CHAIRMAN’S ADDRESS FRC AGM 28^TH NOVEMBER 2006

It is the Chairman’s view that this year has been a very good one for Fenland Running Club. It has built on the successes of last year and has expanded its activities in terms of training and competition, as well as social and community activities.

At the heart of the club is a thriving, active and very athletic membership that has taken part in a large number of races this year. This year, the members have competed in more than forty races up and down the country including two relays and four marathons. The club and its members have won several prizes for their efforts including Class Winner in the Round Norfolk Relay. The events that have attracted the highest participation have been our own time trials and I thank our coach Robin Parker and former Chairman Colin Goldspink for their constant support in this respect. The monthly tests give members a chance to test themselves over a shorter distance in preparation for their assaults on courses ranging from 5km to the full marathon.

We have been pleased to see a number of new members join the as well as the return of several friends who have returned to the sport. The club, it seems, has made these fellow runners very welcome and, as a mark of the club’s success, those members who have moved away from the area have been ready to remain in touch and to race the club at major relay events. This has been achieved through an increasingly active social side to the club, for which I thank in particular Jane Greenwood – whose company here this evening I think we are all delighted to see. She has been given great support in the later part of the year by Roger Williams, too, and we all look forward to the new events that he has organised.

One of the traits that still characterises the club is its friendly atmosphere and its welcoming approach. Runners of all abilities are welcome here and we celebrate this in different ways. There is the encouragement of one runner to another; there are the social runs organised on Sunday mornings which this year included a barbeque and an 18^th birthday celebration; and there are the regular meetings after races to share experiences. Some of these have taken place in distant places – from Nottingham to Newcastle and from Coniston to New York City. All of this amounts to what one new runner described as being “a well—chilled club”.

We have also raised our profile through the website and the great efforts of Len Crockford who has worked tirelessly for the club as Secretary this year. A great many race reports and photos have appeared in the local press and, if you were to look very closely, occasionally in the national press too. The reports have not been confined to races, though; we were able to organise another very successful Presentation Evening and look forward to the next.

The biggest event that we organise each year, however, is our own race the Fen Ten. This has become a major local fixture and has begun to attract entries from overseas too. Although many people play an important part in the success of this event, my thanks go above all to Ian Milburn for organising it all and for sharing with us all his bonhomie and good sense throughout the year as a whole. The Fen Ten underpins much of the club’s finances and we must also thank Beccy Goldspink for organising all of this side for us too.

With these successes in mind and with confidence for the future, I would like to thank all of the committee of the last year for all its help and support. And I would like thank you, the members, for making membership of this club so enjoyable. There have been a great many ways in which progress has been made – and long may these successes continue.

Tim Chapman, Chairman; on behalf of the FRC committee 2006—07.