Introducing the 2024/25 Queen’s Park Harriers Committee...
President: Bill O’Connor
Bill is one of our longest-serving members, having been with the club since 1976. He’s supported the club through thick and thin, and works tirelessly to ensure the smooth running of all club matters, from Cross Country events to Middlesex Track and Field, from minuting meetings to tracking member achievements throughout the year and giving out medals at the club Christmas party. Bill is one of the legendary London Marathon EverPresents, meaning he has run the London Marathon every year since it started in 1981. That’s a total of 44 and counting! We are delighted to have Bill as our esteemed President this year.
Chair: Gavin O’Sullivan
Gavin joined the Harriers in 2021 as soon as track sessions reopened after lockdown. In a short space of time, he has made a big impact, having qualified as a coach, regularly coaching both at the Seniors and the Juniors track sessions. Last year he was club co-chair and involved with fundraising, and has stepped into the role of Chair this year. Gavin’s favourite race is the Manchester Marathon, having run it 10 times! Gavin is regularly seen volunteering at Gladstone parkrun, often as parkrun Director. You can read more about Gavin in his Meet the Member interview here (from 2023).
Vice Chair: Sophie Barnard
Former club President, Sophie discovered the club in 2013 when she came across some hooped-up Harriers at Gladstone parkrun, and she has been a key member of the club ever since. Sophie qualified as an assistant coach in 2016 and then as an athletics coach in 2019. She coaches Juniors on Wednesdays and often takes the warm-up and drills at the Seniors track session on Tuesdays. Sophie loves the shorter distances: 5k, 5 miles and cross country, but also likes a half, and has even enjoyed a few full marathons! This year, Sophie is the new Vice Chair and is also a volunteer on the Coaching, Juniors, and Racing & Competition subcommittees. Like Gavin, Sophie is also a regular Run Director at Gladstone parkrun.
Secretary: Roma De Netto
Roma joined the club in early 2023 in order to add some variety to her running schedule and to meet people in the area. She has done a few half marathons, her favourite being the runDisney® Princess Half Marathon in Florida! She’s also about to run her very first full marathon in Valencia. Despite having only been with us for a short while, Roma has quickly become an integral member of the club – showing up to training and events with a huge smile, she is a valued member of the newsletter team and also now helps with the club Instagram account. This year we are very grateful that she’s bringing her organisational skills to the role of club Secretary.
Treasurer: Sarah Cooke
Sarah has been with the club since 2018 and along with husband Ian, and son Freddie, is a stalwart at many club events – particularly Summer League. Sarah is a regular at Gladstone parkrun where she is getting faster and faster! We’re very thankful that Sarah has stepped into the Treasurer role on the committee this year. You can read more about Sarah in her Meet the Member interview here (from 2019).
The following committee members are representatives of their respective sub-committees:
Coaching: Jen Armson
Also a former club President, Jen joined QPH in the summer of 2017. Since then, she’s become an integral member of the coaching team and she plans the senior track training sessions, so we have Jen to thank for our increased speed and fitness! She’s also involved in the club governance, ensuring the club keeps on top of all applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Jen’s favourite distance is the half marathon and as one of our faster members, we’re very proud that she’s twice qualified to run for England Masters, and won the England and British Half Marathon title in 2022!
Communications: Gilly Cross
Gilly joined the Harriers in autumn 2017 and has been on the newsletter team since 2018. She joins the Committee this year, representing the Communications subcommittee, a group of volunteers who look after the club website, newsletter and social media. Gilly has also joined the social subcommittee this year. Her favourite running event is cross country - the muddier the better (she puts this down to growing up on a farm in New Zealand!) Gilly loves a trail run, and has done a few marathons in the past, but these days mostly enjoys shorter, chatty runs, with the occasional half marathon thrown in.
Juniors: Jodie Whitelaw
Jodie is on the Committee representing the Juniors. A lifelong runner, Jodie joined QPH in April 2023 and since then has become involved in so many aspects of the club. She is a qualified assistant athletics coach and helps coach our wonderful Juniors squad on Wednesday evenings. She is also a member of the social subcommittee and looks after club merchandise. Jodie loves cross country and would recommend it to anyone considering it. For the past two years, Jodie has lent her coffee machine and barista skills to the refreshment table at the Liddiard Cross Country event, bringing a professional café service to the Church Hall!
Membership: Charlie Lawson
Charlie is on the Committee representing the Membership team. He’d been running in the area for years, but decided it was time to give a running club a go and he joined QPH in March 2023. Charlie enjoys the accountability of the track sessions and now he knows some people to chat to after Gladstone parkrun! Charlie has taken on two volunteering roles in the club (and highly recommends volunteering (as circumstances allow) to truly become part of a community. The more you put in, the more you get out.) Charlie has done a Leadership in Running Fitness (LiRF) qualification, so is sometimes found taking / assisting track sessions, and he’s also on the Membership Team. If you have any good ideas about the future growth of the club, give Charlie a shout, he’d love to hear from you. You can read more about Charlie in his Meet the Member interview here.
Social: Freddie Cooke
Freddie joined the club in back in 2013 but had a five-year hiatus during a difficult time when he lost his sight. But he re-joined in 2021 and has been actively involved with the club since then. He is on the Committee this year representing the Social subcommittee, with a goal to make QPH to most social running club in Queens Park and beyond. Freddie is a regular at Gladstone parkrun and enjoys the social aspect of knowing people who live in the area. He recently reached the impressive milestone of 250 parkruns!
Welfare: Jojo Braine
Jojo joined the club in 2014 when she and husband Gildas (one of our lead coaches) first moved into the area. Hard to believe but Jojo was not really into running before that, although was always sporty with a long history in fencing, competing at an elite-level. Since then, Jojo has undertaken around 10 marathons, but her favourite distance is a half marathon or 10k. Jojo and Gildas have three children, two of whom are regular QPH Junior runners. The whole family can regularly be seen at Gladstone parkrun. Over the past 10 years, Jojo has held a number of different club roles having been Vice President and Chair previously. She also has a run leader qualification and sometimes leads the drills and warm-ups before the Senior track sessions. Jojo is on the Committee this year representing Welfare and Safeguarding. You can read more about Jojo in her Meet the Member interview here (from 2020).
Welfare: Rich Byrne
Rich joined the club in 2016 after meeting some Harriers at Gladstone parkrun and decided to see what being part of a running club was all about. His favourite event is cross country, claiming that nothing beats the exhilarating feeling of slogging through the mud on a cold wet day, and for iconic race finishes, you can’t beat the downhill at Parliament Hill. Rich is on the committee this year representing Welfare - he is the Lead Welfare Officer, Health and Safety Coordinator and a Mental Health Champion.
Community Engagement: Giles Deards
Giles joined the Harriers in 2021. He was interested in athletics as a child but claims he was no good at the time (hard to believe now). He discovered parkrun in his 40s and his favourite distance is now the half marathon. Giles joins the committee this year as the Community Engagement lead, and he’s also part of the Comms team helping with the club X (Twitter) account. Giles is interested in community development and is passionate about the power of sport to transform lives. In recent years, he’s worked with over 30 local charities helping them raise their profile, build community and fundraise (around £400k so far!) Many of us first met Giles through community initiatives that he’s established, such as Gift Your Neighbour and Kensal Tri.