Dave Smith writes: Saturday saw the last Met League fixture of the season at Merchant Taylors school in Northwood. As many of you will know this was moved at short notice from Ruislip Woods after the council raised concerns over the state of the woods after the recent bad weather. Much work went into getting the new venue and staging the race. For example a number of club members spent four hours on the Friday before the race, marking out the course. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those involved in Saturday’s fixture, from the runners to the people who served up the home made rolls and cakes.
There were six people who turned up to marshall the race on Saturday, four of whom were over 70 years old, one over 80. The venue is five miles from the clubhouse. Is this acceptable?
It is almost impossible to get into the club at 6pm on a training night for the number of people going out for a run. There were probably more than six people for breakfast on Sunday morning. Were you running at the club on Saturday afternoon? If so couldn’t you this once have done something altruistic, like marshall. I am all for social events, as many of you will know, but we seem to have a better turnout for these than we do for supporting the club.
The club, and the clubhouse stands on the shoulders of the few. I appreciate that this is not a new phenomenon, but increasingly I feel that many members are not interested in the success and future of the wider club, but there own self interests.
In my view the current position is unsustainable and cannot be allowed to continue. People have had the opportunity to volunteer. They have fallen woefully short. I would argue that the time has come to make it a condition of membership, that in some shape, way or form, the individual member has to contribute to a club event. No contributing event, no membership the following year.
I am sure there are many who disagree with my view, however I bet it isn’t the same people who gave up their time on Saturday. I look forward to hearing from you all and debating this subject at the forthcoming AGM.
