00:00So we're here in Much Wenlock and we are with, introduce yourselves gentlemen.
00:03Hi, I'm Mac Bardsley, I'm part of the Wenlock Olympian Society, one of the trustees.
00:07And Councillor Dan Thomas, May of Much Wenlock.
00:10Cool, so what's happening today then? It's a lovely warm day and what's the event?
00:15Well, apart from the men's finals, of course, this is one of the most important events in the sporting calendar.
00:22It is the Wenlock Olympian Society's main day for the annual Games.
00:26Aha, so what events are taking place today then?
00:30Well, today we have got on the field a seven mile road race which goes off into the countryside around about.
00:36And we've got a one mile team event.
00:41And the Wenlock Mile, it's the first time we've had it ever.
00:44So it's inaugural and we're making quite a splash of this.
00:48So I understand there's a bit of a kind of fundraising going on as well.
00:52Just fill us in on what's happening with that and what's needed.
00:55You maybe can't see it because of the crowd.
00:57There is the main athletics track, which is a proper track.
01:00Yeah.
01:01And it's quite old now and it's deteriorated to such an extent it's lost what we call the track mark from English Athletics.
01:08Ah.
01:08And because it's lost that track mark, we can't hold the athletics event.
01:12Got you.
01:12And it's going to cost, it's going to cost £85,000 to refurbish it.
01:17So we're desperately doing fundraising at the moment to try and get that money.
01:21This is much one lock.
01:22This is the birthplace of the modern Olympics.
01:24Without William Pennybrooks and that modern Olympic movement, there would be no Olympics that we know and have in Rio and the places that recently.
01:33So this is really important if we can get this track back.
01:36This is such a special event.
01:37So this is the first year for a long time where we haven't had the athletics event.
01:41Yeah.
01:42So normally there are hundreds and hundreds of people here and the space behind us is covered in people and things are going on.
01:48It's not happening this year.
01:49So would that be all, those events that we've not been able to take place, that's all different types of running events?
01:55It's the standard sort of track and field, you know.
01:58So what, javelin and all that?
01:59So the hope is that, you know, if not next year, in a couple of years, we can get that back.
02:06Exactly.
02:07We're looking seriously, trying to fundraise right now.
02:10Yeah, yeah.
02:11Well, good luck with that, gents.
02:13And let's hope this one mile, four, four team...
02:16So how are you doing, guys?
02:17What's your names?
02:17Sets off well.
02:18Thank you very much.
02:19I'm Ben.
02:20And I'm Ronnie.
02:21Cool.
02:21So you run for a club.
02:23Which club?
02:24She's the AC.
02:25So how long have you been into your running, then?
02:27I've been running for three years.
02:30Yeah, about three years.
02:32And so what got you into it?
02:33Was it your parents runners?
02:35During Covid, we started to do running.
02:39Okay.
02:39I started to run because I did a race for a school and I came fourth and I thought I was actually quite good, so I just started running.
02:45Yeah, you thought, hang on, I've got something here.
02:47I think our first race was Parkrun and we quite liked it.
02:51Well, mentioning Parkrun, you've done...
02:53Because you're a family, aren't you?
02:54Your brother and sister's here.
02:55Yeah.
02:55You've done a Parkrun today.
02:56Yeah.
02:57Already?
02:57Was that just a warm-up then?
02:59For this.
03:00So did you all do the Parkrun today?
03:02It was just me.
03:03Yeah, you're the crazy one.
03:05So will that affect your performance in this event?
03:09Have you been doing that this morning or not?
03:11Because you've had your recovery time.
03:13No, I feel okay.
03:15Yeah.
03:15Pacing his friend, William.
03:17Yeah, yeah.
03:19So what distance will you be running today?
03:22A mile.
03:23And have you got like a certain time you're trying to do it in or?
03:26Not particularly, really.
03:27Yeah.
03:28Anything around six minutes.
03:30Yeah.
03:30Is it more just about enjoying yourself, being here, keeping healthy?
03:34Yeah, yeah.
03:34Well, great stuff, guys.
03:36And how old are you all then?
03:3811.
03:38I love the name I'm a twin.
03:40Yeah.
03:40And I'm 12.
03:42Wow, that's cool.
03:43What a lovely thing to be into.
03:44Well, I'm here with Stuart Benson.
03:45Get the time if you want.
03:46And have a great day.
03:46Stuart, you are an Olympian.
03:48That's right, yes.
03:48So just fill us in on your kind of sports journey then.
03:51What's your world?
03:52It was track and field initially?
03:54That's right, track and field.
03:55I used to compete for my local club, then I competed for the RAF.
03:57And then after about 10 years doing track and field, I realised that I wasn't getting
04:02where I wanted in the sport and I transferred across to try bobsleigh.
04:05So where do you go to train for bobsleigh?
04:08Where do you do all your practising?
04:10Well, we train at the University of Bath.
04:12That's where the home of bobsleigh is.
04:13We have a push track there.
04:14We don't have a real bobsleigh track there.
04:15Yeah.
04:16Our closest real bobsleigh track is in Germany still.
04:18But that's where we practise our pushing and that's where we hone our skills before we
04:22go on the ice and let the driver do the rest.
04:25So when you're practising on a fake track effectively, is there a disadvantage then?
04:32Do you know what I mean?
04:33Are you always going to be kind of chasing the teams in the country where they've got
04:36the real track to train on or can it work be just as effective?
04:40Yeah, it's definitely a disadvantage.
04:41It costs us a lot more money to get to the tracks, to get the time on the ice.
04:46And the time on the ice is crucial for the driver.
04:48However, it's shown in the past that we can still beat the best teams here at Britain
04:53with the support from the National Lottery.
04:55And I had support from my work.
04:57We can still compete with the best.
04:59I mean, we beat all the Germans and such.
05:01Yeah, I bet they were loving that, weren't they?
05:03When they've got their own thing.
05:04Yeah, when they've got four Wobbsley tracks in the country.
05:06So it can be done.
05:07Yeah, yeah.
05:08And I recognise that accent not as a Midlands accent, but you're a Shropshire lad now then?
05:13Yes, I am now.
05:14Yeah, Shiffenau for the moment.
05:16We were in Old Brighton for a while and then Shiffenau, that's where we've settled.
05:18Yeah.
05:19It's lovely.
05:20We get to travel back to Scotland a few times, but I think this will be where we live from
05:24now on.
05:24Cool.
05:25And here, just support the event.
05:27Yes, I'm here as a trustee of the Wenlock Olympian Society.
05:31Yeah.
05:31So we've, people from Cosford have helped out in the past and I'm here to present some
05:37medals and support.
05:38My wife's actually running the seven-mile race as well to support the event.
05:41So maybe next year I'll give it a go as well.
05:43Great stuff.
05:44Well, thank you for joining us here, Stuart.
05:46The Wenlock Mile.
05:47And Camilla, you're the coach at the Wenlock Olympian...
05:50Wenlock Olympian Athletics Club.
05:51I knew, I knew.
05:52I'm testing you.
05:53So you kind of came up with the idea of this mile challenge, yeah?
05:57Yeah, so we had a club mile for a few years, just on our Saturday morning training time.
06:02So we know that when we're training on Saturday, there's loads and loads of people running around
06:06the Gasconfield.
06:08So we thought that we would put in place a community mile, try and get runners from other
06:13clubs coming in to run and see if we could make it in a bit of an event.
06:17Cool.
06:17And I understand it's a team event, so am I right in thinking there's four members to
06:21a team and they each do a mile?
06:23Is that right?
06:23No, it's not a team event, it's a time trial.
06:25So we've got groups of ten running, approximately divided according to age, because we want them
06:31to actually run a mile, and if we've got 20 running, then they'll be overtaking each other
06:35and running further than they need to.
06:37Yeah, yeah.
06:38So no, as I say, it's individual events that run as a series of time trials.
06:43Great.
06:43So is the hope that this mile event will continue year on year?
06:46Is that the plan?
06:47Yeah, definitely.
06:47So the reason we've started it today is because we normally have the Wendlock Olympian Games
06:51on the track.
06:52Yeah, we've heard off the mayor and it needs a bit of money spending on it.
06:56That's right, we can't use the track at the moment for licensed events because of the
07:01state of the tracks.
07:02But we didn't want to do nothing for the younger athletes and for the sort of muscles.
07:06Lose that momentum that you've built here.
07:08So we're starting it today and we're hoping to make it an annual event.
07:12We're going to put in permanent mile markers on the Gasconfield as well.
07:15So all the community runners, the Saturday runners who come and train in here can do
07:20their own personal time trials around our...
07:22So we're here with runner Henry.
07:24Hello, sir.
07:24Thank you, Camilla.
07:26Cool.
07:26And you, matey.
07:27So you've had a bit of a trip today.
07:29Where'd you come from?
07:29So I've actually come from London.
07:31Yeah.
07:31I came last night and then I came from Telford.
07:35Yeah.
07:36So you've not took part in this event before?
07:38No.
07:39This is your first time.
07:40First time.
07:40And was it kind of...
07:41It's on your tick box then.
07:42You wanted to come and get involved in the Wenlock.
07:44It is indeed.
07:45I love sports and I love...
07:46I'm kind of like a quiver myself.
07:49I love sports trivia.
07:50And I've known about this for a few years.
07:52My family hail from Litchfield, which is not too far from here.
07:55So I've always wanted to come and take part.
07:57And is it kind of that...
07:58The history of the event and where Wenlock plays in athletics?
08:01Is that what drew you kind of in?
08:03Absolutely.
08:04100%.
08:04I was looking at when in 2012, when London hosted the Games, of course, they had the mascot Wenlock.
08:10Yeah.
08:10It was based off the Much Wenlock.
08:12And I've always had this fascination of it.
08:14And the fact that we all talk about the Olympics and the inspiration of it being the ancient Greek Olympics.
08:19But of course, Much Wenlock, which is before the modern Olympics in 1850.
08:23So I've always had that desire and fascination with the event.
08:26Great stuff.
08:27Well, we hope you have a good day today.
08:28Going for any particular time or is it just about being here and having fun?
08:31It's about being here and having fun.
08:33I would love to get under an hour.
08:35I started running again in January for the first time in about six or seven years.
08:40So I'll take my time and just enjoy the event and enjoy the history of it all.
08:46Great stuff.
08:46Well, Shropshire Star and Much Wenlock welcomes you, Harry.
