The secretary of the Wilmslow Half Marathon is stepping down after organising the race for 25 years.
The Wilmslow Half Marathon began in 1984, a product of the running boom of the 1980's where running suddenly became fashionable and races began springing up all over the country. It was mainly organised by volunteers from Wilmslow Rugby Club, which is where the race is still based.
Malcolm, a police sergeant from Macclesfield, was one of the founder members of Wilmslow Running Club in 1989 and his association with the race began in 1990.
He explained "Initially we used Wilmslow Leisure Centre as a base but got the impression that the staff there regarded us more of a nuisance than anything else. After a few months Wilmslow Running Club began training at Wilmslow Rugby Club and were immediately made welcome and have enjoyed a good relationship with everyone there ever since. It was natural that the Running Club would take over the organisation of the Half Marathon which we did from 1990.
"Maurice Minns became Race Director, a position he has held ever since and does a fantastic job liaising with local councils, police, highways, suppliers of goods and services etc. Initially as well as being Race Secretary and dealing with all the entries, I used to be race treasurer and together with one or two helpers also put up the majority of the signs and the mile markers around the course.
"Over the years as the race has grown, it has been necessary to find many more volunteers and organisations to assist. Wilmslow Hockey Club are now responsible for recruiting all the marshals around the course. Other volunteers now look after signage and financial matters. There are over 200 people responsible for helping at the event each year. In recent years I have just concentrated on looking after the race entry process and driving the lead car."
Malcolm's role as race secretary has changed considerably over the years. In 1990 there were only around 1,000 entries but now they accept 5,000 entries.
Malcolm added 'In 1990 everyone entered by post and over the years I have spent hundreds of hours opening envelopes, separating cheques from entry forms, cursing runners for forgetting to enclose SAE's etc.
"Nowadays entries are almost exclusively online which in some ways makes my job easier, but in other ways as the race has grown, is just as time consuming. Nowadays instead of all my time being taken opening envelopes, it seems to be taken up answering emails from runners and I can be tied to the computer for hours, particularly during the weeks before and after the race.
"Not being the best at delegating I have in the past handled all the entries myself but I now feel after 25 years it is time to take a step back and whilst I will still be involved in the organisation I won't be exclusively dealing with the entry process and responding to all the emails."
Malcolm, a keen runner himself who holds a few of the Wilmslow Running Club records, described the highlights over the years as just trying to put on a better race each year and seeing the amount of money runners have raised for charity increasing year on year.
