Tiptree Road Runners

With events like the London Marathon steadily growing in popularity with widespread publicity, it's no wonder that so many ordinary people donned their trainers and took to the streets, running probably for the first time since leaving school. It was therefore no surprise that a group of active squash players from Tiptree Squash Club joined this popular movement and casually began to run the streets of Tiptree, entering local fun runs in order to achieve a new level of fitness.

Formation 1984

As interest began to grow quite rapidly, it was decided to hold a meeting at Tiptree Sports Centre to assess the local interest. As a result of this meeting, Tiptree road Runners (TRR) was established in October 1984. The name was forwarded by Chris Davis.

Strip and logo

It was Derek Rochester who suggested the all red kit, of which those red vests have carried through to today. This, of course, was derived with Tiptree being famous for its Strawberry Jam. The Road Runner, or the chicken as we often refer to it, came after hours of searching through video stills and comic books. Barry Dobson came up with some sketches, which Mavis Studholme redesigned and drew up as artwork, being careful not to infringe any copyright.

Tiptree road race

Having joined the AAA, and later gaining BARR status for our race, TRR wasted no time in organising their first road race in September 1985. The Tiptree Half-Marathon and Fun Run was sponsored by Wilkin & Sons Ltd , the local jam factory celebrating their centenary. Involving as many local organisations as we could, the event was an outstanding success raising £333.05, which we were able to donate to charity. In 1987 we moved to a 10 mile race and although today we have a new course and venue, it has become a very popular distance race. Numbers have steadily increased as has the money we are able to raise for local groups and charities.

Growth

By the first AGM in October 1985, the membership had swollen to a very healthy 60 members, meeting at Tiptree Sports Centre on a Tuesday evening for road running and Thursday evenings for circuit training. I just don't know how they managed to find time to play squash as well! Membership was a massive £2.00 a year with an additional 20p nightly subs. As the club evolved, more people were elected to the committee, with the posts of Press Officer, News Editor, Race Secretary, Social Secretary and committee members without portfolio all there to take TRR forward.

League cross-country

With the formation of the Today's Runner Cross-Country League in 1987, with six off-road races, TRR were out in force. The ladies stamped their mark on the event thanks to Tiptree's own Sharon Wakefield and Sue Baker taking first and second place in the first ever ladies race. After winning the league outright in the 1998/99 season, TRR went on to the National Finals at Nottingham and returned to the final on several occasions over the years. With thanks to Wilkins Farm, the TRR cross-country event was voted the best course of the series, a venue we used from 1987-1998 before moving to Layer-de-la-Haye in 1999. Currently, the club competes in the 53-12 Cross-Country League and Essex Cross-Country League, although we no longer have a course where we can host a league race.

Club awards

1990 saw the introduction of club standards - Bronze, Silver & Gold awards for measured distances. Although these awards are not used today, they did help structure our current club points league system. Points are awarded for attendance, races run, club handicaps, club races, PBs and club records. Another award introduced in this year was "Runner of the month" given to the member voted by the committee as having gained the best personal achievement within the club for that month. The award is a red T-shirt with "Runner of the Month" printed on the back, which unfortunately seemed to bring the injury curse to all that wore it. So in 2004 our 20th year the T-shirt was replaced with a new trophy.

Medal winners

Tiptree saw Gold in 1990, with our first ever County Gold Medal won by Sue Baker on 1st July 1990 at the Orion 10 mile road race. The years that followed brought many more for both the ladies and the men in various competitions of all standards.

1999 saw Danny Mullane enter the XIII World Veterans Athletics Championships at Gateshead, with 74 different countries taken part. Danny finished a very creditable 6th place in the M50 category for his 10,000 metre cross-country run, and was a credit to the club in the 5 & 10k track events, representing Tiptree, Essex and England.

The future

Today Tiptree although a small club, still manages to stage one of the most popular races in the county, the Tiptree 10. Twice, in recent years, we have been chosen as the County 10 mile championship. Each October, around 500 runners enter this Bronze-graded race, which with the aid of our sponsors, generates money in aid of local causes and charities.