'Roy Fowler Memorial Relays' - 5th September 2010

Staffordshire Moorlands Athletics Club is pleased to announce the inaugural Roy Fowler Memorial Relays will take place on September 5^th. The event is a team event and is hoping to attract a high calibre of runner who will honour our local hero with high class performances on the day along with many local clubs expected to enter teams.

The relay race will commence from Leek High School on Springfield Road and will cover a two mile course on quiet roads including The Mount, Ashbourne Road & Buxton Road. There will be cash prizes for the first six men’s teams, first four women’s teams and the first male and female vets’ teams as well as for the first three fastest male & females who cover their leg of the race in the fastest time on the day.

Dave Owen, Race co-ordinator and club coach said:

The club meant a lot to Roy and Roy meant a lot to the club members. We want to honour his memory in an appropriate fashion and high quality performance was Roy’s trade mark. You don’t get to be a world champion in a discipline like cross country without being at the very peak of the sport and we hope that this event will reflect Roy’s legacy to athletics in some part. We would love the towns’ people of Leek to get behind the event and make the most of this fantastic spectator opportunity.

Who was Roy Fowler?

Roy Fowler was one of the greatest & grittiest British distance runners of the Sixties, winning the AAA six-mile title and in 1962 taking the European Bronze at 10,000m.He became World cross country champion in 1963 and excelled in later life by winning the world masters titles in 5,000m 10,000 m and the 10k cross county events in 1975. The Staffordshire athlete was nicknamed the red fox and words often associated with him and his memory are those such as tenacious, determined, committed and legendary.

His name is usually quoted in the same sentence as other British running greats of the same era such as Bruce Tulloh, Mel Batty, Ron Hill, and Derek Ibbertson.

What you may not know is that he also founded Staffordshire Moorlands Athletics Club in 1976 and under his watchful gaze the club has gone on from strength to strength ever since. He spent time as a coach at Stoke City Football club and Gordon Banks attributed his fitness in the Mexico world cup in 1970 to Roy’s skills in the coaching arena.

Sadly Roy passed away as a result of cancer in June 2009 at the age of 75.We would really appreciate your support in publicising this event in the run up to September 5^th. That can be as a one off piece or a series of articles leading up to the day itself. We are hoping that there will be some big name athletes of an international calibre as well as household names and this would be of interest to your customer group.

For further information please contact either:

To download a form for the event click here

To enter the event online click here

Dave Owen, Race Director on 07969 023255

Debbie Hope, press enquiries, on 07796 018253