World Junior 1500m finalist David Forrester (St Helens Sutton AC) was named Junior Male Athlete of the Year at the 46th British Athletics Writers' Association Annual Awards Dinner sponsored by Aviva on Saturday 25 October.

David, who started the year by winning the UK Under 20 Cross Country title and finishing an excellent 24th at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, was present at the Royal Lancaster Hotel with his coach Ray Vose to collect his award.  In the summer track season he improved his personal best for 1500m to 3:41.6, which places him seventh on the UK all-time Under 20 rankings, before finishing ninth in the 1500m final at the IAAF World Junior Championships.  He was England Athletics Under 20 1500m champion and also set personal bests for 400m, 800m and 3000m in 2008.

George Gandy, coach to OCWK athletes Charlotte Best and Dani Christmas as well as numerous other international athletes during his long career, won the Ron Pickering Memorial Award for Services to Athletics.  World Junior 1500m bronze medallist Emma Pallant was nominated for the Junior Female Athlete of the Year Award which was won by her training partner, World Junior champion Steph Twell.

Other ‘On Camp with Kelly’ athletes and coaches have also been recognised at various awards ceremonies around the country.

Mick Woods, coach to a number of OCWK athletes including Emma Pallant, won the England Athletics Coach of the Year Award, having also been named South East Coach of the Year.

English Schools and England Under 17 800m champion Rowena Cole won both the West Midlands Female Athlete of the Year and the England Athletics Young Athlete of the Year Awards.

At the North West Athletics Awards Dinner, Arthur Almond, coach to World Junior 800m finalist Alison Leonard, was named North West Performance Coach of the Year, while Andy Bibby was the runner-up in the Services to Coaching Development category.

In the Yorkshire and Humberside region, Pam Piercy, coach to Kerrie Harris, was the joint winner of the Club Volunteer of the Year Award.

In November, Tim and Pauline Ash, coaches to OCWK athletes Rachel Stringer, Mitch Goose and Rick Ward at City of Norwich AC, were named ‘Coach of the Year’ at the Eastern Daily Press Active Norfolk Sports Awards.  In addition the Norfolk English Schools Athletics squad which included Rachel Stringer won the ‘Team of the Year’ award and Rick Ward was nominated for the ‘Sport’s Personality of the Year’ award.

At the UK Athletics Annual Awards Dinner on 29 November, Andy Beadle, coach to James Brewer and Carolyn Plateau, was named as one of the Norwich Union Power of 10 Coach Award Winners.  Aldershot, Farnham and District, of which a number of OCWK athletes are members and where Mick Woods is an endurance coach, was the winner of the Norwich Union Power of 10 Club Award in the endurance category.