South Shropshire GP Dr Adrian Penney picked up the accolade of Bishop’s Castle Sports Personality for 2008 – and received his trophy from Olympic archer Alison Williamson.
Penney was nominated in the inaugural local competition for his endurance in tackling the five peaks of the British Isles in 48 hours on foot and cycling across the Pyrenees.
He picked up his award at a special presentation ceremony, seeing off the challenge of the five other finalists – JP Daker, Adam Jones, Ben Savage, Tony Summers and Tom Burton.
Savage, the British mountain bike trial champion who is ranked second in Europe and eighth worldwide, was placed second following weeks of voting by the Castle townspeople.
Burton, ranked third in Welsh badminton and second in the doubles, took third spot at the presentation night.
Making it a special occasion, Olympic medallist Williamson came from Wolverhampton to present the trophies during the ceremony at the Castle Hotel.
In his acceptance speech, Penney said he’d spent his life promoting daily exercise.
He stressed that walking and cycling were sports everyone could take part in at their own level and not necessarily competitively or against the clock.
The evening was opened by Dr Nick Howell, a member of the organising committee.
Heather Ashton, committee member, said: “Dr Nick Howell’s address emphasised that the idea of the award was to highlight the amazing achievements of the sportsmen and women in and around Bishop’s Castle.
“We feel the interest shown and the number of people who voted proves we accomplished our aims.
“More than 250 people voted. Given the size of Bishop’s Castle and the fact that this was our first year, we thought that was very promising.”
She added: “Alison entertained us with some fascinating stories about her encounters at the Olympics.
“Another highlight of the evening was having two Olympians in the same room and Tony Summers, a 1948 British Olympian swimmer, enlightened us with some stories of his own.
“We now look forward to next year’s awards and hope our efforts will inspire local sportsmen and women to achieve even more.
“We hope the event will encourage the people of Bishop’s Castle to take an interest in and support the talent we have all around us.”
