3M Gorseinon
Road Runners
About Us
Where it all began........
Welcome to 3M Gorseinon Road Runners. We are pleased that you have chosen to view our site and enjoy the sport of running. We warmly welcome runners of all abilities. You are welcome at our club whether you are a well established marathon runner or have yet to complete your first race. We just want everyone to enjoy their running. We have many experienced runners in our club who are more than happy to share their vast knowledge about the sport and can help you with your training.
We hope the following information will answer any questions that you may have about our club but if have any further questions, please let us know
Where it all began.....
The late Ron Swan worked at the 3M Head Office in London and he came up with the idea of all the different 3M plants racing against each other. A group of runners from 3M Gorseinon started training for these inter-location road races and from here the club was born.
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May 1989 became the official start of the club
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May 1990 the club joined the Welsh AAA (now known as the AAW - Athletic Association of Wales)
We currently have about 90 members
for the year 2006 - 2007. Our
members are men and women and are between the ages of 14 and 70.
Many of our members have a great deal of experience and are happy
to help you plan your training.
We train every Wednesday and meet at approximately 6:00 to 6:15 pm at the gym in Penyrheol Leisure Centre, Gorseinon. We warm up in the gym, catch up on the news and then go outside for a session run by our qualified coaches. The session lasts no longer than an hour and normally involves a bit of speed work, hill work or endurance - the sort of thing that people tend not to do when running on their own. Everyone is supported to go at their own pace and there are always other runners at a similar pace to yourself that you can enjoy training alongside.
After the session there are shower facilities available the Leisure Centre and many of our members go upstairs to the bar for some liquid refreshments after training.
Once you have settled into our club
you will soon find training partners of similar ability Small groups of
members have regular runs throughout the week.
For example on a Tuesday night a group of members have a regular
run along the sea front of about 8 miles and another group of members have
a regular run near the Liberty Stadium of about 6 miles.
There are also usually some long runs organised by members going on
at the weekend that you would be welcome to join.
The weekly
“subs” are £2.50 and are normally collected at each session by Geoff
White our Treasurer.
Annual Membership is £20 and covers the period 1st May to 30th April. This amount includes £5 membership to the Athletics Association of Wales. There is also a half yearly membership of £12.50 to cover the period October to April for new members who join later in the year. You do not have to join 3M’s straight away but once you have settled into club and are ready to join please complete a club Membership Application Form and an AAW Application form.
Once
you are a member you will be issued with an annual Membership Card and
will receive our Newsletter.
On production of your Membership Card you will be able to get 10%
discount at Up and Running in Swansea High Street,
10% discount at Cycle World on the Enterprise Zone in Llansamlet,
and also 10% off specialised running and triathlon clothing at www.firstri.com.
We
compete in road races throughout the year.
We will update you on what is going on at club sessions or through
our newsletter. When you enter races put “3M Gorseinon RR” on your entry
form as this will help us when we track down the race results for our
newsletter.
We
sometimes have club trips to compete in events such as The Castles Relay,
or the Pontypridd Reverse 10. In
the winter we also enter teams into the Gwent Cross Country League and the
West Glamorgan League. You
can run as part of the 3M’s team whatever your ability.
Amanda Evans (Ladies Captain) and Ian Anderson (Men’s Captain)
will be happy to give you more information.
Over
the last couple of years many of the members have also ventured into the
world of triathlons, which tend to run between April & October.
Members of 3M’s are split into 6
groups - Elite, A, B, C, D & E - the groups are roughly based on
ability. From December to
November, the club runs its own ‘Grand Prix’ competition for members
only. This competition
consists of 10 races of various distances and in various locations.
Points are awarded according to your finishing place and the points
from your best 7 races count to your overall score.
At the end of the year there are prizes for the top 3 in each
group. We usually find a
venue to have a buffet and a drink (or two) after each Grand Prix race.
Club kit is available (vests & shorts) from Julie Davies. We are looking to modernise this shortly and will keep you posted as to what our plans are.
To
raise funds for the club we have a bonus ball competition. For a £1 a
week members can buy a lottery number from Geoff White.
The member whose number matches the Saturday
night National Lottery bonus ball wins £25 with the remaining money going
into club funds.
Please see Geoff if you would like to buy a number.
We normally have a few members each
year that run in the London Marathon and the Great North run.
We also have members that take
part in all distances of triathlons, including a growing number who have
done Half Ironman and Full Ironman triathlons.
Late November early December we have
our annual presentation night. Awards are presented for the top 3 in each
group from the Grand Prix’s, Best Newcomer, Most Improved Runner, Best
Performance, Club Man, Club Woman of the Year etc.
We have camping weekends in the
summer with family & friends all invited.
We have quiz nights mainly in
the winter.
Just after Christmas each year we
have a themed Fancy Dress run followed by a Christmas party for members
and their families.
A
monthly newsletter is sent to each member by post or e-mail.
Our Editor is Paul Rees (a.k.a. Pilot) and he welcomes any
contributions/race reports/news.
You can email him on pilotlight@ntlworld.com.
He is assisted by Fay Sharpe who collects all the results from the
races we enter – please help by emailing her the clubs results from any
events you have participated in on -fay.sharpe@tiscali.co.uk
If
you have any further questions or would like more information about our
club, please contact one of the members listed below.
| Secretary | Dewi West | 01792 202040 |
| Chairman | Henry Hayward | |
| Treasurer | Geoff White | |
| Newsletter | Paul Rees | 07867 830416 |
| Club Kit | Julie Davies | 01792 895063 |
| Committee member | Christine Hurdidge | 01792 526712 |
| Webmaster | Tracey Williams | 07813 286536 |
Keep on Running!