The Alan Phillips Memorial Handicap Race
The Memorial race started life well over twenty years ago, when the club met in the Labour Club Hagley Road.
The race is where everyone had a chance of winning, not just the fast guys.
The first few events were started in Broome, and were called the “Duck Pond Challenge”, because the start and finish were alongside the pond there. I developed a 5km course that went into Hagley, up Newfield Rd and across Field lane before dropping back down Broome Lane. Competitors did this twice. The rules then were the same as today – i.e. people gave me their 10km time and we sent people off at different times with the intention of everyone finishing at the same time.
The race hasn’t been held every year, and the venue has changed over time (I remember finishing along the canal towpath above Merry Hill one year).
Alan Phillips was our Treasurer for many years, and he resigned shortly before his death. In the following year his wife gave us a trophy for the winner of the handicap event, and that’s how the name came about.
The President Handicap Race
The President Handicap Race which is annual race during the year and for people who don’t know what the race entitles, the idea is that you predict how long you will take to run the course (about 5.3 miles) and then try and run as close as possible to that time without using a watch, phone, GPS device or anything else which might help you! The closest person to their predicted time is the winner. Your prediction can be a flat-out time, a gentle jog or anywhere inbetween, it’s entirely up to you.