Bill Winder

I joined the ARR committee to help out with the website and social media, and I’m hoping to use the site to lure in new unsuspecting members but also to provide interesting things for existing ones.  I’m also involved in some of the race data statistics and making it available to club members on the web site.  Give me a shout if you have an ideas!

I wasn’t particularly sporting in my younger years, in fact I smoked cigs from about 17 to my mid 30s – never very conducive to athletic achievement! I joined ARR during the Covid lockdown in late 2020. I’d been running on my own for quite a few years before that, though never to any decent level — just the odd run here and there to get out and about.  My first race was the Wakefield 10k back in 2016, which I entered to raise sponsorship for the hospice and finished in around 52 minutes – I was absolutely chuffed with that time!  10 years later I’ve managed to take 12 minutes off my 10k, although not been able to quite break into the sub 40 category yet (10 seconds is all it needs!).

It was local friends who were already ARR members who first told me about the club and made me want to give it a go — I suspect that’s how many people end up joining, through word of mouth?  Several years on, joining ARR is genuinely one of the best things I’ve ever done. There are so many benefits to running and being part of a club, nor only the fitness part but all the mental health benefits and having a social beer in the club house after a run.

I love both road racing and all the competitive parts of running with ARR and the annual GP series, but also fell and trail running. There are very few races I haven’t enjoyed. I especially like any race with great scenery, the best fell runs I can think of — Tigger Torr, the Three Peaks of Yorkshire fekk race, Burbage Skyline and Edale Skyline among my favourites, but also any road races that take a more scenic countryside route. I’ve also had a great time on some recent trips with ARR, one to the lakes to run the 23 Before Tea round after which I was called The Plough for slowing everyone else down, and also another one running the Dales Way, about 80 miles over 3 days.

Away from running, I work from home in the technology industry, which often means long days in front of a screen, so getting out on the road or trails is a great escape. I’m originally from (hill free) Essex but moved up to Yorkshire with my wife, whom I met at university; she’s from Barnsley and wanted to return north, we have two daughters both now at uni, although they are home quite a bit too – I haven’t managed to entice any of them into running however! I also play table tennis weekly — it’s a sport that is alot more active than most people realise! I set up a table tennis Wakefield website a few years ago to promote it in the local area. But I’ll leave it there, as this is supposed to be about running!

I hope to be able to meet other members of the club and hear about their running journey!