Brief History

The road running (RR) boom of the early 1980s gave birth to clubs quite different from the Athletics clubs which had existed before. These new clubs concentrated on RR (and frequently cross country running) to the exclusion of Track & Field athletics. They catered for a wider range of people including joggers and fitness runners who would never previously have found a suitable club to run with. Their numbers grew steadily so that they became the largest element in the sport. They affiliated to the existing athletics governing bodies because they had nowhere else to go and, unfortunately, it’s not unfair to say that generally the governing bodies were glad to take the money generated by RR, used it largely to fund general administration, and did little for RR in return. This unsatisfactory alliance has continued for the best part of a quarter of a century with the RR clubs being rather apathetic and not paying too much heed to the fact that they were being used as a cash provider and getting little or nothing for it. 

Up to the formation of UK Athletics in 1997 they could have exercised some more control over their own destiny via the county and territory associations, the AAA and BAF because those bodies, albeit cumbersome and often ineffective, at least had the merit of being mainly democratic. The RR clubs, however, being usually self sufficient and having few requirements of their governing bodies, were mainly content to get on with their activities and never bothered to use their voting clout in any coordinated fashion . Consequently the governing bodies remained effectively in the hands of the T & F clubs who played the committee game with more enthusiasm.

When UKA, an unelected and undemocratic organisation, took on the role of overall governing body with the consent of the clubs, the structure below it changed very little, with the RR clubs maintaining their second class, cash providing role. The significant change was that the sport was now being controlled and administered by full time paid executives and staff rather than decisions being taken by elected officers and largely implemented by volunteers. Also the level of bureaucracy, control and unwelcome paperwork has been steadily increasing, although at present the effects of this are felt by volunteer club secretaries, officers and officials and are probably not a concern as yet to the vast majority of runners.

As at 2005, although the level of interference was growing, the ongoing situation for RR clubs was probably still marginally acceptable and the affiliation costs tolerable.

Then came implementation of the Foster Report and the creation of England Athletics. A step too far.