SPIRIT of Monmouth Running Club held their annual awards night at the Old Court to celebrate the club's successes.

The New to Running award went to Andrew 'Spud' Davies, who completed Spirit's Couch to 5k (C25k) last January and then joined the club.

He ran a 10k and went on to compete in the Tenby short course weekend which included a half marathon and continues to take part in club events and chipping away at his finishing times.

Sian Fielding and James Exton jointly received the award for Most Improved Spirit runner.

Sian has been dedicated to club nights and coached sessions, and really improved over the year, gaining a new 10k PB as well as taking part in the Gwent Leisure Centre League and Gwent League X-Country races.

James has also been a dedicated member running for Spirit at many races, including the Cardiff 10k where he gained a new PB by three minutes.

The awards for female and male Performance of the Year went to Sarah Heath and Keith Penny.

Sarah has had an outstanding year winning her age group in all races and topped it off in November by being selected to represent Wales at the British and Irish Masters X-Country in Belfast, where she finished first Welsh over-60.

Keith continues to impress everyone and back in June did something incredible by running the Epona 100-mile race on his 70th birthday.

He finished the Beacons and Black Mountains challenge in an outstanding 34 hours and continues to inspire club members with the further challenges he has set out to do.

Spirits compete in the GLCL league and every race they do they gain points on the club leader board.

And this year's winners with most points were Maixent Gaillard and Sarah Heath.

Every year Spirit also put together a list of races for the club championship to encourage runners to join in some friendly competition and support local races.

Keith Penny with his Performance of the Year award
Barry Burns was named Male Runner of the Year (SoMRC)

This year Barry Burns and Renske Bouwens put in some impressive runs to take top spots and points to earn themselves the Male and Female Runner of the Year awards.

The age-graded winners for the club championships were awarded to Maixent Gaillard and Vicky Roberts.

Members also voted for a Club Member of the Year, someone they felt had made a significant contribution to supporting the club and its members.

Sarah Heath won the women's Performance of the Year award
Sian Burns won the Club Member of the Year award (SoMRC)

And the 2024 honour was awarded to Sian Burns for her commitment, including the C25K, walk to run group, supporting members in group runs, being involved in club events and helping with the Santa Fun Run and Kymin Dash.

The last presentation was the Chairman’s Award, which was given to someone who has been enthusiastic, proactive and made a significant contribution to the club.

Spirit chairman Barry Burns awarded this to Vicky Roberts for her continued enthusiasm over the year, her contribution to weekly reports and communications at the club.

Vicky also supports other runners on club nights as a Leadership in Running Fitness mentor and runs in many events for the club and, as GLCL captain, encourages others to join in and have fun.

The night continued with dancing and singing along to Spirit member Andy Clifton's band The Fishing Trip, and members said a big thank you to the committee and social committee for an enjoyable evening.