Chairman's report, for those who could not make the AGM... aplologies for those achievements/help I've missed... Tattenhall Runners AGM, 2010 Chairman’s report I sometimes feel that I get a skewed view of our club. I have first hand experience of some of our members’ achievements: Sprinting to keep up with Simon after he’d been running for 22 hours; seeing Dave S drop supporters while descending after 18 hours’ running; and setting off with Mark S on a winter’s night in minus-5-degree conditions for just a few of his 24 hours in the Arctic. But I don’t really get a feel for how the whole club is doing. So, at the end of February, I sent out an email asking for members’ achievements. I had replies in minutes. This is typical from one new member: “I’d like to say a big thank you to Helen Jones. She has given me massive encouragement. I never would have run a half marathon without Helen's total support, encouragement and downright positivity. Everybody has been nothing but welcoming and friendly.” Well done to Helen and the rest of you for upholding the quality that I treasure most about our club – its friendliness. Paul Jennings is another new member. He posted an excellent report of his first race in a Tattenhall vest on the forum, commenting, “I kept bumping into Tim on the Sandstone Trail and he recommended Tattenhall Runners as a friendly and supportive bunch. And I’m happy to report that after my first two training sessions I have been made to feel more than welcome!” A few other highlights, in no particular order: · Our ladies are the reigning Borders League champions and are leading this year’s competition. This is due to those speedy runners who get low scores, but also thanks to those who turn up to make sure we have a well-supported team. · Unfortunately, after winning the cross country league last year, our ladies have been relegated to division two. However, our men survived their first year in the top flight and Mike and Marilyn picked up gold medals. · Marilyn doesn’t train with us, but many of you will know her from race days. She retained her North Wales 5 mile crown, setting a new vet 40 record, and her Welsh Masters’ cross country title. She also represented Wales in the British and Irish Masters cross country international at Birmingham winning bronze in her age group and a team gold. Marilyn has also been selected for Wales in forthcoming events. · Andy Sudlow is surely in the running for the most improved runner award, finishing first out of 16 men at one BL race. Indeed, we had 30 runners at the Chester Tri race, which was Rob C’s first BL race. Emma and Kath ‘brave-shorts’ Stott had a storming battle. Emma is another with a chance of the improvers’ award, knocking over 10 minutes off her 10k PB at Fanrndon. So too is Sharon, who smashed 18 minutes off her Helsby PB! And Sian, who went from running three miles to finishing the Helsby half marathon and is entered in the Barcelona Marathon. · Rob Dunn has been returning from university to run for us. He was top 20 in the Cheshire cross-country championships, and I fear that none of us will ever beat him again! · Hilary too ran her first half marathon and is now insisting that she is a vet 55! Alistair ran his first fell race and won an under 23 prize! He’s another who has greatly improved and enjoys every minute. · Ian Lancaster was 15th in the English Fell Championships, and Nick and Steve Hammond were 4th and 16th in the North Wales competition. Hard luck Nick – just one place from the prizes! · The Welsh Castles, which Rob now organises, was a weekend to remember (so I’m told). I’d like to thank to so many people… Sue for her stretching class, Steve and Sarah for the quiz, Steve for running the club, everyone in the committee, Alison for the meals, Jen T for the weekends away and forthcoming Roberta Graham, Trevor and the coaching team, Dave O for the newspaper articles, Mike McC, Nick H, Justin and Sue for organising our races, everyone who marshalled at those races, and our captains Andy B, Dave S and Mike W, Dr Martin for the Christmas handicap and Tanker for the car-boot cafe. And a big thank you to Mark S, who has not left, but is living in an open prison as a punishment for running on the fells too much other the last 6 months and can’t play mid week. Despite being referred to as our A&E department on the forum, Andy and Elaine have been brilliant in supporting the BL. Andy wants to resign before he becomes more of a pain in the arse. His intention to stop caused a barrage of support and thanks from the committee. That speaks for itself. Also a special thanks to Trevor for his coaching. He turned up in the snow after having kidney stones removed and plans to coach on his 60th birthday! Thanks to his dedication, his harem of ladies (and gentlemen) are achieving new goals. As for 2010/11, I hope it will be business as usual. There are PBs to be broken, leagues in which to compete, social events, the Roberta Graham, the Welsh Castles relay, we have a team of three in the UTMB race (!)… I’m knackered just thinking about it all. Well done all. Peter