North Endurance Awards 2022
Our 2022 awards celebrated and acknowledged the amazing achievements of so many of our coached athletes, members and the fantastic community we continue to grow.
On behalf of our coaching team, thank you to everyone who has been a part of another great year! Our volunteer activators who have led run sessions in my absence, and people who regularly help lead groups informally. To everyone who helps organise and share Zwift sessions, group rides, runs, and inviting others along to train and race. To everyone who’s supported us and trusted us to coach them, bought kit to represent our club, and to all the new and regular faces, who turn up and take part in our weekly run sessions. Your contribution is key to the culture and community we continue to cultivate.
Disclaimer:
As always, there are too many people, races, PB’s and results to mention. We do our best, and we try to distribute the awards each year to acknowledge as many people as we can, not simply the ‘fastest’ and ‘furthest’. Sport and participation is about more than that. Likewise, awards are biased towards those who can attend, which makes for a better evening. Highlights of an epic year below. Enjoy!
male runner of the year
Notable Mentions
Fabian Devlin
A fantastic year for a motivated runner-over. Continues to learn, develop and progress over ALL distances and terrain.
7th overall at Manchester2Liverpool Ultra - Sub 7 hours
5km PB -17:16
14th OV (7th Cat) at Howgills Trail Marathon
18th OV at Ullswater Trail 20 miler
36thTrail Marathon Wales
2nd at Gloucester 100km Track Race (5:03m/km average)
UTMB Slovenia, 108km 4710M+ , 55th OV & 2nd Brit in horrendous conditions
Ciaran Skinner
Continues to balance it all with another collection of PBs over a mix of distances.
1:21 at the Hilly Sheffield Half
5km PB - 17:07 PB
PB at London Marathon in 2:54
Joe McCarthy
Older, faster! Another year with a significant marathon improvement.
- 46th (12th Cat) at Howgills Marathon
- Yorkshire 3 Peaks Marathon
- Hardrock Hill fell series
- A 5-minute PB at Chester Marathon in 3:17
Thom Atkinson
Sub 17 for the first time at Podium (16:45)
Smashed that weeks later at Mid Cheshire in 16:07
14th OV at Ullswater Trail 20 miler
Ste Taylor - 20minute marathon PB of 3:34 at Blackpool
Ben Sweeney - 5km PB in 19:17
Bradley Williams - PB’s over all distances, finishing the year with a 3:01 at Berlin and 1:18 at Manchester Half.
Winner - Matt Owen
Matt had a fully committed year. Not wise, but while balancing his training for his first IRONMAN triathlon, Matt prioritised a full gas crack at London Marathon just 2 weeks prior. He’s improved over every discipline and distance, with limitless enthusiasm.
PB 17:09 @Podium 5km
First Middle Distance @Epicman (6:06 & 60th OV)
1:21:56 Big Half
2:55 marathon PB @ London
2 weeks later, sub 12 IRONMAN debut in Portugal
Female runner of the yeaR
Notable Mentions
Claire Medows
Relentlessly positive and supportive of all within the community, Claire has worked extremely hard herself following injury and is starting to reap the rewards.
4year best 5km at Mid Cheshire
First female at MoRun 5km
Karen Doyle
A run regular, completing a fantastic year with a debut marathon.
11th overall @Anglesey Trail Half Marathon
Marathon debut at Yorkshire in 4:15:53
Lucy St John & Emma Prowse
Both returned to triathlon this year and set themselves the goal of running their first marathons. Not only did they smash it, but managed superb fundraising along the way at Yorkshire Marathon, alongside Holly Tyrer.
Winner – NASRA DERIA
A new member of North Endurance but an experienced runner, Nas has benefitted from a new training stimulus as a regular of our local run session. A capable ultra marathoner, Nas has unlocked performance over all distances, taking a huge 8 minutes off her best marathon time.
7th Female & 3rd AG (47th overall at Manchester2Liverool in 8:26
10th overall @Anglesey Trail Half Marathon
Huge 8-minute PB at London in 3:38:18
Male Triathlete of the year
Notable Mentions
Patrick McKeown
A super return to triathlon
17th OV (10th AG) at Southport
10th AG at Leeds British Standard Distance Champs
Matt Collins
Super year after some real bike focus.
10th Vet at Splashworld Sprint Triathlon (8th fastest run of the day)
Sub 5 Middle Distance at challenge St Poulton
9th AG European Standard Distance Duathlon
10km PB at Kuntsford in 37min flat
Dan Owen
A great year for Dan, with an attention to detail in progressing over all disciplines.
13th Overall (5th Cat) at West Lancs Sprint
19th AG at Southport
1st AG at the chaotic Central Lancashire Sprint Duathlon
3rd AG and ETU qualification at Darley Moore Duathlon
Dan Harbidge
Another fantastic year… I mean… look at the length of the list!
15th Overall Shrewsbury 10km
AG National Champ at Yorkshire Duathlon
Top 40 Outlaw Half
Anfield100 TT
4th OV (2nd AG) at Lakesman Half
Winner at Castle Howard Middle Distance by over 4 minutes
2nd AG Outlaw Bowood Middle Distance
AG win in his first Long distance at Mallorca 140.6, despite the swim being cancelled.
Phil Aspinall
Another great year in only his second year of triathlon.
10th overall at Splashworld Sprint
4:35 at Outlaw Half, a breakthrough performance
18th AG at Leeds British Standard Distance Champs
Sub 1:30 Half Marathon PB
Patrick Breen
Another IRONMAN under the belt, Paddy has made huge run progress, finishing the year with a number of PBs and a breakthrough Middle Distance performance.
10th AG @Oulton Park in First Duathlon
Sub 18 PB @Podium 5km
First Sub5 70.3 despite an off on the bike at IRONMAN 70.3 Greece
Paul Williams
PB Liverpool Half 1:24 & 7th M40+
5km PB of 18:27@ Podium 5km
10th overall (3rd AG) at Southport Sprint
Outlaw X
Winner – Michael Hopkins
Having completed his first Triathlon only last year, Michael has shown huge progress in all disciplines and over all distances. Not only was he fully committed to training, but embraced all that triathlon has to offer, showing interest in all technical aspects of the sport.
10th AG @Outlton Park Duathlon - (only 3rd multisport event)
A Massive 1:22 off his PB - 18:03 at Podium 5km
10th AG in only his 3rd Triathlon at Southport
Anfield 100 TT
27th AG in his first Middle Distance at IM70.3 Staffs
Sub 11 Long Distance debut Outlaw 10:55
8th AG at West Lancs Summer Triathlon. 14% time improvement over sprint distance from only 1 year ago.
Female Triathlete of the year
Notable Mentions
Rachel Chiumento
Rachel enjoyed a return to triathlon with some top results.
8th AG in Sprint Distance at Leeds
First Olympic Distance Triathlon at Bayman
Emma Hudson
A strong first year of multi-sport for Emma, with much more to come.
9th overall and 2nd female by only 30 seconds in her First duathlon at Oulton Park
1st AG at the chaotic Central Lancashire Sprint Duathlon
Winner – Kerrie Greenall
Kerrie paid dividends to committed and consistent training throughout the year. Despite this being only her second year of triathlon, she is focussed and keed to work on her weaknesses. The result is some excellent confidence-boosting results she should be proud of.
7th AG at Yorkshire Duathlon
5km PB at Mid Cheshire in 21 dead
Sprint Distance AG winner at Leeds Triathlon with her first OW swim
2nd AG at Castle Howard Sprint
First Half Marathon going sub 1:40 at the Great North Run
Most improved Female athlete
Winner – Becks Hylton
I’m delighted to give this award to Becks. She wanted to return to running but was apprehensive about getting involved in a club again. As well as being busy with work and teaching aerial & yoga, she decided to enter a Marathon, her first 70.3, and her first Ultra, all within a 3-month Period!... which is a programming nightmare for a coach!! She’s grown in confidence and enjoyed it all (mostly). Becks should be very proud, quite a year!
First Marathon in years in ROME, running 4:27
First 70.3 at Outlaw Half
Tour of Merseyside. 26th female overall
Lakeland Trails 55km Ultra in 12:31
22nd AG Edge Hill Summer Triathlon
Most improved Male athlete
This award could be given to so many of our athletes and members. Progression isn’t linear, and it comes in waves. While we recognise the giant leaps some of our newer athletes have made, It’s important to acknowledge the athletes who do it year in and year out, maintaining and chipping away to progress.
Notable Mentions
Jack Leyden
5km PB
First triathlon and 70.3 at IM Staffs.
Connor Ethall
A fantastic year balancing a young family and training for his first Triathlon and First Long Distance event at Outlaw - 12:28:28. Connor has progressed in all disciplines and ran PBs over all distances.
Marc Heuston
An experienced cyclist, Marc completed IMUK in only his 2nd Triathlon, running his first marathon in the process.
Carl Maguire
Carl is Mr Consisten. He rarely misses a session in the plan, the reward, improvements across the board, and some great race medals. Carl also overcame an unfortunate mechanical DNF at IMUK, to bounce back and enter Outlaw. Great attitude.
18 minutes of previous time at Epicman Middle Distance.
12:16:44 at Outlaw Full, only 3 weeks after technical DNF at IMUK
135 Mile 3-Day Ring of Fire Ultra Finisher. (50% DNF)
Winner - Zak Lindsay
Zak had an outstanding first year with North Endurance, learning, training, pushing and challenging himself. He made huge strides forward, especially with his running, and will be looking to build on this next year with IMUK in the diary!
Huge PBs over 5km, Half Marathon and Marathon.
10minute Half Marathon PB at Run Aintree in 1:30:45
First triathlon
First Middle Distance at IM Staffs 70.3
3:17 PB at Yorkshire Marathon
NEW Members of the year
This award is an acknowledgement of two new members’ enthusiasm towards North Endurance. They’re regularly at sessions, contribute to the community, are always positive, and make the effort to welcome others into our community. This support and contribution is so important to our culture and doesn’t go unrecognised.
Winner - Graham TEnch
PB Liverpool Half Marathon 1:45
5km PB
IMUK Finisher
Cross Country Cup Cake King
Winner - Mel Holden
First Triathlon in a few years at West Lancs Sprint Triathlon
Completed the 6-day Supersonic Series
Always committed to fundraising, and ran a 44 Minute PB at London Marathon in 4:26
Memorable Performance of The Year
We’ve been fortunate to coach athletes toward some incredible and unique goals this year. A few are mentioned below. Generally, there has been ALOT of watching dots and race trackers!
Iian ‘DECA’ D'Arcy
10x IRONMAN, 10 Days
Finish Time - 169:58:16
Fastest IM of the week - 13:57:41
5th of 6 finishers (11 started)
Lorna Cullen
Lorna completed her dream to run from John O’Groats to Lands End via the 3 Peaks. She covered 1855km, averaging 40km a day for 7 weeks, running 40-60 hours a week!!
Hannah Morrow
Returned to Triathlon only 4 months after becoming a new Mum. Simply amazing!
Joe Rogerson
Having missed the cut-off at IMUK 2017, Joe came back to the sport after 5 years. Initially working crazy hours as a milkman, Joe trained really hard through the year, balancing a young family, training and a change of careers. On the eve of IM Italy, a storm blew in & the race was in jeopardy. Race day was cancelled but luckily was able to take place the following day. Joe stayed composed, so 5 years on, 1 day later than planned, Joe became an IRONMAN.
Winner - Clara VelLa Owen
Claz had a superb year, taking to long-distance events with ease. Strength on the bike and in the swim shone through with excellent race performances.
Awesome 12:11 IM Debut @IM Portugal to finish 12th AG
11th Lady at Epicman - First Middle Distance race. 26:45 swim to be the 5th lady out of the water, 8th fastest female bike split of the day
PB London Big Half in 1:40:03
Crimes against Fashion
Iian D’Arcy
If you’re going to do a Deca, You may as well look good on the way!
Best Race Face
Dan Owen
Plenty of nominations for this one, most of which were Dan!
Questionable Life Choices
Connor & Michael
All we’re saying is… we hope they do an IRONMAN in the furture
What’s that about?!
Shane
Inquisative, enthusiastic… just needs steering in an evidence based direction.
That’s a wrap
A key ingredient in starting any journey is the people with whom you surround yourself. It’s the supportive community and culture; the people who help you strive, support you in your ambitions, who make doing the hard things that little bit easier, and provide a positive attitude when you have a setback or are simply struggling to do the sometimes tedious work.
When we feel secure and supported, and we have good people in our corner, anything in life feels possible. This year I was privileged to watch and coach a few athletes who dared to imagine, reshaped what they thought was possible, and lived their dream.
I'm really proud of the community we've built over the years, all that our athletes and members achieve, and the inclusive ethos and culture that we built upon.
Cheers!
Paul
(Head Coach)
