Following on from the incredible success of the original Mad Dog in 2011, on 12 February 2012 Mad Dog 2 (“The Canine Bites Back”) took place at Southport.
Last year (the first running of the event), the race was voted “The best 10K in the country” by Runners World readers, and it looks like the race will win the award again this year.
Unlike last year, the wind stayed away, which made for an incredibly fast course. The Mad Dog route is flat (as is most of Southport!) and the number of runners who reported a personal best after the event was incredible.
This year saw a 50% increase in running numbers, yet despite this the race was sold out four weeks before the event itself.
This event makes no secret of the fact that it puts runners first and the fund raising for charity second. Whilst the Mad Dog raises significant amounts for local charities and good causes, the Race Director fully admits that his priority is to give runners a quality Round Table experience.
This was Round Table on show! Every male entrant aged under 45 went through a web page about Round Table on the web site, before entering. Southport Hesketh RT now have two new prospective members!
Finishers received a technical running shirt, a unique Mad Dog #2 medal and an unbelievably well stocked goody bag. In addition, there was free fruit at the finish line, free massages and sports injury advice, together with free baggage storage and shower/changing facilities.
This year saw a dramatic increase in the number of club runners, as many running clubs put the event onto their Grand Prix listings. This year’s results reflected the number of club runners with the top 50 being dominated by running club members.
This race, in memory of the late Tony ‘Mad Dog’ McWade (a former Southport Hesketh Tabler) prides itself on the fact that over 85% of the entry fees go back into the race to provide facilities and benefits for the runners. The remainder goes to local charities. All the members of Southport Hesketh Round Table gave their time for nothing. This is a not-for-profit event and the main aim is to give the runners a quality experience.
The Mad Dog 10K will return on Sunday 10 February 2013, with Mad Dog #3 “Revenge of the Canine”.
For many years Round Table has been the Number One collecting organisation for the BBC Children In Need appeal and this year is no different. Last year we raised over £90,000 and with your help we want 2011 to be even better.
There are three main ways you can get involved
1. The Great Round Table Pudsey Tour
In the run up to Children In Need day Pudsey Bear will be out and about in the Area visiting all the major landmarks in our region. If you want him to visit your Table send us an email and we’ll try to make it happen.
2. Drink and Donate (Responsibly)
Every Tabler has a local pub, restaurant or wine bar! We want to put a collection jar in your local at the end of October and then return on the evening of the appeal day, Friday 18th November and count the donations.
We need your local knowledge so please liaise with your Area Exec to ensure we cover the most ground.
3. Appeal Day
Our goal is to raise more than ever before on the appeal day and this is how! We have already secured permission to collect at various locations across the country but we need you to visit your local train station, bus depot, shopping centre, anywhere with heavy footfall to gain maximum collection opportunity and awareness for our campaign.
With these three steps we plan to raise awareness, have fun and collect more donations than ever before!
Thanks for your support.
For more information please visit: www.roundtable.co.uk/childreninneed
To contact us please email chairman@area8roundtable.co.uk
Warrington Round Table held a charity event on Sunday 15th May at the Alive & Well Gym in Birchwood. The event involved a team of eight novice rowers who rowed the distance from Dover to Calais and back!
Thanks to a lot of team spirit and a bit of determination they managed it a little under three hours covering a total of 62 miles between them. The gym kindly provided three ergo rowing machines for the team to use and we split the distance into short stints of two miles each (about fifteen minutes rowing) before another member of the team would take over. This allowed most of the Tablers to average a distance of between 7-8 miles each with a couple of the younger guys doing slightly more.
The Round Table team included (from left to right in the picture) Ben Howard, John Lampard, Andrew Butcher, Neil Brougham, Steve Law-Lyons, Julian Pearson and Martin Chatten (Chairman) on the rower with Tim McCann taking the photo.
The sponsorship is still being collected so a final total had not yet been determined, however, all funds raised will go to support local Warrington Charities. The Tablers would like to thank all those who have supported this event. And anyone who would like to know more about Warrington Round Table please contact Ian at ian@warringtonroundtable.co.uk or 01925 594383.
Andrew Butcher, Fundraising Officer
If you would like to sponsor the team then click on the link and follow the instructions: www.charitygiving.co.uk/
Click on the ‘donate no’ button in the top left hand corner and it will take you to a page where you can search for ‘Warrington Round Table’. Click on the link and then follow the simple steps to donating. The website will be able to claim gift aid on any donations and after taking a very small fee will help us to make the most of these gifts.
UPDATE – Warrington Round Table have totalled up the sponsorship monies and, taking account of the Gift Aid provided to them by using the website www.charitygiving.co.uk, they have a total of £1,100.
Just to let you know Area 8 and Area 9 played their Ten Pin Bowling Semi Final on 27 April 2011 and it was another epic contest between two strong Areas played with the usual good humour and mutual respect.
It had all the ingredients a great semi should have, think Utd/City rather than Bolton/Stoke. Area 9 got off to a great start in the first game and had a commanding lead, but Area 8 fought back and indeed had two chances to win it at the last, but realizing victory meant taking a Friday off work, bottled it and fell short by just five pins.
We wish Area 9 all the best for the final.
YIT
Peter Gibbons
Well, just two days after becoming Area Chairman my first Area event is a trip to the Isle of Man & Rushen Round Table with the National President – our own John Kilshaw; not a bad way to start my year I think.
So, three hours on the ferry over with Kilsh – how did my liver survive? We started early Monday morning at the RNLI Memorial Gardens in Douglas, although first we had to inflate the 14ft bottle.
Bottle
I’ve got to say how laid back the islanders were – first letting us inflate it in the Arrivals lounge of the ferry terminal and then lending us some tape to cover up all the holes in it. We managed to get the bottle inflated long enough to walk it 300 yards through Douglas for the photos, then spent ten minutes stuffing it, half deflated, into the back of a car for the short trip to the Douglas life boat station. From there we went to Fort Anne, the home of Sir William Hillary – the founder of the RNLI where Kilsh was presented with cheques totalling £1,000 from the two companies who have their offices there.
Then a trip around the bay in a rib [see the picture]; with a top speed of 65 knots it was great fun and one of the day’s highlights.
Rib
From there we travelled to the other four lifeboat stations – Port St Mary, Port Erin, Peel and Ramsey. At each we were met by various members of the lifeboat crews who couldn’t do enough to help us and were really pleased that Round Table was doing so much to support them. It was at Ramsey station that I was challenged to dress like a lifeboat man. John Kilshaw had taken the challenge a few months back and did it in 6 minutes so I had a target to beat. I did manage to beat him, completing it in just over three minutes, but the weight of all the safety equipment these guys wear is amazing. The video is up on YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwMfGy0L_Gg and there are photos on Facebook although they do make me look like the Pillsbury Dough-Boy.
Outfit
I had to travel back on the Monday night but John stayed on, attending a dinner with Rushen 1072 Round Table and collecting a cheque from them for £4,415.
The hospitality from everyone was amazing, and special thanks to Tim, Paul & Mog from Rushen 1072 for making my first event as Area Chairman such a memorable one.
YiT
Malcolm Mair
Area 8 Chairman 2011-12
IoM Today article: www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/message_in_a_bottle_arrives_in_the_island_1_3307410
After a short and highly entertaining business meeting, we got to the main event for the night, the Chilympiad. We were first informed by Area Chairman Mark, that the event formally known as the Chorlympiad was actually instigated by Liverpool Childwall 644 back in the 1960′s and the name had changed somewhere in the mists of time…
If you’ve not been to the Chorlympiad/Chilympiad before, it’s a set of ‘odd’ games which tablers compete in to win a bundle of easter eggs to donate to a deserving cause. This year saw a number of challenging games, from Chocs Away to Blow Job, with a newspaper tower challenge to round off the evening.
for videos, look here: http://www.youtube.com/user/area8roundtable
Without any suggestion of a FIX, THe Horwich, Westhoughton & District Team trounced the opposition>
Adam Area 8 Media & PR OfficerWhen: Friday 25th February 2011 @7.00pm for 7:30pm.
Meeting Venue: Warrington Sports Club, Walton Lea Road, Higher Walton, WA4 6SJ.
Cost: £10.50 per head.
Hosted by: Warrington 74
Attire: Smart Casual
333rd Area 8 Business Meeting notice 25.02.11
National President, John Kilshaw, brings his presidential ball to his home area. This prestigious event will be held at Southport Convention Centre on Saturday 5th March, with tickets costing a bargain£45 per head and including a Six Course Banquet; a Beatles Tribute; a Silver Band; and an ABBA Tribute act.
Book in with payment by 1st February 2011 through Dave ‘Bacardi’ Yardley.
Orsmkirk and District 221 will be making donations on the evening to several charities Inc
- Cancer Research
- Children’s Wish
- RNLI
Please come and help make this a memorable evening for all
Tickets £20.00 Inc 3 Course Meal and and Entertainment and the event will be held at The Scarisbrick Arms, Black-a-moor lane, Downholland, Ormskirk, L39 7HX
Book in with Phil Rothwell
Download a copy of the flier here
