Last year we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the New Eltham Joggers.   It all started way back in 1987 when Sylvia Edwards and Beryl Jacobs responded to an article in the local press suggesting that a jogging club be established in the area.   Initially it was intended to be a ladies only club which had arranged to meet regularly at the Sparrows Farm Sports Centre in nearby Sparrows Lane.   It was inevitable that the husbands would soon muscle in and the membership of the self styled New Eltham Joggers gradually grew from then on.   The nature of the club seemed to fill a void for the less seriously minded that was not being catered for by the various athletics clubs in the district.

The relatively unusual selection of green and white as club colours was specifically made so that our runners could be easily identifiable in races and sure enough, it became a regular feature at road races that our members clad in green should receive the noisiest vocal encouragement. As confidence in our identity developed, we became affiliated to the South of England and Kent Country Athletic Associations in the early nineties and our reputation as a sociable and friendly club grew throughout the area. A friend of mine from Sittingbourne Striders told me about the winter cross-country league created especially for none-elite runners and as a result we joined what is now the Kent Fitness League just over ten years ago and that has enabled us to create many friends from other clubs.

As a club, we had continued to use the facilities at the private Sparrows Farm Club but when this was taken over in 1996 by Greenwich University, we were obliged to find an alternative home. At that time, the Metro gas Club was for the exclusive use of British Gas employees and the only alternative facilities we could find were at the STC Club in Ivor Grove, New Eltham, where we stayed for a year. In 1997, British Gas relinquished its subsidy for the Metro Gas Ground and gave the Metrogas Amateur Sports Association a limited 5 year lease of tenure. The MASA Club was now obliged to become self-financing and when membership was offered to outside sports clubs, we jumped at the opportunity joining in that year. British Gas eventually put the site up for sale and when funds were made available by the London Marathon Trust Ltd for the purchase of the ground in 2004, ownership became entrusted to the National Playing Fields Association managed on its behalf as a going concern by the MASA board.

Over the past 10 years, the history of the New Eltham Joggers has therefore been closely linked with the development of the Metrogas Club. Our activities fit in extremely well with the rest of the Metrogas clubs particularly as we do not need to use any of the outside facilities and that our own Wednesday and Friday club nights do not conflict with other interests. The facilities that we currently enjoy have enabled us to concentrate on the social skills that the joggers have traditionally been rather good at, as well as doing the occasional bit of training. Currently there are proposals to extend and improve the existing accommodation and facilities at the ground still further so that if the necessary planning and grant procedures do go according to plan, things may get even better some time in the not too distant future.

As for the members themselves, there are still quite a few that have been around for the best part (if not all) of those 20 years and although we seem to cater for the more mature athlete, it is refreshing to note that in recent times we have attracted a greater number of (younger) ladies.   On the running side of things, when the club was first established, the majority of organised road races were either 10 mile or half marathon events and members rarely entered the shorter races such as 10km as these were considered warm up distances and not worth getting changed for!   In the early years, marathon distances were more frequenly tackled particularly as it was far easier for the club to acquire entries fo the London event and in some years we had as many as 40 to 50 runners taking part. Over time the club membership has tended to diversify more and enter events far and wide, over short, long and very long distances and over varying types of terrain. Partly due to a greater sense of adventure, New Eltham Joggers are likely to turn up in the most unlikeliest of parts of the world and to take part in the most ridiculous challenges. Long may it continue!