Life on the Run (23 page)

Chapter Fifteen: Launch of the Nabisco Fun Runs

In 1985, Huntley and Palmers, for which Reading was famous, had been taken over by Nabisco, and the new company wanted to make its mark in the town. My next-door neighbour, Mike Paxton, who had been Army Champion at 440 yards, and nearly made it to the 1948 Olympics, was the PR Manager there, and after some discussion it was agreed we would organise the Nabisco Family Fun Runs. These were to be age-related runs, similar to what had become very popular each year in Hyde Park, the
Sunday Times
Fun Runs.

Runners were put into age bands, from as young as under elevens to over sixties. Everyone over eleven ran a two mile lap, and the youngsters ran just one mile. Based on the numbers of entries in each category, runners would be awarded a gold, silver or bronze badge. This was a successful formula that encouraged people to come back and try to move up a grade in the following year. I now think that it would have been much better to have this type of grading for medals in mass events such Reading and London. It might encourage people to try for better times, and perhaps our standards would not have slipped so low.

The events were very successful and ran for a number of years. Younger age group runs were introduced in future years, and these ran just 800 metres.

Organising and seeing the great success of the Reading Half Marathon and other events was a great pleasure, but there was an unsavory side to running which I know existed in many other events, and still exists into the third millennium. These were the running cheats; in some cases just mild cheating that really harmed no one but the pride of the individual who was cheating, but sometimes it was and is much more serious.

The first sort of cheat was the one who joined in the race part way round the course, or maybe, and this could happen at Reading, cut out a loop and rejoin the race. These silly people did no more than cheat themselves unless they were very well up the field.

The second class of cheat were those who would run wearing a false number, normally a photocopied or made-up one. They avoided paying for their entry and therefore were cheating on those who had paid their fee. As results systems improved it became much more difficult to cheat this way.

Then of course there are the more serious cheats, some of whom have been caught and been dealt with by the law. These are the ones who have been sponsored for a charity and do not hand over the money, or all the money collected.

There are also the ‘smart a...s' who join in a race and pay nothing because they say “You cannot stop me running on public roads”. Many of these problems have now been eliminated from the running scene.

The local radio station 210FM and the then Chairman of Reading FC, Roger Smee, and his company Rockfort, wanted us to organise another event in 1986. We approached the Duke of Wellington and got permission to run a 10K at his estate, Stratfield Saye, near Reading in March 1986. The star celebrity at this event, apart from the Duke and Duchess who presented the prizes, was Erica Roe, the first female streaker.

Then it was onto the 1986 Reading Half Marathon, and the race was memorable for a number of reasons. The entries were received as usual and it was a particularly good year. The main list of entries was handed over to the local newspaper who were going to print the list of runners, and I then received a phone call. What did I know about an entry from Marina Victoria Ogilvy? I had not noticed that the daughter of Princess Alexandra, and seventeenth in line to the throne at that time, had actually entered the Reading Half Marathon. She did not run in the end, mainly due to security implications, but we did correspond on a number of occasions. Another entry was Graham Taylor during his first stint as manager of Watford FC, and there was a total of 7,089 runners, with many turned away.

The race was run for the first time from a new venue, the South Reading Leisure Centre, and the first race there produced some great results. The winner was Paul Davies-Hale, who took over a minute off the record set the previous year, and recorded the new figures of 62:39. He received a cheque for £2,000 for his great effort. It was a comfortable win in the end, but up to the eight mile mark he was chased by Eddie Herridge (Aldershot), who took second place with 64:06. Philip O'Brien was third in 64:10, and Chris Buckley fourth in 64:13. The winner of the Barclays Bank Trophy for women, and £1,500, was Ann Ford who set new figures of 72:09; a record, that at the time of writing, has not be beaten. Her husband Bernie Ford (Aldershot), was fifth in 64:18. The team winners were Westbury Harriers, with Aldershot as runners-up, and Birchfield Harriers third. The third record of the day was set by Mike Bishop who took the wheelchair record even lower to 72:00. Another outstanding performance in the race was that of Mike Hurd, the winner in 1984, who had now reached the veteran age of forty years. He finished in sixth place and won the veteran age group in 64:26, a vets' record time, and also ten seconds faster than his winning time two years earlier. This was the only year that records were set in four different categories. Glynis Penny won the women's vet group with 74:08, and was second in the women's race for the second year, while husband Keith took ninth place in 65:02. The man who was to play a major role in the race in future years, Steve Brace (Bridgend), finished twenty-fifth in 67:40. Two Reading AC runners had good runs; Steven Fenney thirtieth in 68:12, and Pete Sugden thirty-third in 68:36; but their team could not make it into the top six on this occasion. A runner who was later to join the club, Tim Butler, was running for Bournemouth this year and finished eleventh in 65:12.

In the summer of 1986, Running Management Services, the race organising company set up and run by John London and myself, were invited by Nashua Copiers at Bracknell to organise an Executive Relay. The Nashua company had already run successful similar events in South Africa. The idea was for relay teams of eight runners to run the total marathon distance of 26.2 miles. The longest leg to be six miles, and the shortest just two miles. The teams would be from companies and all had to work for the same company.

A great deal of work went into planning a marathon route around the Wokingham and Bracknell area. There was great support and enthusiasm in the area, and a launch was held at Wokingham Town Hall where David Moorcroft was the main attraction. Other personalities were present, and the details of the first event of its kind in the UK, to be held on Sunday, 14
th
September 1986, were announced. Entries started to come in and everything was going well, and then out of the blue while I was on holiday, John London got a call from the company to say they were pulling the plug and there would be no event. It was one of those strange company decisions that did not make much sense as they were already into expense. But the decision was final and they did the honourable thing and paid us for our work. It was a pity as the event could have been as great a success as the London Marathon or Reading Half.

In June there was the second running of the Nabisco Fun Runs in Reading. I sometimes think that the formula for these events regarding awards should have been used more widely for many of the mass running events, like the London Marathon, Reading and other half marathons. Instead of everyone receiving a medal for just competing, there were awards based on achievements. The top fifteen per cent in any age group getting the gold award, the next thirty-five per cent a silver, and the rest a bronze award. This gave everyone something to aim for; if you did not achieve gold this year, it gave you the opportunity to improve and have another go the following year. This system was also used by the very popular
Sunday Times
Fun Runs in Hyde Park, run in the late 1970s and 80s.

In October the second Yellow Pages 10K was run from the university. The individual winner was Hamish McInnes (Old Gaytonians) in 30:45, and the ladies' winner for the second successive year was Diane Wildash (Basingstoke) in thirty-five minutes. The Old Gaytonians won the team race from Aldershot and Reading.

Before the next half marathon there was another 10K at Stratfield Saye by courtesy of the Duke of Wellington. There was also a special event staged to raise money for the 1988 Olympics, the Grant Thornton 10K.

This was followed by the 1987 Reading Half Marathon, which was now a very large event and also a quality race. Many of the problems of the new event had been resolved, and with a good sponsor, Digital, who had now become DEC, were now investing well over £25,000 each year into the event, and with a large entry the future of the race looked secure. Runners from overseas started to show interest, as well as some of the best names in British road racing. The Reading Borough Council were beginning to see the benefit to the community of the event, and they offered to sponsor a mini marathon for those below the age for the half marathon, that is under seventeen. The first winner of that new event was Dean Putt and the first girl was Ingrid Kinch.

There was a good entry of first-class runners, including previous London Marathon winner Hugh Jones, and twins from Czechoslovakia, Pavel and Petr Klime. The winner of a very exciting half marathon was Kevin Forster, who took the record down yet again to a very good 62:07. It was a great run and he reached the ten mile mark in about 47:20. The Klime twins were second and third; Pavel in 62:30 and Petr in 62:38, both just ahead of Hugh Jones in 62:42. The winner of the women's race was Paula Fudge, the twin sister of record holder Anne Ford. She had a go for that record, but just failed and ran 72:45 to record the second fastest time in the history of the event at that date, and to win and set a new record for the vet category. Mike Hurd returned to take the men's vet prize for the second year, and still in a great time of 65:01. In the wheelchair race Chris Hallam made his first appearance, and shattered the record with 65:04. The team race went to Birchfield Harriers, with Bournemouth the runners-up. A future winner of the race, Steve Brace (Bridgend AC), finished eighth in 64:54.

Around £60,000 was raised for charities, including the BSAD, Helen House Hospice, Royal Berkshire Hospital and St John Ambulance. There were lots of runners in fancy dress and even the police were happy. The police officer in charge of the 111 officers on duty on the day, Superintendent Eyles, said after the race “I was very pleased with the way it went.” There was a problem on part of the course when barriers had been put in the wrong place, which would have led to the runners going the wrong way. I had to leap out of the lead car and race on foot to sort out the problem ahead of the runners. I had not run so fast for years, but just managed to keep ahead of the field and jump back into the lead car still in front of the race.

In May there was another new event organised by Running Management Services, that is John London and myself. Permission had been obtained from Peter de Savary, the owner of Littlecote House at Hungerford, to use that great facility for a run for charity. The new event was to be a 15K, starting and finishing near the House, but going out around the country roads including some very hilly terrain.

The race was sponsored by Isostar, the energy drink, and the benefiting charity was the British Sports Association for the Disabled. The race was an instant success and a complete sell out. It was surprising that even then, a veteran forty plus athlete Shel Cowles, was able to win the race in the very good time of 48:40. He had a very big margin over second runner Stephen Miller in 50:26. There were many runners in that event who have remained on the running scene until the present day, including Ray Stevens, John Cullingham and Richard Disney from Reading AC, Robert Taylor Newbury AC, and many who were to form Reading Roadrunners a little later.

The race was to continue there for a number years, and several different charities were the beneficiaries. On one occasion Peter de Savary, the owner of Littlecote House at the time, invited one or two of us into the house early one morning for a drink; he was still in his dressing gown, and we sat and drank champagne.

In the same year I was asked by Reading AC if I would take on a role with them as Commercial Manager; my main function to raise money for the club by sponsorship and events. It was a challenge, but the club had a long history and some considerable success since its formation as one of the first clubs in the country in 1881. One of the greatest individual triumphs for the club was when Ann Packer won the Olympic Gold in the 800 metres in Tokyo, thus achieving for Reading what I had failed to do for my club Windsor and Eton. I had also known their chairman, Derek Bradfield, for many years as a very successful team manager for the club. He was their manager when they were in National League Division 1 in the 1970s, before taking on the job as chairman. I persuaded Digital, the sponsors of the Reading Half Marathon, to become club sponsors, and for four years, from 1988 to 1992, they supported the club with £10,000 a year sponsorship as well as other support which totalled around £60,000. In 1992 that sponsorship reduced, but they entered a new agreement and gave the club £7,500 per year for a further two years. The club had major sponsorship that should have lifted them to a high position in the sport, but the money really achieved very little and the long-established club continued to decline.

In September there was the annual Courage Half Marathon, and under my arrangement with Reading AC, I took on the management of their annual ten mile race that they had taken over from the Reading Police in 1983. There were nearly 400 runners, and included some very good runners and teams. The individual winner was Graham Payne (Basildon AC) in 49:45, and the first lady was Ann Ford (Hounslow) the Reading Half Marathon record holder, who finished thirty-fourth in the race with 58:14. Aldershot won the team race from Fleet and Crookham and Reading AC. One of the winning team was Martin Duff, now well known through his reporting of athletics in the
Athletics Weekly
.

Like many events at that time, including the Reading Half who had rejected a potential 2,000 extra entries earlier in the year, the Courage race was sold out well before the day, and a special slip had to be sent out rejecting many runners.