For those that participated this year, I hope you enjoyed your involvement with the APSOC cross country competition and Old Carey Cross Country Club.
There were record entries at many of the major APSOC races, reflecting the popularity of the competition on the winter running calendar. Old Carey made a major contribution to the success of the APSOC season with a strong club presence at all the events.
The seed for Old Carey’s improvement came at the start of the year when a group of OC athletes got together to plan for the 2007 season. This resulted in the development of a mission statement and a five year vision for the club. The key action underpinning our goals was recruitment. There were a number of people who contributed to this activity, but a special mention goes to the OC team at Doncaster Aquarena who encouraged so many of their running group to join us.
Our specific goals for the 2007 season were:
We gave ourselves to 2008 to secure a “podium finish” in one or more races, but we secured our podium finish this season with our men’s team securing its first ever win for the club in a team points event and our women securing two 3rd placings at relay events.
At the end of the season, our Mens Div 1 Team and our Womens Team finished in 5th position and our Div 2 Team in 7th position. These results reflected a strong OC presence at all races and show that, at full strength, we can challenge the top clubs for the major prizes.
Special mention goes to Brian Spurrell who despite a season crippling new injury attended most events to help with timekeeping and lend club support.
It has been terrific to see the growth of club membership and the club’s increased competitiveness this season. Just as important has been the enthusiasm and friendships generated amongst our group of athletes. An important core value for the club has been to maintain a friendly and relaxed environment so that athletes can enjoy their running and test themselves in competition without feeling “pressured” to run.
As we have seen this year the lifeblood of the club is the recruitment of new members. So for those athletes that have competed this year, keep fit and come back in 2008. For athletes that have been on our email list but not made it out this season, we hope to see you in 2008. But for all of you, please “spread the word” to friends to come and join us in 2008.
Information on the 2008 season will be emailed and also posted on this website in March. If you have friends who may be interested, please forward on details via email or refer them to this website.
See you in April 2008.
Best wishes and enjoy your running,
Phil Cook