ROLL OF HONOUR
ENGLAND LONG-DISTANCE runner Hannah Viner expressed delight after winning the Susan Halter Elite Athlete award.
The 22-year-old from Belsize Park has made her mark in a number of events, continuing her rise in the sport, having also been nominated for the accolade 12 months ago.
“It’s a massive honour and unexpected,” said Viner of her MGB award. “It’s a real honour to represent the Jewish community in athletics. It’s nice recognition for how hard I’ve worked.”
This has been her breakthrough year. Not only did Viner achieve personal bests in all her events, from the 800m through to the 10k, but she made the UK under-23 top 10 rankings in several races, against very strong competition. This included the 5k parkrun, which attracts large fields nationally every weekend. Viner is currently No. 1 in the UK in her age category and the 50th all-time fastest woman for this event.
Her daily regime consists of running between 60 to 70 miles a week, sometimes training twice a day, including two or three interval sessions.
“I’m lucky to have a very good training group to help push me on,” said Viner. “I’d like to thank my parents, who have supported me tirelessly; my coach, Matt Yates; my boyfriend; and training partners Emma and Yasmin.”
A member of Belsize Square Synagogue, and in the final year of an English literature degree at King’s College London, Viner has caught the eye with her outstanding performances representing Highgate Harriers. She took up the sport after becoming “fed up of the FA’s politics of being the only girl in a boys’ football team” at the age of 11. “I got into running through school,” she said. “As a Year Seven pupil, I ran at the Camden cross-country championships and finished second.”
She was spotted by Camden council and recommended to Highgate, where she has been training for nine years. “I started with cross-country races but around the age of 16, I started to take my running more seriously as I was doing well. During the track season, I set new personal bests in the 800m, 1,500, 3k and 5k and I really enjoyed road running, too.” She describes the 10k as her “favourite distance”.
Viner explained: “I find it easier to break the distance down in road runs, when I’m not running in circles and there is also the fear factor of everyone watching you around the track.”
She says her three siblings are “very proud” of her achievements and says winning her first England international vest in October was “one of her favourite highlights so far”. Reflecting on her performance that helped England win the team gold at the Sobhi Sport 10K in Rennes, Viner reflected: “It was an amazing experience representing my country in an international road race.
“I will also never forget being invited to take part at the British Championships for the first time last summer, racing against the very best athletes in the UK.”
Viner has completed her race schedule this year, but she will “continue to train hard” as she prepares for some big competitions in 2019.
“I have the Middlesex County crosscountry competition in Perivale on January 5,” she says. “That will be followed by the South of England championships, the National championships and the Inter-County championships, which are all big senior races.
“By next summer I would like to be running faster than ever and hope to achieve a senior women’s vest for England. I’m really proud to be running for my country. It’s really exciting as people look at you differently and take you more seriously.”
Winning and Temple Fortune have not always gone hand in hand over the years, but in terms of longevity, they are head and shoulders above the rest in the Maccabi GB (Southern) Football League.
Celebrating his club’s 50th season in existence, Nigel Kyte, chairman of Temple Fortune FC, has been the mainstay of the club, who are the recipients of the Richard Urban Lifetime Achievement award.
Kyte was one of the original founders of the club in 1968. He lived next door to Princes Park in Temple Fortune, where he, his brother Peter and two other friends established TFFC following a series of kickabouts.
It has been something of a topsy-turvy journey since then – at its height, Fortune have run three men’s teams, two in the MGBSFL, which the club joined in season 1976/77, and they are the founder members of the Maccabi Masters League, which they joined in 1999. Fortune won the old MSFL Second Division championship in 1985/86 and two years later, the 1st XI returned to the Premier Division for another three-year stint. Season 2015/16 was TFFC’s 40th of consecutive participation in Maccabi football, a feat unmatched by any other current MGBSFL team. Kyte estimates that Fortune have had approximately 850 players representing the club over the years. But maintaining three teams has proved something of an issue for Kyte, who oversees the club’s administration and is the current treasurer.
Reflecting on the 50th anniversary, Kyte SUSAN HALTER ELITE ATHLETE AWARD Hannah Viner
RICHARD URBAN LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Nigel Kyte/TFFC
SAM BULKA MACCABI GB COMMUNITY FUN RUN AWARD
Rio Woolf
UJIA MACCABI YOUTH GAMES AWARD Minnie Freed JCC MACCABI GAMES AWARD Boys U14 Blue Football
THE JC SCHOOL SPORTS AWARD Naima Jewish Preparatory School
KEN GRADON RACHMANUS AWARD
Elliott Simmons Maccabi GB Challenge Israel Tour
FRED WORMS OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEER Ben Rosen said: “It’s an incredible milestone, especially when you consider how many clubs have gone under. It also speaks volumes about our excellent reputation, longevity and high-ranking status within Maccabi sport. And when new players join, I make sure they understand the ethos of the club, which makes it so special. To me a sense of history and tradition is important and I try to instil this into our players.”
Kyte insists this award “is for the football club, not me”. He went on to say: “I don’t like all the fuss and backslapping and prefer to stay out of the limelight. I hold it all together, but it wouldn’t be possible without such a great team around me, including Lee Fegan, Simon Linden, Steven Black and the Old Boys management. And plenty of hardworking officers over the years, such as Jonathan Cohen and many others.
“I kept the club running during the stagnant pre-league era as there were times when people were not prepared to do all the donkey work. I’ve become so engrossed in the club’s history and I find it so much easier doing the main club admin myself. It’s just become a way of life for me.”
In an age when numbers in grassroots football are on the decline, Kyte, who won the MSFL Team Secretary of the Year in 2006/07, says he is as enthusiastic as ever. He also oversees Temple Fortune’s presence on social media. “I think it’s been positive for the league and the hope is it will lead to more teams getting involved,” he said. “My aim now is for the club to reach 50 seasons in the MGBSFL to become the longest-running ever.” He designed and artworked a book of more than 100 pages to commemorate the club’s Golden Anniversary this month.
Kyte is also a qualified referee. He lives and breathes amateur football and officiates at University 1st XI level at UCL, in the Southern Amateur League, and Southern Amateur Vets League, as well as having returned to the MGBSFL. He said: “I decided to come back this season due to the introduction of sin-bins.