First Blog - November 2010

A few months ago to my amazement I was asked to write a blog for the Derbyshire Life Magazine about my running and being involved in the development and progress of a running club. Just to give you some background, I am now at the ripe old age of forty one and have been running in some shape or form for the last thirty years. Often this has involved travelling the length and breadth of the country to far flung places to compete in races from as short as half a mile to as long as sixty miles. During these times I have had some fantastic experiences and met many great people. It’s also seen me run thousands of miles in an attempt to gain full fitness to ensure I have been successful as often as possible. There have also been times when running has been purely and simply a way for me to be fit and enjoy a little bit of “me time”. Running has been and continues to be a huge part of my life, not purely in a physical sense but I also believe it has helped me gain confidence in many other ways too.

I was very fortunate that as a child my parents gave me the opportunity to try many different sports. Running was clearly the one that left its mark. It’s often joked that as a young child I could never walk anywhere, running was my only way of getting from A to B. Over the years I have competed in many races as an individual for my club and for my county and my region.  During 2009 I became the British masters 5 kilometres and 10 kilometres champion and on the back of this was selected to run for England in the Home Nations Master’s Cross Country Championship. I came second in the event which was a disappointment at the time but on reflection I am proud of my achievement. The Master’s Association was set up for runners over the age of thirty five; you would thought that at this age I should know better! In reality I now find I get more satisfaction and joy out of my running than at any time in the past. Perhaps I am more aware that it won’t last for ever. Training for me means running nearly every day although I learnt that quantity is no substitute for quality so after hard training sessions and more importantly after racing I do allow my self to become fully recovered before I once again reach for my trainers. No matter at what standard you compete, I feel training should always be enjoyable and sustainable over a long period. Increases in fitness can happen quite slowly. A word of caution, so often people make the mistake of trying to improve too quickly,this can then lead to them becoming de-motivated at the frustration of lower performance levels and in some cases it can lead to injury as there body fails to cope with the increased levels of training. All this in turn will often mean they are lost to the sport altogether.

Twenty six years ago the official formation of a new running club took place within the village of Clowne in North East Derbyshire. The London Marathon had been created and so had the Great North Run in the North East. I feel these events more than anything thing else are what provided the inspiration to start a running club in Clowne and many more similar clubs all around the country. Running was suddenly seen as something not only for the sports elite but now as a participation sport for the masses. I first came across the club some years later in 1991 and joined immediately. I was taken aback initially by its relaxed almost blasé approach. Although I soon realized I had joined something special. Everyone was so friendly with everyone else and there was such a feeling of belonging that most certainly had not existed in running clubs I has been attached to in the past. Since those early days the club has progressed and developed, we now have over 100 members, but we still try to retain the vital ingredients that made the club a success in the past. The club still feels like a small club one where you feel like you belong but everything we do now just happens on a slightly larger scale. One of great strengths is its varied and diverse membership; we have members of all ages and all abilities. We have members who regularly take part in multi-day mountain marathons to some who prefer just a few steady miles at a weekend and every other type of runner in-between. Added to this we have a vital group of non runners who stay involved and form a part of the loyal organisation to keep the club on an even keel. Over the last seven years I have helped, as part of a team, to coach and help other runners in the club. It is something I have gained a great sense of satisfaction from. It allows me to pay the club back for the support it has shown me in the past. I’m pleased to report that as the club’s membership has grown the standard at which many of our runners now compete at has also grown.

 As a club we now organise three major races of our own, a 10km road race in May a 5 mile trail race in June and the club’s Half Marathon which takes place in late November. These events are crucial to the club’s future success; they provide us with a great opportunity to put something back into the local running scene, as well as providing a great shop window for us to showcase our running club, which may in turn attract new members. These races also enable us to bring in vital income without which the club would cease to exist, in its current form. The club has created for its own members a fiercely contested grand-prix which involves running a variety of distances over all types of surfaces and a cross country league against other local clubs. We have trips away and social events and last year celebrated our 25^th anniversary with a 25 hour relay which involved almost every member of our club past and present joining in one big running party!

I think all members of the club can see a bright future ahead for Clowne Road Runners. As a club we will continue to do what we do best. Over the 26 years we have been in existence, although we have certainly grown and changed to reflect our total membership, I believe we have never lost the essential spirit that made the club so special in its early years. We are on the eve of staging our 26^th half marathon, which due to the expertise and experience of Les Banton our race director, will run like clockwork as long as the fickle British weather does not spoil events on the day. Les still hasn’t learnt how to control Mother Nature! After that it is into the cross country season which is a time of year that many of us look forward to. On top of our inter club cross country league we will also take men’s and ladies’ teams to our county, regional and national championships. So, as I said, busy but exciting times lie ahead. 

In future blogs I hope to introduce you to the personalities behind the club and some of these events. I can assure you there are interesting stories to tell.