2002 Race Report
All
week long we worried about the weather with the forecast wind and rain but I
think you will all agree that we were extremely lucky on the day. Of course with
all the rain in the preceding week the woods were fairly muddy but by all
accounts everyone seemed to cope rather well.
This
year we held our new Weston & Worle News 4 Mile Race, which took place
before the Main Race and Fun Runs. We are more than aware that a few issues
presented themselves such as our lead motorcycle accidentally cutting the course
short by half a mile and also our lack of manpower to provide ideal numbers of
marshals for this course. We will do our best to rectify this next year but of
course getting volunteers to stand out in all weather is becoming more and more
difficult.
This
brings me on to another point and that is to say thank you to all of the runners
who expressed their appreciation to many of our marshals on the day. Your words
of thanks are really appreciated and make three hours in the cold and wind
slightly easier to complete. Any constructive thoughts on how we can improve our
events would be gratefully received, as we are more than aware that being
perfect is impossible but if we can get close we would be
happy.
This
year, once again we appear to have had a number of runners taking part without
having entered through the official channels and turning up on the day with last
year’s number on. If you are a genuine entry but find that you appear in the
results twice then this is the reason why. It really saddens me that these
people have no conscience about defrauding the race and ultimately the race
charities, as they receive all profits once the bills have been settled. Added
to this there is the issue of Health & Safety with regard to first aid
because last year we treated an injury needing hospital treatment only to find
that we had identified the runner from our lists as a different person. This
could have resulted in inaccurate information being given to the hospital and
someone’s situation being worsened through one person’s
selfishness.
This
year was my first event as Race Director of the Tough Ten. I have certainly been
on a steep learning curve but am already looking forward to another successful
day next year. All that you saw on Sunday morning would not be possible without
the support of a number of organisations and businesses. The Lions Club of
Weston-super-Mare promotes the day and they provide many of the marshals that
you see out on the course. Added to this we have our main sponsor “Easy Runner”,
based in Horfield Road, Bristol, and TP Lewis and
Partners who sponsored our Fun Runs for the second year. As mentioned above,
Weston & Worle News not only did an enormous amount of publicity for us but
also this year come on board as the official sponsor for the new 4 mile
race.
For
those who would like to guarantee their place at next year’s event an entry form
is available (click here)
for completion and return with your entry fee by Friday 29th March
2002. All advance entries received by this date will be entered into a draw for
a pair of running shoes. I look forward to seeing you all again on Sunday
16th February 2003!