Bill Winder

I joined the ARR committee to help out with the website and social media, and I’m hoping to develop the site into something that not only welcomes potential new members but also keeps existing ones keep interested and informed!!  I’m also interested in all the data stuff, the run statistics and making it available to club members on site.  Give me a shout if you have an ideas!

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!  10 years later I’ve managed to take 12 mintues off that time, although not 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? My first club training runs were under covid rules so was restricted to just six people, but it all grew from there.

Several years on, joining ARR is genuinely one of the best things I’ve ever done. The benefits of being part of the club and running regularly are so wide-ranging — physical, mental, and social — that I’d recommend it to absolutely anyone, whatever your running level. I enjoy both road racing and all the competitive parts of running with ARR, but also fell and trail running. There are very few races I haven’t enjoyed.  I especially enjoy any race with great scenery, the best fell runs I can think of — Tigger Torr, the Three Peaks of Yorkshire, Burbage Skyline and Edale Skyline among my favourites, but also any road races that take a more scenic route.

Away from running, I work from home in the technology industry, and also run small software business on the side, 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 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 studying law. I also play table tennis regularly — it’s a sport that is alot more active than most people realise! I set up a website a few years ago to promote it in the local area at tabletenniswakefield.org.uk. 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!