Leighton Fun Runners down to final two for national award

Leighton Fun Runners will find out in a virtual You Tube ceremony on Saturday night if they are the country’s Club of the Year.

Having been crowned East Region winners in English Athletics’ awards in November to go through to the national finals, they have reached the top two for the prestigious accolade, with the Wirral AC.

“All the members are really excited about it,” said club captain Emily McClelland.

“We are a running club for everybody, not a traditional athletics club focused on PBs or fast times.

“We have some really speedy runners, some social runners and everybody in between - and we’ve had 98 new runners from Leighton in the last year.

“Our oldest is 76 and we start at 18, so it’s lovely to see that huge mix of ages running together. There’s a 50-50 gender balance too.”

With 296 members at the moment, they expect to return to pre-Covid figures of over 300 in May. They also rely heavily on volunteers.

“We see ourselves as a small club in a small town and everybody feels so welcome. The message is to have fun,” Emily added.

“Between 80 and 90 people come out on a Tuesday night, in nine groups for different distances and times, which means nine volunteers looking after them. There’s always a really good atmosphere.”

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