London Marathon Pat Tanswell was the 1st home in 3 h 3 mins with no injuries at all. But he was so stiff afterwards that he fell down stairs at work and injured himself and stayed that way most of the year.

Tony Gordon and Martin Denman put some very good training up to 60 miles a week but during the Marathon came unstuck and struggled to finish. I can remember walking past Martin at about 22 miles and he did look rough (he probably drank too much liquid).

Triathlon Steve Wilby followed in Ken Priests' footsteps and competed in 'TR' at Farnham in Surrey. He took his support crew of Mal higgins, Bob and Chris Wills to give him stick.

I quote from Chris' notes of the events;
'Needless to say he did it but not without incident. We set off from Crewkerne at 4.30 AM and arrived at Farnham at 7.00 and started to trough through Bobs mountain of sandwiches . All the professionals were there and Wilby arrived in his hired transit van'.

'We got him registered and helped park his bike so that he could rush from the pool straight into the saddle. Well that was the theory!! Steve rushed from the pool but couldn't remember where he left his bike'.

We followed him by car and nearly collided with someone in a side street and then were shouted at by competitors for not going fast enough.

At the end if it all a super day was had by all with a brilliant personal achievement by Steve'.

Summer Events
Rhondda A chance meeting at London between Malcolm and Rhondda runners resulted in them sending a coach load to Crewkerne which was reciprocated by us going to Wales.
This was one of the hottest days of the year to run a 10 miler but to date one of our better trips. The route was tough , people terrific and they even had lunch laid on for us. Bev hole saw a sight travelling back and was unable to explain until we were a mile down the motorway.

Barbecues
First of the season was held at Charmouth after the 'Challenge' run. This was a successful family event. The families went around the fete having drinks and ice creams while the athletes tackled Stone barrow hill and the coach paths.

A good time was had by all, then the second race started to fire up the Barbees' to see who could cook the first sausage. Steve Wilby was still trying to keep his coals alight while everybody else were tucking in.

Incidentally, although Wilby didn't do the race (it was too tough for him) he managed as usual to make a fool of himself thanks to Jasper.
Jasper was Kay Young's' Whippet and Steve volunteered to look after it while he watched the race though his binoculars. Jasper Pee'd into his binocular case!!!
The day was finished by placing cricket in a monsoon.

The second Barbecue was held at the end of the summer at Hinton St George in a field organised by Dave Read. Chard running club also joined us, Bob and Frankie Parsonson organised a Treasure hunt around the village. Despite having lived in Hinton for 20 years Kay Young managed to come last.

Later in the year Chard organised a family quiz evening.
Brain Scanner relay During this year Malcolm encourage several of us to run London to raise money for Bristol Frenchay M.R.I. Brain scanner a total of £3,000 was raised .

Rather than us sending a cheque Mal decided to deliver it by hand and foot. So we ran in relay from Crewkerne to Bristol a total of 50 miles in November. Pairs of runners ran 1 to 2 miles carrying a batten containing a large cheque donated by Bristol and West Building society . This was a long day of 7 hours running. I can remember that when we got to Temple Meads Anne and myself ran a long section and then got into the minibus to follow the other runners who took over but somewhere around St Pauls we got split up from them and had a long wait for them to arrive at the hospital.

A great time was had by all with a tour of the facility and the day was finished off with fish and chips . Cosy pet supplied the mini bus and George Rawlings was good enough to drive us. £80 was collected on route by Jane Wilby and Mals daughter.

Snowdon After Bobs assault the previous year 20 club members and families descended on Llanberis for the weekend in early November. The scenery was spectacular and the run was something to remember . This was the start of the annual pilgrimage to Snowdon.
December

An informal cross country league was started by Chard and Axe Valley clubs the first run was held at Cricket St Thomas wild life park on the 5th of the month . 4 Crewkerne runners entered Clive , Ken ,Tony Gordon and myself. This was a punishing 2 laps of the grounds (approx. 6.5 miles) in very cold conditions. Out of 20 finishers Clive came 8th, Tony 10th, Ken 12th and me - joint Last!!

This years handicap was won by Steve Harwood with Clare Bennett 2nd and Dave read 3rd . Finish spread was 10:21 and 31 people taking part.