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Ely Runners was formed in
1985 and now has 113 members. Since then, rail and road links have
improved and the population of the small city of Ely, with its close
proximity to Cambridge, has grown from about 12,000 to a younger
population of about 18,000. The club has Community Amateur Sports Club
status.
Group
Assembly - made January 2008
The club’s colours are a
striking contrast of black vest and florescent yellow shorts, making them
prominent in any race field. The black and yellow colours are traditional
for Ely sports teams because the local people once stalked and killed the
Dutch drainage engineers who were destroying their fenland landscape. In
begrudging respect, the Dutch referred to them as ‘Fen Tigers’.
Ely Runners train from
the Paradise Sports Centre in Ely on Tuesday (intervals and hills) and
Thursday (steady run) evenings and Sunday mornings (long mixed terrain
run). The evening sessions have varied daylight and dark programmes with
options according to ability. They are enthusiastically attended with
20-35 members present.
The club has wide range
of membership from under 20 to over 70 years of age. About a third are
ladies. The club’s current activities are cross-country, trail running,
road running, fell running, track racing, and race walking. Whilst the
club caters for runners of all abilities, it has achieved many successes
in national, regional, open, championship, relay and league events. There
are plans for an athletics stadium in Ely and the club hopes to expand its
success into track and field activities.
True to their Fen Tigers
tradition of not being overwhelmed by outside influences, including
excessive bureaucracy, Ely Runners were the first club to be affiliated to
ARC. Also, the 2007 Grunty Fen Half Marathon was the first ARC permit
event and included the 1st ARC championships. Three members are
directors of ARC and one of them is Webmaster for ARC.
The club is also
affiliated to ABAC, UKA, EA, FRA, TRA, CAA, and several members belong to
Eastern Veterans AC.
Ely Runners organise
three popular open events:
Additionally, the club
holds three private events for members:
- Club Cross-Country
Championships
- Club 10k Handicap
- Club Straight Mile
Handicap
Ely Runners takes part in
the Frostbite Friendly League and East Anglian Cross-Country League. It
also enters teams for The Round Norfolk Relay, Hereward Relay, and other
relays.
Further details of the
club are on its comprehensive website:
www.elyrunners.co.uk.
Straight
Mile Handicap July 2007
Straight
Mile Handicap July 2008 |
