Mornington Chaser’s First Year

Founding MembersThe Posties!The Mornington Chasers Running Club was formed at a meeting held at the Working Men’s College on Crowndale Road, Camden on Tuesday evening the 2nd December 1986. Eleven persons were present. A committee was formed and a set of Club Rules & Constitution were agreed. The meeting started a few minutes past 7pm and lasted for one hour.

Team Members: Robert Rattray, Gerry Naughton, Ray Bennett, Ray Crowley, David Stone, Bryan Norton, Gary Meakins, Stephen Lelliott (hidden), Mike Fillery, Kurt Hedgley, John Smith, John Cregg and Robert Holme (hidden)

Those present at the first Committee meeting were: - John Roe, as the proposed President of the Club, who chaired the meeting; Gerry Naughton, as the founding member and proposed Secretary; - plus - John Kavanagh (Assistant Secretary); Phil Levy (Treasurer); John Crane (Captain); John Cregg (Vice-Captain); Mark Oakes; Gary Meakins; Brian Cording (as Committee members); Bryan Norton and Andy Yianni.

Roots in the Sorting OfficeAll with the exception of Cording were employees at the nearby North West District Sorting Office (6 St. Pancras Way, NW1). John Roe was the Athletics Secretary for the Sports Club within that office. John Crane had been his predecessor. John Kavanagh was employed as a Youth Training Councillor within the depot, whilst Cregg, Oakes, Meakins and Norton regularly competed in London Postal Region championships and annual half-marathon race.

Club BrainchildThe club was the brainchild of Naughton, who saw not only a nucleus for a good committee, but also a foundation on which to build a team. Naughton had been a member of Willesden based Queen’s Park Harriers (founded 1887) between 1979 and 1984. He had been cross-country champion of that club for 3 years; achieved 2 club records (51.31 for 10 miles and 1.51.14 for 20 miles), ran 3 marathons – his best being 2.30.04 in London 1983 and finished 2nd individual in the Chiltern Cross-Country league in 1981. He also acted as a committee member and newsletter editor during his term with the Harriers.

Naughton resigned his membership of Queen’s Park in the autumn of 1984 when he moved his home from West Hampstead to Walthamstow. “I toyed with the idea of setting up a club for about a year before the formation meeting. I shared the vision with work colleagues and they kept it inspired. Every time I saw Johnny Roe he would say ‘what about the club?’ We spoke more and more about the idea …”.

Formation of the ClubOf course the early 80s saw an extraordinary running boom! The London Marathon and the Great North Run were already huge events. A host of new-breed clubs were already formed. Serpentine, Dulwich Park Runners, Haringey Joggers, Muswell Hill Runners, Metros, Stragglers were some of the newer clubs joining the traditional ‘Harrier’ clubs on the start line of races. The geography of athletics/running clubs was constantly evolving.

Club Name & ColoursTo further the idea of establishing a Camden based running club Naughton called for a discussion meeting by putting a sign on the notice-board outside the workplace canteen. This informal meeting took place on Wednesday evening 2 October 1986. Only 2 work colleagues attended – Robert Holme and Robert Rattray, whilst 10 people gave apologies for non-attendance. The only matter discussed was a name for the proposed club. “I remember that Bobby Holme offered a number of bad suggestions like Potbellies, Slowcoaches and more. Then he said: ‘Chasers’. Without hesitation I blurted out: ‘that’s it, that’s it’. Our short meeting had come up with the name Mornington Chasers”.

John Cregg & Gerry NaughtonThe club colours were also created at this time. “I spent about 3 or 4 hours on a Saturday evening drawing vests and adding crayon colours. I favoured vertical stripes, because the Shaftesbury Harriers black and white vertical colours looked more elegant than the Highgate Harriers hoops. I also favoured something bright, thus the turquoise and gold vertical stripes on a white background became my pick”.

Initial FundingOf course start-up money was a barrier. Initially the ‘Chasers’ approached the workplace Sports Club (North West Postal Sports & Social Club) for funds. However, they were rejected because the proposed club had the intention to advertise and invite ‘outside’ members. Whilst the in-house Sports & Social club were within their right to refuse funding to the proposed running club, the matter generated interest amongst the workers within the sorting office depot.

On the suggestion of a work colleague Naughton decided to raise funds by collecting sponsorship to ‘cut off his beard’. Several people went around with sponsorship sheets. John Cregg, who worked in

the administration section, and Ray Bennett, a driver, collected the most funds. The chin was bared for the first time in 7 years on the 22nd November 1986 and a total of £312 was raised.

These initial funds were used to purchase club vests, letter-headed paper and membership cards. A sorting office employee, Shamji Patel, had a home printing press (Samson Press) and helped with the design stage used in the letter heading. The initial idea was to have an image of a runner crossing past a rising sun background. This was deemed too overboard and expensive due to the need to use colours, thus a more simplified image was sought. The ‘running man’ passing through the words Mornington Chasers was the end product.

THE RUNNING MAN! The Running Man image was copied out of the ITV Book of the Olympics 776BC – 1980(published in 1980). The runner is actually an image of Wilma Rudolph, a woman. The ‘U.S.A’ and ‘117’ on her vest were blacked out for Chasers purpose. The text in the book wrote about Rudolph:

... and a wonderful girl from Tennessee, Wilma Rudolph ...Wilma had an amazing ability to break into a wide smile as she reached the tape. She had won a bronze medal in the relay in Melbourne (1956), and now the stage was set for her to attempt the Triple Crown of sprinting .... Miss Rudolph won the 100m in a wind-assisted 11sec and the 200m in 24sec. Then she anchored the Tennessee Tigerbelles to victory in the relay in 44.5sec, a tenth of a second outside the world mark they’d set in the heats. All that achieved by a girl born seventh in a ghetto family of 19 children. At 7 years old she had contacted polio, from which she made a remarkable recovery to become known as the ‘black gazelle’.

Extract from WikiPedia article on Wilma Rudolph, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilma_RudolphFinding a BaseAfter the formation meeting the Chasers had the additional problem of finding a base for training runs and committee meetings. John Roe, who was a member of the aforementioned Working Men’s College, where he played for the College football team - Tansley Football club - and attended the men’s keep-fit classes, suggested the college facilities. Roe and Naughton thus approached the Wardens of the college, Lawrence Rendall and Jon Parry, with a favourable result.

Expanding into the CommunityThe Club did not have enough core runners from within the postal occupation to survive. It was important, therefore, to advertise the club within the community. Page 12 of the 19th December 1986 edition of the Camden & St. Pancras Chronicle carried the following article under the heading: ‘Calling All Road Runners’:

Calling All Road Runners:

Regular training runs from mid-January are planned by a running club just launched in Camden. The Mornington Chasers Running Club will be affiliated to the Amateur Athletics Association. The club hopes to be involved in a new road-running league being formed by the Today’s Runner magazine for new clubs in the North London area. And it hopes to gain entrance to a summer road league – and compete in open road races and cross-country events. The Mornington Chasers held its formation meeting last week at the Working Men’s College in Crowndale Road, Camden Town.

It is particularly interested to hearing from local runners, not already members of a running club, who have entered the London Marathon. Runners of all standards are invited to join and should phone 520-8582 for further details.

Camden & St. Pancras Chronicle, Page 12, 19th December 1986

Tommy TortoiseA4 posters were made up inviting runners to join the club. The poster depicted a tortoise running in the Chasers’ colours. The idea was taken from the 1934 Disney animation classic ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’, adapted from a fable by Aesop. The story concerns a hare (Max) who ridicules a slow-moving tortoise (Toby) and is challenged by him to a race. The hare soon leaves the tortoise behind and, confident of winning, decides to take a nap midway through the course. When he awakes, however, he finds that his competitor, crawling slowly but steadily, has arrived before him.

Poster with 'Tommy Tortoise' used to advertising the club in the communityThe image of the Chasers’ tortoise (Tommy) was a variation of a logo used previously for the Essonne marathon in France.

The posters were put up in libraries, sports facilities and places of work. Naughton added the name of his cousin Denise as a more ‘friendly’ contact for women runners to link to the club. However, neither Denise or any other female runner joined the club during the first six months.

Training & RacesFirst Training SessionsThe first training run was from the Working Men’s College on Thursday evening 22nd January 1987. “Nobody showed up! Well almost nobody. Steve Lelliott, who hailed from Gillingham in Kent was a student at the college and saw the ‘tortoise poster’. We waiting for about 15 or 20 minutes and then decided that nobody else was coming. It was a bitterly cold evening. We ran together up Park Village East, did one lap of the outer ring of Regent’s Park and straight back to the college”. The run of almost 6 miles completed by Gerry Naughton and Steve Lelliott were the first steps of Mornington Chasers.

Seven people turned up for training on the following Thursday evening. The Tuesday evening training run was not introduced until after Easter 1987.

John Crane, who had accepted the position of Club Captain at the formation meeting of the club, quit his job at the sorting office to join the navy. In the event he never became a club member. The position of Club Captain was offered to and accepted by John Cregg – with Mark Oakes taking the role of Vice Captain. Cregg, a native of Charlestown in Co. Mayo, would become a key figure in the development of the club.

Early RacesVeteran member Bryan Norton was the first member to represent the club when he ran in the Case Watford Half-Marathon (1.42.44) on the 1st February 1987. The Chasers first competed in a team event when they took part in the Today’s Runner Winter League at Pickett’s Lock, Edmonton on Sunday 22nd February 1987.

The Hampstead & Highgate Express gave a generous report in the sports section of its 13 March 1987 edition. The header read: ‘Chasers make a flying start’, with the text as follows:

Chasers make a Flying Start:

Camden’s newest running club. Mornington Chasers, got off to a splendid start in their first competitive event with third place in the Today’s Runner Winter League road race at Pickett’s Lock (writes Pat Mooney). Chasers, only formed in December, finished ahead of more established clubs such as Muswell Hill and Bow Street Runners. Said Chasers’ founder member Gerry Naughton: “It was a very encouraging start for us. We have now got off the ground”. First Chaser home over the 4 and a-half miles course was junior member Kurt Hedgley in eight spot in a time of 25min 51sec. He was followed by captain John Cregg (26m. 39s) 13th; Ray Crowley (26m. 49s) 16th; Steve Lelliott (27m.02s) 18th; Naughton (27m.04s) 19th and Gary Meakin (28m.02s) 25th. The team prize went to Haringey Joggers with 300 points from second-placed Edmonton Joggers (270) and Mornington Chasers (243). Muswell Hill Runners (145) were fourth and Bow Street Runners (43) fifth.

Extract from race report featured in the Hampstead & Highgate Express 13th March 1987The remainder of the article gave general details about the club:

Original race report in the Hampstead & Highgate Express

On Sunday Chasers take part in two events. They are sending nine runners to compete in the St. Edmund’s College half-marathon in Ware and eight members are down for the President’s Run over 10 kilometres in Hyde Park. Chasers was the brainchild of Naughton, a former Queens Park Harrier, who is a Post Office employee at the North West District in St. Pancras Way. Added Naughton: “There are several people in the Post Office who were runners on their own. I thought why not get them together. All it took was a little bit of encouragement.” Chasers are based at the Working Men’s College in Crowndale Road, Camden Town, the venue of their inaugural meeting back in December. Apart from the Today’s Runner Winter League, Chasers have also entered the Cobra League, promoted by the London Road Runners Club. And the Chasers have also plans to promote their own home fixture on Easter Sunday (April 19) at Canons Park, Edgware. It will be a two lap course of approximately four and a-half miles. The club has seven runners entered in the London Marathon on Sunday, May 10th. Chasers’ training run is from the Working Men’s College on Thursday evenings at 7pm. The club is keen to build on its current membership of 30. Runners of all standards are invited to join, and should phone 520-8582 for further details. Added Naughton: “We are trying to encourage a ladies section in particular and what we need is someone with lots of enthusiasm to help start it. “I believe that the Chasers will succeed in becoming a large and successful club. It has a good base and the facilities offered

by the Working Men’s College are excellent. It was a good catchment area in Camden Town and a good committee. They are young, willing to learn and totally supportive to the ideal that the club will go from strength to strength.”

Extract from race report featured in the Hampstead & Highgate Express 13th March 1987.The Ham & High sub-Sports Editor and the founding member of the Chasers were not uncommon. Pat Mooney and Gerry Naughton were school friends at the Kilcock Seconday School in Co. Kildare. Indeed, they had arranged a 5 a-side soccer league at the school basketball court in the 1969/70 school year. “It lasted for several months before the Christian Brothers banned it due to soccer being a foreign sport”

The Club NewsletterA ‘Special Issue’ CHASE ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER dated January/February ‘87 was drafted as: ‘An Introduction to the Mornington Chasers Running Club’. The A3, 16 page and typed document included: - the Club Rules & Constitution; fixture list for 1987; map of 10 miles and 5 miles training routes; and other general information about the club.

Cover of the first Mornington Chasers newsletterIn the introduction to the newsletter Naughton wrote:

Road running has survived the boom and continues to flourish. It seems hard to believe that only twelve years ago the Boston (USA) was the only mass participation marathon run in the world. The marathon was then, more than not, the lonely vigil of the dedicated club runner who was probably nearing the end of his athletic career and was compensating distance for a loss of speed. In the mid-seventies the number of marathons run in Britain every year Could be counted on one hand. There are now more than 50. The road running renaissance has been quite phenomenal. The established athletics clubs have enjoyed an increase in membership. A host of new clubs have been formed, and more races are attracting more competitors. Of the 300 plus newly formed clubs – only a small percentage has progressed to seriously challenge some of the long established ‘track’ clubs in road and cross-country events. In the London area – clubs such as Muswell Hill Runners, London Road Runners Club and Burnham Joggers are examples of those who have made substantial progress in a few years since their formations. And yet, successful or not, all of the new clubs have merely acted to serve the growing need of a sport enriched with a vigour and interest of a multitude of new participants. The Mornington Chasers Running Club becomes yet another extension to the ever growing number of new clubs. It becomes the second running club in the Borough of Camden. Highgate Harriers was established in 1879. The Chasers is like most of the other new clubs in that it will cater for road and cross-country running only. But what of the future of the Mornington Chasers? Personally, I believe that the Chasers will succeed in becoming a larger and successful club ... Given that the club can create a good image, a sense of camaraderie, raise funds regularly, have proper administration and attain decent publicity then the future of the Mornington Chasers Running Club will be very exciting indeed.

Extract from the CHASE ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER dated January/February ‘87Whatever about the future - the participation of the club in the Today’s Runner Winter League fixture at Pickett’s Lock on the 22nd February 1987 - signalled that the Chasers had arrived on the London running scene!

The Early Committee MeetingsOne swallow does not make a summer! The club had competed in its first race, but if the Chasers were to survive and thrive there would need to a lot of good organisation and real dedication.

“It was important to attract new members and to offer a full and varied programme to the membership. Running is an intense sport, so we had to make it more meaningful and fun through our activities and image. We had to be unique!”

If organisation and dedication were needed then Naughton (as Secretary), Roe (as President), Cregg (as Captain) and Levy (as Treasurer) provided buckets full! “There is no doubt that we developed the Chasers bug! The fact that we all worked at the same place helped to keep that enthusiasm topped up”

The first committee meeting of the Chasers took place on the 10 February 1987. John Roe, Gerry Naughton, John Kavanagh, Phil Levy, John Cregg. Gary Meakins, Brian Cording, Steve Lelliott (who was co-opted to the committee) and Kurt Hedgley (non-committee) were present. John Roe, as Club President/Chair, opened the meeting at 18.48hrs. Mr. Roe proposed the use of the Working Men’s College as the club’s home base. This was agreed.

Here is an extract from the minuted secretary’s report:

Mr. Naughton said that he had applied for the club’s affiliation to the Southern Counties Amateur Athletics Association – and that he had received a reply stating that the application was initially referred to the Essex County AAA. This, he furthered, was a mistake probably because the two addresses of club officials that were put on the affiliation form were in Walthamstow (Secretary) and Leyton (Treasurer). Mr. Naughton said that he went to the Camden Town Hall where he met Tony Geoghegan, Sports Development Officer, and there he filled in a form for the club to be included in the SPORT IN CAMDEN booklet. Mr. Naughton said that Mr. Geoghegan suggested that he write to the CAMDEN MAGAZINE (a free council magazine) to advertise the club in the ‘It’s Happening’ section of that magazine. Mr. Naughton said that he had since written to the magazine ... Mr. Naughton also said that he had been contacted by Mr. Graham Jennings of the London Road Runners Club who said that he would include the ‘Chasers’ in the LRRC newsletter TARMAC and in a book he was compiling called RUNAROUND (a comprehensive guide to running in London) ...

Mr. Levy, as per the minuted Treasurer’s Report, said that the sponsored shave raised £312 and that club membership brought in £125 and that the club had paid £50 to Mr. Shamji Patel for art and print-work and the Southern Counties AAA £11 for affiliation – thus leaving a balance of £376.

The initial club membership of 28 members were formally proposed, seconded and agreed at this meeting.

“Going forward, it was always encouraging when new members joined the club”. Paul Harraghy saw the club poster in the local library, John Smith read about the Chasers in the local newspaper, whilst Mansour Radjabi was given an ‘invites new members, all standards welcome’ business card when he passed a group of Chasers out on their Thursday evening training run on the Regent’s Park outer circle. Others joined after hearing about the club from friends and work colleagues.

The Mornington Chasers Running Club’s application for affiliation to the Southern Counties Amateur Athletics Association was approved at the S.C.A.A.A executive committee meeting held on Thursday 2 April 1987. The Club was also affiliated to the Middlesex County Athletics Association.

The Chasers Early RacingSlowly, but surely, the club was making progress. And the colours of the Chasers began to appear regularly at road races.

St Edmund's Half Marathon, March 1987Seven Chasers ran in the St. Edmund’s half-marathon at Ware on the 15 March 1997. Steve Lelliott was the first to complete the hilly course, finishing 484th in 1.34.55. Ray Bennett 578th (1.37.34), Mike Fillery 702nd (1.42.33), Bryan Norton (v) 796th (1.44.47), David Saint 880th (1.48.02), Wally Fairweather (v) 905th (1.49.47) and Andy Sheehan 1,246th (2.17.11) were the other Chasers taking part.

Presidents 10km, Hyde Park, March 1987On the same day a small group of Chasers took park in the President’s 10km race at Hyde Park. Mark Oakes finished in 12th (37.57) place, with John Cregg, Gary Meakins, Ray Crowley and Mick Gribbon also competing.

Today's Runner Winter League, March 1987The second Today’s Runner Winter League fixture due to be held at Finsbury Park on the 29 March 1987 was postponed until the 23 May as the league co-ordinator, Burk Gravis of Haringey Runners, wanted his members to commit to long distance training runs on Sunday

mornings in preparation for the London Marathon. The Chasers proposed ‘home’ fixture, due to take place at Canon’s Park on the 19 April 1987, was cancelled for the same reason. Ultimately the league race due to take place on the 23 May 1987 did not take place due to a clash with other races.

Barnard Marcus 5 miler, Battersea Park, April 1987In the Barnard Marcus 5 mile road race at Battersea Park on the 5 April 1987 John Cregg 63rd (30.34) led home a team of 6 Chasers. Gary Meakins 92nd (31.34), Gerry Naughton 115th (32.40), John Smith 122nd (32.51), Mike Fillery 171st (34.57) and Bryan Norton 196th (36.52) were among 343 finishers. On the same day Steve Lelliott (1.25.58) finished 47th of almost 400 runners in the Woodcombe half-marathon at Sittingbourne.

Wembley Half Marathon, April 1987“There was no road coning, inadequate marshalling was by apparently inexperienced, mainly young, people in by far from distinctive clothing, many of whom seemed to think the confusion was a huge joke, especially the funny bits where the route was changed and no-one knew where they were going”

Extract from a letter by Judy Wurr of Vale Farm Runners to the Today’s Runner magazine (July 1987 edition).Judy was making reference to the Wembley half-marathon held on the 12 April 1987. Ten Chasers managed to overcome the confusion of poor marshalling and inadequate directions to finish the course, whilst another 2 had to drop out having gone off-course. Mark Oakes 93rd (1.20.37), Paul Simons 121st (1.23.11) and John Cregg 171st (1.24.46) were the leading Chasers.

“I was standing at the 11 miles mark, waiting to cheers the Chasers, when some runners started to approach from two opposite directions. They reached the point where stood 2 marshals. The runners stopped, asked questions about the right direction only for a marshal to say ‘We don’t know’. One guy suggested ‘I think it’s this way’ and a group of about 10 runners ran off swearing back at the marshals. It was a great pity that a race that finished in the old Wembley Stadium was spoilt. Some runners ran a short course, whilst others must have thought that they were doing a full marathon”.

“A few days later I took a phone call from a guy enquiring to join the Chasers. His name was Mansour Radjabi. When he told me that he had run 1.15 for the ‘half’ I was excited! But then he told me that he ran the time at the Wembley half-marathon. Doh!”

Cobra Summer League, April 1987The Chasers joined the Cobra London Summer League. The league was unique in that all, except one, of the competing teams were ‘new breed’ clubs from the Greater London area. The competition had been set up by the London Road Runners Club and was already in its second or third year.

Thus, the Chasers first outing in the London Summer League happened on the 26 April 1987. The host club was the Stragglers and the venue was Kingston Vale. The senior race was over 5 miles, most of which passed a forest trail. The initial reaction of the other groups on seeing the ‘new kids on the block’ was of total surprise. “This lot looks quick!” exclaimed a female veteran of the Serpentine Club. “Where do you lot come from?” was the general enquiry. Sixteen Chasers took part, with Paul Simons 20th (28.30), Mark Oakes 40th (30.07), Gerry Naughton 67th (31.23), Gary Meakins 77th (31.42) and debutant Alan Young 91st (32.29) finishing in the top 100. The rest of the team included: -Ray Bennett, John Smith, Peter McGrath, Mick Gribbon, Wally Fairweather, Bryan Norton, Andy Sheehan, Phil Levy, Dave Willson, Brian Cording and John Kavanagh. The team score was as follows: - (1) Serpentine 9,915, (2) Stragglers 6,028, (3) LRRC Metros 4,586, (4) East London Runners 3,356, (5) Dulwich Runners 3.045, (6) Ealing & Southall AC 2,456, (7) Dulwich Park Runners 2,153, (8) Mornington Chasers 2,061, (9) Barking Runners 1,967, (10) Philips City Striders 1,712, (11) Muswell Hill Runners 960 and (12) Cobra Sports 945.

London Marathon & East London Half Marathon, May 1987Paul Simons (3.09.12), Steve Lelliott (3.31.54), John Smith (3.34.04), Gary Meakins (3.41.46) and o/50s veteran Wally Fairweather (3.47.40) were the first Chasers to complete the marathon distance when they ran the London event held on the 10 May 1987.

Seven of the 17 Chasers who competed in the East London half-marathon on the 24 May 1987 achieved personal bests. Paul Simons, who had previously been a member of Shaftesbury Harriers, continued to show improved form with 56th position and a personal best time of 1.16.00. Mark Oakes 108th knocked a minute and a half of his previous mark with a time of (1.19.14). Gerry Naughton 247th (1.23.47), Graham Nash 379th (1.26.36), Pat Farrell 429th (1.27.26) PB, John Cregg 458th (1.27.53), Gary Meakins 535th (1.29.05) PB, Ray Bennett 676th (1.30.58), Alan Young, then aged 20, 756th (1.32.11) PB, John Smith 1024th (1.35.43) PB, Walter Fairweather, then aged 52, 1092nd (1.36.34) PB, Mike Fillery 1467th (1.41.37), Steve Lelliott 1542nd (1.42.23), Bryan Norton 1764th (1.44.57), Dai Morris 2797th (2.00.21) Brian Cording 2310th (2.28.47) and John Kavanagh, who had just recovered from bronchitis, 3338th (2.32.14) were the other club members who competed . The club used this race to raise funds for the Oncology Department of the Royal Free Hospital. A cheque for £350 was presented to Dr. Bosen on the 7 October 1987.

Cobra Summer League, May 1987The turquoise and gold colours of the Chasers were again out in force at the second Cobra London Summer League at Hainault Forest (hosted by East London Runners) on the 31 May 1987. Paul Simons and Mark Oakes again spearheaded the Chasers challenge in 20th and 30th places respectively. Simons recorded a time of (36.38) for the 10km course, with Oakes at (37.31) for the wet and undulating course. Gerry Naughton 51st (39.31), Mansour Radjabi 56th (39.47), John Cregg 64th (40.17), Gary Meakins 66th (40.18), Steve Lelliott 77th (40.41), Alan Young 123rd (43.45), Ray Bennett 137th (44.59), Wally Fairweather (v) 149th (46.20), Mike Fillery 152nd (46.31), Peter McGrath 158th (46.56), Dennis Flaherty 173rd (48.42), Bryan Norton (v) 179th (48.56), John Roe 197th (51.00), Phil Levy 227th (55.19), Dave Willson 244th (60.07), Brian Cording (v) 246th (60.58) and Steve Baker 247th (61.48) all helped the Chasers to finish 7th from 13 teams.

Welwyn Half Marathon, June 1987In the Welwyn half-marathon on the 14 June 1987 the first three Chasers home all achieved personal bests by considerable margins. Graham Nash 73rd (1.23.57) knocked 2 minutes from his previous time. John Smith 105th (1.27.46) ran 7 minutes faster than before, whilst Alan Young 122nd (1.29.43) ran more than 2 minutes quicker that his previous mark set 3 weeks previous. Ray Bennett 134th (1.31.35) and Mike Fillery 164th (1.37.38) were the other Chasers completing the course.

Cobra Summer League, June 1987In the 3rd Cobra London League fixture at Headstone Manor on the 21 June 1987 the Chasers finished in 7th position. Mark Oakes 27th (35.24) was the first home over the 10km route. Next came Gerry Naughton (36.01) in 35th spot, with Mansour Radjabi 43rd (36.45), Gary Meakins 59th (37.26), Keith Graham 86th (39.02), Brian Simons (v) 100th (39.39), Paul Simons 101st (39.39), Ray Bennett 116th (40.28), Peter McGrath 152nd (42.20), Mike Fillery 160th (43.03), John Roe 173rd (44.14), Denis Flaherty 189th (45.17), Phil Levy 201st (46.48), Robert Holme 207th (47.48), Brian Cording 252nd (58.00) and John Kavanagh 255th (59.00) completing the Chasers scoring team. John Smith competed in the Great North Run on the same day recording a time of (1.29.48).

In the Sports Section of the 26 June 1987 edition of the Camden & St. Pancras Chronicle the following notice appeared under the heading:

‘MORE FOR MORNINGTON’: Mornington Chasers Running Club are still looking for more members. Founded only last December, the club have built up a membership of 45, but there is room for more. The club currently contains joggers, beginners and others with competitive aspirations, so all standards are catered for. The club, based at the Working Men’s College, Mornington Crescent, Camden Town, train twice weekly – Tuesday 6.30pm and Thursday 7pm – and costs only £5 to join. They compete in the Cobra London League and the Today’s Runner Winter League, and anyone interested in joining should contact Gerry Naughton on 5208582.

Orion 10 Miler, Chingford, July 1987Five Chasers completed the Orion 10 miler at Chingford on the 5 July 1987. The race was won by J. Kilsby of Haringey AC in a time of 53.18. Mark Oakes came 36th (1.02.55), with Gerry Naughton 79th (1.05.59), John Smith 170th (1.12.53), Mike Fillery 255th (1.21.15) and Bryan Norton 282nd (1.25.40) also completing the tough, hilly course. Meanwhile, Steve Lelliott was competing in the Isle of Sheppy half-marathon placing 31st in a time of 1.28.46.

Maidstone Half Marathon, September 1987Steve Lelliott placed 173rd from a field of 1,700 runners at the Maidstone half-marathon held on the 13 September 1987.

George Green 10km, London, September 1987At the George Green 10 kilometre team race held at the Isle of Dogs on 20 September 1987 the Mornington Chasers placed as second team. Victoria Park Harriers came first with a combined 3-man time of 100 minutes and 5 seconds. Mark Oakes 31st (37.31), Gerry Naughton 33rd (37.37) and John Cregg 41st (38.26) gave a combined time of 113 minutes and 34 seconds. Host club Island Striders came third. Mansour Radjabi 42nd (38.28) and Steve Lelliott 53rd (39.14) PB were the non-scoring ‘A’ team runners. Martin McGuinness 50th (39.04), who lowered his PB by over 2 and a-half minutes, led home the ‘B’ team, whose scoring team was completed by John Smith 77th (40.54) and Ray Bennett 98th (42.05). The other Chasers taking part were: - Paul Harraghy 152nd (45.20) PB, Bryan Norton (47.01), John Roe (47.11), Denis Flaherty (47.12), Eddie Gallagher (47.56), Mike Fillery (49.16) and debutant Dave Burrows (51.20).

Westminster Mile Race, September 1987In the Westminster Mile race later that day John Cregg recorded a time of 5 minutes and 23 seconds. Steve Lelliott (5.42), John Smith (6.06) and Mike Fillery (6.18) also competed.

6 Month ReviewA review of the club six months after foundation showed that significant progress had been made. The Chasers had joined two road running leagues, were competing in a host of open road races and had a twice weekly training schedule. “We could get anything between 2 and 20 out on training evenings. It was usually about a dozen. The Tuesday run was longer and more difficult, because we had a route that included the Hampstead Heath area. The Thursday route was more local, taking in Primrose Hill and Regents Park”

As the Working Men’s College was due to be closed down for the summer period an alternative venue for club training runs needed to be found for the interim non-academic periods. The matter was raised at the club’s committee meeting held on the 8 June 1987. St. Mary’s Boys Club in Chalton Street, Somerstown was initially suggested. However, this venue was later dismissed as being unsuitable due to a lack of shower facilities. After discussing the matter with the Camden Sports Development team it was decided that the Chasers use the Mornington Sports & Leisure Centre in

Arlington Road, Camden Town during the periods when the Working Men’s College was closed down.

Two interesting matters were also raised under ‘Any Other Business’ at the 8 June 1987 Committee meeting. (1) Mr. John Cregg suggested that the club travel for a weekend away to compete in the Jersey half-marathon on the 22 November 1987. All committee members approved. And (2) Mr. Naughton explained that the Trustees of the old ‘North West District Office’ (Sorting Office) ex-messengers fund were willing to pay for a trophy for the Club – and that the cup should be named the Ron Shepherd Cup. Mr. Shepherd had been a well respected ex-head of messengers (youth workers). The Ron Shepherd Cup would later be presented to the winner of the men’s handicap championship.

Both the Hampstead & Highgate Express and the Camden & St. Pancras Chronicle were generous in giving paragraph space for reports on the Mornington Chasers. “John Cregg and I would always try to get results at the venue or I would phone later for team results if they were available. Members would also phone in their results on a Sunday evening. Then I would write up a report and submit it to the sports editors. It was handy working at the Sorting Office, because I could put the envelopes directly into the appropriate pigeon holes”

The internet and e-mails were not around in 1987! “I had a Sinclair QL computer that a work colleague had set up for me. It was very, very primitive compared to the computers of today. I remember that I had to hold down the ‘enter’ key and then double press a specific letter to make put, for example, a bracket sign. It was difficult to scroll back to make corrections and the only print type available was small. The printer that I used pulled the paper through perforated sides. I also used a Panasonic R310 typewriter that had a tiny trailblazer screen to show one line of text before you hit ‘enter’. There was a lot of cut and paste to be done, particularly when doing the club’s newsletter”

Racing 1987 Part 2Mornington Chasers Running Club finished eight out of 13 in the recent Cobra London League meeting at Battersea Park. With all the finishers counting towards the team competition the Chasers were outnumbered by the bigger more-established clubs. 24 Chasers completed this event, the fourth round of the league.

The Chasers challenge was led home by Paul Simons, recently dogged by a knee injury, who faded after a fast start to finish 43rd in 36 minutes and 4 seconds.

An improving Gerry Naughton came 45th place while Mark Oakes, Mansour Radjabi and club captain John Cregg were other Chasers to finish in the top 100. Other notable performances came from newcomers Martin McGuinness, Anthony Ryan and Eddie Gallagher. The latter only took up the sport in the last two months and this was his debut race.

The Cording brothers, David aged 10 and Scott aged 12, became the first Chasers to compete in the 3km Tenderfoot race (for under 16s) finishing in 46th and 47th positions out of 52 finishers.

Performances as follows: - Paul Simons 43rd (36.04), Gerry Naughton 45th 36.09, Mark Oakes 69th (37.11), Mansour Radjabi 73rd (37.38), John Cregg 75th (37.49), Alan Young 125th (39.32), John Smith 128th (39.51), Ray Bennett 129th (39.52), Brian Simons (v) 152nd (41.07), Martin McGuinness 164th (41.31), Gary Meakins 171st (41.44), Anthony Ryan 173rd (41.52), Pat Farrell 194th (42.37), Mike Fillery 223rd (43.52), Denis Flaherty 250th (45.03), Wally Fairweather (v) 252nd (45.25), Bryan Norton (v) 268th (46.12), John Roe 279th (46.53), David Saint 296th (48.47), Eddie Gallagher 308th

(50.10), Phil Levy 321st (52.11), Dai Morris 322nd (52.20), Brian Cording (v) 342nd (57.02) and John Kavanagh 353rd (61.14).

The Chronicle’s (7 August 1987) report on the Chasers fourth round of the Cobra London League (2 August 1987)

Hendon 10 Miles, 1987In the following Saturday afternoon 23 years-old Paul Simons produced a very creditable performance when finishing 64th (57.21) in the highly competitive Shaftesbury 10 miles road race at Hendon. Brian Simons (v) (1.03.30), John Roe (1.20.40), Brian Cording (v) (1.33.52) and John Kavanagh (1.39.26) also took part.

Cobra Summer League, late 1987Paul Simons again led the Chasers home in the penultimate Cobra London League race of the season, placing 25th of 308 finishers in a time of 35 minutes and 42 seconds. The other Chasers to complete the testing 3-lap, 10km course at Finsbury Park (hosted by Muswell Hill Runners on 23 August 1987) were: - Mark Oakes 35th (37.02), Gerry Naughton 43rd (37.22), John Cregg 70th (39.13), Mansour Radjabi 71st (39.16), Steve Lelliott 89th (40.18), Gary Meakins 98th (40.35), Brian Simons (v) 118th (41.58), Ray Bennett 120th (42.10), Martin McGuinness 125th (42.18), John Smith 134th (42.40), Denis Flaherty 191st (45.47), John Crane 193rd (45.53), Paul Harraghy 201st (46.21), Eddie Gallagher 202nd (48.22), John Roe 211th (46.53), Mike Fillery 212th (46.55), Bryan Norton (v) 214th (46.49), Wally Fairweather (v-o/50) 200th (47.20) and Brian Cording (v) 296th (57.51). Ten year-old Scott Cording came 40th of 55 in the Tenderfoot race.

Billericay Half Marathon, 1987On Sunday 31 August 1987 John Cregg ran a PB (1.23.18) at the Billericay half-marathon placing 50th from a field of 330 starters. Steve Lelliott and John Smith both recorded times of 1.29.19. On the same day Gary Meakins placed second in the Thamesmead 5 mile road in a time of 29 minutes and 19 sec.

Wimbeldon Half Marathon, 1987At the Wimbledon half-marathon on the 6 September 1987 Paul Simons finished a very fine 22nd in a time of 1.18.18. Gerry Naughton 104th (1.25.27), Mansour Radjabi 171st (1.28.31), John Cregg 172nd (1.28.34) and John Smith 391st (1.36.42) were amongst 1,380 finishers.

You'll have noticed so far that all the members seem to be men, which was something The Chasers also realised in the summer of 1987 as something they wanted to to fix!

Attracting Women to The ChasersThe Chasers reached the summer period with more than 40 active members, none of which were women! The club membership was still predominantly made up of workers from the North West London postal service. The Committee of the day were anxious that the club better reflect the running community. The club needed a women’s section, but how could it be achieved? Sometime around August 1987 Jill Barker became the first active female runner of the Chasers. Jill lived at Golders Green and was a competent athlete who was not out of place training with an otherwise male group. But having just one woman in the group added to the urgency of promoting other women to join the club.

“We had discussed the matter of a women’s group for months, but we needed a coordinated effort to make it happen. John Cregg and I had put the Woman’s Own/Nike 10k ladies only race down on the Club’s fixture list. So we decided if the Chasers cannot send women to the race, then the race

might send women to the Chasers! I wrote up a leaflet advertising the formation meeting of a ‘ladies section’ and myself, ‘Creggy’, Phil Levy and Gary Meakins went to the race (13 September 1987 at Hyde Park) and handed out the leaflets. There was about a thousand runners doing the race and many were not wearing any club colours”

The local Chronicle also supported the ambitions of the Chasers. The headline banner in the 15 September 1987 edition read:

‘NEW MEMBERS WANTED’: The Mornington Chasers Running Club, formed December 1986, will be holding a Ladies Section formation meeting at the Working Men’s College, Crowndale Road, Camden, on Wednesday 30th, starting 7pm. With entry forms for next year’s London Marathon available this month – club secretary, Gerry Naughton, explains, “being a member of a club is a great advantage to anyone interested in long distance running. It offers the discipline to train, helps to break the monotony of running on your own, and you can share your experience and camaraderie with fellow runners …”

The Ladies Section formation meeting was took place at the Working Men’s College on Wednesday evening 30 September 1987. The club’s committee meeting held on the 16 September 1987 agreed that John Roe, Gerry Naughton and John Cregg be present to greet any potential new members and to give presentation about the club. “We turned up early at the Common Room and just waited! People came and went from the Common Room, mostly students of the College. Eventually, our small group went from 3 to 4, to 5, to 6 … until we had 10 women with the potential of joining the Chasers”. These were: - Kim Clarke, Helen (Johannsen) Winter, Lisa Kaye, Anna Lloyd, Joanna Lloyd, Carol Morgan, Cecilia Chapman, Funtz Michener, Sheila Ross and Rosita Thomas. Apologies were given by Jill Barker and Julia Meyersohn (friend of Lisa Kaye).

The meeting was a success! Although some of those present did not become members of the club, others were to become central to the club’s continuing development. Joanne Lloyd agreed to be the Women’s Section Secretary, whilst Helen Winter and Lisa Kaye agreed to be co-opted as committee members and were ratified at the committee meeting held on 12 October 1987.

Women's Introduction to The Chasers Racing team, 1987SIMONS CHASES HOME WINNER – Mornington Chasers’ Paul Simons finished second in the North East London half-marathon in Walthamstow on Sunday in a time of 1h. 17m. 58s. Next Chaser in was Gerry Naughton (1.22.54) in 11th place ahead of Martin McGuinness (1.26.12) and veterans Brian Simons (1.38.15) 84th and Walter Fairweather (1.47.53) 139th.

The winner was Trevor Cornell (1.17.07) from East London Runners while Woodford Green’s Steve Herrington (1.18.04) was third. The previous day John Cregg (1.27.29) was the first Chaser home in the Cispotel half-marathon in Windsor. He was followed by John Smith (1.28.15), Steve Lelliott (1.29.14), Mike Fillery (1.36.26), Brian Norton (1.42.00), Paul Harraghy (1.43.44), John Roe (1.46.36) and Gary Meakins (1.49.55).

Chasers have formed a women’s section and the club’s new women’s secretary, Joanne Lloyd, would like to hear from potential new members, especially beginners, on 2492992.

The Ham & High sports pages, taken from the 9th October 1987 editionThe inaugural men’s club championship was incorporated into the Old Millhillians 10 mile road race at Hatch End on Sunday 11 October 1987 where Paul and Brian Simons carried off a unique family double. Paul (aged 23) was Chasers’ first man home in 17th place in a time of 58m 54s to take the senior title. Shortly afterwards his father Brian finished 90th in 1h 7m 52s to lift the veterans (over

40s) crown. Gerry Naughton 33rd (1.00.43) was runner-up in the senior event while Mark Oakes 34th (1.01.14) was third. The next Chaser home was John Cregg 43rd (1.02.02) followed by Martin McGuinness 47th (1.02.47), John Smith 59th (1.03.53), Steve Lelliott 61st (1.04.11), Graham Nash 71st (1.05.33), Ray Bennett 94th (1.08.03), Alan Young 114th (1.10.09), Mike Fillery 115th (1.10.12), debutant Bob Andersen 117th (1.10.33), Walter Fairweather (v) 147th (1.13.27), Bryan Norton (v) 154th (1.14.09), Eddie Gallagher 159th (1.15.20), Paul Harraghy 160th (1.15.21), Dave Burrows 189th (1.21.47) and debutant Peter Liddell 197th (1.23.09). Fairweather finished as second veteran in the club championship (and first o/50s), with Norton third.

The other Chasers competitor in the Old Millhillians 10 miler created another milestone for the club. Helen Winter became the first female to represent the club when she finished 195th in a time of 1.23.01.

The Chasers finished second in the team event behind Dunstable Runners. The overall race was won by Brian Standen (54.07) of Thames Valley Harriers, ahead of Dave Chalfen (55.11) of Shaftesbury Barnet and Peter Wells (55.14) of Queens Park Harriers.

One week later Jill Barker took to the start line with 30,000 runners in the Paris 20 kilometres road race. Despite having to wait 6 minutes to cross the start line Jill completed the course in respectable 1 hour and 39 minutes.

The Club committee meeting held on the 12 October 1987 raised the issue of a regular Sunday morning training runs. It was decided to give a trial to the idea beginning on the 8 November 1987 and to use the Mornington Sports Centre as a base. Amongst the other interesting matters raised at the meeting were: (1) an application to be sent to the London Marathon seeking ‘club entries’; and (2) the possibility of holding a social evening to celebrate the first anniversary of the club.

The sixth and final Cobra London League fixture scheduled for Hyde Park on the 25 October 1987 was cancelled due to the Great Storm that hit the South of England on the 15 and 16 October 1987. “A few of us actually turned up not realising that the event had been called off. We witnessed several felled trees, some across the pathways. It was a correct decision to cancel the race”

The final league positions were thus based on 5 fixtures: - (1) Serpentine RC 49,912 pts, (2) LRRC Metros 28,604, (3) Stragglers 24,246, (4) Dulwich Runners 19,531, (5) Muswell Hill Runners 19,246, (6) East London Runners 16,092, (7) Mornington Chasers RC 14,147, (8) Dulwich Park Runners 13,976, (9) Barking Runners 13,075, (10) Ealing & Southall AC 12,439, (11) Kelmscott Trotters (Walthamstow) 6,480, (12) Team Cobra Sports 6,285, (13) Philips City Striders 2,991, (14) London Road Runners 2,276 and (15) Comet Runners 1,776.

The Chasers’ leading points scorers were: - Mark Oakes 1,276, Paul Simons 1,268, Gerry Naughton 1,236 and Gary Meakins 1,010.

NEW BEST FOR JOHN – Mornington Chasers Running Club members John Cregg, Martin McGuinness and Mike Fillery all achieved personal best times in the Harrow half-marathon last Sunday, while the club president, John Roe, smashed his best for the marathon distance by over 16 minutes!

Meanwhile, Paul Simons and Jill Barker were finishing in prominent positions in the respective men’s and women’s half marathons. Other notable performances came from Graham Nash and Gary Meakins who both finished in the top 200 – and by Eddie Gallagher who completed his first half marathon in a satisfactory time after only taking up the sport this summer.

John Smith and Walter Fairweather, the club’s oldest member at 52, both showed great spirit and determination when completing the full marathon as they felt distress in the latter part of the race.

Results – Half-Marathon: - 1st Michael Green (Old Gaytonians) (1.09.15), 2nd Lee Benjamin (TVH) (1.10.08), 3rd Michael Bradley (Watford Harriers) (1.10.24); Chasers: Paul Simons 34th (1.17.46), John Cregg 84th (1.21.38) PB, Martin McGuinness 108th (1.23.50) PB, Graham Nash 180th (1.27.12) PB, Gary Meakins (1.27.14), Alan Young (1.31.18), Ray Bennett (1.31.23), Mike Fillery (1.32.10) PB, Brian Simons (v) (1.36.27), Jill Barker (1.37.55), Mansour Radjabi (1.40.21), Eddie Gallagher (1.42.44) and Bryan Norton (v) (1.42.44).

Marathon: - 1st Steve Faulkner (Highgate Harriers) 2.33.57. Chasers: John Smith 184th (3.36.04), Walter Fairweather (v) 230th (3.52.43), John Roe 252nd (4.03.55).

Extract from Camden & St. Pancras Chronicle – 6 November 1987 editionJill Barker came 24th out of 320 in the women’s category. Wally Fairweather used the race to fund raise £134 for the St. Thomas Research Unit for the Ticking Heart.The Chasers incorporated the club handicap championships into the Tallgrass 10 kilometres race at Battersea Park held on 15 November 1987.Results: -Men:Pos Athlete Actual time Handicap

01 Eddie Gallagher 43.04 10.20

02 Bryan Norton (v) 43.15 10.05

03 W.H. Fairweather (v) 43.54 10.05

04 Paul Simons 34.19 Scratch

05 Graham Nash 37.38 03.05

06 Steve Lelliott 38.17 03.35

07 Mark Oakes 36.25 01.25

08 John Cregg 37.10 02.05

09 Alan Young (j) 38.58 03.50

10 David Winter (debut) 35.22 00.05

11 Brian Simons (v) 40.22 05.05

12 John Smith 39.23 04.05

13 Mike Fillery 42.08 06.50

14 Ray Bennett 39.35 04.05

15 Paul Harraghy 46.07 10.20

16 Martin McGuinness 38.13 02.20

17 Denis Flaherty 45.03 09.05

18 Phil Levy 49.40 12.05

19 John Roe 49.07 10.20

20 Brian Cording (v) 62.38 20.05Women:01 Jill Barker 41.53 Scratch

02 Lisa Kaye (debut) 51.40 08.00

03 Mary Condron (deb) 50.39 06.30

04 Julia Meyersohn (deb) 48.46 04.00

05 Helen Winter 49.42 03.30

The Tallgrass proved a real stepping stone for the Chasers with 5 women competing in club colours. Further progress was proved by the fact that the first 17 men home and all 5 women achieved personal best marks! The club’s Junior Men’s title was also concluded with Alan Young alone in the category.

Harrow Half, November 1987

Harrow 'Half' 6.11.87 - G. Nash, M. McGuinness, B. Simons, JJ Cregg, A. Young, Jill Barker, R. Bennett, B. Norton, P

The Chasers First AGMThe Club’s first annual general meeting was held at the Working Men’s College on Wednesday evening 17 November 1987. 25 members and one guest were present. The evolution of the club could be measured by the fact that only 8 of the 26 present were Post Office employees. John Roe, as the Club President, chaired the meeting. The meeting agreed some additions to the committee line-up and the signing up to a personal accident insurance scheme (PAIS) for members whilst training and racing with the club. It was agreed that all members would become associate members of the Working Men’s College and that a review of the cost of club membership be carried out to take into account the PAIS and entry/membership of the Working Men’s College (WMC) and the Mornington Sports Centre. The subscription due date was changed from December to September so as to be in line with the WMC membership year. The club championship competitions were

extended to include women and cross-country contests. A proposal to change the colour of the club’s shorts from white to green was rejected.

The following committee members were elected: - President – John Roe; v/President – Jill Barker; Secretary – Gerry Naughton; a/Secretary – John Kavanagh; Treasurer and Membership – Phil Levy; a/Treasurer and Membership – Seamus Fitzgerald; Women’s Section Captain – Joanne Lloyd; a/Women’s Section Captain – Helen Winter; Club Captain – John Cregg; Club v/Captain – David Winter; Committee members – Gary Meakins, Brian Cording, Steve Lelliott, John Smith, Mike Fillery, Lisa Kaye, Martin McGuinness, Gloria Charter and Alan Young.

The balance in the club’s account at the AGM was given as £187 and 49 pence.

The King’s Cross Underground fire, where 31 people died, happened at the same time as the club’s first AGM. Gerry Naughton and Phil Levy, who lived at Walthamstow and Leyton respectively, often passed through the ticket office of Kings Cross Underground station at around 7.30 pm, the approximate time of the fatal fire flash at the ticket office area, on their way home from their workplace at St. Pancras Way. Fate indeed!

Jersey Half Marathon, November 1987A party of 17 persons flew to Jersey for a weekend away that would also include the popular Jersey half-marathon.“We were all in the hotel bar at St. Helier on the Saturday evening when another hotel client walked in. Seeing everyone in a jovial mood he inquired: ‘Who are you guys?’ When he found out that many of our group was running in the half-marathon on the following morning, he said: ‘my money is on the other guys!”

However, four of the ten Chasers who competed in the half-marathon achieved personal best times. The Chasers were led home by Mark Oakes 76th (1.22.27) with Gerry Naughton 96th next in (1.24.24). These were followed by Alan Young 145th (1.27.22) PB, Steve Lelliott 147th (1.27.27), Ray Bennett 230th (1.31.44), Mike Fillery 266th (1.33.22), Walter Fairweather (v) 315th (1.35.40) PB, John Roe 320th (1.35.54) PB and John Kavanagh 320th (2.28.40). There were 740 starters. Jill Barker (1.34.13) also achieved a PB when finishing 11th of 185 starters in the women’s category.

On the morning of the race Jill Barker came down to the breakfast room of the hotel to find Wally Fairweather tucking into a full fry-up English breakfast. “How can you eat like that before a race?” she enquired. Wally smiled and said: “Oh I always have a good fry-up before a race”. A bemused Jill then ordered a cereal breakfast. The day’s results proved that it is whatever works for the individual as both achieved personal best times!

On the same day (22 November 1987) the Chasers entered a team in the Serpentine 6 x 2½ miles road relay at Hyde Park. Each team had to consist of 2 women, 2 veterans and 2 seniors.

Leg Athlete Position Time

1 Julia Meyersohn 16th

2 Barry Cousins (v) 18th 15.30

3 David Winter 15th

4 Helen Winter 15th

5 Brian Simons (v) 16th

6 Paul Simons 12th

The final team score read: - (1) Serpentine RC (1.11.32), (2) Stragglers (1.12.39), (3) Dulwich Runners (1.14.25) … (12) Mornington Chasers 1.21.41. 26 teams competed.

Geoffrey Cannon, a former Member of Parliament, who was on the committee of the London Road Runners Club ran a competition for club newsletters. In the November 1987 edition of the Running Magazine he wrote the following under the headline:

NEWSLETTER OF THE YEAR: My second special mention goes to Chase, the newsletter of the 60-strong Mornington Chasers, founded less than a year ago at the Working Men’s College in Camden Town, London. Chase has none of the technical sophistication of ‘The Finish Line’. It’s just eight-pages long, coming out every two months in A5 format (half the size of this page). And it’s a model for clubs with small resources. The cover features testaments to the sport; a picture of Dorando Pietri losing the 1908 Olympic marathon, for example, and inspirational quotes. I like this from Ben Hirsch, who started running at 65 and ran Pike’s Peak, aged 73: “Running helps me fight my advancing age. Most of us give up too soon and make the fateful decision that we are through long before we have to”

First Anniversary

Dave Bedford presents the Ron Shepherd Cup to Eddie Gallagher (photo from Camden & St. Pancras Chronicle)The Club celebrated its first anniversary with a special presentation evening at St. Mary’s Club, Aldenham Street, Somerstown on Saturday evening 29 November 1987. Special guest was David Bedford, former World record holder at 10,000 metres and the then secretary of the International Athletes Club.

The Club personality of the year was Mike Fillery, who became the first holder of the President’s Shield – which was donated by John Roe. Other awards presented were: Junior Road Champion – Alan Young, Senior Road Champion – Paul Simons, Veterans Road Champion – Brian Simons,

Veterans o/50s Road Champion – Walter Fairweather, Women’s Handicap Champion – Jill Barker – and Men’s Handicap Champion – Eddie Gallagher.

A photo of Eddie Gallagher receiving the Ron Shepherd Cup from David Bedford appeared in the 4 December edition of the Camden & St. Pancras Chronicle. Club Captain John Cregg described Gallagher as: “The most improved athlete in the club”. He had improved 10 kilometres time by no less than 7 minutes in a 4-months period.

Founding member and the Club Secretary Gerry Naughton received a specially engraved clock and a bottle of champagne from club members as a token of appreciation for having formed and promoted the club during the year.

The anniversary party was a real confirmation that the club was on the up! Dave Bedford, who was a good friend of Brian Simons and who liked a beer or two, stayed for the whole evening. We had a DJ, plenty of food and a bar. Mansour Radjabi, a native of Iran, sang a Persian love song after a 5 minute introduction. Ray Bennett and Alan Young did their own amusing version of the Guida Dance! Let’s just say that the culture of the Chasers having a good party had a good baptism.

Final race of the year: Today's Runner Winter League, December 1987The Mornington Chasers final road running outing of the year was almost where they began – competing in the opening round of the Today’s Runner Winter League. The 4 miles race was held at Finsbury Park on Sunday 6 December 1987. Paul Simons 4th (22.26), David Winter 7th (23.09), Mark Oakes 11th (24.18), John Cregg 13th (24.27), Alan Young 14th (24.45), Gerry Naughton 16th (25.27), John Smith 24th (26.23) and Martin McGuinness 27th (27.04) made up the scoring 8-man team. Haringey Runners scored 64 points, with the Chasers (116 points) second and Serpentine (218 points) third. The non-scoring Chasers were: - Brian Simons (v) 29th (27.21), Ray Bennett 33rd (27.49), Paul Harraghy 35th (28.05), Denis Flaherty 42nd (28.16), Mike Fillery 44th (28.24), Eddie Gallagher 47th (28.35), Bryan Norton (v) 50th (29.00), Michael Dale (debut) 51st (29.02), John Crane 58th (30.07), Walter Fairweather (v) 63rd (30.36), Barry Cousins (v) 67th (31.30), Colin Campbell (debut/v) 69th (31.17), Phil Levy 72nd (31.37), Brian Cording (v) 87th (38.00) and John Kavanagh 89th (40.03). The Chasers women’s team (321) finished 3rd behind Haringey Runners (193) and Serpentine (284). Helen Winter 68th (31.13), Carol Morgan 79th (36.25) and Linda Lee 81st (36.52) were among the field of 93 runners who completed the 4 miles course.

Middlesex Cross Country, December 1987The club closed off its first full competitive year by having 7 men compete in the very competitive Middlesex County cross country championships at Kingsbury on Saturday 12 December 1987. This was the Chasers first entry to cross-country racing. The team, which finished 15th of 16, was led home by Paul Simons, who placed 66th in a time of 44 minutes and 15 seconds for the 7 and a-half miles distance. Next Chaser in was Dave Winter 115th (47.04) ahead of club captain John Cregg 128th (47.43).

...The Chasers look to 1988 with optimism. January will see the introduction of regular Sunday morning training, whilst the club hopes to form a ‘Tenderfoot’ or young members section in the coming months, therefore hoping to become more of a family type club.

And so, with the growing popularity of road running, the ideal that ‘local running groups are necessary to maintain personal interests in the sport has been met by the formation and relative success of Camden’s newest club.

As London clubs such as Belgrave Harriers, Thames Valley Harriers and Queen’s Park Harriers celebrated their first hundred years in1987, it would seem that the birth and ‘first steps’ (pardon the pun!) of the Mornington Chasers Running Club has not gone unnoticed!

Extract from ‘comment’ in the November/December 1987 Chase newsletterAbout 50 members had competed for the Chasers in 1987, with Wally Fairweather, aged 52, being the oldest and David Cording, aged 10, the youngest. Paul Simons, with several club record times, was the club’s leading athlete.