History
Spectrum Striders Running Club first began in 1983. Formed by a group of enthusiastic runners living and working in Birchwood, Warrington, our original home was the Spectrum Arena sports and leisure complex (now Betfred’s headquarters). The arena gave the club its name, and even when we moved to our present home at Birchwood Community High School in 1987, the name stuck.
Spectrum Striders RC is affiliated to England Athletics, and as an EA-affiliated club, we get a number of guaranteed London Marathon places each year which are allocated via a club ballot in October.
Our aims
We have approximately 150 members – around one third of whom are women – with a wide range of running abilities, from newcomers to county standard athletes. The club’s objectives are to promote running for everyone, with an emphasis on enjoyment as well as competition. Our running affiliations include road, cross country, fell running and multi-terrain.
Training
We welcome new members of all abilities in any running discipline. We have a number of qualified coaches and a coaching structure that allows all members to run with people of similar abilities. While many of our members enjoy regularly competing in races, others prefer to run for leisure, general fitness, and as a way to socialise. All are welcome.
Standards
The Club Road Race Standards were first introduced in 2000. They are race time targets of five different levels of difficulty, giving members of all abilities something to aim for. There are standard times for men and women of all ages for all major road race distances.
The Standards levels are, in increasing order of difficulty:
- Copper
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
- Platinum
To achieve a Standard, you need to equal or better the standard time in three different distances during the year.
Members who manage to achieve a standard are presented with a certificate at the Annual Awards Dinner Dance.
Club championships
The Striders club championships give our runners a selection of races at different distances to target over a full year, competing with other Striders to gain points towards a championship series.
Races are chosen at the start of the year for each of the championship disciplines, namely:
Club records
These were first recorded in the early 1990’s and have been kept up-to-date since then.
Records are based on first-claim membership for open events. In other words, you can only claim the club record if you run the race with Spectrum Striders as your first-claim club. If you run in a club event (for example one of the club mile races), then the time will count as a record even if Striders are not your first-claim club.
Records can be set in any race – including those not in club championships – but are only valid when set over accurately measured courses.
The time we use for club record purposes is that which is shown in the official race results, rather than the time you take on your watch. If a race is chip-timed, the chip time (rather than gun time) is accepted as the club record.
If you think you have set a new club record, please send us an e-mail with your time, and the name and date of the race you took part in.
Social events
We do not just train and run! Spectrum Striders also organise several social events during the year.
Annual Awards Dinner Dance
Each year, club members and their guests gather to present championship trophies and Standards certificates. There is also a Christmas* dinner, raffle and disco. It’s a great evening and gives us the opportunity to really celebrate all we’ve achieved (and is also one of the rare occasions we see each other out of running kit!)
*In recent years, this has been held January and February as it is much cheaper and there are more dates available.
Social runs
We also enjoy ad-hoc social runs of varying distances. They’re all organised via a WhatsApp group, where members post where they’re going and when, whenever the mood strikes them.