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Messages from SWRRs past and present:-
Great to see the Old Faces - and they really were old now.
I'm not so sure about all those pictures of young, fit (and a lot more hairy) members we had 20 years ago. Still most of us still had our own teeth!
I also wish to complain about the use of the photograph of Patrick Carroll taken at The Grizzly in the early 1990's - just after the b%^*$£d stormed passed me in sight of the finish.
Memories.
Dave Pressley
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Since leaving Exeter and the road runners I settled down to pursue my career in anaesthesia and more importantly my now wife Louise. We have 3 wonderful children aged 10,12,and 14 and I keep fit enough just keeping up with all of their activities. They're far too interested in ball sports to worry about running but maybe one day...
I have very fond memories of joining the SWRR and in particular the hospitality of the club. The racing was great and I never subsequently managed to better my half marathon times of around 67 - 68 minutes - must have been all that warm beer. Another highlight for me was the Sunday morning runs throughout the beautiful Devon countryside and my favourite race was the Lorna Doone run at Lynmouth along those wonderful cliff tracks.
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. My running days are far from over - just on hold for the time being.
John Cormack ("Doc Mac")
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I ran with you guys for longer than I thought (13YEARS!!!) between 1989 and 2002. Some of you may remember me towards the end as the idiot who used to take his vest off half way through the club run, a mantle I handed on to someone when I left and hope it has continued. I can assure you the practice is alive and well in NZ. Some will have never met me (the lucky ones) and some may wish to forget me.
My memories of SWRR are Wednesday night club runs, particularly around the lanes in the summer which were always of course non-competitive....until that last half a mile!!! My intoduction of the last run before xmas visiting a couple of hostelries en route, which I would like to think still happens!?? Running THE GRIZZLY, an always tough race but made tougher one year with horizontal rain and a howling gale but easier (well not really) another year when the sun shone and the ground was like concrete.
Tony Gales' solstice runs..the first winter one dubbed "Beyond The Elephants Nest" (see Tony for explanation) saw me involuntarily fall into a rather cold and fast running Dartmoor river, and a later summer version saw me voluntarily dive into a refreshing lake in the twilight of a Dartmoor evening.
My kids also came to roadrunners for a while with "baby graham" not being the most natural runner but enjoying his wednesday evening and my daughter Charlotte only coming for the social side and enjoying the blackberries around the field when supposed to be doing a X-country! Graham has since played Cricket and Ice Hockey and is currently two weeks into basic training with the RAF and will have involuntaraly resurrected his running career! Charlotte is in her last year at school, plays netball but has trouble grasping the concept of walking!
NEW ZEALAND RUNNING
We are just about to start our winter season over here which consists of a series of team x-country and road relays as well as individual races. I run for Sumner (a beachside suburb of Christchurch) and am currently the masters selector. In addition to these races there are various road, off road and mountain races and some of our guys (and girls) are into ultra distance races, we currently have the NZ national 100k champion in our ranks, who also came 7th in the commonwealth 100k champs in Keswick last year and was 6th in the worlds a couple of years ago
I of course have no desire to run 100k, I barely cover that in a year sticking as I do to my strict training regime of one run a week up in the Port Hills on a Sunday morning. A lot of kiwis are also into triathlons and multisport which I am no good at, being unable to keep myself or a kayak travelling in a straight line on water!
I did compete in a mountain run last year The Avalanche Peak Challenge which was a step up (in fact quite lot of rocky steps up!) despite it being a shortened course (only 21k) consisting of a run (walk) up a mountain, a short traverse to pick up the route down and and then a 10k run out along a boulder strewn river flood plain. It took me about 3 and a half hours, the winner did it in about 2.20 but it took me an hour and twenty just to get to the top! It certainly was a challenge as it was once again run in a howling cold wind and horizontal rain and hail with the start being at about 3000 ft!......Great Fun, but don't worry if any of you come to visit I'll be gentle with you and take you up the Rapaki Track in the port hills a mere 2k uphill!!
Although I wont be with you at the reunion in person I will be with you in spirit as when you guys are downing those pints it will be Sunday morning here and I will be out running in the hills....so have one for me!
Still running after all these years
Derek Haselden
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Congratulations to all South West Road Runners on the 25th Anniversary of the club. I had many a good year running for the club, and always remember the good friends I made during those years. Unfortunately too many miles on the road have taken there toll on the knees, and I can no longer run, to my deep regret. I miss it so much, and especially the comradeship of all the runners I came into contact with. It would be great to have a bit of a reunion with some of the old gang, you know, it's been so long, and as we get older, you tend to remember faces , and forget names, but not the good times we had, I wish now, I had kept some newspaper cuttings and race reports, but I never thought about it back then, I was only interested in putting on that SWRR vest, and doing my best for the club.
All The best to all South West Road runners, and may the club continue to prosper.
Brian (Jock) Sweeney
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It was good to see some of the old names on the response page and it brought back some good memories. I was a member of the club from around 1989 to 1999 when I moved on to Essex after finishing my time at mature University. I very much miss those days and one of my good old friends Tony Baker, who I sometimes beat in races but mostly just followed to the finish.
My greatest moment with the club was finishing the London Marathon with the club in 1994 in a reasonable time, but sustaining a knee injury that still is there today. I now live in Nantwich, Cheshire and make up for the running by walking a great deal and will complete the Manchester Shine Walking night marathon on Saturday 17th April along with my wife Jo.
Finaly one of SWRR's legends is returning for a holiday in May - those of you who remember Tony Chudleigh will remember his good days in the 1990's.
Best Regards and good wishes for the next 25 years
Rob Shergold
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