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On August 13, 2002, Ron Needham founded Rodillians Runners, based in Stanley, with just five members – but now the club has just celebrated its 20th anniversary and goes from strength to strength.

Rodillians members can be found competing in events all across the UK and abroad, as well as setting a number of personal bests, new club records and welcoming new members like Amanda Basten and Nicky Harley.

Although Ron stepped down as chairman he is still active in officiating and has been nominated for president of the English Cross Country Association for 2022/23.

Team members, meanwhile, have competed in many local events with some excellent times recorded, particularly in the Leeds Half Marathon.

Rodillians Runners at their 20th anniversary celebration at Stanly Rodillians Rugby Club.

Eddy Lowe was first home in one hour, 26.48, Beth Gription the first female in 1:43:10 followed by Nicky Jones in 1:48:37, Mike Garnham 1:58:48 and Claire Telford in 2:16:02.

But the star performance came from Jo Langley on her birthday as she ran a PB and age group club record, finishing in 1:57:17 and only a minute behind her daughter Maddie.

Another club record and PB was set as Beth Gription finished second in her category at the Pontefract 10K with 44:21, with Jo Langley 52:09, Hayley Hartley 57:25 and Laura Bell 59:59 all finishing under the hour mark.

Among the men, Phil Clarke (43:04) narrowly beat Neil Hartley (43:57) followed by Kris Weston (50:32) and Jon Vaile (57:32).

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Eight members ran the St Aidans 10K event with Phil Clarke 45:34 and Beth Gription 46:28 again leading the way for the Rods.

Despite being a small club Rodillians had the second highest number of club athletes with 20 entering the Dewsbury Flat Cap 5 Mile event.

Eddy Lowe finished 11th overall in 32m 39s, followed by Neil Hartley 35m 07s (new club record) and Paul Wood 35m 48s. For the ladies, Beth Gripton set another PB and club record with 37m 48s and with Sophie Hartles 42m 14s and Elinor Snape 42m 31s (club record) were the first three to finish, while Ingrid Senior Mike Garnham and Matthew Stephenson also set age group club records.

Elsewhere, Hayley Hartley completed the 10K a Day in May challenge for Wakefield Hospice, while team members also competed in the Doncaster 10K, Jane Tomlinson Canal Race Series, Lindley 10K, Leeds 10K and ran dozens of parkruns during which Jon Vaile notched up his 100th parkrun.

Further afield, Elinor Snape and Jo Langley also completed parkruns in France’s Lac de Divonne and Lucca (Italy) respectively.

Mike Garnham posted an impressive 4hrs, 29m at the Edinburgh Marathon and Matthew Stephenson finished the Vancouver Half Marathon in 2hrs 7m despite a delayed start due to a bomb scare.

Rodillian Runners is a small, friendly club and new members are always welcome, visit [www.rodillianrunners.co.uk](http://www.rodillianrunners.co.uk/) for details.

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Rodillians Runners going from strength to strength in anniversary year