NEWHAM & ESSEX BEAGLES won their second successive Club of the Year award at the England Athletics National Awards ceremony held at Aston Villa FC. As well as having seven representatives at this year s World Championships in Berlin, the club won the Brit

NEWHAM & ESSEX BEAGLES won their second successive Club of the Year award at the England Athletics National Awards ceremony held at Aston Villa FC.

As well as having seven representatives at this year's World Championships in Berlin, the club won the British Athletics League for the second year running.

The team went on to represent Britain in the European Clubs' Trophy - the top inter-club competition in the world - finishing fifth, which was the best performance by a British club this century.

The club was also praised for its local initiatives, which has led to Newham becoming one of the networks for the McCain Athletics scheme.

The partnership is designed to develop Britain's raw athletic talent through sponsorship of grassroots athletics.

Another former Beagle, paralympian Noel Thatcher, was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame.

The visually impaired athlete accumulated 42 gold medals across his career and set a new world record at the Barcelona Paralympics in winning the 1,500m race.

Four years later in Atlanta he took the 5k and 10k double with his performance in the latter setting a world record, despite the fact he was carrying a stress fracture.

Then, in Sydney, there was a gun to tape victory, which saw the 5k world record fall.

Thatcher was awarded an MBE for services to disabled sport in 1997.