To contact us, please email info@upandrunners.com. Alternatively please post a note on the Up and Runners Talkback Forum or PM a committee member should you wish for any further information. COMMITTEE MEMBERS                                                                         Jim Heaney Chairman About 7 years ago Jim was rather overweight at 17 1/2 stone and started running to lose a bit of weight. Being the competitive animal he is and not wanting to do things in half measures, the first race he entered was the Belfast Marathon! As a complete novice to races, Jim was surprised to find that he was actually classed as a veteran in this! Since then Jim has gone on to complete a further 4 marathons, with the highlights of his running being a PB of 3.52 in Dublin last year and the recent Berlin Marathon. Jim is one of our "older" members and takes great pleasure out of beating some of the youngsters! Recently Jim has been looking to do other activities and completed his first triathlon in September 2008. In his younger days Jim was an outdoor pursuits instructor and has a passion for mountains, hence he loves to get out and run over the hills as often as possible. Watching live sport takes up a lot of Jim's time. He can be seen regularly watching cricket (a sport he played at Senior level), football or ice hockey. Jim also runs the Real Music Club, the province's top promoter of roots music, specialising in working with artists from North America. Jim also has a family of three girls aged 23 - 18 and a son of 12. He is actively looking for rich husbands to take the girls off his hands so he has more time to devote to his running and other activities!!!!        Linda Keers Treasurer I started running about a year and a half ago and since then have been well and truly bitten by the bug. So far I have run in Dublin, Edinburgh and Berlin marathons and competed in a lot of local half marathons and other races. I have also this year ventured into the world of triathlons! If someone would have told me last year that I would have done all this, I wouldn't have believed them! The club and its great bunch of members have been a brilliant support to me.       Claire Wilson Captain Started running in 2003 in a bid to prove to myself i couldn't! Embarked on a 5K training program determined that it would fail and I wouldn't be able to run. Got round my 1st 5K and hated it but felt somewhat proud of myself. Carried on with the running, doing a few more 5Ks, always hating it but feeling immensely proud of myself afterwards! Did my 1st 10K in 2004 and swore I wouldn't run longer that that again. Then I did a 7M and then a 10M and thought heck I can do 10M I can do a half. 1st half was in 2005 and then a sinking sensation of doom as I watched the London marathon that year and was very jealous of all taking part. I did my 1st marathon in 2006 in honour of a friend and raised £3500 for St Johns ambulance..was hooked on longer distances from then. Got involved with a local women's club in Manchester as I got so much out of running I wanted to help others get up and running. So I mainly focus on beginners and getting people going. I had my own beginners night and also took a more advanced group. Currently I have had to cut down on the longer distances and am starting to learn to like 10Ks. My favourite events are over in England and are LDWA challenge events..many miles across the countryside/hills/moors with frequent cake stops. I run therefore I eat cake. Up and Running were a great group to hook up with when I moved over here and I think its really important that a club exists with an all inclusive focus where everyone is welcome, whether they run 6minute miles or 12 minute miles.        Geri Savage Secretary Hi, I'm Geri. I used to run alone but then I joined up with the group about two years ago and discovered a whole new social network and my training really took off. I'm no Speedy Gonzales, my normal pace is between anywhere between 8 and 11 miles per hour depending on what I'm training for - but I do like to push myself! :-) On the other hand I really like chocolate and have a tendency to pick up injuries so I'm often at the back of the pack. I like 10K and half-marathon distances best, and completed my second Marathon in October 2008. For me, the whole aim of running is to help me feel good - physically, mentally and emotionally! As the Welfare Officer for the club I'm here to answer any queries you may have about issues that affect you and the impact of your running on your life. If I can't answer it I'll find someone who can!        Patrick Dooher Secretary I started running about 3 years ago as part of a relay team for the Belfast Marathon, discovered that I actually quite enjoyed it and toyed around with a couple of 10kms in the years after that, never quite managing to get beyond that distance. I had always wanted to complete a marathon but had found it difficult to stay motivated by myself, so I decided to come along to the Wednesday evening run in the summer and see what it was like to run with other people. By October I had managed to complete my first marathon at Dublin and I'm hoping to follow it up with another couple in 2009, starting with full Belfast Marathon this time.        Mark Browne I've been running on a regular basis for about 6 years, having toyed with it a bit through school and my early 20s, and it all started when I joined a couple of friends one Wednesday lunchtime for a jog round the Stormont Estate in Belfast.  I was hooked within a few weeks, and have been pretty much ever since!  I run mainly for the enjoyment and challenge of doing it, and over the past few years have taken part in any number of competitive races, from 5k right up to marathon (just completed my 2nd in Dublin '08). I got involved with Up & Runners while training for the Belfast marathon last year, and the company and craic helped keep me sane on all those long runs!       Jacqui Cook I can't remember when I started running! I do remember athletics meetings and cold winter cross country runs at school though! I first dipped my toe in the water of "competitive" running in 2005 when I entered the fun run in the Belfast marathon. I thought it really was great fun, and loved the atmosphere and sense of achievement at the end.  I progressed then to my very first 10K, quickly followed by a half marathon and then I took the plunge and entered the Edinburgh marathon in 2006 (my home marathon - it had to be my first!!). It has snowballed from there and 4 marathons later I am hooked and constantly looking for the next challenge!  I found the U&R Forum when I was training for the 2006 Edinburgh marathon and found great support in the guys on here at that time, even though we were training for different marathons. We finally all managed to get together, thanks to MJ, Jill and Brian from the shop, at the playing fields at Stormont on a wintery January Sunday morning in 2007!!  It was great to finally meet with a like-minded bunch of people who loved running but who weren't intimidating like so many clubs can seem to be. Running is just a part of our lives, albeit a pretty big part!  Everyone was, and still is, at different levels of ability and has different goals, but we support and motivate each other, and Wednesday nights just aren't the same when I can't get to Cutters at 6.30!!!       Barbs McKeever I've played sport all my life, netball, football, tennis, squash etc...! You name it, I've tried it. Until I was asked to run the Race for Life '07, only 5K, wee buns I thought - no way. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. This was when I decided to look for a running club to join. I came across the Up and Runners site by pure chance, it was very impressive and friendly. It stated that they ran from Cutters every Wednesday night, so I turned up on Wed 22nd May 2008 and ran along with Geri and Eileen. What I really mean to say is that I walk/ran most of the 1st mile. When I got back to the car park (knackered), I felt a great sense of achievement. Since then I have completed 5K and 10K races and every race I could enter, just to get my fitness level up. The best 2 races last year ('08) were the NIVAA 5 mile and Seely Cup 10K, which I ran non stop and got PB's in both. There's no looking back for me now. I have set my mind on a few half marathons this year and hopefully injury free, the Dublin full marathon in late October. I have come a long way from the run/walk first night and it's all down to running with a group. I have made a few good friends through the club and hopefully a lot more. So hopefully I can pass on the knowledge I've learned, to help others achieve their goal through running.