FRIDAY night was a special evening for the members of Tavistock Athletic Club.

They gathered at the Red and Black Club for their annual awards evening to honour the achievements of many stand-out junior and senior members.

Real achievements and athletic performances were recognised as well as individuals improving over the year through effort and endeavour.

But TAC is a club that succeeds and grows through the efforts of its unpaid volunteers, willingly taking on roles to support the growth of the club and its members, and they too were recognised in the awards listings. Chairman Mark West hosted the evening and paid tribute to each and every award winner for their hard work and dedication.

This year, there was a new and very special award, the Val Evans Tribute Award, donated by her family in her memory.

Val Evans was a well-loved member of TAC until her passing last year, winning her own share of achievement awards and supporting the club in so many ways.

She started running later in life and, as well as becoming a well-respected coach and organiser of the Club's Coach to 5k programme, was a frequent participant in races - often winning her F70 age category.

Her strength and determination shone through when cancer took hold, and she raised money for MacMillan Cancer Support. Most memorably, in August last year, she succeeded in walking the Tavy 5k race course as part of her fundraising activities, supported by many of her club colleagues as well as her family.

The first recipient of this award was Tim Haimes, an inspiring and dedicated runner, who endlessly encourages and motivates those around him whilst facing his own health challenges.

With over 40 awards presented to deserving individuals, it's not possible to list every one of them here.

To select just a few at random, in the Junior categories, Luke Scott-Tucker and Grace Gokhale won best male and female newcomer awards, whilst Joe Wake and Hazel Stead took the Achievement awards, and Caleb Gifford-Groves and Tegan Brown were awarded Outstanding male and female athlete.

In the Senior categories, Best Newcomers were Sam Firth and Hannah Creasy, Achievement awards went to Grant Harvey and Hannah Smith, and Outstanding male and females were Ben Neale and Nikki Kelly. Kitty Refson was honoured for her Commitment to Leading, and Track and Field Veteran awards were given to Leifr Fridriksson and Ros Hutton.

Living up to its reputation as a 'Club for All', several of the juniors winning awards represented England or their county in their specialist track and field disciplines during 2025.

Many more showed determination and commitment in showing up to every training session regardless of the weather. Within the seniors, several achieved 'championship' or 'good-for-age’ places for the London Marathon.

Newcomers joined the club fresh from their Couch to 5k programmes and immediately slotted into regular group runs, whether or not they had race and competitive ambition.