Annual Report 2001

Selected sections of the Club’s Annual Report 2001 (covering the period 1 Oct 2000–30 Sep 2001).

Also available: Annual Report 2000

Contents

1. Life Members
2. Office Bearers 2000/01
3. Club structure 2001
4. President’s Report
5. Club Captain’s Report
6. Club Results and Trophy Winners
• Club Championships
• Club Races
• Performance Trophies
• OHC Open Races
• 2001 Interclub races
• Other Awards

Life Members

C H Grant, D Gratton, N Hopkins, C H Jelley, F C Mair, B J Rush, L Smith, D J Sunderland, B Watson, K E Wood, D Bradley, B Prosser, M McGaughran, O Lenihan.

Office Bearers 2000/01

Club structure 2001

President’s Report

Another season has been completed and it is time to reflect on our achievements. Firstly, it is very encouraging to see our strong membership base with excellent growth trends in both junior membership and our walking group.

The effort our Club coach Murray McGaughran put into the recruitment, development and coaching of our large junior membership is greatly appreciated and we pass on our grateful thanks to Murray for his hard work.

Mike Wakelin, Hayden and Matthew Prosser represented New Zealand at the World Mountain Running Championships in Italy and performed very well. They, like all of us, should be very proud of their efforts. Matthew also represented New Zealand at the Australian secondary school champs in Hobart, another very credible achievement.

There have been many other notable performances over the season and Alister Jones, our Club Captain, will comment on these in his report.

To meet the ever-changing Wellington City Council regulations the Clubrooms have been improved with the installation of extensive fire safety facilities and will, over the next few months, have a fire/intruder alarm system installed. In addition, both sets of stairs have been strengthened.

A cross section of Club members has drafted a 3-year strategic plan, which is to be put forward for adoption at our Annual General Meeting. Adoption of this plan will see the committee put in place strategies which will aim to see Olympic Harrier Club as the best Club in Wellington. The best Club does not necessarily mean the Club with the most trophies but perhaps the Club that lives up to our proposed mission statement “Keep fit with friends”.

It has been a learning year for me as the new president but the expert help given by our Committee members has made my role a little easier. I therefore thank Deborah O’Kane, Barbara Prosser, Sharon Walker, Kevin White, Mike Binkhorst, Peter Hanson, Michael Waterman, and a particularly big thanks to our Club Captain Alister Jones who in his first year has done a great job.

I have been advised in advance that Deborah, Mike B and Alister will not be available for the committee next year therefore I ask that you all give some thought to making yourself available.

The Club is very grateful to the following sponsors The Phoenix Trust, Pub Charity Inc, Quinns Post Tavern Community Trust, Johnsonville Licensing Trust, New Zealand Community Trust and the Hillary Commission.

Have fun over the summer and we will see you next season.

Club Captain’s Report

I am very pleased to have been a part of the 2001 harrier season with Olympic Harrier Club. I recall being a little apprehensive about the duties ahead of me when taking on the Club Captain’s role, but can honestly say it has been a pleasure to join others in serving the club in order that we can help members to enjoy their running or walking, as well as achieve great things in our racing.

Bryan has mentioned some of the achievements of the year and I would like to re-iterate in particular the growth in numbers and quality of the junior membership. Murray has coached up to 30 juniors at a time on Tuesday night trainings, and several of those have produced outstanding results throughout the year.

Matthew and Hayden Prosser have again excelled at a regional and national level, and were joined on several occasions by Lyndon McGaughran and Sam Mallard in a formidable junior combination. Along with Dana Hastie (who performed strongly in many WU18 races) these top juniors inspired many younger ones to good results; Miles Denton, Alistair Mallard, Cole Skilton, Chris Blackford, Georgia Mclaren and others were all names we became familiar with over the season.

Watching their development makes me wish I had been involved in such an exciting group when I was a teenager!

I have enjoyed being part of a progressive club, and a committee that takes the initiative in dealing with the issues we face. This has been borne out in the improvements to the clubrooms, and particularly in the draft of the 3 year strategic plan.

The session that was spent discussing the strategic plan showed the enormous number of things that OHC has going for it: a growing website, good coaching and training available and a strong tradition to name just a few. It was also apparent that for any problems we face there are many exciting solutions available. I think that everyone involved felt very strongly about keeping OHC a club to be proud of.

When I joined the club 4 years ago, we were deciding whether we might merge with Scottish Harriers. The decision was made not to, and perhaps partly because of that OHC now seems to have a real sense of itself – so that we are a key and exciting presence in the Wellington running scene.

In order for our growth to continue we have to work with enthusiasm and direction. The club is made up of ALL its members and therefore the onus is on everyone to contribute in some way. One of the highlights of my year as Club Captain has been getting to know a number of people I might otherwise not have met – the simple lesson being ‘the more you put in, the more you get out’. I urge you to be involved in the OHC in 2002 even in a small capacity and make it your club.

I am heading overseas in October indefinitely and will miss the running up Kau Kau and down the valley, and the friendships too. But I will be closely following race results and keeping informed of OHC happenings. I wish you all a very enjoyable off-season and successful 2002.

Club Results and Trophy Winners

See the full list of trophies and competitions and their criteria for being awarded.

Club Championships

Club Races

Performance Trophies

OHC Open Races

2001 Interclub Races

Other Awards

See the full list of trophies and competitions for a description of the other awards.