Life Membership for Bertie Powell

The 2025 Annual General Meeting on Friday 25th April saw Bertie Powell elected as a Life Member.

Bertie joined the club as an 8 year old in 1994, following in the footsteps of his older siblings Jonathan and Magdalena. He worked his way up through the age categories, always applying himself to the best of his ability.

In due course he entered the senior ranks, which is where he really shone, throughout his 20s, as a crucial part of a highly successful Men's squad. For many years he took part in every one of the team's races, and scored highly in every race. As a result he won the Ken Bray Trophy for winter consistency 7 years in a row, at a time when just making the A team was an achievement! 

In the process he helped the Men's team to several Met League titles, and a number of medals in the South of England Cross Country and South of England 12 Stage Road Relay. He made the scoring Met League team 50 times in a row (10 years!) and went on to race 100 consecutive Met League races, with 93 in the scoring A team. His highest position was 3rd and he featured several times in the top 10, and many more in the top 20 and 30. In a 2011 Athletics Weekly poll to find the "Toughest Cross Country Athlete in the UK", Bert was 20th of the top 100 published.

He also represented the club on the track in the Southern League and British League. On a personal level, he ran 1hour 49mins for 20 miles and 2hours 30minutes for the marathon.

Since 2016 Bert has led the Tuesday night training group at Ashton, amounting to 470+ sessions.

Mum Val and Dad Trevor, who have always been great supporters of Bert, were in the clubhouse to see him receive his award.