VRWC Runners World Awards

RUNNERS WORLD, 598 High Street, East Kew, Victoria (Melways Map 45 G4)
Telephone: 03 9817 3503
Hours : Monday to Friday: 9:30am to 5:30pm
Saturday: 9:00am to 3:00pm
Website: http://www.runnersworld.com.au/

Neil Ryan of Runners World Kew approached VRWC early in the 2009 winter season with an offer of some club sponsorship. While we had our Points and Handicap awards, the awards were not necessarily won by our BEST walkers as they were influenced by participation rates. So, after various discussions, it was decided to institute Runners World Winter and Summer Season Awards as follows

Winter Season Awards (4)

Awards for our top Open male and female walkers	$500 gift voucher for Runners World to each walker $500 cheque to each walker
Awards of our top Junior male and female walkers (age 14-19)	$500 gift voucher for Runners World to each walker

The rules governing the Winter Season awards were designated as follows

While we have our Points awards, these are not necessarily won by our BEST walkers.
To be eligible for consideration, a walker must be a current VRWC member.
Junior nominees must be at least 12 and less than 20 years of age on 1st April of that calendar year.
To be eligible for consideration, a walker must be ranked highly in his/her category/age group.
A short list of nominations will be produced for the Committee by the Awards Subcommittee.
All nominees must have walked a minimum of 7 races from the published list of eligible events.
In the event that no one qualifies for nomination in a particular category, the Committee reserves the right to waive the criteria where the walker must walk 7 races.
AA or VIS sponsored athletes are excluded from the list of nominees as these athletes already have a good level of support. This sponsorship is aimed at walkers who are currently self funded.
Sponsorship winners in each category will be decided by VRWC Committee vote.
Award winners will be announced and awarded as part of the Winter Season Presentations

Summer Season Awards (2)

Awards for our top male and female walkers

$500 gift voucher for Runners World to each walker
$500 cheque to each walker

While most of the rules matched those of the winter season, the following differences existed

Nominees must have raced in at least 4 races from the following list, including at least 2 VRWC Summer Season races

The various VRWC summer season races
The various AV championships (Schools, Country, AV Teams and State T&F champs)
The VLAA T&F championships
The various AA championships
The VMA and AMA championships
AV Shield competition walks

There is no age limit on the Summer Season Award winner. Thus our top male / female walker could come from any of Masters, Open, Junior or Little Athletics and all appropriate racing performances should be considered.
Award winners will be announced in early April of each year.

Our winners, under these rules, were as follows

Winter 2009	Open	Tom Barnes, Pam Tindal
	Junior	Rhydian Cowley, Amelia Finnegan
Summer 2009/2010	Open	Rhydian Cowley, Heather Carr
Winter 2010	Open	Stuart Kollmorgen, Heather Carr
	Junior	Nathan Brill, Jmara Hockley-Samon
Summer 2010/2011	Open	Nathan Brill, Heather Carr
Winter 2011	Open	Andrew Jamieson, Heather Carr
	Junior	Nathan Brill, Amelia Finnegan
Summer 2011/2012	Open	Nathan Brill, Jemima Montag
Winter 2012	Open	Simon Evans, Michelle Laufer
	Junior	Nathan Brill, Stephanie George
Summer 2012/2013	Open	Nathan Brill, Kelly Ruddick
Winter 2013	Open	Chris Erickson, Kelly Ruddick
	Junior	Kyle Swan, Emily Hamilton
Summer 2013/2014	Open	Jesse Osborne, Kelly Ruddick
Winter 2014	Open	Simon Evans, Heather Carr
	Junior	Adam Garganis, Emily Hamilton
Summer 2014/2015	Open	Kyle Swan, Jemima Montag
Winter 2015	Open	Ralph Bennett, Heather Carr
	Junior	Kyle Swan, Jemima Montag
Summer 2015/2016	Open	Adam Garganis, Tayla-Paige Billington
Winter 2016	Open	Pramesh Prasad, Simone McInnes
	Junior	Adam Garganis, Philippa Huse
Summer 2016/2017	Open	Pramesh Prasad, Simone McInnes
Winter 2017	Open	Adam Garganis, Gwen Steed
	Junior	Will Thompson, Rebecca Henderson
Summer 2017/2018	Open	Kyle Swan, Jemima Montag
Winter 2018	Open	Ralph Bennett, Kelly Ruddick
	Junior	Kyle Swan, Charlotte Hay
Summer 2018/2019	Open	Corey Dickson, Alanna Peart
Winter 2019	Open	Kyle Swan, Tracy Feiner
	Junior	Corey Dickson, Alanna Peart
Summer 2019/2020	Open	Corey Dickson, Darcery Roberts
Winter 2020	Open	Not awarded (Covid Pandemic)
	Junior	Not awarded (Covid Pandemic)
Summer 2020/2021	Open	Will Thompson, Alanna Peart
Winter 2021	Open	Not awarded (Covid Pandemic)
	Open	Not awarded (Covid Pandemic)
Summer 2021/2022	Open	Kyle Swan, Alanna Peart
Winter 2022 *	Open	Marcus Wakim, Ela Uzun

* In the 2022 Winter season, participation numbers were down and it was decided to only issue one male and one female winner.

This trend of reduced competitor numbers continued into 2023, so the VRWC Committee eventually decided, in conjunction with Neil Ryan of Runners World, to amend the award criteria to recognise an annual development award.

RUNNERS WORLD ANNUAL AWARDS – U23 Development Award

The rules governing the Runners World Annual Awards are now designated as follows

While we have our Points awards, these are not necessarily won by our BEST walkers.
To be eligible for consideration, a walker must be a current, financial VRWC member.
Nominees must be aged between 15 and 22 years.
Nominees must have walked a minimum of 4 races in a Summer season and 7 races during the following Winter season. Races which are acceptable for results purposes include:

The various VRWC summer season races
The VRWC Winter road season races
AVSL competition walks
The various AV championships (Schools, Country, AV Teams and State T&F champs)
The LAVic State T&F championships
The LAVic Winter road walk championships
The Little Athletics Australia national T&F championships
The various AA championships
RWA Carnival and Championship races

There shall be two successful nominees – one MALE and one FEMALE.
If the Awards committee decides that there is no eligible or suitable candidate from one or the other gender, a decision can be made to make two awards from whichever gender has two such candidates (i.e. 2 Boys or 2 Girls.)
If no suitable candidate from either gender can be identified, the Awards committee reserves the right to make no award for that year.
AA or VIS sponsored athletes are excluded from the list of nominees as these athletes already have a good level of support. This sponsorship is aimed at walkers who are currently self funded.
To be eligible for consideration, a walker must be ranked highly in his/her category/age group.
A short list of nominations will be produced for the Committee by the Awards Subcommittee. Having read the citations for each candidate, each Committee member will select one name from the Male and Female lists and inform the Awards Committee of their choice by a pre-determined date.
In the event that a suitable candidate, having met all other requirements, has not completed the minimum number of required races for the year (4 Summer, 7 Winter), the Committee reserves the right to waive the minimum races criteria, although it is not obliged to do so.

Our 2023 and 2024 winners, under these new rules, are

2023	U23	Riley Coughlan, Maddison Nash
2024	U23	Marcus Wakim, Char Hay

We thank Neil for his ongoing support and recommend that all club members should return the favour and shop at Runners World Kew for all their sporting needs.


Runners World 2023 winners Riley Coughlan and Maddison Nash with Runners World Kew proprieter Neil Ryan	Runners World 2024 winners Marcus Wakim and Char Hay with Runners World Kew proprieter Neil Ryan

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