Chairman's Chat

Hello everyone.

I'm assuming that if you run in the heat, you cover up where you can, you hydrate more blah, blah blah. If you aren't sure about the pitfalls of Summer running, google it, you don't need me to tell you what you ought to already know. My Chairman's Chat this month focuses on kit.

Let's wind the clock back. When the Emersons Green Running Club was started back in June 2012, we needed a kit colour. Keen to get the word out in the locality, I created a website, accosted people with flyers on the ring road path and got a t shirt printed with the web address on. This t shirt was green.  I intended that the club kit colour would be green after all, this lends itself to the place where the club is based. As an aside, did you know that the wiggly lines on the logo depict "The Chain and Wheel", the huge earthwork sculpture by an artist called Lorna Green (there it is again!) alongside the ring road? (pictured below).

Some months later, when the club had some impetus, an informal meeting of a group of members agreed to make the club into a proper one and affiliate with England Athletics. Part of the affiliation process was to determine and seek approval from England Athletics for a kit colour, one that wouldn't clash with other clubs in the area. Frampton Cottrell Harriers (Green) didn't exist, nor did North Bristol Running Group (Green) nor did Staple Hill Runners (White & Green) so the only nearby-ish club using green was Southville. The first EGRC shirt was green, the club is in Emersons Green, so it was clear that the club kit was be green.....until kit colour was discussed at a Committee meeting and some ladies present didn't like the idea of running in green and the committee opted for black!!! 

So black it became, with EA approval. We sourced kit through Initially Yours in Frenchay and the first kits had an embroidered logo on the front (there are still some that appear on club nights). A second generation of kit a couple of years later was sourced and printed on by Doug Hillard Sports in Fishponds and its this kit which we sell through their website currently.

Every Summer, I hear comments on our kit, declaring it impossible to keep cool in, that it's like wearing a bin bag and why can't we have a different colour. I have never been opposed to having a different colour but have always stated that it wouldn't be me that would push for change; I actually quite like the black. But the time has come for an overhaul, a refresh. Discussions within the current committee are at a stage whereby we expect to agreeing a new kit and a new logo in the coming months; this may mean a change of club colour (subject to EA approval) or simply a variation on what we currently have. We'll let you know more when we have something to announce and/or something to show you but in the meantime, you may want to consider the above when you think about purchasing kit. 

On a different note, I just want to say how much I enjoyed the team spirit and camaraderie I witnessed in both the Pomphrey Sports 5k Mob Match and the Cotswold Relay. I was on a sunny holiday sipping Cruzcampo by the pool and my phone kept pinging with pre and post-race chatter, it was fantastic to follow it all.

Roll on Conti where there'll be 38 of us camping, running and supporting each other - no doubt with the support of many others in the club who aren't part of the event.

Happy Running

Neil Newman

Chairman'