Back to the TRC Home Page
I found out about this group almost by accident - I suspect everyone was petrified at the thought of competing against me!! Anyway, this Monday evening activity is competitive - a 10-mile time trial which is actually 9.7 miles and net downhill, but don't let this fool you - the course is not easy all the way.
I was told that I needed to complete in less than 35 minutes - this makes sense as it is organised as a semi-formal handicap event with the slowest going first, so if anyone is very slow it means that the fastest are waiting ages before they start. (Serves them right, you might say!).
The first time out I completed in about 35 min, but this was not reliable as it was the time Arthur submitted to a "flat", which he will not thank me for mentioning in public. Times have improved considerably since then, but I still finish last (at least Pete had to achieve a PB to avoid the ignominy of finishing after me).
This is a welcome addition to Club activities, and not only for the tri-athletes among us. Whilst it is not directly optimum training for running, it is as physically demanding as you wish to make it, develops some different muscles (I don't remember which), and avoids the impact on leg joints associated with running.
You don't need a top-of-the-range bike (but it helps) - I use my post-World War 2 Claud Butler Jubilee, completely rebuilt last year, and for my limited ability I doubt that a more up-to-date model would result in much improvement.
On a more general note, the addition of cycling and swimming to the Club schedule is very welcome, but both are more competitive at present than many members would wish - any ideas for less demanding (but training-related) alternatives?
DM
Having been in existence since December 1985, the Club has (at last!) decided to form a Beginners' Group, and the first appearance of this group took place last Thursday.
We had received a number of enquiries in past years about catering for beginners, but we had always felt that this would be an unacceptable imposition on members' personal training time. Also, experience suggested that most prospective members would, if they were serious, undertake basic training in their own time and take part in fun runs which are typically over the distance run by the slower group.
The catalyst for a change of policy was a phone call this week from a prospective member which persuaded me to return to Club Night, hopefully being fit enough to cope with supervising someone of beginner standard.
Not for the first time, the enquirer failed to materialise, but Mark Williams brought Debbie to Club Night knowing that supervision (if that's the term I want) would be available. Debbie had previously completed the 5K Race for Life, so 3 miles was the natural target distance. It appeared to work very well, as the pace was such that both of us were able to complete the distance without a regroup.
I am encouraged to continue to attend when possible (and if required), and it will be interesting to plan for the possibility of a number of beginners of varying standards. However, the first priority is to ensure that beginners have the opportunity to take part in training activities, and hopefully achieve the standard needed to enable them to progress to the other groups.
We need a few other members to volunteer to supervise this group occasionally - please contact Mark Williams if you are able to help.
DM
The Sun Life 1981 was my first race after leaving school, a gap of xx years! It was superbly organised, and attracted an entry of 828 runners (in each of the subsequent 9 years the total was over 1100). There was a huge beer tent that also housed a TV so you could watch a video of the race within about 45 - 60 minutes of the finish. I was so impressed that I entered several races subsequently, but of course it was too much to expect this standard of organisation in local fun runs. However, it did eventually result in my concentration on running instead of squash.
I collected all the results I could find for Club members (including years before the Club was formed in 1985), also for RR Computers members since that was my team - it is, of course, an event for business houses, not clubs. These results now appear under the Results section on this site. The 1981 race also included John Perry, Pat Morrissey, Bob Hall, Nigel Harris, Terry Morgan and Pete Mainstone, although I have been unable to obtain all the times.
However, the surprise occurred later when Dave Andrews disclosed that he had taken part in the 1980 event! If anyone has additional data for Club members in this event, especially if they are pre-1980, please let me know and I will include it on the Sun Life page.
I have reduced the font size to accommodate the data without scrolling horizontally, but if this causes a legibility problem please let me know. Also I can remove the RR data which would offer more space for TRC results.
The oddest finish (for me) was in 1985 when I overtook Russ Lawton, then my Sunday morning training adversary(!) and a founder of the Club, about 150 yds from the finish, but in my concentration on which foot to move next, I didn't notice him; even worse, I also didn't notice him when he overtook me just before the finish, 1 second ahead. He was very pleased to supply this information later!
DM
Back in 1997 (the "good old days" as some of you may recall), we considered the possibility of a Club road race competition, in which members would be encouraged to enter a number of established races over different distances, and their overall results compared to determine the winner over a season (or year).
As many of you know (and the rest will have guessed) it didn't happen, partly because complications were foreseen and as a result, there was a lack of enthusiasm to start the organisation.
A member of the current committee (who for the moment will remain anonymous to avoid possibly unwelcome pressure) expressed interest in the idea, so I supplied a copy of the original proposal for reference. I should also mention that Fred Yearsley of Dursley A.C. kindly sent details of their version of the competition (as it was then) to add further ideas, and Mike Willis replied to our original proposal to provide further views.
If any member is interested, I can provide copies of these documents for consideration, or publish them on this site for more general viewing. If nothing else, you will at least be aware of what we really discussed at Committee meetings in those far-off times!
DM
The AGM has come and gone - we have a new Committee and all is set for another happy and successful year. Or is it?
These days, AGMs are not dissimilar to Corporate newsletters - all the good news and let's not worry people with the downsides. To be fair, there is no doubt that the Club is in a very successful phase of its existence, and recent Committees deserve full credit for this achievement. The AGM reflected this situation for about 40 minutes, and then came the bombshell - a proposed change in the subscription structure and levels, which had failed to appear on the Agenda.
At least a few members present were disappointed with this, and no doubt others who were unaware of the proposals will be "surprised"! The main outcome of this item was that the annual subscription for Adult members is reduced to £10, with a £4 supplement (making it £14 for the less numerate!) for those who renew membership after 1st April. The complete list (as I recorded it from the verbal announcement) is as follows:
| Category | Annual Fee | Late Supplement |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | £10 | £4 |
| Family | £10 + £7 per additional Adult | £4 per person |
| Student | £5 | £2 |
| Junior U16 | £3 | £1 |
| 2nd Claim | £6 | £3 |
MCAA fees are included in all the above figures. It is not clear what fees are payable by students/juniors as part of a family.
The other part of this warmly-contested change was to increase the Club Night fee to £1. The overall effect is that members who attend Club Night regularly will pay more, those who attend (much) less regularly (like me) pay less.
Finally, the Club Officers are now - Arthur Renshaw (Chairman), Dave Andrews (Secretary) and Jon Greenwood (Treasurer). (Paul Nutting is Vice-Chairman, but I do not have a current copy of the Constitution to hand to confirm whether he is also an Officer. No doubt more recent Secretaries will be able to advise on this point, or even send me a copy of the Constitution!). We wish these and the rest of the Committee well in their efforts to generally make the Club attractive to current and prospective members.
There was a time, not so long ago, when I could name everyone present at any Club Night. Last Thursday, on entering the Club room, I was not sure that I was in the right place owing to the number of unrecognised faces! However, it was encouraging to see that the Club is attracting new members each year, both for general social/Club reasons and enabling the Club to rise to greater achievements, cross-country being a useful (but not unique) measure of this.
I must offer to make the tea more often, but not so often as to deprive the deserving active members of that privilege!
DM
Somewhat belatedly, I regret to report that former Club member Paul Linfoot died on 20th December, aged 70. Paul was a member for only a relatively short while (c.1989-90), but his running career included around 30 marathons, many in Italy where he was based for some time in his employment with R-R.
Several years' ago, Paul survived a heart attack after completing the Chipping Sodbury half-marathon, but this did not deter him from continuing his sporting career. More recently, he maintained his fitness cycling, mainly in the Severn Vale.
On behalf of the Club, our condolences to Jan (widow) and 3 (grown-up) children.
DM
Congratulations to Sue Pascoe and Mark Williams who were awarded the Club places in the 2003 London
Marathon having been rejected via the individual entry route.
This subject has again arrived at the forefront of contentious items, due to the unwillingness (or inability) of a few members to supply a form on renewing membership, on the grounds that "nothing has changed since last year".
If anyone wants to know why they should spend 5 minutes (0.000095129 year) completing the form I would be happy to explain. However, it would be appreciated if all members accept that it requires considerable time and effort for Clive, Steve and myself to administer the membership process, and complete the form each year to reduce this overhead (we don't mind if you have a little moan to yourself about it!).
DM
The Results page has now been split into separate pages for cross-country, handicaps, Welsh Castles Relay, and Marathon to allow viewers greater control when browsing the site. These have all been grouped under the "Results" header on the Home Page, so you will need to click on Results first, then select the results you want from the Results page.
As a minor concession to the less experienced mouse users, when results are announced in the "What's New?" section, clicking the results you want will take you directly to the correct page (if I remember!). We do care!
Please let me know if this gives any problems.
DM
Most members who use e-mail will know that Arthur has made strenuous attempts recently to ensure that we have members' current e-mail addresses. I also keep copies of addresses in my Address Book and in the Club Membership database (using MS Access). There are some difficulties:
Will you please ensure that we have your current e-mail address if you want to receive Club e-mails (and if you don't, please tell us).
DM
To many of the relatively new members in particular, it might be difficult to understand what the web site achieves that is not already covered by Prattle & Run and Club Night chat and announcements.
For results, it concentrates on "Club" events, primarily cross-country, SH 10K and OPS 10, but this year also including the London Marathon and Club Handicap results. There is at present no intention to include every event that any Club member enters - the Gazette reports cover this very well. If anyone considers it useful, I would consider a request to copy the Gazette reports (Graham permitting!) into the web site (as is).
Finally, as we often mention, any publication such as P&R or the web site depends on the material available to be effective. Any contributions or proposals to change the site are welcome (also see below for a similar request).
(This is all pretty serious - not at all like it used to be - put it down to anno domini!)
DM
We have received an encouraging but not yet overwhelming number of subscriptions that will help to keep the Club solvent for a few more days. A small number of members have omitted to pay their M.R.S. fees (the ones that the Club pays to M.C.A.A.), which might just be due to a misunderstanding of the form.
On the form, whichever box you tick requires 2 fees - the Club fee (e.g. £15 for Family etc.) and the M.R.S. fee (e.g. £3 or £1.50 for the person named at the top of the form). If it is a Family membership, all other members are named in the table beneath, including their individual M.R.S. fees, either £3 or £1.50 according to status.
It is important that members pay these fees, as the Club is obliged to pay M.C.A.A. on each member's behalf, and it would be unfair for paying members to subsidise those who do not pay. If you did not pay the fee, Steve Jones would appreciate the receipt of the additional amounts as soon as possible. The only members who are not required to pay are Life Members and those aged under 11 years. That should narrow it down a bit!
An error that recurs remarkably frequently on membership forms is the belief that "U.K." or "England" is a County of Birth - it is NOT!. County of Birth is needed because it defines which County Championship you are qualified to enter (e.g. for cross-country) instead of that in which you live. We have had instances where a member's County of Birth changed from one year to the next, and the most remarkable is one that changed from London to Wales (no names!). How can this be, you may wonder? How, indeed!
DM
****** S P E C I A L O F F E R ******
27/2/00
I have in my possession a splendid collection of Club Newsletters that are surplus to requirements now I am no longer Secretary or Editor (absolutely in the depths, you might think). In case you are wondering why we have so much surplus, it is because I used to allow a few extra for new members, and Ed also allowed a few extra, and the printer (well, you can guess the rest), and finally a number of members failed to turn up at Club Nights to collect their copies.
The volumes available are those from Feb 95, May 95, Sep 95, Jan 96, May 96, Feb 97, Oct 97, and May 98. These documents have immense historical value as you may imagine, ranking on a par with a recently-signed copy of Mein Kampf, the 1937 Dandy Annual (in which Korky the Kat.... - but you will obviously not have forgotten that story!), and a programme from Crewe Alexandra (3) vs Sheffield United (1) - 10th January 1948.
I want to emphasise that this is an unrepeatable offer, the price has been held at the original level in spite of inflation, and the stock will be disposed of 2 weeks from now. Please note that these copies cannot be sent by e-mail for reasons that I should not need to explain to our computer-literate readership.
DM
You may already know that I prepare much of the material used in this site, although Graham Bishop and Nick Langridge supply much of the results information. The site is also the source of material that John G and/or Chris Pearce need to pad out P&R. The point about both the previous statements is that neither John and Chris nor I claim any sole rights to produce the material, and if any members have news or comments that would be of interest to other members then they are welcome to submit them either on paper or via e-mail. We will probably retain the right to exercise editorial judgment on any copy provided, but the source will be duly acknowledged unless the sender requests otherwise.
DM
Back to the TRC Home Page