Doncaster Athletic Club's new-look board to take road racing in new direction

The Eco-Power Stadium-based club’s annual Open meeting attracted an entry of 350 athletes, some of whom took advantage of the sunny conditions to post impressive early-season performances.

“The sun shone and it was a fabulous meeting,” enthused chairman Kev Lincoln.

The club will be hosting both Northern Lower and Upper Youth Development League and senior Northern League fixtures over the summer prior to their popular Sprint/Endurance Open meeting on September 13.

Like a lot of organisations, the club continue to suffer from the after-effects of the Covid-19 pandemic with membership currently down by around 200.

“The cost-of-living crisis has also led to some families having to make difficult decisions with some paying (membership fees etc) weekly so that their children can continue to attend,” said Kev.

Despite the reduced income from subscriptions, the club have both strengthened their junior members’ coaching team and continued to invest heavily in the site infrastructure.

“We spent £37,000 on track repairs last year and we’ll be spending £60,000 in August when we convert our floodlights to LED,” he said.

The club’s board has seen the appointment of a new treasurer and several younger members – something the chairman welcomes.

Following Kev’s decision to stand down as the club’s race director last year – the three events he organised boosted club funds by around £7,000 a year – a new road race sub-group, led by Callum Wilson – one of the club’s top middle-distance runners – has been formed.

The first event to be promoted by the group will be the popular Sandal Beat trail race in June.

“It will be a 7k race not a 10k race as in the past,” said Callum. “Not only will it cut out the straight mile section, which from a logistics standpoint is so much better, but it will hopefully appeal to a wider range of the public including those who have tried a 5k or do the parkrun regularly but don’t want to double the distance. With the 7k they are still striving for something outside their comfort zone, but won’t be completely out of their depth.

“I am also very excited about the prospect of bringing back the Doncaster City Centre 5k meeting in the future. I’ve been fortunate to run both the junior and senior races and it was always a great experience. Lots of fun with a great atmosphere. It doesn’t get much better than a summer evening of racing. It really is the epitome of what good club racing is about.

“There are a lot of areas I would like to explore, such as rebranding the event, and maybe even looking for ways to make the course faster.

“I think it would be brilliant if, as well as the traditional entries, we could have an elite male and female field. Bringing high-quality racing to Doncaster is a must in my opinion and something that may have been neglected in years gone by.”

Not that 24-year-old Callum is critical of Kev’s efforts. Far from it.

“He has done a lot for, and continues to do a lot, for the club, and for that we all must thank him,” he said. “It will certainly be hard to fill his boots. There is no questioning his ability to host successful running events. I hope to emulate his success and his ability to run a smooth operation.”

Fortunately, Callum already has had previous experience.

“I worked as an intern at LimeLight Sports, who organise mass participation events, during my time at university in London during which time I also trained with a number of Olympians and World Championship runners. I also spent a year at an American university on a cross-country scholarship.”