A brief History of Goyt Valley Striders…

Goyt Valley Striders was established on the 1st September 1988 by several based Whaley Bridge runners. Sponsorship was received from a locally based company, Kenfab Limited, which enabled the club to purchase trophies and running vests. The club continues to flourish whereas Kenfab disappeared some years ago.

Martin Russell was the first Chairman of Goyt Valley Striders. Reading a past newsletter from 1994, Martin recalls how the club was formed. It was at the Carousal 5m Road Race, Reddish, Stockport in 1988. A few friends went for a pint or two in the pub after the event and it was there that the suggestion for a club in Whaley Bridge was born. As they say, the rest is history…

The first Secretary of Goyt Valley Striders was Lou Lomas. Lou is now a Life member of the club, but sadly is unable to run these days due to long suffering injuries. He continues to help the Striders out at our races.

The first Treasurer of the club was Chris Nelson, who remained a very active member of the club until 1994, when he stopped running and subsequently left the Striders. Ralph Longden, another founder member of the club and a life member, recalls that “Chris knew every single path in the area and made sure he ran them all on a regular basis”.

In 1988 club training was held three days per week. The staple for the club being the Sunday morning session and this started from the Youth club on Wharf Road. The Youth Club no longer exists. Midweek training took place from the White Horse Pub, Horwich End on Tuesday at 7:00pm and Wednesday at 6:00pm.

Club standards were introduced in the first year and members were given the opportunity to gain awards for achieving these; Gold, Silver and Bronze awards were agreed for fell and road running. These seem to have faded out in the mid 1990’s although they are still on record and awards still exists.

Newsletters were established in the early years and have remained part of the Goyt Valley tradition. Initially they came out every month, but it wasn’t long before this became less frequent. Nowadays the newsletter (Strider) has become an online newsletter or blog.

Affiliation to the Amateur Athletic Association was applied for and granted in 1988. The club has remained a member of the association ever since, although they are now called UK Athletics.

By the end of the year in 1988 the club had 14 members; there are now over 100. The first Annual General Meeting of the Striders took place on 10th October 1989 and was held at the White Horse Pub. The buffet cost £1.50. The first Club Champion was the Secretary Lou Lomas.

This a brief history of the early years of Goyt Valley Striders and how it came into being. Work is underway to document the full history of the club to give a yearly account of what has happened.