ABOUT US
History
The club was founded in 1983 by a small group of athletes mainly interested in Road Running and developing opportunities for Senior Athletes at club level. The junior section was formed later to deliver basic skills in Athletics with competition opportunities at club level. The club now proudly boasts many County Champions in most athletic disciplines with some juniors competing at County, Regional and National level.
Over the years we have been based at various locations in Retford but we now have our own permanent base with good quality facilities.
In 2014 our achievements were recognised when we were awarded the Sports Club of the Year award at the Bassetlaw Sports Awards.
We have a permanent base at Oaklands and our training nights are Monday and Thursday from 18.30. For more details, click on the contact us button on the homepage.
organisation
We are an athletics club, affiliated to our representative bodies, UK Athletics, Englanad Athletics and Nottinghamshire AAA.
We have a constitution, policies and procedures which are based on the Club Mark criteria.
We hold and annual general meeting in May each year, we have a committee which meets monthly and we produce monthly and annual accounts.
Club officials are as follows:
President - Dorothy Shirley Emmerson
Vice Presidents - Derek Marsh, Terry Lovett, Val Tallents
Chair - Steve Woodward
Vice Chair (Senior section) - Matt Fuller
Vice Chairs (Junior section) - Rebecca Ball & Cheriene Ward
Treasurer - Tom Preece
Secretary - Mark Fielding
Membership Secretary (Senior section) -Lisa Foster
Membership Secretary (Junior section) - Lisa Foster
Junior Secretary - Bobbie Taylor
Road Running Secretary - Mark Fielding
Fell Running Secretary - Bevan Adams
Cross Country Secretary - Bevan Adams
Grand Prix Secretary - Oliver Lord
Kit Secretary - Val Tallents
Minutes Secretary - Lynn Whelan
Fundraising Secretary - Lynn Whelan
Welfare Officer - Jacqui Ferris
What we do
We are a friendly, community based, club providing athletics based opportunities for Retford and the surrounding area. We have in the region of 200 members from the ages of 7 to 80+ and our aim is to enable all our athletes to reach their maximum potential in whatever their chosen athletic events. We are a competitive club and we provide race and competition opportunities for all age groups and all disciplines. We expect all of our athletes to take part in appropriate levels and types of competition and these are described in other parts of this website and on our Facebook pages.
Road running
The club has a strong road running section with our athletes competing in races from 5k to marathon throughout the year and membership of Retford AC usually ensures a discounted race entry fee. As a club we compete in the Nottinghamshire Summer League during the months April to August. All races are between 5 and 6 miles.
FELL running
This section has developed over the last 10-15 years as more senior athletes have made the move away from running on the road, preferring a more forgiving surface. Our fell running section is affectionately called ‘The Dark Side’ partly because of its love of running in the dark with head torches. The secretary is Bevan Adams.
The fell runners are relatively laid back and training runs tend to be a relaxed affair depending upon which races folk have got planned or whether they have run the weekend before.
CROSS COUNTRY
We have been involved in cross country racing since the very beginning and as an event it attracts both our road runners and our fell runners. We have teams entering the North Midlands Cross Country League which takes place from September to January, and the Inter Club League which normally takes place in January and February. One notable event in the cross country calendar each year is the Chris Ryan Memorial Canal Relay, which takes place each summer between Retford AC and our friends at Worksop AC. The race is run entirely on the canal towpath between the 2 towns and is possibly the most competitive race of the year.
COACHING & TRAINING
All our training groups are under the supervision of a UKA qualified coach. For most of the senior sections, coaching is ‘light touch’ but all the juniors are intensively coached to develop basic fitness, core and specific skills and to athletes for competition. As a result our junior coaches are our most highly qualified. In recent years the quality of our coaching has been recognised by the winning of the Bassetlaw Sports Club of the Year, the Bassetlaw Sports Coach of the Year and Lifetime Achievement awards.
Our current coaches are as follows:
Junior Coaches Senior Coaches\Run Leaders
Daisy Cookson Bevan Adams
Neil Dawson Mark Fielding
Charlotte Ducksbury Lynn Whelan
Mark Fielding Oliver Lord
Hannah Foster Terry Lovett
Holly Foster George Page
Lisa Foster Tom Preece
Simon Foster Colin Shuttleworth
Ben Harris Philippa Thornton
Daisy Harris Dawn Keeligan
Chris Hickman
Nick Kendall
Gary Longden
Emily-Rose Maule
Mick Norris
Sam Roberts
Georgiana Templeton
Marjolein Templeton
Philippa Thornton
We are always looking to expand and improve our coaching cohort. Our existing coaches regularly attend in service training and development courses and we members and parents to train as coaches. The club pays all course fees and provides reduced club membership and coach's clothing. Please get in touch if you are interested
Club Policy
Explore the heart of Retford Athletic Club through our club policy documents. Rooted in our commitment to excellence, these policies outline our standards for membership, conduct, and inclusivity. From sportsmanship on the track of community engagement, our policies reflect the value that make Retford Athletic Club a vibrant and welcoming running club. Join us in upholding these principles as we run towards success together.
Accident/Incident Reporting
As part of UK Athletics’ ongoing commitment to provide a safe sport, anyone who has witnessed or been involved in either an accident or incident is asked to complete a short online report. The link below will take you to the UKAs online reporting forms,
https://www.uka.org.uk/governance/health-safety/online-accident-incident-report-form/
Safeguarding Reporting
Our lead welfare officer is Jacqui Ferris, if you have any safeguarding issues then please get in touch with her jacqui.ferris@gmail.com.
If you have a safeguarding concern then please submit a concern form here, SUBMIT A SAFEGUARDING CONCERN | UK Athletics, and then get in contact with Jacqui and relay the information to her so she can take local action as necessary. If there is an immediate risk to the child or young person then call the police/ambulance immediately, submit the safeguarding concern form linked above, then contact the club welfare officer.