John Stonham Farewell Cup

Runner in Hyde Park

The John Stonham Farewell Cup is awarded annually to the runner who, in the judgement of the Committee, inspires others by being 1) a new runner who shows significant “improvement, but not necessarily victories” 2) an experienced runner returning from injury or illness or 3) a runner showing enthusiasm in the sport even without victory. John Stonham was an active member of the club from 1986 and the award was donated anonymously in 1993 upon his departure to Thailand.

At the February Last Wednesday of the Month gathering I had the honour of presenting the John Stonham Farewell Cup to Angela McGhee on behalf of the committee. Angela, who is now aged  71, ran the London Marathon in 2009 in a time of 5.49.51 She had a heart pacemaker fitted early 2012 and was strongly advised by doctors to stop running. Angela, however, defied this advice and in 2013 she again ran the London marathon, taking over an hour off her 2009 time and finishing in 4.31.36. In autumn 2013 she ran the Berlin marathon in 4.28.56, finished first in the W70 age category (out of 21 finishers) and moved to third in the UK marathon rankings for 2013 for her age group. Angela has been allocated a free place at the 2014 Berlin marathon, so we wish her luck.

See the list of previous recipients of the John Stonham Farewell Cup.

Sid Wills
member-liaison@serpentine.org.uk

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