Decades of dedication: HLM awards to Sandra, John and Liz

Tuesday 1st November 2022

Our Honorary Life Membership presentations are always well-received at the 4J Annual Awards.

And it certainly felt that way again when our presenter on the night, Bryan Burnett, invited Sandra Hardacre, John Rodger and Liz Wilder to the stage to receive their accolades (which were approved by our AGM).

Our summaries below on each of these sterling individuals of our sport are relatively short – yet collectively give a pretty good idea of the huge number of volunteer roles undertaken by Sandra, John and Liz.

Without actually counting it up, we reckon there could well be a century and a half of service to our sport and that really is a remarkable commitment.

Congratulations!

(Photos by Bobby Gavin)

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Sandra Hardacre (Livingston AC)

Sandra’s first involvement in cross country was as the U13 National Champion in 1975, but few could have forecast then the lifetime contribution she would make to our sport.

Sandra began officiating in 1996 with the SWCCU, and has since officiated at numerous National and District cross country and road running events in a host of senior roles.

She also officiated at the European Cross Country Championships in in 2003 and the World Cross Country Championships in 2008.

Sandra is now the scottishathletics East District Road and Cross Country commission Secretary; President of the East District Cross Country League; and a member of the Road Running and Cross Country Commission.

Sandra is also a well-respected Level-4 Track official with a range of national and international experience, as well as an esteemed coach with Livingston AC who has coached endurance athletes from club level to GB vests.

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John Rodger (Kilbarchan AAC)

A stalwart of Kilbarchan AAC, John has been involved in athletics in Renfrewshire for decades.

John was instrumental in campaigning to get a synthetic track at Linwood (opened by Steve Ovett OBE in 1991), and followed this up with further fundraising to extend the track from 6 to 8 lanes in 1999.

Following early retirement from his career in telecommunications, John was race director of the inaugural Paisley 10km Road Race (and 3km fun run), and held this post for seven years. He is still involved today on race day to ensure everything goes smoothly.

John also helped to establish, and currently chairs, the Renfrewshire Local Athletics Partnership.

He is a selector and team manager for club, district and national teams, and served as the Convenor of the scottishathletics Road Running and Cross Country Commission in seasons 2014-15 and 2020-21.

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Elizabeth Wilder (VP-Glasgow)

Liz has been involved in athletics for over 50 years. A talented sportsperson herself, she qualified as a PE teacher in 1968 and has been involved in a range of sports as an athlete, coach and Official.

Liz’s officiating career began as a jumps Official. She soon qualified as a Grade 4 UKA Field Official and worked her way up to Grade 1 before the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986, where she was a Field Judge.

She has worked with athletes at club and league level right up to the Olympic Games, at which she was Combined Events Referee in 2012.

Liz has also worked tirelessly on many groups such as the UKA Field Peer Group, scottishathletics Peer Group, Officials Commission, Timetabling Group and Facilities Group.

Over the years, Liz has passed her knowledge on to new Officials through acting as a mentor and as a UKA Tutor.

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Tags: HLM, Honorary Life Membership, John Rodger, Liz Wilder, Sandra Hardacre