I'm not sure who started it, but some time last year, some bright spark pointed out that 2009 would be SWRR's 25 th Anniversary – "and wouldn't it be great if we could celebrate in style?"

We love discussing things like this at Committee. Before we knew it, we'd talked ourselves into promoting not one, not two, but twenty-five "celebrations" during the year. There would be a barbecue, a party, a quiz, a couple of unusual runs… ummm…surely we could come up with another twenty ideas?

One of the (many) strengths of SWRR is that we have lots of imaginative people. Throw out a challenge like this to the membership, and you get feedback. Orienteering – hashing – bike rides – steam trains – floral rambles. The ideas came thick and fast, from lots of people (none of them thick, some of them fast).

1. First Chance 10k, Exeter (January)   A strong start to the "25 for 25" calendar of events. The well-established First Chance went off like clockwork, due in no small measure to the efforts of Race Organiser Dave Moulder ably assisted by Ayse. Lots of positive feedback from happy runners.

2. Snowdrop Valley , Exmoor (February) Then it snowed. And boy, did it snow. I went up to Exmoor a few days beforehand to check out the route, and couldn't see the snowdrops for the snow. Yes, it was snowy. And the said snowdrops are only in flower for a few weeks, snow or no snow. No doubt the weather put people off. That, and an inevitable clash with a number of off-road events clustered together at that time of year. Either that, or nobody much likes snowdrops (or snow), as it was only an intrepid threesome of Glyn, Tim and myself who made it on the day (see photo). Did it snow? No - glorious sunshine. And a very pleasant run. Lots of snowdrops. And yes, small patches of snow.

3. Two Darts and a Hirsute Hand, Dartmoor (March) Dave Pressley had reckoned without the cold. Or maybe I had. It was flipping perishing when nine runners gathered at Postbridge for a pleasant bimble across the high moor. Half an hour into the run we were battling against hailstorms. We re-assessed our ambitions and took evasive action to get us back sooner. This involved crossing, or at least trying to cross, the West Dart. It was cold. The water was higher than it should have been. We got chilled. We decided that discretion was the better part of valour. I think we eventually thawed out after the third cup of tea back in the Moretonhampstead Tea Rooms. (See the video!)

4. MOUNTAIN BIKING FOR BEGINNERS, HALDON (MARCH) Lesley Willmington and Dave Pressley got some novices and experienced riders together for this one - Dave has promised to tell us more...(come on, Dave)

5. RUN OUT, STEAM BACK – Originally scheduled for April, but will now probably happen later in the year. A nice idea - Darran Maclane takes the lead for an 8 mile off-road run with a steam train to get you back to the start at Buckfastleigh.

6. SWRR at the GWR, EXETER ARENA, 3 May. We did the club proud and revived many a bedraggled athlete at our drinks station. And here's the Road Runners crew wearing their SWRR 25th Anniversary T -shirts. Thanks to all concerned. See the video

7. BLUEBELL RUN - Dartmoor , 17 May. Graham Parker found the bluebells, alright - but apparently it was "a bit chilly". Questions were asked - which was bluer, the bluebells or Geoff's knees? Steve Rosser took a group of fast runners on to higher ground, where it was said to be even cooler. That's May for you - rough winds and darling buds. 

 8. 25th ANNIVERSARY WEDNESDAY CLUB RUN - Exeter (Exe Bridges), 10 June. This worked out really well. Half-a-dozen groups, running at different paces, all converged on the Royal Oak within a couple of minutes of one another. Then all 63 of us ran en masse down to the Quay over the suspension bridge (see the photo gallery). A fitting celebration of the Club's 25th Anniversary. Happy birthday, us.

 9. Welsh Castles Relay - Wales (surprisingly), 13th / 14th June. All the usual superlatives and then some. Team Manager Paul Thomas selected his elite vets well and they walked away with the prestigious "First Vet Team" award. And the Monarchs of the Mountains award. And Tom Merson won his stage "Up Drovers". And we all enjoyed ourselves. A great weekend. "Official" souvenir video (yours for a £5 donation to Shelterbox) available from tony.gale@swrr.co.uk

10. Twenty-five "Somethings" on Dartmoor - Belstone, 21st June. The Summer Solstice Run drew 10 runners up to the high moor in very different weather from Graham's Bluebell run only a month earlier. This time it was pleasantly warm and dry. The promised "25 Somethings" turned out to be OP15, The Nine Maidens Stone Circle and (Belst)one itself. There are of course only Ten Somethings in the picture below. Now, who's for a Winter Solstice Run?

11. Talk on Sports Psychology - Isa Centre, 26th June. Jo Pearce and Ingrid Quick got Andy Middlebrook and a colleague to inpsire a group of runners with tales of visioning and motiviation. It did the trick - they left saying they wanted to come to the next talk in July. Download the presentation notes

12. Killerton Kanter - Killerton, 27th June. Early evening, June, Killerton, sunshine...who could ask for more? Kantermeister Pat Kennedy and his crew put on another excellent event. In line with the best SWRR traditions, we don't like to put anyone on a pedestal, but...

13. 25 MILE RUN / RELAY - Exeter, 5th July . 14 SWRRs took up the challenge of running "all or part" of 25 miles around Exeter. Not surprisingly, most people wanted to do the leg which included crossing the Exe by the Topsham Ferry (see below). As that was Leg 1, we were thinning out dramatically towards the end - with only 3 runners on Leg 4. All hail Mark Robinson, the only runner to complete the full 25 miles. All hail Dave Moulder for dreaming up and organising a "different sort of run".

14. 25-themed Club Night Run - Exeter, POSTPONED - date tbc. Pete Williams is dreaming up some quirky ideas for a Wednesday Night sometime soon.

 15. Talk on Injury Prevention - Isca Centre, 10th July Andy Middlebrook and one of his colleagues returned with advice on how to stop hurting ourselves. See, we can be educational, too

16. Club Hash, 26th July (Haldon Forest) Pauline Warner took a dozen SWRR's into the forest. Pauline reports: "The route took us east to the edge of the escarpment [for the view over the estuary, Exeter etc] then followed the hillside to the Belvedere.  Then, back into the forest on the west side for a jog down through the arches and stepping stones of the Enchanted Valley, culminating in a crawl through the pipe at bottom of the hill.  More bimbling around in the woods before arriving back in the car park, an hour and a half later!  By this time it was raining and we were a bit damp.  We huddled and shivered under an awning, taking advantage of the excellent hot chocolate from the cafe - Lucy reckoned it was the best she'd ever tasted."  

17. GREAT WEST FELL RACE - Dartmoor, 1st August. Chris Gurney reports:-"A new course record - though not matched by the speed of the traffic on the A30 below. Congestion was so heavy that the race start was put back by half an hour. SWRR's own Gaz Hurst was narrowly pushed into 2nd place by Andrew Vallance (Okehampton)"

18. ORIENTEERING CHALLENGE - Haldon Forest Sat 15th August. Damian Wilson hosted this introduction to "cunning running". Not a large turnout, but no-one got (seriously) lost and everyone enjoyed themselves. A minor triumph for traditional map-reading skills in these GPS-enabled days.

19. 25k TRAIL RUN - Tarka Trail, 13th September. 10 runners, 2 helpers, 25k of level running and glorious weather. What more could you want? A high class cafe at the end? Yes, we had that too. An excellent day out.

 20. TWO FOR ONE HUNDRED & FORTY - Exeter, 11th October. There was a time when the majority of Road Runners weren't vets. And now we have two runners aged 70. And they both turned out for a scenic 7-miler on the Exeter Green Circle Route with an impressive number of "followers". Happy Birthday(s) to Graham Parker and Mark Waddicor. We've noted the date when you both turn 75...

21.  TALK ON SPORTS PHYSIOLOGY, Exeter, 16th October Andy Middlebrook returned to tell us about the physical side of running. Those who thought they knew all about that came away enlightened. As did those who didn't.

22. PARRETT TRAIL RELAY, Somerset, 17th October. Another great SWRR team event. This time it was the women who scored. As the organisers said, "53 miles, 6 legs, 2 counties". SWRR continued, "6 teams, one 3rd place, one 2nd place and one 1st place." It was our elite women (Ayse, Davina, Emma, Jen, Karen and Lucy) who walked away with the trophy. And Mark Rice won his leg. And thanks to Paul Thomas who did his usual excellent job in sorting out the organisational stuff.

Sports Nutrition extra : The recipe for the brownies Lyn used to revived us is on the SWRR Forum under "General Discussion". Thanks, Lyn!

23. CHEDDAR HALF - Cheddar, 7th November. Another successful Cheddar for SWRR. 2nd Lady (Lucy C), 1st LV45 (Karen C), 1st Ladies team (Lucy, Karen and Kathryn) and 1st MV60 (Lewis). Where's Lewis? Out in front. And Paul Barter got a PB. And the cakes were as tasty as ever.

24. DROGO TEN - Castle Drogo, 15th November. Pam and the Drogo Team swung into action like a well-oiled something and did us proud with another great race. 500+ runners pounding through the Teign Gorge in glorious autumn sunshine, autumn leaves swirling about their feet. SWRRs running the race provided us with First Lady, First Men's Team and First Ladies' Team.

 25. TALK ON SPORTS NUTRITION, Exeter, 13th November. Andy Middlebrook gave some timely explanations as to why a diet based on alcohol and Christmas pudding won't necessarily improve your race times

26. SWRR CHRISTMAS PARTY - Broadclyst Victory Hall, 4th December (Friday). What a night. Good music, good food and (some) good dancing. Loads of SWRRs having a great time together. Some enthusiastic souls were saying, "Can we do this again next year?" as the evening was drawing to a close. Well - can we?Special thanks to Lesley for organising and to Lyn for the catering.