

Stan Farr Boxing Day run - First Male Mike Towler - First Lady Jackie Rockliffe

Goofy - Kat Taylor Laird

Race Face - Martin Russam

David Griffiths "Members Member" - Sean Price