Charlie Crump – 1936-2024 - A tribute
We do not yet know any funeral arrangements for Charlie, but felt it was important to put a full tribute to him on the website and will add funeral details when they are known.
Charlie first joined the club in the early 1950’s and was an exceptional runner in his youth. In 1954 he finished 5th in the Southern and 6th in the National Cross Country as a “youth” (U17 in today’s parlance) and 2 years later was 8th in the National as an U20. In 1961, now in the Senior ranks, he was part of the Woodford team which won Bronze medals at the National – the only time in the Club’s history. He was also an important member of our successful road-relay teams of that era.
Charlie retired from running as family matters took over, but then following the sad and untimely death of his wife, returned in 1984 and soon started making a name for himself in Veteran classes, although he was still a very useful scorer in our Senior teams. Among his many achievements as a Veteran, he recorded 2:55:05 as a 55-year-old in the 1992 London Marathon and was second V55 in the 1993 National X-C. Around this time he also enjoyed travelling to races abroad and set many age records at these.
But to just talk about Charlie’s success as a runner would not paint half the picture. Charlie was a great social organiser, including parties and trips for the younger athletes and their families. He organised special fundraising for these and was a regular at all the club’s social events. He was also a great supporter of all the club’s fixtures – track, road and especially over cross-country and he was an ever-reliable marshal at our home events.
At the time of his return to the club, Charlie, who had worked as a craftsman in the furniture industry, was made redundant when his factory closed – talk about kicking a man when he is down. But Charlie, who was one of the most cheerful and positive people I have known, soon realised he could make a living doing handyman type work for others and this included so many people from the club. The club itself also benefitted from his skills and hard work. He helped with the repainting of the clubhouse, the building of the clubhouse museum extension and refurbishing the toilets and kitchen areas. When the conditioning room needed a deep clean after Covid, Charlie was there helping. He recently helped clear all the undergrowth round the back of the clubhouse.
For the many aspects of his achievements and work for the club, Charlie was appointed a Life Member in 1997 and served as President from 2006-08.
To many of us he was so much more than a club colleague, he was a close friend. A regular in the bar on a Tuesday evening, where we would all enjoy his company and chatting to him on a wide range of topics.
Tuesday evenings won’t seem quite the same without Charlie, but we can all feel privileged to have known him and will look back upon many happy memories.
David Hollingworth
Charlie’s family have decided that they would like any donations in Charlie’s memory to benefit the club, which is definitely what Charlie would have wanted. The Woodford Athletic Trust (charity number 1175415) as been set up to receive bequests and donations of this type. If you want to donate in memory of Charlie, you can visit The Trust’s JustGiving page which has been set up by the Trust’s Secretary, Cowsi Magol: https://www.justgiving.com/page/cowsi-magol-1712829387678
