In 1981 the Stragglers were founded by a group of like-minded individuals who loved running and particularly running in the company of others. Since 1981, the Stragglers have become one of the largest clubs in London with the distinctive foot-shaped logo appearing at races and running events all over the UK and across the world. In 1995, a group of 20 Stragglers organised a continuous running relay from John O'Groats to Land's End over 5 days. As 2011 will be the 30th anniversary year of the club, we've decided it's time to try and emulate the class of '95, dusting down the relay baton that's been sitting in the Hawker Centre trophy cabinet unloved for so long, and attempt a repeat 'JOGLE' relay over 5 / 6 days in July 2011.
Why
Quite simply and in the immortal words of the Everest explorer, George Mallory, "Because it's there". Yes - if you stood still and tried to rationalise it, who on earth would think that running through St. Helens and Wigan at 3am on a Wednesday morning is something that you'd voluntary give a week of your hard-earned holiday up for? OK, maybe you shouldn't question it too hard, but no-one's going to write on your gravestone that you managed to beat the German guy in the appartment next to you to the sun lounger in your week off down in Marbella are they?
How
20 people running 1 hour shifts on a continuous rotation over 1,000 miles until we reach Land's End. Further details on the schedule and split of teams in the 'Schedule' page to the side and the selected route is shown in the 'Route' tab (this of course presupposes that runners and supporters have sufficient map-reading skills to follow the designated routes - or at least their Garmins are that capable....)
Who
Like rabbits in the headlights, the motley crew of runners and helpers are in the 'meet the team' tab.
Charity
While for most of us, running a marathon is a feat to bring out the charity cudgel across most of your workmates, the running crew attempting this relay are serial marathon / long distance runners and so feel somewhat unable to repeatedly attack family and friends with charity requests for their latest off-road trail marathon. However, just once in a while there are events that surpass their usual diet of long distance running and this certainly fits into that category. As such, the team are raising funds for various charities. Details of the charities being supported and the reasons for these being selected are in the 'Fundrasing' tab.
